Art of the Heart


Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub, that’s the sound of our beating heart. Fascinating isn’t it? The Heart makes one of the most unique sounds in all of the muscles in our body. Not only that, our heart is the only muscle that can supply blood to our body.

                As we all know every muscle in our body wears-and-tears due to its workload, but the heart muscle is a very special muscle that must not tear for it can decrease our heart’s function and lead to life-threatening complications.

                Through proper Diet and Lifestyle, we can take good care of our Hearts and increase its longevity. Here are some tips on how we can take good care of our hearts:

  1. Get moving! – The heart is a muscle that must be tone thru exercise for better performance.
  2. Achieve normal body weight – to attain normal heart health, one must achieve his/her normal body weight and body mass index or within the normal range.
  3. Regularly monitor your Blood Pressure – a very important vital sign that can assess our heart health and vascular integrity.
  4. Don’t Overeat – overeating increases the accumulation of adiposities (stored fat cells); eat within your prescribed caloric needs per day.
  5. Eat Heart-Healthy Foods – eat a High-Fiber, Low Salt, Low Fat diet with fruits as they are filled with antioxidants to attain optimal heart functions.
  6. Neglect Sugary, Fatty, and Salty foods – these foods consumed in excess of what is recommended can do more harm than good, sugar can become fat in the body, fatty foods can accumulate in the arteries, and salty foods can increase vascular dilation and as well as harm the kidneys.
  7. In-and-out, breathe in, breathe out – learn to distress and rest adequately from time-to-time to avoid fluctuation of Blood Pressure, when we are stressed our Blood Pressure tends to fluctuate due to increased arterial tension.
  8. Avoid alcoholic beverages and cigarettes – as these items are full of harmful ingredients – as for alcohol it should be consumed in moderation.
That’s G-A-R-D-E-N-I-A! as we have said, “Eat Heart-Healthy Foods”, what better way is to taste the delicious Gardenia Crab and Veggie Style Pizza.

Crab and Veggie Style Pizza

INGREDIENTS

  • Gardenia Whole Wheat High Fiber Loaf
  • Crab Sticks, tear into strips
  • Mango Bits
  • Green bell pepper
  • Red bell pepper
  • Nori, cut into Strips
  • Tomatoes, Crushed
  • Quick melt Cheese, Shredded
  • lemon Juice
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper

PROCEDURE

  1. Preheat oven toaster. Lay flat 2 pcs of Gardenia High Fiber Whole Wheat Bread on a clean chopping board.
  2. Spread tomato sauce on the bread. Top with shredded quick melt cheese.
  3. Add the mangoes, red and green bell peppers, shredded crab sticks and top drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil.
  4. Bake for 5-7 minutes on high heat until cheese melts.
  5. Top with nori strips and serve hot.

References:

  • UCI Health, 7 Powerful Ways You Can Strengthen Your Heart – https://www.ucihealth.org/blog/2017/02/how-to-strengthen-heart