Category: Heart-smart eating

– posts here focus on latest cardiac news or research about what we put into our mouths

How to stare down that plate of chocolate chip cookies

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 8 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

What would you do if you checked into your hotel room and found there a welcoming plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies waiting for you? I know what I’d do – I’d have a cookie. And then, because it tasted so darned good, I might eat another. And then, while I unpacked my suitcase, maybe just one more. And then, particularly if I were feeling tired or stressed or hungry, I might even say to myself: “Oh, what the heck! It’s been a hard day – and I deserve this little treat!” – and there goes the rest of that plate of cookies.

But that’s not what Dr. David Kessler decided to do when this very situation presented itself to him. As a person who had battled his own weight problems for years, he knew that he could have easily eaten all of those cookies in one gulp, but he also knew with equal certainty that he did not want to do that this time. There was only one way to gain the upper hand, and he had to act quickly.   Continue reading “How to stare down that plate of chocolate chip cookies” →

How to have a waste-free festive family dinner this year

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 9 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Since surviving a heart attack, I’m smugly happy to announce that my consumption of heart-healthy fruit and veggies has increased nicely.  I should preface that by explaining that I grew up in a Ukrainian family where we considered dill pickles to be a vegetable course.  So veggies are not my favourite food.

Sometimes, when shopping for that lovely fresh produce at the market, my “eyes are bigger than my stomach” – as my mother used to say – and the veggies at the very back of the produce crisper in the fridge can begin to resemble slimy, mushy compost instead of tonight’s dinner. My distress about this slime is why I like what Wasted Food blogger Jonathon Bloom is doing.  Continue reading “How to have a waste-free festive family dinner this year” →

Do you know why you should eat fish twice a week?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

Here on the West Coast of Canada, every small town on our island seems to lay claim to the enviable title of “Salmon Fishing Capital of the World!”  We  do love our salmon. And crab. And halibut, red snapper and many other kinds of local seafood.

According to experts at Mayo Clinic, eating two servings of fish a week could actually help to reduce your risk of heart attack by as much as 30%. For adults, that serving size is 3 ounces (85 grams) or about the size of a deck of cards.

“Doctors have long recognized that the unsaturated fats in fish, called omega-3 fatty acids, appear to reduce the risk of dying of heart disease.”

Here’s why those omega-3 fatty acids in fish are so good for your heart:   Continue reading “Do you know why you should eat fish twice a week?” →

The effects of sugar on heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

“I’m beginning to wonder about the effect of sugar on heart disease. I’ve heard about new studies being done on sugar raising triglycerides and high blood pressure. If this is the case, I am truly in trouble!”

I can hardly believe I haven’t addressed this topic here yet (out of 328 previous Heart Sisters posts written so far) but this woman’s comment got me thinking about sugar. Not that I need much prompting to think about sugar. I’m a recovering choc-a-holic who, many years ago, once ate half a box of Turtles just to get them out of the house.  (Anybody else out there relate to this kind of choco-fueled craziness?)

I thought so. A landmark report in the journal Circulation called Sugar and Cardiovascular Disease reminds us that well over half of North Americans consume a tooth-rotting, belly-busting 40+ teaspoons of sugar per day.  Continue reading “The effects of sugar on heart disease” →