Your Health: Eat right for your heart and brain

February is American Heart Month which is dedicated to raising awareness about heart health and a reminder to be more heart healthy in what we do.

Cardiovascular disease includes heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and heart failure. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. with stroke being the fifth leading cause of death.

New research from the Journal of the American Heart Association found that people who scored higher on a 10-year cardiovascular risk score also scored worse on tests for cognitive function. This evidence suggests that controlling cardiovascular risk also helps to protect brain health.

Certain health conditions, our lifestyle, age and family history can increase our risk for heart disease. These are called risk factors. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about half of all Americans (47%) have at least 1 of 3 key risk factors for heart disease … high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking.

Certain risk factors for heart disease cannot be controlled, such as age and family history. But we can take steps to lower our risk by making changes to the factors we CAN control. It is important to “know our numbers” such as blood pressure, blood cholesterol and blood glucose levels. Other factors we can control include eating healthy foods, getting physical activity, getting enough sleep and quitting tobacco use.

As mentioned earlier, one of the ways we can help to keep our heart as well as our brain healthy is to eat a healthy diet.

1. Choose healthy foods and drinks for meals and snacks. Limit sweetened drinks, alcohol, refined carbohydrates like added sugars and processed grain foods and full-fat dairy products.

2. Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies each day. Remember that all forms count such as fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruits and veggies.

3. Choose foods that are high in fiber with at least 2 grams of fiber per serving and low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

4. Limit salt or sodium to help keep a healthy blood pressure. More than 70% of the sodium Americans eat comes from processed and restaurant foods. Take control over the nutritional content of your food by cooking at home. Compare nutrition facts labels and look for foods lower in sodium. Most Americans eat more than 3,400 mg of sodium each day. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day and ideally a limit of no more than 1,500 mg per day for most adults.

Reading the label for sodium or other nutrients is the only way to evaluate a food! Remember to choose fresh (not processed) meats, vegetables, and fruit more.

Try this delicious and easy meal!

Hawaiian Chicken Sheet Pan Meal Ingredients:

1.5 pounds chicken breast or boneless skinless chicken thighs, cubed

1 tablespoon canola oil (or your favorite oil)

1 large red bell pepper, diced

1 large orange bell pepper, diced ½ red onion, cut into chunks

½ cup barbecue sauce

1 cup pineapple chunks, canned (drained) or fresh

Juice of 1 lime

Cilantro and white sesame seeds for a garnish

6 cups cooked brown or white rice

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper and spraying with oil. In a large mixing bowl, stir cubed chicken and a drizzle of oil.

Next, add bell peppers, red onion and barbecue sauce to chicken. Stir to coat thoroughly. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove sheet pan and add pineapple chunks. Return to the oven for 15 to 20 more minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 F. Remove sheet pan from oven and squeeze lime juice over all. Add cilantro and sesame seeds to garnish. Serve with a side of rice. Makes six servings.

Each serving (with rice) has 470 calories, 7 g fat, 32 g protein, 68 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber and 340 mg sodium.

Recipe source: NDSU Extension