February 15, 2007
Be good to your heart!
It's not as hard as you think! A healthy diet and lifestyle are the best weapons you have to fight cardiovascular disease. By making these simple steps part of your daily life, you can achieve long term benefits to your health and heart.
Start by knowing how many calories you need daily to maintain your weight. Do not consume more than you know you can burn up every day.
Engage in regular physical activity to burn up those calories you take in. Aim for at least 20-30 minutes of moderate exercise daily or on most days of the week. If 30 minutes at one time is not doable, divide it into 10-minute sessions throughout the day. To make exercise more fun and enjoyable, do it with your family and be healthy together.
Here are some activities the whole family can do together:
• Dance and move to the music
• Play active games indoors and outdoors
• Take a walk together
• Throw and kick a ball
• Shoot and dribble a basketball
Eat a variety of nutritious foods from all the food groups. Base your eating pattern on these recommendations:
• Choose lean meats and poultry without skin and prepare them without added saturated fat.
• Select fat-free, 1 percent fat or low-fat dairy products.
• Cut back on foods containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils to reduce trans fat in your diet.
• Cut back on foods high in cholesterol. Aim to eat less than 300 milligrams of cholesterol each day.
• Cut back on beverages and foods loaded w/added sugar.
• Choose and prepare foods with little or no salt.
• If you drink alcohol, drink in moderation. That means, one drink per day if you're a woman and two drinks per day if you are a man.
• Keep an eye on your portion sizes.
• Stop smoking, if you smoke, and stay away from second-hand smoke.
Here are a couple of heart healthy recipes that are easy to prepare and heart friendly.
Teriyaki Salmon
1 lb Fresh Salmon cut into 4 oz. pieces
Prepare the marinade: 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Combine all ingredients of the marinade and mix well.
Pour over the salmon and marinate in a ziplock bag for at least 3 hours.
Remove the salmon, and discard the marinade.
Grill (or bake) until fish begins to flake.
Pineapple-glazed Chicken Thighs
6 pc skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
Fresh ginger, cut into _ inch slices (approx. 3" piece)
2/3 cup pineapple juice
2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 cup pineapple chunks
3 green onions, thinly sliced, including green portions
Coat a large nonstick frying pan with nonstick cooking spray and place over medium heat. Add chicken and ginger and cook, turning chicken every few minutes until well browned on both sides.
In a small bowl, stir together the pineapple juice and soy sauce. Pour into the the frying pan, let boil and cook for 3 minutes.
Uncover and add the sesame seeds & the pineapple chunks.
Continue cooking, turning chicken occasionally until opaque through out and the liquid has reduced to a glaze. Transfer to a platter and serve garnished with sliced green onions.