We make unhealthy food choices for two simple reasons:

1. What we like is often cheaper than healthy alternatives.
2. The food that we’re told to avoid simply tastes better.

This is an issue attracting significant media attention; first lady Michelle Obama has even picked up the mantle to join in the healthy eating debate. Mrs. Obama has been working to combat childhood obesity, supporting Congress and schools to adopt the new federal guidelines for healthy eating across our school-age population.

U.S. guidelines are promoting heart-healthy choices

Activities such as promoting exercise for school kids, encouraging them to make healthy choices for drinks, like choosing water over sugary sodas, and avoiding snack foods with high unhealthy fats have all been in the agenda, as the federal guidelines state that our youngsters should be eating fruit every day, having whole grains above simple carbohydrate alternatives, and filling up on fresh vegetables.

GREAT BUT THERE’S ONE SMALL PROBLEM…

The children themselves are pretty unhappy with the new changes. Looking at views expressed across social media platforms like Twitter, there’s a chorus of dissent, demonstrating the true reaction our kids have to healthy eating goals.

Why aren’t our kids choosing healthy food options?

This brings us down to the fundamental problem with healthy eating campaigns. Many heart healthy foods, and really just healthy foods in general, simply don’t taste as great as alternatives laden with fat and sugar. Our brains are hard-wired to respond positively to the addictive elements of sweet foodstuffs, even while our bodies rebel in all sorts of ways including obesity, heightened blood pressure and risks of serious long-term health problems.

If this was the only issue, we’d still have a fighting chance of beating the childhood obesity epidemic. However, there’s another key factor influencing the taste buds and food choices of our younger generation: Heart-healthy food choices tend to be expensive.

When you compare the price of, for example, an organic, whole-food diet with one full of budget cupboard fillers such as chips, cookies, white pasta, bread and cereal, it doesn’t take a calculator to realize that making positive, heart-healthy choices has a strong impact on the family budget. For parents, it simply doesn’t make short-term economic sense to pay more for healthy foods, when cheap alternatives – that kids love – are so readily available at such a low price.

Beating the obesity epidemic

So what can we do to address these fundamental issues?

The first point is that there needs to be a radical change in the availability and pricing of healthy options for our kids – and the rest of us. Those on a restricted budget are not choosing poor food options through preference alone, they make decisions based on their weekly grocery budget as well.

This means that parents who want to encourage healthy eating in their children will struggle to promote a heart-healthy diet, even if they’re fully aware of the long-term dangers of high consumption of fat and sugar.

Changing traditional views of “healthy” eating

Similarly, we need to try to remove the whole concept of “healthy” and “unhealthy” food. Simply by branding an apple as “healthy” can make a child instinctively turn away from it. Healthy isn’t cool, or important to a young child. They make their food choices based on what their parents introduce them to initially, and then develop their taste through peer interaction, media persuasion and availability.

Parents who provide a balanced, varied diet, swapping in healthy substitutes like whole grain rice and pasta, and whole meal bread without even mentioning it, will promote a balanced outlook in their kids, setting them up to make positive choices in later life.

SO HOW DO YOU DO IT?

We’d love to hear your opinions, successes… even failures, regarding kids and healthy eating. Any discussion is a good discussion about a topic as important as the health of our children. Please share…

The post Heart Healthy Choices for Kids… A Challenge To Say The Least! appeared first on Corazonas.

Study: Anger And Heart Attacks Strongly Linked

A Harvard Medical School study shows that the risk of having a heart attack is significantly higher following an outburst of anger — the more intense the outburst, the higher the risk. Read More

Cholesterol Drugs Linked to Muscle, Joint Problems

The new study, based on nearly 14,000 U.S. active-duty soldiers and veterans, confirmed an association between the drugs’ use and musculoskeletal injuries and diseases. Read More

Heart-Healthy Diet May Be Prostate Cancer Healthy Too

A diet that reduces carbohydrates and animal fat intake and boosts vegetable fat consumption could benefit men with prostate cancer, a new observational study concludes. Read More

Flaxseed No Help For Kids With High Cholesterol

Researchers asked kids to eat muffins and bread with extra flaxseed and found there was no change in their LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, compared to those who ate baked goods made without flaxseed. And their HDL, or “good” cholesterol, went down on the flaxseed diet. Read More

