Over the course of a year your heart will beat about 42 million times as it pumps vital blood through the 100,000km of blood vessels that your body contains. Your heart works hard and the least you can do is support it with the foods that will keep it healthy. Foods that are good for your heart will reduce risk factors like high cholesterol and blood pressure as well as providing the nutrients that support the heart in its busy metabolic work.
Mediterranean secrets The Mediterranean Diet you hear so much about features fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, olive oil, fish, herbs and red wine in moderation. There are many positive health outcomes that arise from this diet and it is certainly very good for your heart.
Foods like olive oil, fish, nuts and avocados are rich in unsaturated fatty acids. Foods like lettuce, spinach, celery and carrots are rich in nitrites and nitrates. When you consume these foods together, the unsaturated fatty acids and the nitrogen compounds form substances known as nitro fatty acids. These block an enzyme called “soluble epoxide hydrolase”, causing blood vessels to dilate (open up) and leading to a drop in blood pressure.
If blood pressure is lowered, the risk of developing cardiovascular problems like heart attack, heart failure and stroke is lowered.
Fish
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ARE YOU TO FU enough?
Love it or hate it, everyone has an opinion about tofu. Tofu is a very popular plant-based protein for vegans and vegetarians, but now this humble bean curd is starting to shine for meat lovers too as an alternative source of protein.
Sweet TRAYBAKES
Whether you want to feed a group of people or make a batch of treats for the week, traybaking is a no-fuss way to cook up something sweet and easy that will please everyone. Your family and friends will love you when you offer them some of our: cinnamon scrolls; fruity chocolate; espresso brownies; lemon & coconut slice; or ginger cake with brown butter frosting.
ROLL UP
When you roll food, whether in Lebanese bread, a thin pancake or whatever you choose, you can create a parcel of nutrition that is perfectly suited to your own tastes and needs. Here are some roll-up recipes that will suit every occasion including: mango, snow pea, & sprout rice paper rolls; oat crepes with coconut yoghurt & mixed berries; or beef meatball & tzatziki flatbreads.
RICE BOWL Lunches
If you are working from home, or even enjoying your weekend, and lunchtime rolls around but you have no plans for lunch, then a rice bowl is an ideal saviour.
PLANT-BASED PIES
Pies are a piece of gastronomic brilliance: a filling with a case and lid you can eat is food genius. The first pies date back to Egyptian times and there is a recipe for chicken pie that was carved into stone more than 4000 years ago. For millennia, however, the pie casing was mostly used to cook the filling, but for around 500 years or more we have been eating the pie crust too.
20 FOOD CRAVING HACKS
Decipher the deeper causes of your cravings and discover tricks to curtail them.
Eggplant (Solanum melongena L)
Eggplant is a wonderful option for vegans and vegetarians, extremely nutritious and highly versatile in the kitchen.
5 PANTRY SAVIOURS
Whether you're cooking a simple breakfast or something more exotic, here are five pantry food staples you should have on hand to cook plenty of delicious meals in the comfort of your own home.
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)
Cucumbers are delicious fresh but they also offer plenty more options in the kitchen.
Our Chefs
Meet the chefs who bring this issue's recipes to you: Lisa Guy, Georgia Harding, Lee Holmes, Sammy Jones, Raquel Neofit, Naomi Sherman and Ames Starr.
