Fwd: Eat For Your Heart?s Health

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Had to share this with you all!!! Suzi Eat For Your Heart’s Health by Vicki Koenig, MS, RD, CDN Your diet and lifestyle impact your health and prevalence of disease. Factors that Affect Your Heart Positively A diet high in fruits, vegetables and low fat dairy products, and low in sodium has been shown to lower blood pressure as effectively as medication. Read Lower Your Blood Pressure with Diet Alone for more information. The inulin in Stonyfield Farm yogurts, smoothies and cultured soy has been shown to lower triglycerides, a blood fat associated with heart attacks. A high fiber diet from fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes also lowers cholesterol. Numerous studies have demonstrated that specific strains of the probiotics Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacteria bifidum, L casei and L

bulgaricus can lower cholesterol when its level is too high. The probiotics are thought to inhibit the liver from making cholesterol while encouraging bile acids to be excreted. Bile is made from cholesterol. When bile is excreted, the liver will use more of the cholesterol on hand and blood levels can decrease. Exercise and a normal weight lower your risk of heart disease. The Stonyfield Farm Diet for Weight Loss helps with weight loss

efforts. Additionally, a diet moderately high in lean protein is known to raise HDLs, the good cholesterol. Including dairy in your diet lowers the risk of diabetes, which is a significant risk for heart disease. See Dairy and Diabetes for more info. Does eating a low fat diet lower your risk of heart disease? Not so, suggests the results of a large study published in the February 2006 Journal of American Medical Association. The principal wisdom is to watch what Kind of fats you’re eating. Know Your Fats —You don’t need to say NO to All Fats The Very Good The healthiest fats are omega 3 fatty acids. Sources of these very unsaturated oils are: flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, oily fish, (like wild salmon, sardines and anchovies), fish oil capsules, egg yolk and dark green vegetables like seaweed, broccoli, kale and spring greens. For a comprehensive list of fish to emphasize and avoid, visit the Children's Health Environmental Coalition. Modern American diets are lacking in omega-3 content. We eat less fish and too much vegetable oil and processed fats which have been linked to increased heart disease and other inflammatory diseases. A diet high in omega-3 fatty acids is associated with reduced levels of the blood fat triglycerides. This is important because high triglycerides are a risk for heart disease. A child’s diet is also low in omega-3 oil. That’s why Stonyfield Farm developed YoBaby Plus Fruit & Cereal with DHA,(docosahexaenoic acid, an omega-3). DHA is

a natural fatty acid important for mental and visual development. Check out DHA for Infants and Toddlers for more information. The Good Sources of good fats include olive oil, canola oil, nuts and avocados. Monounsaturated oils are known to increase the protective HDL cholesterol. The Bad Saturated fats raise the lousy LDL cholesterol. They’re in cheese, butter, and the fat you cut off that piece of meat. A high LDL is associated with a higher risk of heart disease. LDL is part of the

blockage found in atherosclerosis. The Ugly Trans fats are worse than saturated fats. They are made from vegetable oils that have been processed into a solid fat through a chemical process known as hydrogenation. They lower good HDLs and raise LDLs, the lousy cholesterol. What do you put on that whole grain piece of toast, fruit dessert or baked potato? Try plain or flavored yogurt cheese. Yogurt cheese is a healthy substitution for butter and you can cook with it too. Eating Stonyfield Farm yogurt products as a source of beneficial live active cultures, the fiber inulin and as part of a

good fat diet can benefit your heart health in a number of ways! Check out the recipe index for more ideas. Suzi What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. health/ http://suziesgoats.wholefoodfarmacy.com/ http://360./suziesgoats

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