Workout Till your Heart is content

Work out to your heart’s content

Like every muscle, the best way to keep your heart strong is to use it. And like every exercise, you can choose to work on specific muscles like the heart. You don’t need to be the greatest athlete or the hardest trainer to boost your heart health, but you can choose the right kinds of exercise that’ll help keep your heart pumping.

What kinds of exercise do I need for heart health?

Any form of moderate exercise is good for overall health, but to focus on your heart, you’ll want to do aerobic exercises. An aerobic exercise, also known as “cardio,” can be any exercise that requires your heart to constantly pump oxygenated blood to your working muscles. Cardio exercises stimulate your heart rate and breathing rate, and challenge your heart to become stronger.

Whenever your heart beats, it circulates a volume of blood called a stroke volume. The stroke volume contains oxygen and other nutrients to send through your body to be consumed by muscles. By performing aerobic exercises, your muscles consume more oxygen, requiring the heart to beat faster and move more oxygenated blood. Over time, your heart will become stronger and pump a greater stroke volume.

It is recommended to get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise a week.[1]
Here are a few aerobic exercises that’ll give your heart health a boost.

Brisk walking or hiking
Time to throw on those walking shoes and go outside. Walking and hiking are great ways to start exercising your heart. Try taking a 20-25 minute walk each day, either around the neighborhood or on a trail.

Jogging or running
If you’re ready to push yourself a little harder, try going for a run or a jog. You can start small by running for 2-3 minutes for every 5 minutes of walking. The key is to keep your pace steady so that you don’t run out of breath.

Swimming
Jump right into your workout. Swimming is a great way to improve heart health and muscular strength and tone. It’s also a low-impact exercise, making it a good alternative to walking and running if you have joint pain.

Cycling
This is another aerobic exercise that is low impact, so it’s easy on the joints. Cycling gets your heart pumping while building your lower body strength. Try a spinning class at the gym, or hit the trails outside. You can also try cycling to work or to run errands.

Dancing
Who says exercising your heart can’t be fun? Dancing gets your heart rate going and can be a low-impact exercise depending on the style of dance. Best part is you can listen to your favorite tunes while you’re at it.

Key tip for exercising for heart health
Almost any exercise will get your heart beat going, but if your focus is on improving heart health, you’ll want to make sure your exercises don’t become anaerobic. Anaerobic simply means “without oxygen,” and it refers to any exercise that makes you lose your breath quickly. Even if you choose one of the exercises listed, it can become anaerobic if you’re pushing yourself too hard. So be sure to pace yourself so that your heart can keep up with your exercise.

If you have chronic medical issues, have physical limitations, or do not exercise regularly, it is recommended that you discuss exercise and physical activity with your physician.

[1]: American Heart Association Recommendations for Physical Activity in Adults. American Heart Association Recommendations for Physical Activity in Adults. N.p., 27 July 2016. Web.

Omega 3 Fats and the facts

A book review by Bruce P. Daggy, PhD, FACN, Chief Science Officer & SVP R&D, Shaklee Corporation.

As a nutrition graduate student in the 1980s, one of my projects concerned the effect of fish oil on blood lipid metabolism, and I’ve been involved in the launch of multiple omega-3 products since. Today, the term omega-3 is well known, and many people would also recognize the terms EPA and DHA on supplement labels. But as recently as 1970, no one was conducting research on fish oil and health. Since that time, more than 20,000 scientific papers about omega-3 have been published.

To learn the story behind this remarkable explosion of interest and why it is important to your health, I recommend the book The Missing Wellness Factors EPA and DHA by JØrn Dyerberg and Richard Passwater.1 As a resident physician in the lab of Dr. Hans Olaf Bang, Professor Dyerberg made multiple journeys by dogsled to remote Inuit villages in Greenland, collecting the blood samples that were the first to identify EPA and DHA in human blood. The treks of the Danish scientists Bang and Dyerberg mark the start of the journey of understanding the role of these omega-3s in health. Co-author Dr. Passwater authored the first book on omega-3 and heart health, so this look back and summation of current knowledge is in capable hands.

The role of omega-3s in health

The book can be viewed as divided into two sections. Chapters 1–7 recount the discoveries and explain the chemistry of the fatty acids. Members of the two families of essential fatty acids—omega-3 and omega-6—can be converted into other molecules with profound effects on metabolism and inflammation—good or bad, depending on the specific starting material and the overall balance of essential fatty acids in the system. The science geeks among us will enjoy these background elements. For example, those who have ever wondered what happened to all the letter vitamins between E and K will learn that a 1929 article called omega-3 “vitamin F.” The omega-3 story provides examples of how long scientists can take to reach a consensus. After more than 12,000 published clinical studies on omega-3, there is still no RDA for EPA or DHA. And to this day, articles are still appearing questioning whether fish oil has a role to play in cardiovascular health.

I would suggest those of a “just tell me what I need to know” mindset start with chapter 6 for some context, but those with really short attention spans can dip into individual chapters. The latter part of the book explores the evidence for a benefit of omega-3 in many areas of human health, covering the cardiovascular system, brain, fetal development, mood, vision, and more. Guidance is given concerning efficacious amounts of EPA and DHA, fish sources, and the use of supplements. Many people are not consuming even the “basic hygiene” amounts of EPA and DHA recommended in the book, much less the higher amounts that may be beneficial for some of us. References, many from the peer-reviewed literature of the past decade, are provided for those interested in learning more. And, indeed, this easily digested bite of nutritional science has found its place on my reference shelf.

Healthy Hearty Soup!

I could not wait to share this amazing recipe with you. Sometimes you just need some warm soup to heat you up during the winter months. Here is a healthy alternative you can choose to fill your soup cravings!

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

An easy-to-make, delicious, nutritious soup.

Makes 8 servings.                      

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower (about 1 1/2 pounds), broken into florets
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp. olive oil
Salt, to taste
5 1/2 cups water, divided
Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Cilantro, chopped for garnish
Whole wheat croutons

Directions:

Warm the olive oil in a soup pot or a large pan. Add the onion and cook it on low heat for about 15 minutes.

Add cauliflower, garlic, salt to taste, and 1/2 cup water. Increase heat to medium-low, cover pot and stew the cauliflower for 15 to 18 minutes, or until tender. Add another 4 1/2 cups hot water, bring to a low simmer and cook an additional 20 minutes uncovered.

Purée the soup in batches in a blender to a very smooth, creamy consistency. Pour back into pot and let it rest for 20 minutes to get a thick consistency.

Thin the soup with 1/2 cup hot water. Reheat the soup. Top with croutons (whole wheat and homemade if possible), a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, cilantro and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Nutrition Facts:

68 calories per serving,11 g protein, 30 g carbohydrates, rich in Vitamin C and potassium, 14 g dietary fiber.