Keeping the Heart Healthy - exercise and nutrition

Written by Tena Moore


Regardless of the plethora of nutritional information available today, cardiovascular diseases still top the charts when it comes to deaths in the United States. The nutritional requirements for health haven’t changed that much over the years: fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, fish and lean meats, as well as exercise, are still the way to a healthy heart. If you are striving to keep your heart healthy there are a few things to keep in mind when you sit down to nourish yourself.

1)Your body needs soluble fiber not only to help lower cholesterol, but also for proper digestion. You can find this fiber in whole grains, nuts, and some vegetables and fruit. If you’re not getting enough fiber in your diet, think about adding ground flaxseed to your diet, or adding a daily drink of psyllium husks.

2) Plant stanols are healthy for the heart because they lower bad cholesterol. You can find them in vegetables and vegetable oils, fruits, nuts, seeds, and legumes.

3)Eat your Omega-3’s and eat them in abundance. They lower blood pressure, prevent clogged arteries, and lower your cholesterol. They are found in fatty fish, omega-3 enriched eggs, soy and flax.

Eating for a healthy heart is not about calories, it’s about nutrients. Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes and fish are packed with heart healthy vitamins and minerals that will keep you healthy for years to come.




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Red Wine is once again proven to be healthy. Drink up!

Red Wine is getting quite a bit of attention these days. Researchers are studying it thoroughly due to its high amounts of reservatrol, a compound found to be extremely healthy for cardiovascular health in mice. Recently a team from Harvard Medical School who paired up with the National Institute on Aging found that it not only provides heart benefits, but that resveratrol is also helpful in thwarting eye cataracts, improving balance and coordination and facilitating stronger bones.

Grab your favorite bottle of red and celebrate! (note: drinking too much red wine will have the opposite effect on balance and coordination).

The researchers used one year old mice for their experiment, the equivalent to a 35 year old human. They fed the mice varying diets, low-calorie and high-calorie, along with varying degrees of resveratrol measurements and found nothing but positive results. In fact, they found that the mice with high-calorie diets benefitted the most. The high calorie diet mice were not obese as they should have been and were found to live longer.

The mice that ate low-calorie and low resveratrol diets were just as healthy as those who ate high-calorie and high resveratrol diets.

So, the more calories you consume the more red wine you’ll need to drink. What a prescription for health!