…no doubt you've heard that rhyme.  Well, they truly are "magical" for a lot of things, including reducing your risk of heart disease!

Beans are high up on the list for one of the greatest foods of all time…

Gram for gram, it would be harder to find a more nutrient dense food for the same cost.

Outside of fruits and vegetables (both carbs), beans are a winner in the carb category too (and, technically, they are a fruit anyhow) – super high in fiber, yet they offer a good amount of protein and other nutrients too.

In fact, a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in 2003 showed that black beans had antioxidants levels equivalent even to some fruits!  The levels of the particular antioxidant, anthocyanin, which gives beans and dark fruits their color, were 10 times as high in black beans compared to oranges – and were equivalent to grapes, apples, and cranberries!

Now all beans are fantastic (pinto, garbanzo, kidney, cannellini, etc), but this particular antioxidant was particularly high in black beans.

Antioxidants fight something called free radicals; too many free radicals and low levels of antioxidants have been associated with heart disease and other diseases.

Aside from antioxidants, we know fiber is fantastic for heart health, but beans also provide folate and magnesium, which both may be responsible for some of their heart health benefits too.

Check this out – in one study, researchers followed more than 16,000 middle-aged men from around the world for 25 years.

One of their findings – the higher the consumption of beans, the lower the risk of death from heart disease.  And not just a little lower – there was an 82% reduction in risk!

Another study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine followed nearly 10,000 Americans for 19 years … people eating the most fiber, which they found to be 21 grams/day compared to those who ate the least (5 grams/day) had 11% less heart disease.  The authors attributed this finding to the high fiber in the diet.

This wasn’t just isolated to bean consumption, but since they provide around 10 grams per ½ cup, they’re surely an easy option.

And keep in mind even the "highest" intake of 21 grams/day is less than the recommended intake, which is upwards of 25g+ per day.

So how do you include more beans?

• Add them to a salad
• Use them in place of red meat in dishes like chili, quesadillas, or burritos
• Add them to a wrap with mixed veggies (add avocado for an even better nutrient punch)
• Add them to eggs with mixed veggies
• Mix them with canned salmon and some balsamic vinaigrette (a personal favorite) 
• Find a black bean soup recipe or black bean burger recipe online for ideas.   

Aim to include 1/2 cup of beans at least 4 times per week.

80 million.  That’s the amount of pounds of avocados estimated to be eaten on Superbowl Sunday.

30 million.  That’s approximately the number of pounds of five popular snack foods (potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, popcorn, and nuts) Americans will eat on Superbowl Sunday.

2.5 million.  That’s how many nuts will be eaten on Super Bowl Sunday.

1,200. That’s the approximate amount of calories people will eat on Superbowl Sunday in snacks alone.  Not counting the meals (or drinks)!

20%.  That’s the increase in sales of antacids on Superbowl Sunday alone. 

Startling facts, huh?  Think we overdo the high fat, high calorie foods and alcohol a bit too much?

Is it possible to still be “heart healthy” and enjoy the Superbowl?

OF COURSE!  

Here are a few ideas…

We talked about avocado earlier in the week – well with 80 million pounds eaten on Superbowl Sunday, it’s one food we do pretty well with.  Here’s a recipe for homemade guac – a favorite Superbowl snack at the Mohr House (even Ella loves mashed avocado)!  

Guacamole

We won’t revisit the nutrient benefits of avocados – check out our article on the health benefits of avocado here if you missed it earlier in the week.

Instead, here’s a super simple guacamole recipe you can try for the game tonight:

Ingredients

2 fully ripened Avocados, halved, pitted and diced
1 tsp salt
1 TBS fresh lime juice
2 TBS, chopped cilantro
Dash cayenne pepper (optional if you want some added kick)

Directions:
In a bowl, combine all ingredients.  Cover and chill until ready to serve (NOTE: the avocado might get slightly brown in the fridge.  No problem, just stir it up.
Prep time: 5 minutes.  Yields 1 ½ cups

Nuts

Nuts can be fantastic for you, but at the same time they can be way too easy to overeat.  

That’s where in shell pistachios come into play – take off the shell, enjoy the pistachio, but then don’t discard the shells.  Leave them visible in a bowl – research published in the Journal of Consumer Research showed that when people saw the “residue” of foods they’d eaten, they ate 27% less overall! 

That’s an incredibly simple way to eat less fat and calories.  

Pizza

It’s estimated that at least 58% of Americans order pizza on Game Day.

Save some money.  Save the hassle.  And save a ton of fat and calories by making your own – with a tortilla base rather than a thick, doughy, fiber free crust.

Try this super simple recipe – or watch our video on how to lose fat eating pizza!

Ingredients
Sprouted grain tortillas
Favorite tomato sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Favorite toppings (ideally choose veggies over meats)

Directions
Preheat your oven to 500 degrees
Top each tortilla with sauce, cheese, and your favorite topping
Place in oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown.  Enjoy!

Moral of the story – enjoy the game, eat foods you love, and may YOUR team win!

Practical, yet still healthy.

