Heart Disease

Do you want the good news or the bad news? I'll start with the bad! Heart disease - which includes heart attack, angina and stroke - is now the leading cause of death in the UK, accounting for hundreds of thousands of untimely departures each year. That's the bad news, but there is some good news - it's nearly all preventable through adopting a healthy diet. So, here are some tips on reducing your risk of heart disease:

  • Cut your consumption of 'bad fats' - saturated fats found in animal products such as red meat, cheese and butter; and 'trans-fats' in cakes, biscuits and margarine.
  • Go for 'essential fats' instead - like Omega-3 and Omega-6, available in fish oils, nuts and avocados.
  • Eat a diet rich in fruit and vegetables. Fruit and veg are the number one healthy kind of food because they are high in minerals and vitamins (essential biochemicals that we can't live without), and they're high in fibre - essential in keeping cholesterol levels low
  • Avoid salt - we all need some salt, but there's more than enough in a healthy diet. Avoid foods with added salt, like bacon or salami. And when you're cooking, avoid the temptation of adding salt to enhance the flavour - I always go for herbs instead.

So, what's a dish that's good for your heart? I recommend Roasted Vegetables with Baked Salmon and Herb Sauce. Please try it out using my recipe below...

Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets
olive oil for brushing
8 thin slices of lemon
pepper to taste

Herb Sauce
4 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove crushed
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped coriander
1 tbsp chopped mint
1tbps course grain mustard
juice of 1/2 lemon

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 200°C.
  • Brush Salmon with olive oil.
  • Top each fillet with 2 lemons and add pepper to taste.
  • Cook for 20 minutes or until cooked through.
  • For herb sauce put all the ingredients into food processor and blend.
  • Spoon herb sauce over Salmon and serve
Do you want the good news or the bad news? I'll start with the bad! Heart disease - which includes heart attack, angina and stroke - is now the leading cause of death in the UK, accounting for hundreds of thousands of untimely departures each year.

Read also:

  • Ulcers

    While we were living in Japan, David (my husband) started getting very uncomfortable pains in his lower stomach. He mentioned this the next time he visited one of his students, Dr Koike, whom he taught English. Quite matter-of-factly the doctor said, “You either have gastroenteritis, an ulcer, or cancer. Let's go next door to my operating theatre and I'll tell you in 10 minutes.”

  • Constipation

    As many as 14 million of us struggle and strain with constipation every year, but most of us don't know what causes it or what we can do to improve the situation.

  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

    The newly defined condition – sometimes referred to as ‘Yuppie flu’ – is characterised by a variety of symptoms including persistent fatigue, sore throat, headaches, mild fever, and muscle and joint pain. Its cause is still a bit of a mystery although it is commonly thought to be triggered by a viral infection such as glandular fever or meningitis.