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SmartHealthToday: Healthy change can start with little steps — and results can be amazing


By Dianne Gebhardt-French
SmartHealthToday

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Change can come one step at a time; and the steps don’t have to be large ones. Increasing the amount of vegetables and fruit in your diet doesn’t have to mean a plateful of Brussel sprouts.

A bowl of fruit or green salad atop the dinner plate gets the meal off to a good start. If kiwi or strawberries are a family favorite, serve with a generous scoop of blueberries. A single kiwi packs a whopping 106 percent of the recommended amount of vitamin C.

So, you’ve delivered:
• Fiber
• Potassium
• Vitamin C
• Antioxidants
• Anti-inflammatory and blood sugar-lowering nutrition

Meet us halfway on the path to increasing fruits and vegetables, urges the American Heart Association (AHA). Fill at least half your plate with fruits and vegetables to reach the recommended 4-5 servings every day.

Fresh vegetables are the no-brainer but the AHA reports that, as long as you avoid added sugars and high sodium, you can work with canned, dried or frozen vegetables. Rinsing canned vegetables can rid some of the salt, as well.

Steamed or microwaved vegetables are extraordinarily simple.

Dress up your brown rice with heaping helpings of chopped fresh green beans or mushrooms. On busy nights, add a generous helping of frozen peas minutes before taking the rice off the stove. The kids are always too busy talking to bother with picking out the vegetables, and the dish avoids the high sodium level of restaurant fried rice.

The AHA also suggests:

• Using the oven to cook your meal? Scrub up a whole potato or better yet a sweet potato and cook it at the same time.

• Add a plethora of chopped vegetables, including onions, garlic and celery to soup, stew, beans, rice, and sauces, including spaghetti.

To ward off heart disease by incorporating a variety of nutrients and vitamins in your diet, the AHA urges you to choose fruits and vegetables of different colors every day.

Looking for a way to enjoy your veggies without the added salt? Check out these tasty alternatives.

Another simple step you can take toward a healthier heart?

Join us on Oct. 11 for Take Time for Your Heart.

Click below for more information.
 

 heart

SmartHealthToday is a service of St. Elizabeth Healthcare.


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