These are one of the all time greatest foods for a ton of reasons.

• They taste great (most important)
• They’re insanely healthy
• They’re portable
• They’re non perishable
• Lots of data suggests those who eat them daily weigh less
• Similarly, data shows that those who eat raw nuts reduce their risk of heart disease.

Sound like winners in my book!

In fact, in 2003, the FDA awarded tree nuts (pistachios, almonds, walnuts, etc) a qualified health claim: “Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces of most nuts, such as pistachios, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease.”
There needs to be a significant amount of supportive evidence to “earn” a claim like this … that says something.

Here’s an example of one study with pistachios – it was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition – and reported that two handfuls of pistachios/day with participants lowered the “bad” cholesterol, LDL by 12%, and when adding 3 ounces per day (a few servings) they raised the “good” cholesterol, HDL. 

The benefits appear to be coming from the fiber, high levels of antioxidants, and a compound called phytosterols.  All great stuff!

And you know another benefit with pistachios in particular – when you buy in shell pistachios, it takes you longer to eat them, so you’re less likely to overeat. 

Remember, while super healthy, all nuts are a very concentrated source of calories – so portion control is still important!

There are similar studies about other nuts – almonds, walnuts, and so on.  Variety is the key to get the greatest benefit from the varied nutrients and compounds.  While it's common for pistachios to be sold in shell, other nuts are sold like that too — give them a whirl, break out the nut cracker, and you'll be monitoring portions without even thinking about it!

• Try them as a snack with a piece of fruit
• Add them to yogurt or cottage cheese
• Top oats with raw nuts
• Add them to a salad

There are a ton of options – they should be part of your everyday diet (as long as you’re not allergic).
 

Drink up!

That’s what several studies seem to suggest – and we’re not talking alcohol.

Today is all about tea. 

Recently we talked about the lack of sufficient evidence to demonstrate that green tea boosts weight loss.

But outside of that of the lack of evidence with boosting fat loss, there are a handful of studies that suggest drinking black tea is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease (green and white teas are great too).

In fact, 3 different studies showed as much as a 10-12% heart disease reduction! 

Pretty powerful when you add in all the other factors we’ve covered.

How Does Tea Do THAT?

First, keep in mind that these people weren’t sedentary smokers who happened to drink a couple cups of tea each day and that's all.

There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle and drinking tea was just one positive habit.

With that said, tea is a fantastic source of an antioxidant called “flavonoids.”

And a handful of studies show flavonoids may improve endothelial function – very simply, we know if the endothelium does not function correctly it is considered to be an early sign of heart disease.  So an improvement in endothelial function is a good thing.

Other data suggests regular consumption of tea may lower blood cholesterol levels too.  All in all, it's a great source of antioxidants…

Overall pretty impressive … particularly when you replace calorie containing beverages with unsweetened, brewed tea, and add the tea to all the other lifestyle changes we're talking about on here.

Give it a whirl and your heart will thank you!

Today we’re shifting away from foods for heart health and jumping into physical activity…

…and not your traditional “walk 60 minutes each day” physical activity or do intervals for fat loss.

But the movement you do the other 23 hours of the day.  

This is often called Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) – very simply, the movement you do outside of structured physical activity.

It includes things like standing, fidgeting, taking the stairs, pacing, chewing gum, typing, talking, etc.  
These all don’t sound like much in the grand scheme of things, but research proves otherwise.

Data suggests all this extra NEAT accounts for about 15-20% of your energy expenditure – or, more simply, how many calories you burn.  That’s a pretty big chunk!

There were some interesting findings in a study published just a few years ago in the Journal Science, (2005, Interindividual variation in posture allocation: possible role in human obesity):

Lean individuals “moved” (standing, fidgeting, etc) 2.5 hours more than obese individuals each day.  They also sat nearly 3 hours less each day.

These differences were responsible for burning an additional 350 or so calories each day!  

So what does this mean in plain English?  If you do what the lean people did in this study, stand more and sit less, you’d lose approximately 37 pounds at the end of 1 year!

Pretty convincing, right?

Very simply – in addition to your daily structured exercise (whatever that means for you) you need to be as active as possible the other 23 or so hours during the day.

Even the most active "gym rats" often move very little – train for 30 or 60 minutes, sit for at least 8-10 hours in front of a computer, come home and plop down on the couch for the next few hours until going to bed and laying for another 6-8 hours.

Everyone needs to move more.  

How can you do this? 

• Take walking breaks during the day – for every 50 minutes at your desk, get up and move for 10 minutes.
• If you’re reading something, try walking around vs. simply sitting.
• Always take the stairs vs. the elevator or escalator.
• Simply look for as many ways to move as you can.

We’ll never say this should all replace structured exercise – it is in addition to structured exercise.  

It can truly make or break your fat loss goals…and when you have less body fat, you have a lower risk of heart disease.  

For more tips and strategies on reducing the risk of heart disease, check out:

Wild salmon vs Farm Raised for Heart Disease

Eating Oats for a Healthy Heart

Heart Healthy Oils in Avocados