Healthy Eating For A Healthy Heart - Nutrition Matters

El Centro, California (NAPSI) - More women of all ages are getting the message that heart disease is their #1 killer. However, one-third of women still underestimate their own risk for heart disease and most fail to make the connection between risk factors and their chance of developing heart disease.

To help, The Heart Truth, a national awareness campaign for women, recommends four healthful lifestyle changes-eating right, being physically active, not smoking, and keeping a healthy weight-to help women lower their risk of heart disease by as much as 82 percent. One great way to keep a healthy weight is to eat a diet low in sodium, saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol. In cooking and at the table, flavoring foods with herbs, spices, wine, lemon, vinegar or salt-free seasoning blends creates great-tasting meals, often with heart-healthy benefits.

In just 30 minutes, you can cook a heart-healthy meal.

Asian-Style Chicken Wraps

For Sauce:

1 small jalapeño pepper, rinsed and split lengthwise-remove seeds/white membrane and mince
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
1 Tbsp garlic, minced

3 Tbsp brown sugar

½ cup water

½ Tbsp fish sauce

2 Tbsp lime juice

For Chicken:

Read More

Healthy food drive

Foods that support a healthy diet aren’t always easy to provide on a budget. The Salvation Army is hoping to alleviate some of the impact on local wallets without compromising nutrition with their local Good Food Box initiative, a part of the organization’s Dignity Project.
The food boxes will provide families and individuals with a month’s supply of fresh fruits and vegetable at a subsidized cost. The Salvation Army will buy the produce in large quantities at discounted costs and redistribute it in the boxes.
Captain Peter van Duinen said this will be the first time the Salvation Army has taken on the local dignity initiative.
“It’s being done, of course, because nutritional foods can be the most expensive to access,” he said. “A balanced nutritious diet is important.”
According to van Duinen, the box program has a tentative start date of May 18. Participants will pay one month ahead and boxes will arrive on the third Wednesday of each month.
The Salvation Army currently operates the largest food bank in the district, but van Duinen said, while it does meet a need, most food is processed and canned, and not the most nutritious.
Other community groups on board with the project include the Parry Sound District Social Services Board (DSSAB), which donated funds to the project and Sobeys, the food supplier.
“We’re looking at initially launching the program with 40 participants,” said van Duinen, who also said residents can call in to be put on a customer list.
The boxes include the good food box, a family-sized assortment of fresh fruit and vegetables, emphasizing season produce for $18, with a smaller version for singles and seniors at $13; the fruit box, $13, and the organic box with mostly certified organic produce $34 or $24.
The Salvation Army is also looking for volunteers to help with the program.

Read More

5 Healthy Breakfast Choices

Kick-starting your morning with a healthy breakfast is imperative — it is, after all, the most important meal of the day. Does breakfast in less than 10 minutes sound familiar?

It’s far too easy to grab something on your way to work. I'm guessing this will usually be a bagel, croissant or other pastry, as that’s what I’m often tempted to pick up when I’m running late. But eating a healthy breakfast is essential for maintaining energy and attention levels, as well as for helping you avoid snacking, but there are variations you should focus on, depending on diet, fitness regime and your ultimate goals.

We’ve chosen some of the most common athletic challenges and checked out what healthy breakfast choices are at your disposal when training.

1. The muscle-builder's breakfast
OK, so you can go the protein shake route, but really? They’re unpleasant and, unless you’re a complete muscle nut, no fun. You want to be enjoying your breakfast as well as building those biceps. Picking the right breakfast will not only help with muscle building but will also fill you with energy for the day ahead — a perfect pick-me-up. We’re looking to kick-start your metabolism and get your body into an anabolic state by going for high protein, along with some complex carbs and healthy fats. An egg-white omelet with shredded chicken is a winner.

Add some finely sliced chili to get the blood flowing and then serve with some avocado diced on top for a healthy fat. With a squeeze of lime (top off with cilantro if you have some), you have mastered the healthy breakfast choice.

Read more:

Use Your Phone as a Calorie Counter

These days it seems like you can do everything on your phone. Want to make sure your seafood isn’t too high in mercury? There’s an app for that. Want to do some yoga and have a Droid? There’s an app for that, too. Want to take SHAPE magazine with you everywhere you go (of course you do!)? Yep, again, an app for that! But a new iPhone app is making waves in the healthy eating world: a calorie counter that promises to calculate nutritionals just from a photo.

Just released earlier this week, Meal Snap works like this: First you take a photo of your meal with your cell phone. Then, if you want, you can add a descriptive caption. Next, the system somehow calculates the nutritional breakdown of what’s in your meal, sending you a message back with the facts on your food. The app also keeps track of your meals and calorie counts over time, can share your eats on social media sites like Facebook, and allows you to view estimated calories for each meal and for entire days. All of these tools, according to the manufacturer Daily Burn, help you to better manage your weight and help you hit your nutritional goals for the day.

While the site claims that “magic” is behind the calorie counts you get back, I’m guessing that there’s actually a team of people who work behind the scenes for the app, looking at user’s food photos and sending back their guesstimates. For just a $2.99 download, it’s not a huge investment for your healthy lifestyle by any means, but the makers do emphasize that the calorie counts are an “estimate.”

Read More

Healthy family recipes with low glycemic index are best

Mums looking to get themselves or their household in shape should prepare healthy family recipes with a low glycemic index, according to one expert.

Nutrition consultant Dr Carina Norris explained that "the most sustaining foods are the ones which contain a mixture of protein, good fats, and fibre – all three elements are very filling. Glycemic index (GI) foods are the ones which contain that balance".

It is these kinds of healthy family recipes, she added, that cause a slower, more sustained increase in blood sugar levels and therefore keep energy up for longer.

Dr Norris went on to say that the psychological effect of choosing foods that take a while to eat can help families keep the weight off, as they are likely to make people feel fuller.

Read More

Healthy habits win dinner battles

IF you have ever been in a household with young children, you may have seen the battlefield.

Food flung missile-like lays strewn all over the floor, a defiant little soldier refuses to give in, while on the other side, the parents, sag in exhaustion.

But teaching children to eat, and eat well, need not be a battle, according to dietitians.

Food and Nutrition Australia dietitian Sharon Natoli said mealtime madness could be avoided if parents established healthy eating habits in their children early in life.

She suggested parents make and eat healthy meals with their children as one way of encouraging them to make healthy choices from a young age.

Her sentiments are echoed by Sunshine Coast dietitian Julie Norton, who is completing PhD studies in how parents influence their children’s eating habits.

Ms Norton said the best thing parents could do to get young children to eat, and eat healthily, was to lead by example.

“It’s not what we say as parents, it’s what we do. If you’re trying to get a child to eat breakfast, and you’re not eating breakfast yourself, you’ve got Buckley’s,” she said.

“But if you can sit down and eat the same food as the child, the child is more likely to eat it.

“A lot of parents say they haven’t got the time for themselves because they are so busy running around with their kids.

Read More