By Dr. Janet Brill, Ph.D., RDN, FAND, LDN NABBW’s Associate for Healthy Heart Lifestyle You know that you should be eating vegetables every day, but did you know that you should try and get in allium vegetables on a regular basis? The allium family of veggies include onions, leeks, chives and garlic. What’s so awesome about allium veggies? Allium vegetables house a unique combination of polyphenols and sulfur-containing nutrients that have been shown to decrease the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. They also reduce inflammation and prevent loss of bone and... Read More

The Perfect Vinaigrette By Janet Brill, Ph.D., R.D., LDN NABBW’s Healthy Heart Lifestyle Expert Why is it that when you eat out, the salad dressing tastes so much better? It’s all in the proportions and ingredients… Start with a good extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) to ensure that the oil base is comprised of the healthiest oil there is. Olive oil, called “liquid gold” by Homer, is the main fat used in Mediterranean diets—the pattern of eating proven to decrease the risk of such diseases and disorders as heart attacks, stroke, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. EVOO contains... Read More

Fresh Veggie Pita Pocket Sandwich (With Hummus — The Perfect Sandwich Filler To Jazz Up Those Veggies) By Janet Brill, Ph.D., R.D., LDN NABBW’s Healthy Heart Lifestyle Expert It’s Monday and you plan on participating in the National movement to go meatless on Mondays. (Meatless Monday is an international campaign—started by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health—that encourages people to not eat meat on Mondays to improve their health and the health of the planet.) You’re short on time, need a quick and tasty vegetarian sandwich filler—so you reach for the prepared... Read More

Salsa – The Perfect Nutrition Choice By Janet Brill, Ph.D., R.D., LDN NABBW’s Healthy Heart Lifestyle Expert Celebrate the beauty of the season by eating from Mother Nature’s glorious palette of fruit colors. Salsa is always a perfect nutrition choice for seasoning anything and everything … light, healthy and packed with disease-fighting plant chemicals called polyphenols — this is one condiment that should be a staple in your heart-healthy eating regimen. Grilled Grouper with Fruit Salsa Yield: 4 servings (serving size: one grouper filet with ~ 1 cup salsa) 2 ripe mangoes, peeled,... Read More

LOVE YOUR HEART! 6 TIPS FOR PREVENTING HEART DISEASE By Janet Brill, Ph.D., R.D., LDN NABBW’s Healthy Heart Lifestyle Expert 1. Work with your doctor to learn your personal risk factors. 2. Take action to lower your “modifiable” risk factors: Lose weight if you are overweight (especially if you carry excess weight around the middle); Control your blood pressure if it\’s too high; and stop smoking if you\’re currently a smoker. 3. Eat a heart-healthy diet: Cut back on sodium intake and try and keep it to under 2400 mg/day (the amount of sodium in one teaspoon of salt). 4.... Read More

BEYOND WEIGHT WATCHERS: Does Weight Watchers Help You Prevent A Heart Attack? By Janet Brill, Ph.D., R.D., LDN NABBW’s Healthy Heart Lifestyle Expert Weight Watchers (WW) has got to be doing something right. WW, now Weight Watchers International Inc., is the world\’s largest and most successful commercial weight loss program. It all began in 1961, when an overweight housewife named Jean Nidetch, living in Queens New York, organized small group meetings with her overweight friends to provide each other with mutual support and to, well, discuss weight loss. In 1963, Weight Watchers... Read More

Eat from the Fountain of Youth: 5 Food Groups that Keep You Young By Janet Brill, Ph.D., R.D., LDN NABBW’s Healthy Heart Lifestyle Expert Cardiovascular disease, primarily heart attacks and stroke, is the #1 killer of American men and women and continues to occur in epidemic proportions, dwarfing all other causes of death including all types of cancer and diabetes). Here is an easy way to take charge of your heart health. Simply adding in 9 foods and a short walk to your day can significantly and quickly lower your “bad” LDL cholesterol level and decrease your risk of developing... Read More