Healing Foods | My Healing Kitchen

Avocados Pump Up Heart Health

Contrary to popular belief, avocados are not “full of bad fats”: They are stuffed to the gills with heart medicine. One of the most important nutrients avocados bring to the table is the carotenoid family—super-charged antioxidant anti-inflammatories that keep hearts strong. Avocado’s healthy fats boost absorption of carotenoids – even from other foods. 1. Carotenoids slash the risk of heart disease. In a study of...

Oats are Heart-Healers

Take heart! Oatmeal is a great comfort food and cardio-protector. You get a triple dose of cardiovascular healing and slash your risk of heart attack with a daily breakfast bowl of oats. 1. Eat oats to strengthen you heart. Oats contain magnesium, and higher magnesium consumption has been linked to a drop in heart attacks. The Nurses’ Health Study looked at the diets of 88,375 women over 26 years and found that those with...

The Top Heart Healing Superfoods

Welcome to My Healing Kitchen! As a member, you will receive weekly articles featuring the top Arthritis Healing Superfoods. (If you’re not yet a member, we invite you to join us!) Over 9,000 studies confirm that food is your best medicine. If you struggle with heart disease, that’s encouraging news. New studies show that certain foods have the ability to slash the risk of heart disease and stroke, relieve angina,...

Oats Are Your Best Heart Medicine

A followup of discharged hospital patients who had suffered heart failure revealed that 37.3% died during the first year following a heart attack, and 78.5% died within 5 years of a heart attack, in spite of costly drug treatment with such drugs as ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers. That’s a pretty poor prognosis. The good news, though, is that one of the humblest foods on the planet — steel-cut oats — has...

Arteries Love Avocado

Avocado is a fruit whose name is derived from the Aztec word “ahuacatl.” It is also known as the “alligator pear,” due to its shape and leathery skin. Most important for those with cardiovascular disease (CVD), it is rich in oleic acid, which lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol, as well as blood-pressure-lowering potassium and heart-healthy folate. 1. The fat in avocados is heart healing. People often think...

Olive Oil For Heart Health

Extra-virgin olive oil is the quintessential ingredient of Mediterranean cuisine, but not just for its flavorful contribution to vegetables and pasta dishes. Multiple studies have shown that a balanced diet of natural foods including extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) and other healthy fats has a significant positive impact on heart health. Eating a small quantity of cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil every day reduces risk of...

Onions Offer Layers of Heart Health

Peel away the layers of onion skin and you’ll find more than one ingredient to heal your heart. Onions not only bring abundant flavor to your favorite dishes but are some of the most powerful allies for a healthy heart and circulatory system around. Abundant in phytonutrients, onions help prevent dangerous blood clots, lower blood sugar and risk of heart attack and help raise levels of HDL—the good cholesterol. They...

Healthy Hearts Love Bright Red Tomatoes

The tomato is the victim of an identity crisis: it originated in the New World, not Italy, as we would expect; it’s a fruit, not a vegetable; and unlike many other fruits and veggies, it’s even better for you when it’s cooked. Tomatoes are high in many nutrients that support heart health, helping reduce inflammation and the risk of atherosclerosis while promoting a robust circulatory system. 1. The lycopene in tomatoes...

Chocolate is Heart-Healthy!

Celebrate Valentine’s Day every week with small servings of healthy dark chocolate! Natural cocoa is high in heart-healthy compounds that improve blood flow, lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of blood clots. But chocoholics, take note: Both quality (dark chocolate with a minimum 70% cocoa solids) and quantity (one one-inch square a day) are key to harnessing chocolate’s protective benefits. 1. Dark...

Spectacular Spinach Powers Heart Health

Popeye knew what he was talking about: Spinach is indeed a superfood, especially when it comes to cardiovascular health. Spinach is one of the most nutritionally dense foods in the kitchen, jam-packed with vitamins and minerals. It deserves its reputation as a lean, green, heart-disease fighting machine that reduces inflammation, lowers high blood pressure, reduces risk of stroke and helps prevent heart attacks. 1. Spinach...

Salmon: Go Wild for Heart Health

Wild salmon is a powerful aid in the treatment and prevention of heart disease. Why? Because it’s chock-full of omega-3 fatty acids, which keep arteries soft and flexible, lower blood pressure and decrease the likelihood of atherosclerosis. Salmon’s omega-3s also help you maintain a healthy weight, an important factor in preventing heart disease. 1. Wild salmon reduces the risk of heart attack. Wild salmon are a...

Beans Help Heal Your Heart

Many cultures around the world rely on beans as a primary component of their diet, without even knowing they’re a heart-healing superfood. Beans help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and blood pressure and reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, as well as improve circulation. 1. Eat beans for a powerful heart. In a 20-year-long study published in 2001 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, people who consumed beans at least 4...

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