Awesome Avocado

There are so many reasons - and so many ways - to love avocado. A culinary superfood, avocados provide up to 20 nutrients including vitamins K, C and E, as well as folate, magnesium, zinc, and potassium. In fact, they actually have more potassium than bananas.

Unlike most fruits, avocado is low in carbohydrates and high in a healthy fat called oleic acid. Like olive oil, oleic acid has been linked to health benefits such as reducing inflammation, protecting cells against cancer, and reducing cholesterol. This amazing fruit also improves digestive health and helps your body absorb other nutrients.
There are limitless ways to add avocado to snacks or meals: Use avocado as a healthy spread on toast; blend it into scrambled eggs; add it to dips, salsa, or soup; slice for a salad topping.

Avocado is optimally ripe when the fruit is mildly soft to touch. Its flesh should be creamy and green-gold in color. If you don't use the whole fruit at one time, keep leftover avocado fresh by leaving the pit in the unused portion and allow it to sit, uncovered, on a counter for a few hours before placing it in the fridge (still uncovered) for up to two days. When you want to use the other half, simply peel off the brown crust to reveal a soft and deliciously ripe avocado beneath.

Image Attribution: Natalia Zakharova/bigstockphoto.com

References

Secrets to a Healthy Heart

Long before the ancient Greek surgeon Galen carried out meticulous dissections of the heart, the Egyptians wrote about health and disease in relation to how the heart "speaks in vessels" with the rest of the body. Today, physicians may not associate the heart with the soul (or soul mates), but many credit early Egyptian medical knowledge of the heart as a precursor to modern cardiology.

The Heart: Powerful, but Vulnerable
A key element of a healthy body is a healthy heart. The heart is the center of our cardiovascular system and beats an average of 100,000 times per day supplying oxygen rich blood to the whole body. Every day we make choices that have a profound affect on the health of this vital organ. Most heart disease (HD) is linked to risk factors such as lack of exercise, obesity, smoking, stress, and poor eating habits.

One major condition that can develop with these risk factors is Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure. Often called the 'silent killer', Hypertension can cause significant damage throughout the cardiovascular and other body systems and ultimately results in over 80 million deaths each year.

The Silent Killer
Blood pressure is the amount of pressure exerted on the inside of blood vessels as the heart pumps the blood through the body. When there is resistance in the vessels, the pressure rises and hypertension results. The longer hypertension goes undetected and/or uncontrolled, the greater the damage to blood vessels and other organs. Hypertension can lead to heart attack, stroke, ruptured blood vessels, kidney disease or failure, and heart failure.

Warning signs for high blood pressure are rare but can include headaches, blurred vision, lightheadedness, shortness of breath and nosebleeds. However, there are typically no warning signs or symptoms for hypertension, which is why it is called the silent killer.

Hypertension is diagnosed by looking at 2 numbers in your BP reading: Systolic pressure (the top number) is the pressure in your arteries when the heart beats (contracts). Diastolic pressure (bottom number) represents the pressure in your arteries between beats.

    Normal blood pressure is below 120/80
    Prehypertension is 120 - 139 systolic or 80 - 89 diastolic.
    Hypertension is 140/90 or higher


The Potassium Secret for a Healthy Heart
You've no doubt heard the best thing to do when you have hypertension is to reduce the amount of salt/sodium in your diet. Did you know the average adult needs 4,700 mg of potassium daily compared to only 200 mg of sodium. Unfortunately for most of us, our eating habits give us way too much sodium - 3,300 mg a day - and not nearly enough potassium. This imbalance can increase your risk of developing hypertension.

What's truly important for your heart, and a more accurate strategy to prevent high blood pressure, is to balance the relationship between potassium and sodium (salt) in your daily diet. Proper sodium-potassium balance is necessary for nerve transmission, muscle contraction, fluid balance, and the optimal health of all the cells in your body. In regard to the heart, potassium is particularly important for regulating heart rhythm and maintaining blood pressure.

By reducing your sodium intake, you are often correcting the sodium-potassium imbalance without realizing it. To further support your heart health, eat more potassium-rich foods such as sweet potato, spinach, banana, peas, legumes, apricots, avocados, halibut and molasses.

More Healthy Heart Tips
Heart-Healthy Diet Do's: Eat a variety of fresh fruits and dark green veggies daily. Use plant-based oils for cooking. Eat mindfully, not on-the-run. Reduce or eliminate packaged foods, sugar, and red meat.

Walk, No Need to Run: 30 minutes of daily, brisk walking lowers your risk for hypertension.

Be Calm: Learn to manage stress with healthy coping techniques, such as, deep breathing, yoga, meditation, gratitude journaling, and getting quality sleep.

Supplemental Support: Nutritional supplements shown to support heart health include Hawthorn, CoQ10, Essential Fatty Acids, Magnesium, Garlic and B-vitamins. Supplements you might have heard about--Natto-K (nattokinase), Guggul, or Niacin--should not be taken without the supervision of your health practitioner.

Because some blood pressure medications affect the potassium level in the body, be sure and discuss the best strategy for making this adjustment with Dr. Bossio.