Lifespan-Extending Drug Given Late in Life Reverses Age-Related Heart Disease in Mice: Rapamycin

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic are currently recruiting seniors with cardiac artery disease for a clinical trial involving low dose treatment with rapamycin. Read More

Vegetable Oil Reduces Blood Cholesterol Levels: Does not Cause Inflammation

University of Missouri research leads researchers to conclude that vegetable oil is good for the body as it helps reduce blood cholesterol levels. Read More

Low BP May Weaken Brains of Some Heart Patients

People suffering from cardiovascular disease who have lower-than-normal blood pressure may face a higher risk of brain atrophy — the death of brain cells or connections between brain cells, Dutch researchers report. Read More

Niacin and Heart Disease: Prescriptions Rise, But Evidence Lacks

Study shows that prescription niacin sales are substantial and growing, even in the absence of contemporary supportive trial evidence. Read More

The post Latest Heart Health & Cholesterol News | June 10, 2013 appeared first on Corazonas.

Arizona Twins Suffer Strokes at 26, Only Months Apart

…Nine months later to the day, her twin sister, Kimberly Tucker, suffered a stroke in exactly the same way, except on the left side…  …Obesity, which leads to diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, is a risk. “You’d also be surprised how many young adults don’t exercise,” said Clark. “It’s sad, because the rise is due to good, old stroke risk factors that shouldn’t happen when they are young.” read full article

Cholesterol Sets Off Chaotic Blood Vessel Growth

…study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, and performed by UC, San Diego School of Medicine identified a protein that is responsible for regulating blood vessel growth by mediating the efficient removal of cholesterol from the cells. Unregulated development of blood vessels can feed the growth of tumors… read full article

A Cardio Conundrum: The negative effects of statins on exercise benefits

…these meds, including Lipitor, may also counteract the benefits of exercise, the other tried-and-true way to boost cardiac health… read full article

As Statins Soar, Use Of Other Cholesterol Medicines Declines

…Statins, already the most-prescribed drug category, saw their use climb 17% to more than 214 million monthly prescriptions annually… read full article

Could Statins Raise Diabetes Risk?

…people taking Lipitor had a 22 percent higher risk of new-onset diabetes, Crestor users had an 18 percent increased risk and people taking Zocor had a 10 percent increased risk… read full article

The post Latest Heart Health & Cholesterol News | May 29, 2013 appeared first on Corazonas.

• The National Institutes of Health suggests consuming 2 grams of plant sterols (2,000 mg) daily.
• The American Heart Association recommends plant sterols for adults with high cholesterol levels (total and LDL).
• The AHA also recommends plant sterols for those with cardiovascular disease.

Sounds important!

So… which foods with Plant Sterols should you be eating? Corazonas Tortilla Chips and Oatmeal Squares? Well, of course! But what else?

We present below a collection of our favorite foods with plant sterols. Yes, Corazonas Snacks are on the list… can you blame us… we’re addicted to them!

BRANDS WITH PLANT STEROLS

1.    Corazonas™ Chips and Oatmeal Squares
2.    Minute Made® Premium Heartwise™
3.    VitaBrownies™
4.    Heart Goodness® Egg Product
5.    Smart Balance® HeartRight® milk
6.    Cardio Juice™
7.    Giant Eagle® Fat Free Milk
8.    Vitatops™
9.    Cardio Chews™

ABOUT PLANT STEROLS

Companies like Corazonas, and the ones mentioned above, only recently began selling foods infused with plant sterols.

So what are plant sterols?

Plant sterols, or as they are also called, phytosterols, occur naturally in fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole-grain products and most vegetable oils. The issue with foods that contain sterols naturally is that the foods normally contain levels that are just too low to be able to positively effect the level of bad/LDL cholesterol in our bodies.

But since the advent of plant sterol-infused foods, people have been able to eat normal quantities of sterol foods and still help to lower blood cholesterol as they reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

Plant sterols are thought of as “a plant’s cholesterol”. Similar to how we have cholesterol, so do plants! In fact, looking at them under a microscope reveals substantial similarities between “plant cholesterol” and human cholesterol. It is this almost identical structure that allows plant sterols to battle with cholesterol to access receptors in our small intestines known as micelles. Micelles help transport cholesterol through the intestine into your blood stream.

