Copyright: Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD, May 2008
The Beat Goes On: Heart Health and Nutrition
Although exercise is one of the best ways to improve heart health, even
athletes are not immune from heart disease. You have undoubtedly heard
reports of marathon runners who die of heart attacks and football
players who have strokes. Women, like men, need to pay attention to
heart disease; it is the #1 killer of women, higher than all cancers
combined.
To address the topic of heart disease among active people, the Sports
and Cardiovascular Nutrition practice group of the American Dietetic
Association (www.SCANdpg.org) featured heart health as the theme of
their annual convention (April 2008, Boston). The following bits of
information from that conference might inspire you eat wisely to keep
your heart beating for a long and healthful lifetime.
• First of all, when it comes to heart disease, you should know your
cholesterol numbers. Get your blood tested for total, LDL and HDL
cholesterol. Having a low LDL is the primary goal for reducing heart
disease. If your LDL is >160 mg/dL, the sooner you lower it to <130, the
better off you'll be.
• Foods that actively lower LDL include oats, barley, soy, beans,
almonds/nuts, and plant sterols/stanols (added to margarines such as
Benecol). Although each single food might have only a small
cholesterol-lowering effect-for example, consuming three glasses of soy
milk a day might lower LDL by only 5%, combining several of these foods
becomes very powerful. For example, in subjects with high blood
cholesterol, a diet rich in oats, nuts, soy, and phytosterol-enriched
margarine reduced LDL by almost 30% in four weeks. That's as powerful as
cholesterol-lowering drugs!
With minimal effort, you can consume LDL-lowering foods on a daily basis
and achieve long term benefits. Plus, by filling up on oats, nuts, and
beans, you are not chowing on bacon, cookies and steak-and gain the
added benefit of displacing those sources of artery-clogging saturated
fats.
• Oatmeal is easy to add into a sports diet. If cooking oats is not your
style, simply eat them raw-mixed in with cold cereal. For example,
Wheaties + raw oats + slivered almonds + (soy) milk + fruit creates an
easy heart-healthy breakfast. Microwaving a packet of instant oatmeal
(with a spoonful of peanut butter) creates a tasty, effective
pre-exercise and/or afternoon snack.
• Inflammation, caused by cholesterol-filled plaques in blood vessels,
plays a role in heart disease. Foods that reduce inflammation include
salmon and other oily fish, walnuts, fiber-rich whole grains, fruits,
vegetables, and even dark chocolate. Among fruits and veggies, the Big
Six are apricots, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, broccoli and spinach. Eat
them often!
• The Mediterranean diet, rich in olive oil, fruits,vegetables, fish,
and seafood is also protective and offers a 7% reduction in mortality
from heart disease. Consider using more olive oil for salad dressings,
sauteing vegetables, and as a dip for bread (instead of butter)-but
watch the calories!
• Eating 8 ounces of fish per week, especially cold water fish (salmon,
mackerel, sardines, herring) rich in omega-3 fats, can reduce the risk
of death from heart disease by 36% (and from other diseases by 17%).
Eating fish delays death within the hour after a heart attack, providing
time to get the victim to the hospital for treatment. Plan one lunch
with tuna (with lowfat mayo) and one dinner with salmon each week.
• Humans cannot make omega-3s, that 's why we need to eat them. A
healthy person can get the recommended intake from fish. Just 8 ounces
salmon (the richest source) provides a week's worth of omega-3's.
(Cardiac patients need more, necessitating fish oil pills.) Salmon is
also a rich source of vitamin D. Three ounces canned pink salmon
provides the daily requirement for D. D protects against high blood
pressure, diabetes, cancer, and many other health issues. (For a recipe
with canned salmon, try Simple Salmon Patties. See Sidebar)
• What's good for the heart is good for the mind (and the rest of the
body, for that matter, because all bodily systems are interconnected).
Eating fish twice a week is associated with a 13% slower decline in
mental performance.
