Eat Deliciously, Rockford! Week 4: Food and Heart Health

Hey, Friends!
Last week was Valentine's Day week, and of course we still wanted to eat deliciously, while also being mindful of our new mindset of cooking food ourselves so we can control the ingredients.  Diet can play a large part in heart health and can impact your risk for heart disease.  That being said, I have a few recipes for you to enjoy that contain ingredients that can have a positive influence on your heart health.  If you would like to read more about heart healthy foods, you can click here.

Fusilli with Spinach with Asiago Cheese

A recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, Food Network

Click here for the recipe.

Heart healthy ingredients: 

• spinach (leafy greens are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, also a good source of Vitamin K which helps protect your arteries)
  

• fusilli (Choose whole wheat pasta!  Whole grains are higher in fiber, which may help reduce "bad" LDL cholesterol)
  

• tomatoes (loaded with lycopene, a well known antioxidant plant pigment)
  

• olive oil (high in antioxidants and monounsaturated fats)

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bites

I love these treats because you can get your sweet fix in these small bites.  It satisfies that craving, and the peanut butter adds some protein and fat that helps satisfy you.  You will notice that I added some juicy raspberries on top--one more added nutrition bonus. Also, easily adapted to be a vegan treat if you substitute a vegan cream cheese for the dairy cream cheese!  So technically, not exactly "heart healthy" but these bites still contain a few ingredients that are better for your heart than some other sweet desserts.

Heart healthy ingredients:

• dark chocolate (I used Lily's stevia sweetened dark chocolate chips to stir into the cream cheese peanut butter mixture and then used a melted dark chocolate bar for the dipping.  Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants like flavonoids that can help boost heart health)
  

• berries (also rich in antioxidants, which is associated with lower risk of heart disease)

One goal of our Eat Deliciously, Rockford newsletter is to highlight local resources to help you build a delicious life. For our purposes, that means people or organizations that will encourage you in all aspects of your health journey.

Below you'll be connected to Karen Radtke, who is one such resource.  In addition to being a holistic Nurse Practitioner, she is also a Board Certified Health Coach, with over 18 years experience in various healthcare settings, including primary care and chronic disease management. 

Over the next few weeks she'll be sharing specific tips for taking care of your heart!

Karen Radtke, MSN, APN
Holistic Nurse Practitioner &
Board Certified Health Coach
Integral Health Solutions
http://Integralhealthsolutionswi.com

February is National Heart Health Month 

--Karen Radtke, Holistic Nurse Practitioner

February is Heart Health Month, so it’s a good time to pay closer attention to factors that influence heart health.

One of these factors to be aware of is the importance of knowing your numbers, in particular to know your cholesterol level, which can predict heart disease. There are actually several numbers to know. In a healthy adult, Total Cholesterol should be in the 90—199 mg/dL range; Triglycerides (a form of fat) should be less than 150 mg/dL; HDL (known as “good” cholesterol because it transports fat back to the liver to be broken down) should be ≥ 45mg/dL in men, and ≥ 55 mg/dL in women; LDL (also known as “bad” cholesterol because high levels are strongly linked to heart disease) should be less than 100 mg/dL if you have risk factors for heart disease, or less 130 mg/dL if you are at low risk for heart disease.

However, don’t feel pressured into taking cholesterol medicine if your total cholesterol and/or your LDL is slightly above the normal range. Your Health Care Provider can order additional testing, such as the LDL particle size and High Sensitivity CRP, which measures vascular inflammation, to get a more accurate picture of your true risk for heart disease. 

Inspiration for the Week

Teddy Roosevelt famously shared this pearl of wisdom.

Resist the temptation to compare yourself to others.  Especially in these days of social media, where everyone only presents the most positive, interesting and happy view of their lives.  Remember, this is only 1 side of the story.  

Your life may not be perfect.  It may not be the life you thought you would have.  But, each day is a new day to make progress.  What if you don't even know which way to go?  What if you feel lost?  Take a deep breath.  It is ok.  Have you heard the quote:  "All who wander are not lost."  Maybe you need to hear it.  Wandering is ok.  I'll be 62 this year and I'm still trying to figure out my life.  I think we are all in a state of "becoming" what we are meant to be.  Breathe in all of your best intentions, fill your lungs, and breathe out all of the garbage (negativity.)  Hang in there!

DELICIOUS FOOD MAKES HEALTHY EATING FUN & FAR FROM BORING

We have spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best ways to encourage you on your health journey.  Eating and shopping patterns are hard to change, but getting excited about good food can help drive the change. We will be offering our "Eat Deliciously, Rockford" newsletter.  Over the next 12 weeks, It is our goal to share

• delicious recipes 

• planning tools

• strategies for shopping and prepping

We also plan to bring you guest articles from local health coaches, nutritionists, herbalists, and wellness experts.  Sometimes it is difficult to know where to start, or who to look to for help.  This is another way we can bring encouragement and support as you commit to a healthier year this year than last year.  Remember:  progress, not perfection.  Small choices can drive big change.  Be patient with yourself and eat deliciously!  If you would like to receive the "Eat Deliciously, Rockford" emails, directly to your inbox, sign up below.