More Than an Apple-A-Day: Multiple Portions of Fruits & Vegetables Heart Healthy

A number of studies have linked higher fruit and vegetable consumption and reduced risks of coronary heart disease and stroke. The findings are based on the epidemiolgical studies of large groups of people. Epidemiological evidence remains open to strong challenge as the causal relationships can be difficult to support. Are the nutrients in fruits and vegetables working directly to reduce the risk of disease? Or is it that people who eat more fruits and vegetable simply reduce their intake of the foods containing heart unhealthy nutrients---saturated fats, trans fats, salt? Or is there yet some other factor involved.\? The American Heart Association (AHA) has found the result sufficiently signficant to recommend increasing fruit and vegetable consumption as part of a heart healthy diet.

A new clinical study, published in Circulation (volume 9, no 16 april 28 2009, pp2153-2160) has identified a causal relationship. Specifically, the study found improvements in arterial health with 6% increase blood flow response for each additional portion of fruit and vegetables consumed daily.

In responding to the efforts to identify the active compounds in fruits and vegetables, the study's authors comment that rather than searching for the single magic bullet micronutrient, a more practical approach is likely to consider whole foods and associated dietary patterns. Thus, increasing fruit and vegetable consumptions is likely to have numerous beneficial effects due to synergistic effects of bioactive compounds.

So look beyond the apple-a-day to keep the doctor away. Multiple portions of fruits and vegetables--- each with different compounds that may work together to improve heart health---is recommended.

Cholesterol Lowering Videos-Web MD & Kardea Nutrition

Two videos --- one at Web MD and one at Kardea Nutrition --- offer insight into the power of nutrition to lower cholesterol. This power extends beyond avoiding foods high in cholesterol; it looks to nutritions that actively affect your body chemistry to improve (and lower) how you absorbs and metobolizes the cholesterol naturally produced by your body. These active nutrients include plant sterols, selected soluble fibers and selected fatty acids. Click on the links below to view.

Kardea Nutrition Video
Web MD Video

Shellfish, Mediterranean Diet & Cholesterol

Open any book on the heart-healthy mediterranean diet and you are likely to see recipes celebrating all sorts of shellfish.

While all shellfish, particularly shrimp, are a source of dietary cholesterol, many also deliver significant levels of Omega-3s. Mussels, for instance, deliver more of these heart-healthy fatty acids than many fin fish, and deliver an amount equivalent to a swordfish or albacore tuna. Oysters provide even higher levels.

Shellfish also are low in fat–only 10% in shrimp, about 20% in mussels and oysters. Enjoy grilled shrimp, mussels marinara, clams with linguine, or sauted scall0ps as exciting alternatives to red meats typically higher in the unhealthy saturated fats. Scallops and shrimp also freeze well. Store a few pounds of each in the freezer for a quick and delicious meal. Canned clams can awake a mid-week pasta dish and deliver an significant level of Omega-3s. Even fresh mussels, clams or oysters can be stored in your refrigerator for a few days—but remember, do not store in an air-tight bag. These mollusks need to breath until cooked.

Overall, the benefits of shellfish consumption — particularly to the extent that they enable you to dramatically reduce the consumption of higher saturated fats in red meats and dairy products and increase the weekly intake of Omega-3s from marine sources—outweighs the cholesterol. Remember: most of the cholesterol in our bodies is produced by our bodies. It does not come from the food we eat. Further, look to pair your shellfish with foods high in plant sterols and selected soluble fibers to block cholesterol absorption into the blood stream.