Creative Ideas for a Healthy Heart

Keeping our heart healthy is a priority for each of us, and finding new, creative ways to practice heart health can help us stay consistent.

Three areas that are important to a healthy heart include:

1. Eating healthy foods
2. Physical activity, and
3. Reducing stress

Focusing on one category at a time might make it easier to create a healthy habit. So, this week will highlight some ways we can use creativity to help us mindfully eat foods that are good for our heart.

According to the National Heart Foundation of Australia, “A heart-healthy eating pattern is not a restrictive diet. Instead, it is a pattern or combination of foods, chosen regularly, over time. This optimal combination is outlined in the Heart Foundation’s Heart Healthy Eating Pattern recommendations, and includes vegetables, fruit, wholegrains, healthy proteins and fats, and using herbs/spices instead of salt.”

How can we incorporate more of these healthy options into our daily routine?

Try This

Visual appeal

There are so many colors and textures of fruits and vegetables that you could try something new each day for a week. Keep a log of meals and snacks and note all the different colors you’ve tried.

Textures

If you love berries, try preparing them in different ways to experience the different textures. For example: fresh berries on yogurt; a berry smoothie with milk; heated and smashed berries to top off your oatmeal… 

How many textures can you create with one type of fruit?

Fruit and veggie art

Cutting and displaying fruits and vegetables in creative ways can help create a sense of importance and fun to the food we are about to eat.  Have you ever had an apple swan? 
Or a cucumber dragon? Check out this video. 

There are so many beautiful and delicious ways to enjoy heart healthy foods! 

References:

• Keeping your heart healthy
• Make an Edible Apple Swan
• Strategies to prevent heart disease