Make it a Heart Healthy Valentine's Day

In February we honor the HEART and not just because it’s Valentine’s Day but because it’s Heart Health Month.  It’s rather ironic that we give chocolate to our Valentine however, one way to keep your heart healthy is to reduce sugar intake. 

Consuming too much sugar puts added stress on the heart.  This unhealthy sugar can be found in both food and beverages.  Beverages include soda, lemonade, sugary coffee and teas (both hot and iced).  While some of these ingredients might be obvious there are some food sources might have what we call “hidden sugar”.  Read the labels and limit ingredients like cane sugar, invert sugar, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, dextrose, etc, and any “syrups”.  It may take some time but start by reducing the amount of sweetener you use by a quarter and just when you’re comfortable with that cut it down again and continue that until you no longer need the sweetness to enjoy that beverage/food. 

When you need something sweet, grab a piece of fruit and some nut butter or make a quick cup of trail mix with various nuts, some dark chocolate chips, and a few dried cranberries.