Now here’s the important thing to remember… and why we exist… Over 140 clinical studies have shown us that plant sterols can help lower bad/LDL cholesterol levels by up to 14%!

GETTING DEEP ABOUT PLANT STEROLS

The most well-known plant sterol is sitosterol. 50 to 60 years ago, sitosterol was studied by a large group of professionals who found that the sterol seemed to lower cholesterol by around 10 percent. In the 80′s, sitostanol was found to reduce the amounts of cholesterol (and blood cholesterol) that was absorbed by the body.

A fairly recent study indicated that when sitostanol is coupled with margarine plasma cholesterol in the body was decreased by 10.2 percent on average. This particular study looked at a group of people who had mild hypercholesteremia. The sitostanol was not absorbed. Additionally, it didn’t seem to interfere with absorption of vitamins that were fat-soluble.

As noted above, when plant sterols occur naturally in foods, they don’t often provide enough of a benefit to us without eating really big amount. But it is still important to understand which foods naturally contain sterols. Relatively good sources of sterols are:

• Rice bran
• Wheat germ
• Oat bran
• Bran
• Whole wheat
• Brown rice
• Legumes
• Dried peas
• Dried beans
• Lentils
• Nuts and Seeds
• Peanuts
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Pecans
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sesame seeds

Fruits and Vegetables only contain trace amounts of plant sterols. And even though you’d have to eat pounds and pounds of them to see any benefit; here are the ones relatively rich in sterols:

• Apples
• Blueberries
• Tomato
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Brussels sprouts
• Dill
• Avocados
• Vegetable oils
• Wheat germ oil

Most of the foods listed above are D-licious, no doubt. But hey, why eat all those pounds and pounds of foods? If you’re going to try to lower your cholesterol naturally, eat something that makes you smile…

-credits-
image one: Corowise.com;  image two: bkk-health.com

The post Other Foods With Plant Sterols That We Love! appeared first on Corazonas.

For years, we at Corazonas have been doing our best to explain the powerful benefits of plant sterols associated with lowering cholesterol.

Now, the message finally seems to be gaining traction with the help of some well-known personalities. After all, when Doctor Oz features something, you know it’s mainstream! Recently, certain chips and oatmeal snacks were featured during a segment with Dr. Oz and Doctor Melina Jampolis.

In the segment, the two experts discussed the cholesterol-lowering benefits of plant sterols (a.k.a. stanols) as they examine a group of foods that contain plant sterols. Among the foods sampled were tortilla chips and oatmeal squares that might seem very familiar to fans of Corazonas tortilla chips and oatmeal squares (wink, wink).

We were thrilled to see such a well-known TV personality promoting plant sterols. Moreover, during the segment (left) Dr. Oz tastes an Oatmeal Square and exclaims, “These things are very good!”

We can’t deny we loved hearing that! And of course…
WE AGREE.  

But it’s not only Dr. Oz who’s talking about plant sterols. The subject has been covered by:

• WebMD
• CNN
• Health.com
• Forbes
• and many others

After watching that video you’re sure to be hungry! Check out some of our most recent recipes below, all of which contain Corazonas foods with plant sterols!

Related Content:

Plant Sterols – Nature’s Secret to Lowering Cholesterol

Some Superfoods To Add To Your Diet

The post Plant Sterols Go Mainstream With Help From Doctor Oz appeared first on Corazonas.

Owning a dog may protect you from heart disease, says American Heart Association

…The unusual message was in a scientific statement by the American Heart Association, which convened a panel to review years of data on the cardiovascular benefits of owning a pet. The group concluded that owning a dog, in particular, was “probably associated” with a reduced risk of heart disease…

Breathing Auto Emissions Turns HDL Cholesterol from ‘Good’ to ‘Bad’

…Breathing motor vehicle emissions triggers a change in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, altering its cardiovascular protective qualities so that it actually contributes to clogged arteries…

You Actually Can Die of a Broken Heart

…The despair of losing a loved one—the stress and the anxiety and the pumping adrenaline—can actually kill you…

