While the whole menu isn’t fair game, some of your favorite sandwiches like the black forest ham, oven roasted chicken, and subway club on 9-grain bread—at 6 inches—meet the American Heart Association’s standards for amounts of calories, sodium, cholesterol, saturated fat, and trans fat. (Want to drop pounds eating delicious restaurant fare? Pick up Eat This, Not That! 2012 today.)
Shocked? Heart-healthy foods don’t have to mean boring oatmeal and dry salmon. Here are three more that may surprise you.
Spicy Foods
Heartburn or heart protector? When researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong studied the effects of capsaicinoids—compounds that lends flavor to chili peppers and jalapenos—in hamsters, rodents fed the spicy foods showed lower levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol than the animals that ate capsaicinoid-free meals. What’s up? Capsaicionoids appear to block the gene that causes your arteries to contract, leading to relaxed muscles and better blood flow to the heart, researchers believe. Your move: Don’t go overboard with the Mexican. Instead, spice up a salad with half a chili pepper, or a tablespoon of chili flakes a day. Bonus: Sip that Bloody Mary guilt-free—it’s also packed with the capsaicinoid cayenne. (Learn how to Blend the Perfect Spicy Bloody Mary while you’re at it.)
Heartburn or heart protector? When researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong studied the effects of capsaicinoids—compounds that lends flavor to chili peppers and jalapenos—in hamsters, rodents fed the spicy foods showed lower levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol than the animals that ate capsaicinoid-free meals. What’s up? Capsaicionoids appear to block the gene that causes your arteries to contract, leading to relaxed muscles and better blood flow to the heart, researchers believe. Your move: Don’t go overboard with the Mexican. Instead, spice up a salad with half a chili pepper, or a tablespoon of chili flakes a day. Bonus: Sip that Bloody Mary guilt-free—it’s also packed with the capsaicinoid cayenne. (Learn how to Blend the Perfect Spicy Bloody Mary while you’re at it.)
Beer
Red wine may soon have company on the healthy drinks menu. According to a recent review of more than 18 studies on booze, beer is just as good for your heart as vino. Drinking a little more than a pint of beer a day could make you 30 percent less likely than non-drinkers to suffer from stroke, heart attacks and heart disease, researchers found. Credit heart benefits to the alcohol itself, and polyphenols (antioxidants) in beer.
Red wine may soon have company on the healthy drinks menu. According to a recent review of more than 18 studies on booze, beer is just as good for your heart as vino. Drinking a little more than a pint of beer a day could make you 30 percent less likely than non-drinkers to suffer from stroke, heart attacks and heart disease, researchers found. Credit heart benefits to the alcohol itself, and polyphenols (antioxidants) in beer.
Burgers
As long as they’re grass-fed. How come? A heart-healthy diet has to be balanced in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio is usually way out of whack on most of your conventional beef, but with grass-fed beef, it’s close to 1:3—similar to the ratio found in most heart-healthy fish. Another bonus? Grass-fed beef is loaded with cardio-protective vitamin E. Check out your local farmer’s market to find the best grass-fed beef.
As long as they’re grass-fed. How come? A heart-healthy diet has to be balanced in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio is usually way out of whack on most of your conventional beef, but with grass-fed beef, it’s close to 1:3—similar to the ratio found in most heart-healthy fish. Another bonus? Grass-fed beef is loaded with cardio-protective vitamin E. Check out your local farmer’s market to find the best grass-fed beef.
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