It gets very old, day after day, having to worry about what you’re going to eat for three meals each day and snacks. Throw in changed plans and crazy schedules, and the fast food lane is suddenly looking more and more appetizing.
A simple way to make the burden of meal preparation much easier is to plan ahead. Planning a menu does not have to be complicated; it simply requires investing a little time each week to plan ahead. There are many benefits to planning your meals.
Continue readingLisa Nelson, RD: Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms – Is there a connection between vitamin D and heart disease? What level of vitamin D should individuals maintain to prevent heart problems?
Dr. Shelby-Lane: It is a known and documented fact that too little Vitamin D puts the heart at risk. Yet many patients are not routinely tested, and if so, they do not take the proper steps to reach optimal Vitamin D levels between 50 to 100 ng/dL. Most lab tests give 30 as a low normal, yet this is not optimal. This can be done by diet, sun exposure (in most cases), or adequate supplementation. But most of all, people are not tested. Research suggests Vitamin D deficiency may be an unrecognized heart disease risk factor.
Researchers say a growing body of evidence suggests that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of heart disease and is linked to other, well-known heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.
Continue readingWhole grain nutrition sales have increased 17% in the last year according to the Packaged Facts market research firm. Whole grain nutrition is linked to numerous benefits, such as decreased heart disease risk, improved digestive health, and reduction in cancer. Retail sales hit $5 billion in 2008 and anticipated to reach $6 billion by 2013.
Fortunately, this appears to be a new trend that is not a short term “fad”!
Great sources of whole grain nutrition include:
100% whole wheat bread
Whole wheat pasta
Whole grain cereal
Barley
Oatmeal
Brown rice
Wild rice
Buckwheat
Millet
Popcorn
Quinoa
Amaranth
Receive a step by step plan to promote heart health and weight loss with a Mini Diet Makeover. As a special New Year’s bonus you’ll receive a complimentary copy of the Calorie Counter for Dummies. Learn more here – https://www.lisanelsonrd.com/minidietmakeover.html
You can learn more about how to use dietary fiber to reduce heart disease risk here.
Share how you have increased your whole grain intake below!
All the best,
Lisa Nelson, RD
Let’s talk about snacks for a moment. I believe there is a general perception that snacking is bad and you need to cut out snacking if you want to lose weight and be heart healthy. Well, the opposite is actually true. Let me explain.
It is important to eat regularly, every 3-4 hours to maintain your metabolic rate, promote stable blood sugar levels, and prevent insulin spikes. By maintaining a high metabolism you boost the calories you burn throughout the day, which helps you lose weight. By maintaining stable blood sugar levels and preventing insulin spikes you will prevent drops in energy and halt a chain reaction that can lead to heart health complications (increased C-reactive protein, increased blood viscosity, increased clotting factor, increased free radical damage, etc.).
Now, this doesn’t mean just any food will work. You need to select heart healthy snacks. This means eating snacks that balance carbohydrates with protein and/or heart healthy fats. Fat and protein slow the breakdown of carbohydrates, preventing the rapid rise in blood sugar and the corresponding increased insulin release.
Here are healthy snacks that are high in carbohydrates:
Whole grain crackers
Dried Fruit
Pretzels
Fig bars
Fresh fruit
You can make these snacks heart healthy by combining with a protein. These protein sources that are easy to include with snacks:
Glass of skim milk
Yogurt
Cheese
Nuts
Peanut Butter
Here’s an example of how you can apply this to your daily snacks.
Mid-morning snack: Yogurt with granola
Mid-afternoon snack: Nuts mixed with dried fruit
Evening snack: Light frozen yogurt topped with strawberries
Receive a step by step plan to promote heart health and weight loss with a Mini Diet Makeover. As a special New Year’s bonus you’ll receive a complimentary copy of the Calorie Counter for Dummies. Learn more here – https://www.lisanelsonrd.com/minidietmakeover.html
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.lisanelsonrd.com/howtolowercholesterol.html”>How to Lower Cholesterol in 8 Simple Steps
Remember, you are not too old to exercise! The US Department of Health and Human Services has issued the guide Exercise & Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide from the National Institute of Aging.
Being physically active does not become less important with age. Remaining active into your senior years has many benefits. Here are just a few of the benefits you’ll see by including regular physical activity every day:
Continue readingWhen it comes to lowering cholesterol, it’s common to drastically decrease fat intake. While it’s important to reduce total fat, especially saturated and trans fats, if you limit heart healthy fats too much you can make it difficult to raise HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels.
Fat is an essential component of a healthy diet, providing energy and the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Some types of fat even reduce your risk for certain chronic diseases.
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