We still haven’t discovered the fountain of youth, but we have learned a lot about our health and we know that healthy life habits play a key role.
Having a healthy heart is a good place to start! There are several factors involved in heart health, some are genetic and therefore beyond our control like family history, age, and gender. Others are controllable and require a good dose of willpower to adopt a healthy lifestyle, which can translate into food choices to avoid extra weight, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, as well as by controlling alcohol consumption.
Let’s focus on cholesterol.
For starters, it’s important to understand that our body produces 80% of the cholesterol in our blood. Doing some quick mental math, we realize that we can, therefore, only control 20%. The cholesterol found in food is not the primary cause of blood cholesterol levels, since it has no or very little effect on the cholesterol we produce. If there are any to watch out for, foods with saturated and trans fats are considered the most harmful.
Genetics is what plays a huge role in blood cholesterol levels for many people, even if their diets are low in saturated and trans fats, and that’s an excellent reason to stay focused on the positive! So on that note, here’s a list of top foods to integrate to your diet as opposed to a list with foods to avoid.
Key words: Omega-3, vegetable proteins, and fibre!
You can eat fish for its high omega-3 content, but eat it mostly for its taste! Choose salmon, trout, tuna, or even mackerel. Enjoy it wrapped in foil on the barbecue or in the oven seasoned with fresh herbs including dill, a classic, a few lemon slices, and a drizzle of oil. Prepare some homemade breading with corn cereal and spices including paprika, rosemary, and chili powder. Fish even tastes great cold in a meal salad.
Does thinking of a meal salad make your mouth water? Go for it! A meal salad is an excellent choice! Even more so if you can add some star ingredients including a dressing made with olive oil or even a blend of olive and canola oil. Then season as you please with some good vinegar, a dash of Dijon mustard, a smidgen of something sweet like maple syrup or honey, and fresh herbs to taste. Fill your serving of protein with legumes or nuts and switch it up — the choices are endless.
Then there’s soy! Very versatile, soy is a basic you can either eat or drink in a ton of ways. Edamames, which is what soy products are made from, make an excellent side while providing a healthy dose of protein! You can find them in the frozen vegetables section. Most common forms of soy include tofu (firm, silken and dessert), soy beverages and all other derivatives. To learn more about soy products, visit our blog!
If you’ve read a little on cholesterol, you’ve probably already heard of plant sterols. The good news is that sterols are naturally present in several foods including nuts, seeds, grains, fruits, and vegetables, as well as sunflower, canola and soy oils. Plant sterols block the absorption of cholesterol in the blood stream. The cholesterol is therefore eliminated and this helps lower cholesterol levels. But beware: only eating these sterols is not enough to keep your heart healthy; they need to be part of a balanced diet.
“Let food be thy medicine,” Hippocrates
You’ll note that for many chronic illnesses, the basic tips are all very similar. A coincidence? Surely not! There’s a lot of research being conducted in the field of health. Science is constantly evolving, as is our knowledge. We are therefore not in a position to understand the entire role food plays. There’s a synergy that is still a mystery. That’s why it’s important to have a varied and balanced diet that includes the least amount of processed foods possible, with foods coming from all food groups: varied fruits and vegetables, protein from animal, marine and plant sources, dairy products, and whole grains.