Image Attribution: lola1960/bigstockphoto.com
References

Sweet Potato

Sweet Potato is a powerhouse of nutrition. This vibrant orange tuber is rich in vitamins, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory nutrients, and blood sugar-regulating nutrients. The antioxidant Beta-carotene, which gives Sweet Potato its orange flesh, is necessary for your body to produce Vitamin A. We need vitamin A for eye health, for a strong immune system, and for healthy skin. One medium Sweet Potato provides 100% of your daily needs for Vitamin A, as well as a healthy dose of vitamin C, several of the B vitamins, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and vitamin E.

Some research has shown that, as antioxidants from Sweet Potato (called cyanidins and peonidins) and other phytonutrients pass through the digestive tract, they act in ways that may lower the health risk posed by heavy metals. Scientists are also studying the anti-inflammatory nutrients (anthocyanin) contained in purple Sweet Potatoes, which may provide protection against certain types of cancer. Sweet Potatoes also have a fascinating ability to potentially improve blood sugar regulation. Researchers are interested in determining what effect this may have on Type-2 Diabetes. High in fiber, including Sweet Potato in your diet can promote regularity of the bowels and healthy digestive function.

You can enjoy Sweet Potato as a main course, side dish, in soups, or in desserts. When shopping for these versatile veggies, remember that Yams are not the same as Sweet Potatoes. The two are not in the same "food family" and each has a different nutrient profile. Yams are usually imported from Africa or Asia, whereas the Sweet Potato is grown abundantly in the U.S. Finally, Sweet Potato color, both flesh and skin, can range from white to yellow-orange to brown or purple. There also are "firm" or "soft" varieties, which can make a difference in your cooking

Image Attribution: tashka2000/bigstockphoto.com
.References

Swiss Chard

Despite its name, Swiss chard is not actually Swiss. In fact, it is native to the Mediterranean region and dates back to at least the fourth century B.C., when it was prized by the ancient Greeks, and later the Romans, for its medicinal properties. A leafy green vegetable, Swiss chard boasts an exceptionally impressive variety and concentration of health-promoting minerals and nutrients, including vitamins C, E, A and K, manganese, zinc, calcium, potassium, magnesium, fiber and protein. It is also an excellent source of phytonutrients, including a variety of some three dozen or more carotenoids and flavonoids, evident in the vibrant red, purple and yellow pigments of chard's stalks and veins. On the whole, this "superfood" offers extensive antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, supports the nervous system, eye and bone health, helps prevent oxidative stress and helps regulate blood sugar in a variety of ways. Studies of Swiss chard have revealed this vegetable's unique blood-sugar regulating benefit, which comes from one of its premiere flavonoids, syringic acid.  This compound inhibits the enzyme alpha-glucosidase from breaking down carbohydrates into simple sugars. For tips on how to select and store and cook with Swiss chard, visit World's Healthiest Foods.

Resources

Swiss Chard. The World's Healthiest Foods.

Image Attribution: salsachica/RGBstock.com

Sunflower Sprouts

Native American cultures have known about the many uses and benefits of sunflower for centuries.  Sunflower can be used as food, an oil source, and even as a dye pigment. As a food and health source, sunflower tops the list of sprouts as a protein source. They contain minerals, healthy fats, essential fatty acids, fiber and phytosterols. Their vitamin E content has been shown to have significant anti-inflammatory effects, reduce the risk of colon cancer, help control some symptoms of menopause and help cut down on diabetic complications. Sunflower sprouts are also a good source of magnesium and may help reduce the severity of asthma, lower high blood pressure, prevent migraine headaches and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Iron and chlorophyll also can be found in sprouted sunflower seeds, the latter of which will help detoxify your blood and liver. Sprouting sunflower seeds will transform nutrient content by as much as 300 - 1,200 percent. When sprouting sunflower seeds at home, soak the seeds for 2 days before planting in soil. Once in the soil, allow your seeds to sprout. They are ready to harvest in about 3 days.

Resources

Sunflower seeds. The World's Healthiest Foods.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=57

Image Attribution: Yastremska/bigstock.com

Electrolytes

We've all heard of electrolytes, but how well do you really know what they are and how they work? Electrolytes are electrically charged minerals, such as sodium, calcium, potassium and magnesium, that when balanced, help regulate blood chemistry, muscle action and other processes. Electrolytes need to be replenished regularly because you lose electrolytes when you sweat and when you urinate. It is especially important to stay hydrated and supplement your body with electrolytes when spending time in the heat or when sweating profusely. While water is perfect for maintaining proper hydration, it does not contain electrolytes. If you are concerned about your electrolyte levels, you may want to consider coconut water as an alternative form of hydration for times when you need it most, like after a strenuous workout. Coconut water is sterile when it comes out of the coconut, and extremely similar in composition to human blood plasma - so much so that it has been used as an IV fluid by physicians during war and in remote areas of the world for more than 60 years. It is completely safe and naturally compatible with the human body. For a light sodium boost, try adding a small pinch of natural salt to your coconut water. Olives, seaweed, rye, tomatoes, lettuce, and celery can help you replenish your chloride levels. Oranges, melons, raisins, prunes, bananas, sweet potatoes, avocado, peas, beans, spinach and kale are all excellent choices for a potassium boost.

Resources

Photo Credit. FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/Other_Drinks_g65-Coconut_Drinks_p81198.html.

Fluid and electrolyte balance. MedlinePlus.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/fluidandelectrolytebalance.html.

Image Attribution: lobster20/freedigitalphotos.net