• Some athletes believe farmed fish have higher levels of PCBs and other
toxins. According to Dr. Charles Santerre of Purdue the risk is tiny
compared to the strong heart-health benefits. PCBs are stored in the
fat. To reduce intake of PCBs, don't eat the fish skin nor the fat
drippings.
• The risk of heart disease increases with age, particularly as women
enter menopause. Menopause increases fat deposition in the trunk/waist
area, more so than on the legs and arms. This abdominal fat is linked
with heart disease.
Why does midlife fat settle around the waist? One theory relates to
cortisol, a hormone that increases with stress. Post-menopausal women
seem to have a robust cortisol response to stress. Thank goodness
exercise can be a good stress reducer; keep active!
• Lugging around excess body fat adds a major stress to the heart, but
being too thin can also raise heart-health issues. Athletes who severely
undereat (such as those with anorexia) commonly develop irregular heart
rhythms and have a dangerously low heart rate. Thinner is not always
healthier.
• The more you exercise, the more protection you have from heart
disease-to a certain extent. The benefits plateau at about 2,000
calories per week; that's the equivalent of running about 4 miles a day
(400 calories) for five days a week, with two rest days per week. No
need to get compulsive...
The bottom line
Just as eating the wrong foods can be powerfully bad for your heart,
eating the right foods can be powerfully good. Eat wisely to invest in
an enjoyable future. If you need help creating a heart healthy sports
diet, consult with your local sports dietitian; use the referal network
at www.SCANdpg.org.
Nancy Clark MS, RD counsels casual exercisers and competitive athletes
at Healthworks, the premier fitness center in Chestnut Hill, MA
(617-383-6100). Her NEW 2008 Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook
4th Edition, and her Food Guide for Marathoners and Cyclist's Food Guide
are available via www.nancyclarkrd.com.
SIDEBAR
Looking for inexpensive ways to add more fish to your diet? Here's one
of many family-friendly recipes from the new fourth edition of Nancy
Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook (April, 2008).
Simple Salmon Patties
These salmon patties are made with canned salmon, an inexpensive source
of health-protective omega-3 fat. Enjoy them with brown rice and a green
vegetable for a complete meal.
1 14-ounce (400 g) can pink salmon, drained and flaked (remove the skin,
but keep the bones for added calcium)
1 cup (70 g) crushed whole-wheat saltine crackers or bread crumbs
1 egg or substitute, slightly beaten
1 cup (150 g) diced pepper, green or red
1/2 diced onion, preferably a sweet onion such as Vidalia
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk, preferably low fat
Lemon pepper or black pepper, as desired
1 to 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil, for cooking
Optional: 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce; dash of hot
pepper sauce; 1/2 teaspoon dried dill or 2 teaspoons fresh dill
1. In a large bowl, stir together salmon, cracker or bread crumbs, egg,
bell pepper, and onion. Mix in milk (and Worcestershire sauce and hot
pepper sauce, as desired). Add pepper (and dill), and mix well with your
hands. Lightly press the mixture into eight patties.
2. Heat oil in large saute pan on medium heat. Once oil is hot, place
the patties in the pan and cook on both sides until lightly browned,
about 3 to 5 minutes.
Yield: 4 servings (8 patties)
Nutrition Information
1,200 total calories; 300 calories per serving (2 patties)
24 g carbohydrate; 27 g protein; 11 g fat (2 g omega-3)
Reprinted with permission from Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook,
4th Edition (2008; Human Kinetics). Available via www.nancyclarkrd.com
--
Nancy
Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD
Sports Nutrition Services
www.nancyclarkrd.com (Books, presentations)
www.sportsnutritionworkshop.com (online; midwest)
NEW 2008 Edition-Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook
Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions
Cyclist's Food Guide: Fueling for the Distance
Healthworks, 1300 Boylston St., Chestnut Hill MA 02467
Phone: 617.795.1875 Fax: 617.795.1876
"Helping active people win with good nutrition."
