February is Heart Healthy Month

What do you think is the #1 killer of women in the United States?

A. Lung cancer
B. Breast cancer
C. Heart disease

If you answered “C.” you’d be right.

All month long is American Heart Month. Eating healthy, exercising regularly, quitting smoking, and keeping your blood pressure and cholesterol at their optimum levels are the best heart-healthy steps you can take.

At Skinny Kitchen, I make it simple for you to maintain a healthy diet. Delicious tasting food can still be heart healthy. What’s important to remember is it’s the overall pattern of the choices you make that counts in the long run.

Here’s some heart healthy tips I try to use in most of my recipes and you can too:

1. Choose lean meats and poultry (without skin).

2. Select fat-free and low-fat dairy products.

3. Use fats that are heart healthy such as olive oil, canola oil and spreads with no trans fat such as Smart Balance Light or reduced-fat butter.

4. Incorporate fiber rich beans into your diet.

5. Ditch the salt shaker on your dining table and try to cut back on the amount added to your cooking.

6. Choose whole grains, whenever possible.

7. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables and add them to recipes such as fresh berries to salads.

8. When a recipe calls for whole eggs, use Egg-Land’s Best eggs, which are higher in vitamin D, E and contain less saturated fat and cholesterol.

9. If a recipe calls for browning the meat first, after it’s browned, always drain the fat in the sink before adding back to the pan. This cuts the fat and calories way down.

Remember, you only have one heart…Please treat it well!