Quotes of the Month

Self love is the only weight loss aid that really works in the long run.
--Jenny Craig

We are not creatures of circumstance; We are creators of circumstance.
--Benjamin Disreaeli

Faith is an invisible and invincible magnet, and attracts to itself whatever it fervently desires and calmly and persistently expects.
--Ralph Waldo Trine

Heart Smart: Food to Eat & Foods to Avoid

Does Diet Really Matter?

Diet is an important and effective in overall heart health and disease prevention. Heart disease risks can get lowered even without cholesterol numbers going down, many factors are at play with heart health.

Consuming a low animal fat, plant-based diet abundant in unprocessed whole grains, fruits, and vegetables is a powerful weapon against heart disease, according to numerous studies. Traditional heart healthy diets are low in salt and saturated fat, yet high in cardio protective foods and nutrients including fiber, flaxseed, folate, magnesium, omega-3 fats, soy, and antioxidants, such as lycopene, flavonoids, and vitamins C and E. Eating foods rich in monounsaturated fat in place of artery-clogging saturated fat has been shown to promote heart health as well. Saturated fat is commonly found in animal products and processed foods, and heart friendly monounsaturated fat is present in avocados, canola and olive oils, nuts, and fatty fish including mackerel, salmon and tuna.

Heart Health Dietary Guidelines

• Decrease animal foods and saturated fats
• Decrease refined carbohydrates
• Avoid trans fats found in many processed foods (raises LDL, lowers good HDL)
• Consume abundant amounts of fruits & veggies, goal 2 1/2 cups a day
• Consume whole grains, nuts and seeds
• Choose healthy fats from fish, olive oil, nuts and seeds

12 Ways to Eat Like a Heart Healthy Mediterranean

• Replace butter with olive or canola oil
• Snack on nuts, seeds or fruit instead of processed food
• Use dairy as a condiment, sprinkle feta or goat cheese to flavor a dish
• Help yourself to whole grain bread, pasta and rice
• Fix at least a couple vegetarian meals every week
• Add a dish or two that contain legumes, beans and lentils
• Have fish (not deep fried) at least twice a week
• If you eat meat, favor chicken and poultry
• Eat red meat only occasionally, in small amounts
• If you drink alcohol, have no more than one to two glasses with a meal
• Enjoy fruit for desert
• Set aside enough time to savor every bite

Superfoods for Heart Health

• Oats
• Almonds
• Beans and lentils
• Blueberries, raspberries, cranberries
• Barley
• Avocados
• Broccoli

Double Your Nutrition Power Cooking
article adapted from Prevention Magazine February 2007

I learned so many fun and practical tips when I read this article I wanted to share it with all of you.

There are simple ways nutrition enhancing tips in the way you prepare your food.

1. Fire up Heart Protection
Heating Lycopene-rich tomatoes instigates a chemical change that makes the heart healthy nutrient much easier to absorb. Drizzle olive oil on fresh tomatoes and roast for 15-20 minutes or use canned tomatoes in your recipes

2. Maximize Cancer Prevention
After chopping garlic let crushed garlic stand for 10- 15 minutes before adding to your recipe. This allows the herb to generate compounds the blunt the damaging effects of heat, report scientists at Pennsylvania State University and the National Cancer Institute.

3. Get 10 times the Iron
Heat acidic foods like tomatoes, apples or lemons in a cast iron pot or pan to spike the amount of energy boosting iron you absorb more than 2000% suggests a Texas Tech University Study. Also coupling iron rich foods with high acid ones give a tenfold boost to your iron absorption. When making a spinach salad toss in mango or oranges to increase iron payoff. Other healthy ideas beans with tomatoes or cereal with strawberries.

4. Strengthen Eyes and Bones
Adding avocado, olive oil, nuts, olives or any healthy fat source to red, green, orange and yellow fruits increases the amount of fat soluble vitamins such as A, E and K. The healthy fat acts as a transporter for them. Simply add an olive oil dressing vs fat free, toss on nuts or seeds or avocado to any salad, or have some salsa with your avocado.

5. Stock up on Calcium
Ever wonder why your grandmothers chicken soup recipe called for vinegar, lemon juice or tomato to the mix? Pairing a slightly acidic broth with an on-the- bone chicken can up the soup’s calcium content by a whopping 64%, according to research at Harvard University and Beth Israel Hospital.