The Beat Goes On: Heart Health and Nutrition
Although exercise is one of the best ways to improve heart health, even
athletes are not immune from heart disease. You have undoubtedly heard
reports of marathon runners who die of heart attacks and football
players who have strokes. Women, like men, need to pay attention to
heart disease; it is the #1 killer of women, higher than all cancers
combined.
To address the topic of heart disease among active people, the Sports
and Cardiovascular Nutrition practice group of the American Dietetic
Association (www.SCANdpg.org) featured heart health as the theme of
their annual convention (April 2008, Boston). The following bits of
information from that conference might inspire you eat wisely to keep
your heart beating for a long and healthful lifetime.
• First of all, when it comes to heart disease, you should know your
cholesterol numbers. Get your blood tested for total, LDL and HDL
cholesterol. Having a low LDL is the primary goal for reducing heart
disease. If your LDL is >160 mg/dL, the sooner you lower it to <130, the
better off you'll be.
• Foods that actively lower LDL include oats, barley, soy, beans,
almonds/nuts, and plant sterols/stanols (added to margarines such as
Benecol). Although each single food might have only a small
cholesterol-lowering effect-for example, consuming three glasses of soy
milk a day might lower LDL by only 5%, combining several of these foods
becomes very powerful. For example, in subjects with high blood
cholesterol, a diet rich in oats, nuts, soy, and phytosterol-enriched
margarine reduced LDL by almost 30% in four weeks. That's as powerful as
cholesterol-lowering drugs!
With minimal effort, you can consume LDL-lowering foods on a daily basis
and achieve long term benefits. Plus, by filling up on oats, nuts, and
beans, you are not chowing on bacon, cookies and steak-and gain the
added benefit of displacing those sources of artery-clogging saturated
fats.
• Oatmeal is easy to add into a sports diet. If cooking oats is not your
style, simply eat them raw-mixed in with cold cereal. For example,
Wheaties + raw oats + slivered almonds + (soy) milk + fruit creates an
easy heart-healthy breakfast. Microwaving a packet of instant oatmeal
(with a spoonful of peanut butter) creates a tasty, effective
pre-exercise and/or afternoon snack.
• Inflammation, caused by cholesterol-filled plaques in blood vessels,
plays a role in heart disease. Foods that reduce inflammation include
salmon and other oily fish, walnuts, fiber-rich whole grains, fruits,
vegetables, and even dark chocolate. Among fruits and veggies, the Big
Six are apricots, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, broccoli and spinach. Eat
them often!
• The Mediterranean diet, rich in olive oil, fruits,vegetables, fish,
and seafood is also protective and offers a 7% reduction in mortality
from heart disease. Consider using more olive oil for salad dressings,
sauteing vegetables, and as a dip for bread (instead of butter)-but
watch the calories!
• Eating 8 ounces of fish per week, especially cold water fish (salmon,
mackerel, sardines, herring) rich in omega-3 fats, can reduce the risk
of death from heart disease by 36% (and from other diseases by 17%).
Eating fish delays death within the hour after a heart attack, providing
time to get the victim to the hospital for treatment. Plan one lunch
with tuna (with lowfat mayo) and one dinner with salmon each week.
• Humans cannot make omega-3s, that 's why we need to eat them. A
healthy person can get the recommended intake from fish. Just 8 ounces
salmon (the richest source) provides a week's worth of omega-3's.
(Cardiac patients need more, necessitating fish oil pills.) Salmon is
also a rich source of vitamin D. Three ounces canned pink salmon
provides the daily requirement for D. D protects against high blood
pressure, diabetes, cancer, and many other health issues. (For a recipe
with canned salmon, try Simple Salmon Patties. See Sidebar)
• What's good for the heart is good for the mind (and the rest of the
body, for that matter, because all bodily systems are interconnected).
Eating fish twice a week is associated with a 13% slower decline in
mental performance.
