Soda increases the risk of heart attack

Does sugar harm your heart? Well.........................................

"You sit at a fast food restaurant with your cheeseburger, fries and cola, knowing full well that the fatty, cheesy meat and oily fries aren't good for your ticker.

When researchers recently examined 88,000 women participants in the decades-long Nurse's Health Study and controlled for a fatty diet (along with smoking, obesity and other known cardiovascular risks), they discovered that sweetened soda pop causes trouble all by itself. Drinking even one 12-ounce can of regular soda daily boosts your risk of a heart attack by 24%; with two or more servings, the danger is further increased, by 35%, says lead author Teresa Fung, ScD, associate professor of nutrition at Simmons College , in Boston .

Fung was surprised at how quickly problems developed among the study participants. "We think of heart disease forming over a long period of time, but sugary beverage consumption increased the relative risk after just a few years," she said."

~ Via MORE Magazine July/Aug 2009, page 139.

H/T: Beth LeDune, RN – cardiac unit

Pumpkin: One for Your Porch, One for Your Plate

When you grab a pumpkin for your fall porch this year, grab one for your plate, too. Why? Two really good reasons: Pumpkin makes an incredibly rich and flavorful base for all sorts of soups, stews, and desserts. And it’s absolutely packed with blood-pressure-friendly nutrients.

Halloween Help for Your Heart

Pumpkin flesh is crammed full of phenols -- a type of health-promoting antioxidant that’s found in many plant-based foods. But pumpkin phenols may have particularly body-kind qualities. In cell studies, phenols from pumpkin flesh put a damper on the same enzyme that some blood pressure drugs target to reduce vascular tension. In other words, the phenols in pumpkin may help keep blood vessels relaxed, which means better blood pressure and better heart health. (Here’s another fun way to relax your blood vessels.)

Save the Seeds

When you scoop out your pumpkin, save the seeds so you can roast them. Pumpkin seeds are rich in alpha-linolenic acid -- a healthy fat that also helps protect blood vessels. No time to cook fresh pumpkin? No problem. Use canned pureed pumpkin. It’s precooked, tastes great, and is just as good for you. BTW, cooking pumpkin seems to enhance its phenolic properties.

Recipe Corner

Of course, pumpkin is best known as a great pie filling. But put a new twist on it with this quick, simple, and yum-o recipe from EatingWell: Frozen Pumpkin Mousse Pie. And when you’re ready to expand beyond dessert, try EatingWell’s easy, breezy Pumpkin Popovers.

~ Via Real Age.

Eat Like A Mediterranean!

Eating like a Mediterranean, by including lots of fresh vegetables, whole grains and healthy oils in your diet, may help lower your risk of heart disease. Discover two quick and easy Mediterranean snacks that will help keep your heart strong. EatingWell Food and Nutrition experts show you how to make two quick and delicious Mediterranean style snacks.

Cholesterol Won't Kill You, But Transfat Could

UI scientist writes book of simple truths about food

First the nutrition gurus told us we shouldn't eat butter because it's an artery-clogging saturated fat.

Then they told us to watch out for margarine because it's an artery-clogging trans fat.

Fred Kummerow never wondered which one to spread on his toast. He knew butter was better for us more than half a century ago, and he explains why in his new book, "Cholesterol Won't Kill You But Trans Fat Could: Separating Scientific Fact from Nutritional Fiction in What you Eat."

A 93-year-old University of Illinois food scientist who's focused his life's research on the role of fat and diet in heart disease, Kummerow said he wrote this book to debunk common food myths and share his belief that America is on the wrong track, by focusing so much attention on cholesterol to reduce cardiac deaths.

One of Kummerow's daughters, psychologist Jean Kummerow, helped him with the writing to make sure it's understandable for a nonscientist audience, he said.

Fred Kummerow says cholesterol, a life-sustaining substance needed to make new cells in the body, has gotten a bad rap – while not nearly enough attention has been focused on the ill effects of manufactured trans fats.

Contrary to common belief, he writes, six decades worth of research haven't proven that cholesterol actually causes heart disease; and cutting too much of it from our diets can actually do more harm than good.

"By focusing on lowering cholesterol levels, we may possibly be creating health problems in the future and sidetracking efforts to find the causes and cures (or at least a way to delay the onset) of heart disease," he writes. MORE