Food With Heart – Published in the Urban Times

Food is one of the many ways we can nourish and support health, wholeness, and healing in the body.  If we talk specifically about heart disease and cardiovascular health, food has the power to profoundly shift and support healing from the damaging effects of the disease even with genetics at play.  Several well-reviewed research studies, including those reported by the Harvard School of Public Health, report and demonstrate that over 80% of the instances of heart disease can be prevented, reduced, or even reversed by a combination of healthy lifestyle factors like stress management, hydration, exercise, and nutrition.

Of these factors, nutrition is perhaps the most critical as food supplies the nutrients that activate and drive the many biological pathways of repair and regeneration. Non-starchy vegetables, low-sugar fruits, and other plant-based foods like beans, nuts, seeds, and legumes are potent medicine for heart health. The soluble fiber in beans, legumes, and many other fruits and vegetables actually absorbs and eliminates cholesterol from the body. Brightly colored fruits and vegetables offer an array of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds that mitigate the oxidative stress at the root of heart disease. Of particular note in the wide range of rainbow nutrition, leafy greens are incredibly nutrient-dense and full of chlorophyll, a powerful blood builder and cleanser. Chlorophyll mirrors the hemoglobin in our blood and increases oxygenation and nutrient delivery to our cells.  In our blood, iron is the oxygen carrier in hemoglobin that gives our blood its red color; in leafy greens, the carrier is magnesium which supplies their deep green hues. Using these foods as a vital foundation in our overall diet provides the body with essential building blocks and offers a source of nutrition that is naturally healing.
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