• Some athletes believe farmed fish have higher levels of PCBs and other
toxins. According to Dr. Charles Santerre of Purdue the risk is tiny
compared to the strong heart-health benefits. PCBs are stored in the
fat. To reduce intake of PCBs, don't eat the fish skin nor the fat
drippings.
• The risk of heart disease increases with age, particularly as women
enter menopause. Menopause increases fat deposition in the trunk/waist
area, more so than on the legs and arms. This abdominal fat is linked
with heart disease.
Why does midlife fat settle around the waist? One theory relates to
cortisol, a hormone that increases with stress. Post-menopausal women
seem to have a robust cortisol response to stress. Thank goodness
exercise can be a good stress reducer; keep active!
• Lugging around excess body fat adds a major stress to the heart, but
being too thin can also raise heart-health issues. Athletes who severely
undereat (such as those with anorexia) commonly develop irregular heart
rhythms and have a dangerously low heart rate. Thinner is not always
healthier.
• The more you exercise, the more protection you have from heart
disease-to a certain extent. The benefits plateau at about 2,000
calories per week; that's the equivalent of running about 4 miles a day
(400 calories) for five days a week, with two rest days per week. No
need to get compulsive...
The bottom line
Just as eating the wrong foods can be powerfully bad for your heart,
eating the right foods can be powerfully good. Eat wisely to invest in
an enjoyable future. If you need help creating a heart healthy sports
diet, consult with your local sports dietitian; use the referal network
at www.SCANdpg.org.
Nancy Clark MS, RD counsels casual exercisers and competitive athletes
at Healthworks, the premier fitness center in Chestnut Hill, MA
(617-383-6100). Her NEW 2008 Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook
4th Edition, and her Food Guide for Marathoners and Cyclist's Food Guide
are available via www.nancyclarkrd.com.
SIDEBAR
Looking for inexpensive ways to add more fish to your diet? Here's one
of many family-friendly recipes from the new fourth edition of Nancy
Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook (April, 2008).
Simple Salmon Patties
These salmon patties are made with canned salmon, an inexpensive source
of health-protective omega-3 fat. Enjoy them with brown rice and a green
vegetable for a complete meal.
1 14-ounce (400 g) can pink salmon, drained and flaked (remove the skin,
but keep the bones for added calcium)
1 cup (70 g) crushed whole-wheat saltine crackers or bread crumbs
1 egg or substitute, slightly beaten
1 cup (150 g) diced pepper, green or red
1/2 diced onion, preferably a sweet onion such as Vidalia
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk, preferably low fat
Lemon pepper or black pepper, as desired
1 to 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil, for cooking
Optional: 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce; dash of hot
pepper sauce; 1/2 teaspoon dried dill or 2 teaspoons fresh dill
1. In a large bowl, stir together salmon, cracker or bread crumbs, egg,
bell pepper, and onion. Mix in milk (and Worcestershire sauce and hot
pepper sauce, as desired). Add pepper (and dill), and mix well with your
hands. Lightly press the mixture into eight patties.
2. Heat oil in large saute pan on medium heat. Once oil is hot, place
the patties in the pan and cook on both sides until lightly browned,
about 3 to 5 minutes.
Yield: 4 servings (8 patties)
Nutrition Information
1,200 total calories; 300 calories per serving (2 patties)
24 g carbohydrate; 27 g protein; 11 g fat (2 g omega-3)
Reprinted with permission from Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook,
4th Edition (2008; Human Kinetics). Available via www.nancyclarkrd.com
--
Nancy
Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD
Sports Nutrition Services
www.nancyclarkrd.com (Books, presentations)
www.sportsnutritionworkshop.com (online; midwest)
NEW 2008 Edition-Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook
Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions
Cyclist's Food Guide: Fueling for the Distance
Healthworks, 1300 Boylston St., Chestnut Hill MA 02467
Phone: 617.795.1875 Fax: 617.795.1876
"Helping active people win with good nutrition."