Pick Your Poison: Overweight or High Cholesterol

…You may have to pick one to work on at a time, according to data from the lab of John Thyfault, an associate professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at University of Missouri…

Job stress may raise our ‘bad cholesterol’ levels

…evidence that workplace stress can have a harmful effect on your physical and mental health. While some people may thrive on pressure, persistent high levels of stress are likely to be harmful…

New medicine | Heart attack app might help diagnosis patients before they reach hospitals

…The app, which was designed by engineers and critical care physicians, helps doctors rapidly diagnose certain kinds of severe heart attacks, called STEMIs, before patients get to the hospital…

The post Latest Heart Health & Cholesterol News | May 20, 2013 appeared first on Corazonas.

• Decades of Improving Cholesterol Levels Abruptly Ended in 2008

• The FDA Approval Of Merck’s Cholesterol Lowerer, Liptruzet, Doesn’t Help Its Credibility

• Suffering on Statins? Stop taking them now: Cholesterol-busting medicines may be causing more harm that good

• Eggs, even with their cholesterol, are a good source of protein for most people

• Possible Reason for Cholesterol-Drug Side Effects Such as Memory Loss

• UGA researchers develop synthetic HDL cholesterol nanoparticles

• Walnuts And Walnut Oil Benefit Heart Health Beyond Lowering Cholesterol

Decades of Improving Cholesterol Levels Abruptly Ended in 2008

…Study suggests that significant improvements in heart disease risk through declines in LDL cholesterol blood levels over the past several decades came to an unexpected and sudden end in 2008.

The FDA Approval Of Merck’s Cholesterol Lowerer, Liptruzet, Doesn’t Help Its Credibility

…what was the FDA thinking in approving another Zetia/statin combination? It is not as if a drug like Liptruzet is desperately needed. After all, there are plenty of statins available that have shown their ability to reduce CV events in long term studies.

Suffering on Statins? Stop taking them now: Cholesterol-busting medicines may be causing more harm that good

…In such cases – and there are many thousands – statins do more harm than good. And it is possible to control cholesterol through diet alone, as actress Michelle Pfeiffer says she has done.

Eggs, even with their cholesterol, are a good source of protein for most people

…Advice on eating them seems to change frequently, especially concerning whether their cholesterol content is safe for people with cardiovascular disease. So what’s a health-conscious consumer supposed to do?

Possible Reason for Cholesterol-Drug Side Effects Such as Memory Loss

…a novel discovery in brain cells being treated with statin drugs: unusual swellings within neurons… the team believes that further investigation will explain why people experience cognitive declines while taking statins.

UGA researchers develop synthetic HDL cholesterol nanoparticles

…A completely biodegradable synthetic version of the so-called good cholesterol, the nanoparticles represent a potential new detection and therapy regimen for atherosclerosis.

Walnuts And Walnut Oil Benefit Heart Health Beyond Lowering Cholesterol

“We already know that eating walnuts in a heart-healthy diet can lower blood cholesterol levels. But, until now, we did not know what component of the walnut was providing this benefit. Now we understand additional ways in which whole walnuts and their oil components can improve heart health.”

The post Latest Heart Health & Cholesterol News | May 13, 2013 appeared first on Corazonas.

1. Cholesterol is essential for life
2. Cholesterol tests can be inaccurate
3. Where cholesterol comes from makes a difference
4. Increasing “good” cholesterol has little value
5. Cholesterol in food hardly affects your blood cholesterol levels at all

Amazing, right? Let’s look at these things in a little more detail:

1. CHOLESTEROL IS ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE

We’ve all heard the terms “good cholesterol” and “bad cholesterol” countless times. But since we are constantly reminded by media, doctors, etc., that we must lower our cholesterol, people tend to think cholesterol is bad. However, cholesterol is essential for human life.

About Cholesterol:

• It is a component of our cells that helps maintain the cell membrane’s stability and fluidity.
• It is also necessary for the digestion of fats in our body.
• The body uses cholesterol to create the vital hormones testosterone and estrogen.
• Cholesterol is used in our skin to synthesize Vitamin D and to help control the evaporation of water through our pores.

