Barbara Howard Media

February—American Heart Month

Heart Disease is the Number one cause of death for all adult Americans. It cuts across race and gender lines. About every 25 seconds, an American will have a coronary event, such as a heart attack or angina (chest pains). Each minute, an American will die from a coronary event.

The good news is that you can delay or prevent many coronary events by living a healthy lifestyle, according to extensive research by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Heart Association.

The AHA promotes “Life’s Simple 7,” steps can help add years to your life:

1. don’t smoke;
2. maintain a healthy weight;
3. engage in regular physical activity;
4. eat a healthy diet;
5. manage blood pressure;
6. take charge of cholesterol; and
7. keep blood sugar, or glucose, at healthy levels.

To go along with this, the CDC has specific nutrition guidelines to maintain optimal cardiac health:

1. Choose lean meats and poultry without skin and prepare them without added saturated and trans fat.
2. Select fat-free, 1% fat, and low-fat dairy products.
3. Cut back on foods containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils to reduce trans fat in your diet.
4. Cut back on foods high in dietary cholesterol. Aim to eat less than 300 mg of cholesterol each day.
5. Cut back on beverages and foods with added sugars.
6. Choose and prepare foods with little or no salt. Aim to eat less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. All persons who have hypertension, all middle-aged and older adults, and all blacks should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day.
7. If you drink alcohol, drink in moderation. That means no more than one drink per day if you’re a woman and two drinks per day if you’re a man.
8. Keep an eye on your portion sizes.

So what does all this mean to you? Basically, watch three things:
1. Sodium
2. Cholesterol
3. Your weight

Sodium
Sodium is one of the most abundant elements on earth. Most people think of salt when sodium is mentioned because salt is the mineral compound sodium chloride. However, foods contain sodium in other forms.

Sodium is one of the body’s three major electrolytes (along with potassium and chloride). Electrolytes control fluids going in and out of the body’s tissues and cells. Too few electrolytes can muscle cramps and mal absorption of nutrients. Too many electrolytes can increase blood pressure. Excess intake of electrolytes (usually through excess salt intake) is a common cause of fluid retention, specifically more fluid retained in the blood vessels. This increased volume of blood requires the heart to work harder to pump blood to all the tissues in the body.

The American Heart Association advises a sodium intake of less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. This is one teaspoon of salt.

To reduce salt, cook at home. Restaurants want you to like their food and use generous amounts of salt to entice you to eat. Likewise, convenience foods, such as cheese, chips, and deli meat each contain high amounts of sodium. Even sweet foods, like sports drinks and candy bars, are high in sodium.

Here are some tips to reduce sodium in your own cooking:
Use herbs and fresh produce, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and vinegar to increase flavor while keeping sodium low.

Before you shake that shaker, squeeze the citrus. Foods high in acid, such as citrus juices, wine, or vinegar “clean” your tongue, making it able to detect more flavor. If a dish is under seasoned, add some lemon juice and re-taste. Often, you’ll find you don’t need the salt. Citrus zest also has the same effect.

Prepared seasonings can have high salt content and increase your risk for high blood pressure. Replace seasoning mix with salt-free seasoning mix (recipe below).

Canned, processed and preserved vegetables often have very high sodium content. Look for “low-sodium” veggies or frozen vegetables. Compare the sodium content on the Nutrition Facts label of similar products (for example, different brands of tomato sauce) and choose the products with less sodium.

Recipes on next page >>

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