Search

Navigation

User login

Calendar

Upcoming events

RETRO DESIGN & ANTIQUES FAIR(event)(5 days)
The National Ballet of Cuba is coming to Vancouver(event)(9 days)
8th Annual Vancouver Diversity Health Fair(event)(25 days)
Crimson Cabaret (event)(32 days)
The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster - One Year Later(event)(33 days)
Tibetan Singing Bowl Concert(event)(36 days)

Eat to Your Heart’s Content

A sure-fire recipe for maintaining a top-notch ticker

by Donna Barker

It’s February—the month marked by a sea of red hearts in store windows and skyrocketing sales of cards, flowers, chocolates, and diamonds that whisper, “I love you.” Even women like me, who don’t usually buy into the marketing hype, want to feel acknowledged by our sweeties on Valentine’s Day. Men, it seems, don’t have the same need: our hearts appear to be different in this respect.

Our hearts are also different in another, more important, way: how they develop heart disease. Whereas heart failure in men is usually due to systolic dysfunction (a.k.a. a “floppy” heart), for women it’s generally brought about by diastolic dysfunction (a.k.a. a “stiff” heart). For both sexes, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Canada.

A floppy heart usually develops due to a weakened heart muscle, which results in the heart being unable to adequately pump blood through the body. A stiff heart develops when the heart muscle stiffens so that the heart cannot fill normally with blood.

Floppy or stiff, if there’s someone in your life whose heart you want beating for many more Valentine’s Days, the wisdom behind cutting the risk of heart disease rings true for both women and men. Besides not smoking, drinking in moderation, reducing stress, and exercising for at least 30 minutes a day, a heart-smart diet can do wonders to reduce the chance of heart failure.

“Many researchers believe that inflammation is at the heart of heart disease and most chronic diseases. So the number one thing to do to maintain your overall health is to follow an anti-inflammatory diet,” explains Desiree Nielsen, a registered dietician and the nutrition operations manager at Choices Markets.

Since plant foods are at the core of an anti-inflammatory diet, that’s not an issue for me, a strict vegetarian for more than 20 years (bacon was my recent downfall). But it’s hard for my meat-etarian partner to swallow.

Nielsen’s advice for people who grab beef jerky over an apple when they feel like nibbling: “You don’t have to stop eating the food you love, just start adding a piece of fruit or a vegetable at every meal and snack.”

She also recommends increasing the amount of legumes (“the healthiest foods that nobody eats”), nuts, and seeds in our diets. Along with fruits and vegetables, these foods are where we find the lion’s share of high-quality, heart-healthy fats.

Furthermore, Nielsen suggests taking 1,000 IU of vitamin D every day. Although she has a “food first” philosophy for increasing vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in our diets, she says that we have only recently realized how important vitamin D is to managing chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer. As there are very few natural food sources for vitamin D, and most of us probably don’t spend enough time in the sun, researchers suspect most of us are vitamin-D deficient.

“While you’re at it, if you aren’t eating salmon and other fish on a regular basis, take a fish oil supplement that contains EPA and DHA, two omega-3 fatty acids that help with heart health,” Nielsen recommends. She warns, however, that people taking blood thinners should check with their doctor before adding fish oil supplements to their diet.

So, to say “I love you” this Valentine’s Day, why not prepare a heart-healthy dinner with your lover? Lee Stevens is a personal chef (leestevens.ca ) who specializes in helping clients make the transition to eating healthier foods.

“I support many clients with heart disease by preparing 20 heart-healthy meals for them to freeze and eat over a month, so they can stay true to the diet their doctor is recommending,” she explains.

Stevens offers a delicious, heart-healthy, and fun menu for Valentine’s Day. (If you want the actual recipes, send her an e-mail [lee.stevens@shaw.ca]. She’ll gladly share her secrets with you!)

To start, baby organic greens with toasted almonds and citrus poppyseed dressing. For the main course, heart-shaped salmon papillotes with caramelized onions and currants with a side of steamed asparagus. And for the ever-important dessert: chocolate mousse, made heart-smart by using silken tofu.

Throw in a bottle of wine, a couple of candles, and some Latin love songs. That should be enough to firm up any man’s floppy heart for the night. Or soften any woman’s stiff one!

Don’t Be Hard-Hearted

While doctors are good at diagnosing heart failure in men, they are not as good at recognizing it in older women. In an effort to help both women and their doctors better understand how heart disease (and stroke) affect the fairer sex, the Heart & Stroke Foundation launched the Heart Truth website. It gives women the information they need to evaluate their risk and to adopt a healthier lifestyle. thehearttruth.ca

Donna Barker Although she eschews cards and gifts for Valentine’s Day, Donna Barker enthusiastically accepts them for her birthday, which is also in February.