Striving4Zen

By now we know that certain types of food do more for our health than others, but when it comes down to it, a lot of the research we read states that a particular item "may" promote heart health. Researchers sorted through 50 years of studies to weed out the definites from the maybes and discovered that only some diets claiming heart-healthy benefits are supported by strong evidence.

They found that the Mediterranean diet, incorporating plenty of vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, whole grains, cheese or yogurt, and fish, legitimately promotes heart health, and diets rich in vegetables and nuts also serve to lower your risk for heart disease. While there's some evidence about the ability for omega-3 fatty acids, whole grains, alcohol, vitamins E and C, beta carotene, folate, fruit, and fiber to positively affect heart health, the jury is undecided on whether or not these elements live up to the claims.

While more research needs to be done to qualify those dietary factors as being heart healthy, there is conclusive evidence that diets high in red meat, butter, refined grains, and high-fat dairy products, high-glycemic index foods, and trans-fatty acids are harmful to heart health. If you're concerned about heart health, revising your diet to resemble the typical Mediterranean diet could be a good place to start.

Thanks again FitSugar!

Labels: eating healthy, fruits and veggies, healthy diet, heart disease, heart healthy, Mediterranean Diet, Nuts, Whole grains

Try something different. Add a little lychee to your fruit salad. Not only will it add an exotic tickle for your taste buds, but it will tickle your ticker, too.

When scientists recently measured the heart-helping polyphenol content of fruits popular in France, lychees were bested only by strawberries. Grapes came in third.

The Top 10

Who would have thought lychees -- cultivated in China -- would become a fave fruit in France? But the top polyphenol-spiked fruits there, in order, are:
strawberries, lychees, grapes, apricots, apples, dates, cherries, figs, pears, and white nectarines.

(Here’s how polyphenols help prevent heart disease.) The small, heart-shaped red fruit is now going global and making an appearance in U.S. markets, too, especially during the summer.

Two More for Your Ticker

In addition to impressive amounts of polyphenols, lychees also have heart-smart vitamin C and potassium. (Find out what this mighty mineral does for your blood pressure.)

SOURCE

Labels: citrus fruits, eating healthy, heart healthy, lychee, polyphenols, strawberries, superfoods

Exercise can cause structural changes in the heart -- and the changes can vary depending on the type of exercise.

Researchers found that endurance athletes showed an increase in the size of both their left and right ventricles after 90 days of team training. However, athletes who only did strength training had excessive growth in their left ventricles, but no change at all in their right ventricle size.

In addition, the ability of the left ventricle to fully relax between beats (diastolic function) was enhanced in the endurance athletes, but it worsened in the strength trainers.

It is possible that this could point the way towards tailored recommendations for rehabilitation and recreational exercise for people with heart problems.

Source

Labels: exercise, healthy living, heart healthy

When it comes to eating your omega-3 fatty acids salmon often seems your best choice. It is high in omega-3s and easy to come by as well as easy to cook.

A new study reveals that wild salmon is more heart healthy than its farmed cousin. Not only is farmed salmon higher in environmental contaminants, but is lower in beneficial fatty acids like omega-3s. In the Norwegian study, participants who ate a diet high in wild salmon, which contains pure fish oil, had better health profiles in terms of biomarkers for heart health as well as blood vessel health when compared to study participants who ate farmed salmon. Farm salmon is high in vegetable oil, which is increasingly found to be used in fish feed.

If you are eating salmon for the fatty acids, go wild!!

SOURCE

Labels: fish farming, heart healthy, Omega-3s, salmon, Wild vs. Farmed