Make no mistake, cholesterol of course has its “bad” side. Problems arise when there is too much bad cholesterol, or LDL, in our bloodstream and the excess is subsequently deposited in our arteries. These deposits may create blockages that result in heart attacks. Bad indeed!

2. CHOLESTEROL TESTS CAN BE INACCURATE

Many experts feel that cholesterol tests are inaccurate and do not truly represent a person’s cholesterol levels. Some even suggest that standard cholesterol testing is essentially irrelevant. Plasma cholesterol levels (which is what doctors measure with standard cholesterol tests) have little to do with artery cholesterol, which is what we really care about. Most countries, including the U.S., offer tests that only estimate LDL levels. However, advanced tests do exist that directly measure LDL. The most frequently used test of this sort is the NMR LipoProfile.  This test actually counts the number of LDL particles, which is the most important predictor of risk.

3. WHERE IT COMES FROM MAKES A DIFFERENCE

You already know that we take in cholesterol through many of the foods that we eat. But did you know that most of the cholesterol in our body actually comes from our own body? About 300 to 500 mg, or one-fourth of our daily intake, of cholesterol comes from the foods we consume. The other 800 to 1,200 mg, or three-fourths of our daily cholesterol intake, is made by our body.

4. INCREASING “GOOD” CHOLESTEROL HAS LITTLE VALUE

In clinical trials designed to prove that a drug that raised HDL cholesterol would reduce cardiovascular problems, no benefit occurred. HDL is important, and more HDL particles are better than few. But, raising HDL cholesterol levels with a drug doesn’t seem to fix the problem.

On the other hand, in a study published by the American Heart Association, the authors find that an increase in the number of HDL particles (different, from overall HDL cholesterol levels) did decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. It’s the number of particles, in both LDL, and HDL, that affects us most, not the amount of cholesterol.

5. CHOLESTEROL IN FOOD HARDLY AFFECTS YOUR BLOOD CHOLESTEROL LEVELS AT ALL

The types of fat in the diet determine to a large extent the amount of total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream. And the amount of carbohydrates in the diet also plays a role. Cholesterol in food matters, but not nearly as much. In fact, it hardly affects blood level cholesterol levels at all. For this reason, years ago the Canadian Guidelines removed the limitation of dietary cholesterol.

Plant sterols play an essential role in lowering levels of bad cholesterol already in your body, but cholesterol in food and plant sterols lowering cholesterol in your body are actually unrelated. (We wouldn’t recommend eating a plate of bacon and then Corazonas and expect to cancel out the bacon!) Plant sterols, like those infused in Corazonas heart healthy foods, are most definitely beneficial and help to lower your LDL levels by helping to reduce your body’s absorption of cholesterol.

Special thanks to the authors of the following articles for help in creating this post:

1. http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-part-i
2. http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/mom/cholesterol/
3. http://employeewellnessnetwork.com/2012/06/27/how-valid-is-a-cholesterol-measurement/
4. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fats-full-story/
5. http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-part-iii

The post 5 Cholesterol Facts You May Not Know, But Should appeared first on Corazonas.

Dr. Melina Jampolis, their physician nutrition specialist, shows how to find plant sterols in foods like tortilla chips and snack bars as part of a heart healthy diet.

A renowned TV personality, Dr. Oz, has recommended eating more LDL-lowering foods like plant sterols and stanols found in many grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sterol/stanol enriched products and soluble fiber like oatmeal, psyllium and bran.

We are delighted to see “Nature’s Secret Weapon” getting even more national attention. Check your local listings for air times, set those DVRs and be sure to encourage your friends to watch as well!

The post Corazonas Featured on The Dr. Oz Show May 9th appeared first on Corazonas.

Corazonas is delighted to announce that we’ll be one of the featured brands on QVC on Sunday, May 5, 2013 for one of their most popular shows, “In The Kitchen with David.”
Starting at 9:00 a.m. PT/12:00 p.m. ET David will share his passion for cooking as he whips up something new from the top brand names in cookware and appliances to the latest cookbooks and gourmet treats.

Fun-loving foodie and QVC Program Host David Venable will show everyone how easy it is to create delicious dishes when you have the right tools and techniques.

Be sure to check it out!

The post Corazonas Featured on QVC! appeared first on Corazonas.