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Healthy Food For Lunch Biography

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Eating for a healthy heart means filling your plate with fruits and vegetables, paying attention to fiber, eating fish a couple times a week and limiting unhealthy fats like saturated and trans fats, as well as salt. And although no single food is a cure-all, certain foods have been shown to improve your heart health. Find out how these 15 foods may help lower your risk of heart disease.

Whole Grains

People who eat plenty of whole grains tend to be leaner and have a lower risk of heart disease than those who don’t. This is probably because whole grains contain antioxidants, phytoestrogens and phytosterols that are protective against coronary disease.

The fiber in whole grains also has its benefits: various studies link a high-fiber diet with a lower risk of heart disease. In a Harvard study of female health professionals, people who ate a high-fiber diet had a 40 percent lower risk of heart disease than those who ate a low-fiber diet.

Aim to include plenty of foods that are rich in soluble fiber, which, studies show, can help lower “bad” LDL. Soluble fiber binds bile acid, a key component in fat digestion that our bodies make from cholesterol. We can’t digest fiber, so when bile acids are bound to it, they get ushered out of the body as waste. This causes the body to convert more cholesterol into bile acids, which ultimately has the effect of lowering circulating cholesterol levels. Foods high in soluble fiber include oatmeal, barley, beans, okra and eggplant, and citrus fruit, such as oranges.

Beans

Eating beans regularly is good for your heart, and you don’t need to eat a lot of them to benefit. A study published in the Journal of Nutrition suggests having just 1⁄2 cup of cooked pinto beans daily might lower cholesterol. Soluble fiber is a key reason why, says Philip Ades, M.D., author of the EatingWell for a Healthy Heart Cookbook (The Countryman Press, 2008). “Like all foods that contain a lot of soluble fiber, beans help bind cholesterol and keep it from being absorbed in the gut,” he explains. And, as the fiber is fermented, it produces changes in short-chain fatty acids that can inhibit cholesterol formation. (By-products of this same fermentation process are what cause the gas so often associated with eating beans.) Other components in beans also may be responsible for the cholesterol-lowering effect. Beans contain a variety of heart-protective chemicals, including flavonoids, compounds also found in wine, berries and chocolate, that inhibit the adhesion of platelets in the blood, which can help lower risk for heart attack and strokes.

Nuts

Nuts are chock-full of vitamins, minerals, heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and low levels of saturated fats. Research suggests that people who eat nuts—walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, pine nuts and peanuts (which actually are legumes)—two to four days or more per week have a lower incidence of heart disease than people who eat them less often.

Chocolate

Researchers have discovered that eating moderate amounts of flavanol-rich dark chocolate has a blood-thinning effect, which can benefit cardiovascular health, and it may also boost the immune system by reducing inflammation. The Kuna people of the San Blas islands, off the coast of Panama, have a rate of heart disease that is nine times less than that of mainland Panamanians. The reason? The Kuna drink plenty of a beverage made with generous proportions of cocoa, which is unusually rich in flavanols that help preserve the healthy function of blood vessels. Maintaining youthful blood vessels lowers risk of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and dementia.

Some research also suggests cocoa may help lower blood pressure. It appears that a compound in cocoa, called epicatechin, boosts nitric oxide, a substance that has been shown to be crucial to healthy blood vessels. Plentiful levels of nitric oxide help keep blood pressure from climbing. Be sure to choose dark chocolate, ideally one that’s 70 percent cocoa solids; milk chocolate lacks significant levels of epicatechin.

Tomatoes

An excellent source of vitamin C, plus vitamin A, potassium and fiber, tomatoes are high in lycopene, which works with other vitamins and minerals to aid in disease prevention. Research suggests that the combination of nutrients in tomatoes may help prevent cardiovascular disease. Cooking may actually increase the health benefits of this lush fruit because although cooked tomatoes have less vitamin C, their lycopene is more available and antioxidant activity is undiminished by cooking.

Find out which healthy foods to add to your diet this summer.

It’s summer—that amazing time of year when fresh produce abounds. As a dietitian and nutrition editor I love that there’s an abundance of fresh, delicious and healthy choices. Better yet: many of summer’s fruits and vegetables are brimming with secret health benefits. Here are some of my favorites and why they’re a particularly good choice in the summer—as reported on in EatingWell Magazine.

In the fast-paced world of nutrition research, it seems like a hot discovery hits the news every week. So we asked prominent scientists doing groundbreaking work on how edibles stave off illness to pin down the 100 most nutrient-packed foods. To make our list, a food had to be very rich in at least one vitamin, mineral or other compound known to protect against cancer, heart disease or other diseases. Be supermarket smart and use this list as your shopping list. you body will be glad you did!

GLOSSARY OF HEALTHY-FOOD TERMS:

ANTHOCYANINS: Plant pigments that help protect you from heart disease.

ANTIOXIDANT: A substance that prevents harmful molecules called free radicals from damaging DNA. Free radicals may be a cause of cancer, heart disease and other chronic diseases.

CAROTENOIDS: Antioxidant plant pigments that are converted to vitamin A by the body. There are several types: beta-carotene, a major plant source of vitamin A, which lowers the risk for heart disease and cancer; lutein and zeaxanthin, which are linked to a reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration, a major cause of vision loss and blindness in older adults; lycopene, linked with a lower risk of heart attack and cancer.

