Despite the terrible figures around COVID-19, heart disease is still the number one cause of death among men and women around the globe. February is heart health month and the perfect time to focus on adding in heart helping foods to your eating routine! Try these ideas!

OLIVE OIL

In cooking, limit the amount of butter that you use and instead, move in olive oil. This is important to help your heart health! Butter is primarily saturated fat, for example: 1 tablespoon of butter has 12 grams of fat and 7 grams saturated fat. Compared to olive oil which per tablespoon has 14 grams of fat and ONLY 2 grams of saturated fat.

This doesn’t mean that you can never use butter again! But when possible, move in olive oil instead!

Quick tip: If the taste of olive oil is too strong for certain dishes, pick-up a bottle of “light” olive oil, which is light in flavor because it has been pressed more than extra virgin olive oil, which is from the first press of the olives.

BEANS

Beans are so great for heart health because they are rich in fiber! This is important because fiber is linked to improving blood pressure and cholesterol levels. One cup of beans has between 8 and 17 grams of fiber! For example: one cup of lentils has 8 grams of fiber and one cup of chickpeas has 17 grams of fiber.

There are plenty of ways to add-in beans from soups, chili, stews, or even dips. Here are links to a couple of my favorites: bean dip, white chicken chili, and roasted beet hummus.

Also simple ways to add-in beans like roasted chickpeas from Biena Snacks that come in a wide variety of flavors and some treat-like flavors too (e.g. milk chocolate!). Each serving is about 130 calories plus it delivers 6 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein. Click here to buy some from their website or check your local stores like Target or Wegmans for them as well!

Or BadaBeanBadaBoom are so crunchy and delicious! These have 100 calories and 5 grams of fiber per pack! They come in a wide variety of flavors too! My personal favorite flavor is Sweet Sirarcha.

Click here to buy some from their website or check local grocery stores like Wegmans.

VEGGIES

While I’m sure you know that you need to eat vegetables, most people still aren’t eating enough vegetables routinely. Vegetables are important for heart health because like beans, they deliver fiber! Plus all of the color from vegetables brings along important antioxidants and plant compounds that are linked to helping health in many ways - including heart health.

Here are some ways to boost your veggie intake!

For a snack, appetizer, or side dish at dinner serve cup sliced veggies with hummus or your other favorite dips!
Have two different veggies at meals - Quick tip: stock up on frozen veggies to make adding extra vegetables a breeze
Make vegetable based soups, like Creamy Tomato Soup or Fall Squash Soup
Go plant-based at least one day per week - try dishes like Creamy Pasta Primavera
Snack on celery filled with light cream cheese or creamy peanut butter