I would be remiss if I did not post something about food and heart health for February, which is Hearth Month. During the entire month I have been receiving or reading about heart health in the newspapers, special supplements in the mail, and booklets at food stores.
One booklet from Whole Foods is called Healthy Heart. It is small enough to fit in your purse (4″X6″) and read on the bus or train, but complete enough to give you basic information. (I put this in Health Flashes instead of Reviews because I am not reviewing the whole booklet, just the chart.)
The center of the booklet is a chart with three columns:
1) nutrients we need for our hearts (actually, our whole bodies)
2) what these nutrients do (ex. calcium to balance the beating of the heart)
3) the food sources of calcium, in this example.
The foods listed are all the foods that seem to be written and talked about for staying healthy, in general, such as flaxseeds, whole grains, colorful fruits and veggies, garlic, oat bran, green tea, seeds and nuts,dairy, fish, poultry, etc. The one food I disagree with is canola oil, which is on their list. I also don’t eat meat, fish or poultry, so I use the non-meat choices.
The booklet is free, so if you go to Whole Foods, look for it on your way out. If you can’t find it in the store, ask one of the managers. (The print is small & I was unable to scan it successfully.)