CONJUGATED LINOLEIC ACID: Beef, lamb and full-fat cheeses are rich in CLA, which halts tumor formation in animals.

ELLAGIC ACID: A plant compound that detoxifies and traps carcinogens.

FAVONOIDS: Plant compounds that deter cancer in a number of ways.

FOLIC ACID: B vitamin that helps prevent birth defects and lower levels of homocysteine, an amino acid linked to heart disease.

INDOLES: Compounds that help fight cancer.

ISOFLAVONES: Compounds that act as weak estrogens (phytoestrogens). Eating 90 mg of isoflavones daily can improve bone density.

ISOTHIOCYANATES: Compounds, including sulphoraphane, that protect against cancer.

LIGNANS: Phytoestrogens that help prevent cancer.

MONOUNSATURATED FAT: The heart-healthiest type of fat.

OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS: A type of fat that reduces the risk factors for heart disease.

ORGANOSULFIDES: Substances that help lower cholesterol.

PHYTOESTROGENS: Compounds that are structurally similar to human estrogen. One difference: They do not promote breast and endometrial cancer. In fact, they help protect against these cancers, while providing many of the same heart-and bone-protective effects as human estrogen.

THE 100 HEALTHIEST FOODS

Fruit

Fat/Calorie Breakdown

Body Benefits

(1) Apples 1 medium apple:

81 calories, 0 g fat An apple's 3 g of fiber help you meet your fiber goal of 20 g to 30 g daily. High-fiber diets can lower heart disease risk.

(2) Apricots 3 apricots:

51 calories, 0 g fat A good source of beta-carotene (which is converted to vitamin A by the body), providing the equivalent of 35% of the RDA for vitamin A

(3) Bananas 1 medium:

105 calories, 0 g fat Bananas are a great source of potassium, which plays a key role in heart health and muscle function. Plus each one has 2 g of fiber.

(4) Blackberries 1 cup:

74 calories, 0 g fat This fruit boasts a whopping 10 g of fiber in a single cup.

(5) Blueberries 1 cup:

81 calories, 0 g fat Blueberries help prevent and treat bladder infections by making it hard for bacteria to stick to urinary tract walls.

(6) Cantaloupe 1 cup, cubed:

84 calories, 1 g fat An antioxidant double whammy, with 68 mg of vitamin C and enough beta-carotene to cover 65% of your daily vitamin A quota.

(7) Cherries 1 cup:

84 calories, 1 g fat A good source of perillyl alcohol, which helps prevent cancer in animals. Heart-protective anthocyanins give cherries their color.

(8) Cranberry

juice 1 cup:

144 calories, 0 g fat Fights bladder infections the same way blueberries do.

(9) Grapefruits 1/2 fruit:

39 calories, 0 g fat A good source of vitamin C and a compound called naringenin, which helps suppress tumors in animals.

(10) Purple grapes

and juice 1 cup seedless:

113 calories, 9 g fat Offer three heart-guarding compounds: flavonoids, anthocyanins and resveratrol. (Green grapes are not rich in them)

(11) Kiwi

fruit 1 medium kiwi:

46 calories, 0 g fat Just one little fruit packs a mean vitamin-C punch (74 mg) and an impressive 2.8 g fiber.

(12) Mangoes 1 mango:

135 calories, 1 g fat A single mango has enough beta-carotene to cover your RDA for vitamin A while racking up 57 mg of vitamin C.

(13) Oranges 1 orange:

61 calories, 0 g fat One orange provides an impressive 50 g to 70 g of vitamin C, 40 mcg of folic acid and 52 mg of calcium.

(14) Orange

juice 1 cup:

112 calories, 0 g fat One of the richest sources of folic acid: A cup provides one-quarter of the 400 mcg RDA for folic acid and boasts 96 mg of vitamin C.

(15) Calcium-

enriched orange juice 1 cup (from concentrate):

112 calories, 0 g fat drinking this beverage is a healthful way to make a 300-350 mg dent in your daily 1500 mg calcium requirement.

(16) Papayas 1 cup, cubed:

55 calories, 0 g fat Loaded with vitamin C (86 mg per cup), a healthy dose of fiber (2.5 g) and a sprinkling of beta-carotene and calcium.

(17) Prunes 1/3 cup, stewed:

87 calories, 0 g fat Prunes' famed laxative effect is no mystery: There are 5 g of fiber (both soluble and insoluble) in just 1/3 cup.

(18) Raspberries 1 cup:

60 calories, 0 g fat Teeming with 8 g of fiber per cup, they also boast vitamin C, ellagic acid and anthocyanins.

(19) Red

grapefruit 1/2 fruit:

37 calories, 0 g fat All the goodies of white grapefruit and more: They provide up to 100% of the RDA for vitamin A and are also high in lycopene.

(20) Strawberries 1 cup, sliced:

50 calories, 0 g fat Strawberries have high levels of ellagic acid and anthocyanins, and are rich in vitamin C (95 mg per cup) and fiber (3.8 g per cup).