6. Grill Without Worry
You may have heard dire warnings about the carcinogenic compounds found in grilled meat called heterocyclic amines (HCA’s), well marinades to the rescue. When researchers at Lawrence Laboratory in Livermore, CA, soaked chicken in mixture of brown sugar, olive oil, garlic, mustard, lemon juice and salt for 4 hours they developed 99% fewer HCA’s after 20 minutes of grilling than unmarinated chicken did. When grilling hamburgers mixes in some rosemary, researchers have found that it can slash HCA production by as much as 72%.

7. Fight Colds and Flu
When slicing and dicing fresh produce cut larger pieces, less exposure to nutrient leaching oxygen and light.” A larger cut allows you to hold to more vitamin C, which helps booster immunity, “ says Roberta Lawson Duyff RD, author of the American Dietetic Assn Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. Quarter rather than cube or dice.

8. Double the Antioxidants
Dressing your salad with herbs can more than double it cancer-fighting punch, according to a recent Italian study. When compared with garden salads made with no added herbs, those featuring lemon balm and marjoram had up to a 200% more antioxidants per serving. Spice such as ginger and cumin also upped the antioxidant quotient.

Overnight Oatmeal

Butternut & Barley Pilaf

Spicy Black Bean and Sausage Chili

Organic Yellow Split Peas with Garlic and Basil

Baked Barley-Almond Pilaf with Kale

Quinoa with Oyster Mushrooms and Adzuki Beans

Stuffed Chard Leaves

Healing Soup: To Head Off that Fall Cold

Heart Healthy Yummies!

Chocolate
The Benefits: In recent years, chocolate has gained the reputation of a heart-supportive food, due to its antioxidant-rich flavonoid content., It is, however, important to realize that maximum benefits can only be attributed to dark chocolate, not milk chocolate. Significantly higher in flavonoids, dark chocolate has been shown in numerous studies to benefit many different aspects of heart health, including good circulation and antioxidant protection. And although it contains primarily saturated fat, dark chocolate is thought to have a neutral effect on cholesterol levels. As an added bonus, micronutrients, including magnesium and copper, are concentrated in dark chocolate.

Pomegranates
The Benefits: Revered by ancient peoples and one of the first fruits cultivated in the world, pomegranates are packed with antioxidants, including anthocyanins and ellagic acid. Modern studies have shown that just 2 ounces of pomegranate juice daily keeps the cardiovascular system, including arteries, healthy.
Source: Whole Foods.com

Beta-Glucan
Found in both oats and barley

Heart healthy—how? Beta-glucan helps lower “bad” LDL cholesterol in two ways. “It forms a gel in the digestive tract that traps dietary cholesterol, making it less available for absorption, so some gets ushered out of the body as waste,” says Julie Jones, Ph.D., professor of nutrition and a fiber researcher at the College of St. Catherine in Minnesota. Also, as fiber moves farther along in the digestive process, “good” bacteria in the colon digest it, producing short-chain fatty acids that get reabsorbed into the bloodstream. These are then picked up by the liver where they “inhibit enzymes that synthesize blood cholesterol—much in the same way statin drugs do,” says Jones.

Stick-to-your-ribs factor: Oatmeal may indeed be a superiorly satisfying breakfast—because its beta-glucan (with other kinds of fiber and resistant starches) slows digestion, helping to regulate blood-sugar levels. A 2006 study in Diabetes Care found that beta-glucan improved glucose control in normal and overweight people.
—Sylvia Geiger, M.S., R.D. From Eating Well Magazine

Boost your immune system and fight the flu naturally
Here are some powerful ways to fight the flu naturally according the November issue of Alternative Medicine Magazine.

Olive leaf extract (Olea europaea) is a powerful antiviral and antibacterial supplement as well as an immunity enhancer. Take one tablet every six hours. This is my personal favorite I use this at the first sign of a cold and it works like magic!

NAC (N-acetylcysteine), a form of the amino acid cysteine, has been shown both to reduce the severity of flu symptoms and boost the immune system. Take 600 mg twice per day.

Oregano oil (Origanum vulgare) is a superior antimicrobial agent for fighting the flu. It can also help to alleviate flu symptoms and even doubles as a potent pain reliever. Take 3 to 5 drops three times per day.

http://www .goodnewsnetwork.org
Their mission is simple. Lots of people hunger for positive news in their lives and sense this need in society as well. The birth of positive news programming was inevitable in today's media landscape and it will become a permanent fixture in the culture of the 21st century.

http://www.heart math.org
The Institute of HeartMath ®, a nonprofit 501(c)(3), is a recognized global leader in researching the critical link among emotions, heart-brain communication and cognitive function

http://www.drnor thrup.com/
Dr. Christiane Northrup's inspiring site.