Olive My Heart

In preparation for American Heart Month, I thought I should start talking about some foods that are truly heart healthy. I really started to look into this topic a couple of months ago when it became very important for my dad to start taking better care of his heart.

Some of the best foods to eat for heart health are nuts, seeds, fatty fish, and avocados because the healthy unsaturated fats they contain can lower cholesterol. My favorite fat, however, is olive oil because it has an added perk: it has the ability to lower "bad" (LDL) cholesterol without lowering the "good" (HDL) cholesterol as well. And it just tastes delicious.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends consuming about 2 tablespoons per day in order to really reap the benefits. Yes, I know that's about 250 calories of fat. If you're used to using another type of fat like butter, it's a perfect swap. If you're used to using bug repellent I mean nonstick cooking spray, you may need more convincing. I can promise you that your food WILL taste better cooked in some fat and you will be more satisfied! The same goes for salad dressing: I used to be a die hard light ranch consumer until I took 45 seconds to mix together a little oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, and garlic.

A couple tips:
1. When cooking, use a cheap-o olive oil like Crisco and when making a salad dressing or drizzling over bruschetta, use a good extra virgin olive oil. There is no reason to use the expensive stuff over a lot of heat in the frying pan because that rich fruity flavor of the oil will be lost in cooking.
2. Keep olive oil in a cute bottle next to your stove so you remember to use it but make sure it's dark or the oil will become rancid much quicker. Do not refer to the picture I'm using for this post.