Eating Right Can Beat Genetic Heart Disease

Written by Alan Parker, an active blogger out of New York City whose writing covers green technology, healthy living, and the great outdoors.  You can follow him on Twitter @AGreenParker.

According to the US National Library of Medicine, your genes are one of the major risk factors when it comes to being diagnosed with heart disease. The latest research, however, is showing promising results that this may not be the case for those predisposed to this disease. The study shows that maintaining a nutritious diet full of fruits and vegetables can overcome genetics in many cases, reducing the instance of heart disease.

The study published by the Public Library of Science Medicine Journal focused on the 9p21 genetic variant, which has been strongly linked to heart disease. Of the 27,000 subjects in the study who were placed on a raw fruit and vegetable rich diet, research showed that the 9p21 variant was suppressed. However, according to one of the authors, Dr. James Engert, “That’s not suggesting that diet is going to overcome all variants, but for all intents and purposes — in this case — it suppressed the susceptibility.”

The results of the research provide further evidence in support of epigenetics. This scientific field studies how factors in people’s environments can turn their genes’ predispositions around. The research in this field can have a major impact on the general population’s health, although more study is certainly required to discover how this is accomplished in the body. If more people realize that they are in control of their genes, and are no longer committed to the same fate as their parents, more people may be more apt to change bad habits.

With the CDC reporting heart disease as the number one cause of death in the US, a great deal of energy, money, and time are spent on finding treatments and better ways to monitor heart health. From wireless heart monitoring developed by the Winston Wong Biotech Center, to heart monitoring t-shirts, technology is improving to ease lives of people diagnosed with the disease.  But with the help of research in the field of epigenetics there may be hope for people who are genetically predisposed to heart disease, where a simple lifestyle change may help stop it right in its tracks.

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Thanks, Alan, for a fascinating insight into this exciting field. Please update us all on further developments.

By now you may be feeling sated with rich food, and hopefully looking forward to something nutritious yet tasty. Here’s a recipe that fits the bill:

Recipe: Falafel in Pitta Pockets

Garnished with watercress

Serves 4
Prep: 10 mins
Cooking: 22 mins

225g/8oz dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in water
1 tbsp tahini *
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
100g bag watercress,  roughly chopped
juice half a lemon
2 tbsp vegetable oil, for frying

To finish:
100g bag watercress
150g Greek style yogurt
1 small clove garlic, crushed
4 wholemeal pitta bread

* Tahini is a sesame seed paste used widely in Middle Eastern cookery. It adds a savoury, nutty flavour to these falafel and is available from health food stores and large supermarkets.

1. Drain the chickpeas and place in a food processor with the tahini, salt, baking powder, cumin, coriander, cayenne, garlic, watercress and lemon juice. Whizz until very finely chopped but not puréed. (If you have time, set the mixture aside for a couple of hours, so the flavours can mingle, but it’s not imperative).

2. Preheat the oven to 220C/Fan 200C/Gas Mark 6. Place a large roasting tin in the oven to heat up. Using a wet hand shape the mixture into 16 balls, then flatten slightly into patties.

3. Add the oil to the roasting tin, return to the oven for 2 mins, then carefully add the falafel, tossing to coat in hot oil. Bake for 20 mins, turning once until crisp and golden.

4. Whilst they cook, roughly chop half the remaining watercress and stir it into the yogurt with the garlic and seasoning to taste. Lightly toast the pittas on each side, cut each in half and open up each half to make a pocket. Fill the pitta pockets with falafel, remaining watercress and the yogurt sauce. Serve whilst warm.

The recipe comes courtesy of http://www.watercress.co.uk and is just one of many ways to use watercress as a garnish. For a reminder of the health benefits of watercress, check out my posting on the nutritional value of watercress.

Carrots in your winter skin-care routine!

During the winter months our skin is faced with the damaging and drying effects of cold, windy weather and the low humidity of indoor heating. But there’s no point in spending a fortune on lotions and potions without making sure you are eating the right food as well. The old saying “beauty comes from within” really does hold true and following a healthy diet filled with anti-oxidant rich foods is the best medicine for getting your skin in tip top condition and preventing premature aging.

Top of your skincare food list should be the humble carrot. This delicious root vegetable is packed with a powerful antioxidant beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in the body. In fact, of all fruit and vegetables, carrots are actually the best source of beta-carotene – an 80g serving contains more than twice the recommended daily amount (RDA) needed by adults. The antioxidant action of beta-carotene helps to act against age-accelerating free radicals, so that our skin remains healthy and elastic.

In addition to its skincare benefits, the Vitamin A in carrots is essential for the proper functioning of the immune system. This nutrient keeps the skin and cells that line the airways, digestive tract and urinary tract healthy, so they act as barriers and form the body’s first line of defense against infection.

And don’t worry if you’re not a fan of raw carrots, eating cooked carrots is actually a nutritional bonus. Research published in the European Journal of Nutrition showed that more beta-carotene was absorbed from cooked, puréed carrots than from raw ones*.

So make sure you pick up a bunch of carrots and get crunching. They’re great as a healthy snack with low-fat dips, and are endlessly versatile in a range of delicious dishes. Try out the winter warming recipes below or visit www.britishcarrots.co.uk for more recipe inspiration.

Some other top tips for looking after your skin in the winter include:

• Drink lots of water – when the days start getting colder it’s easy to forget to keep drinking your 6-8 glasses of water a day.
• Dress in layers – if you’re too hot, you will sweat, and that sweat will end up trapped close to your skin, making you itchy and red.
• Stick to a shorter, warm-water bathing routine – excessive hot water will dry out your skin.
  Continue to wear a moisturizer with SPF – just because it’s cold doesn’t mean the sun can’t still do some serious damage to your skin.
• It’s also a good idea to buy a lip balm with SPF to soothe chapped lips.
• Moisturize – it’s best to moisturize after your bath, applying body lotion all over while you’re still a bit damp.

And to help you boost your carrot intake, here’s a healthy recipe using carrots.

HONEY AND THYME ROASTED CARROTS

When you’ve got the oven on for a roast, why not pop the carrots in to? Roasted they have a wonderfully sweet, dense flavour and smooth velvety texture. Kids will particularly love ‘em!

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
Serves: 4
Per serving: 76 calories, 3.1g fat, 0.4 saturates, 11.3g sugars, 0.07g salt
Price per portion: 16p

Ingredients

450g/1lb carrots, washed and trimmed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few fresh thyme leaves or pinch of dried

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C/400F/Gas 6. Cut the carrots into thick batons – try and make them similar sizes and then they will cook evenly. Place in a roasting tin, add the oil, honey and lemon juice and seasoning and toss well to mix.

2. Roast the carrots for 20-25mins, stirring halfway through this time, until the carrots are golden and tender. Scatter over the herbs and serve warm.

Anyway – watch out for the next offer, there were so many “goodies” on offer free of charge that I’ll certainly participate in any more that happen.

———————- Below, you can read what you missed, to whet your appetite for next time.

Something a bit different today. In conjunction with a couple of colleagues of mine, Carolyn Hansen and Reed Floren, I am pleased to bring you what I hope will be the first of a series of Health Giveaway events.

A group of us have collaborated to bring you a range of gifts that I hope you’ll enjoy.

Click here for some of the great gifts on offer. Specifically, over 150 different products, books, and programs for FREE! There has to be something of interest for you, so hurry over and check it out.