Going Nuts for Cardiovascular Health

Cardiovascular disease has run in our family for generations. In my case, it was my mom. For Maribel, it was her dad. We both saw how this disease affected these beautiful souls and ultimately took their lives. Although both of our parents lived longer than expected, and did so thanks to modern medicine, numerous surgical interventions, and sheer will power, the results of the struggle prevented them from living in ease and enjoying the fullness of their physical potential as they aged.

Because of them, we take our heart health quite seriously. We want to do everything we can to stay as a healthy as possible. To do so we focus on three factors: stress reduction, healthy eating, and a strong exercise program that involves both increasing heart rate and resistance training.

As you read our posts, you will notice these three elements show up in one way or another. In this week’s, we want to highlight a simple yet powerful step that can do wonders for your heart health.

Imagine an intervention that can lower your overall risks of cardiovascular disease by up to 19% and coronary heart disease by up to 23%?

This amazing modification involves no medication, supplements, or exercise.

The intervention is simple: Add tree nuts and walnuts two or more times a week! That’s it.

The findings were reported in the Journal of American College of Caradiology and was based on a study that followed “…76,364 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (1980 to 2012), 92,946 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II (1991 to 2013), and 41,526 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986 to 2012) who were free of cancer, heart disease, and stroke at baseline.” Again, the findings are striking. It should remind us that food is the best prevention. 

With this in mind, we want to encourage everyone without a nut allergy to consider incorporating more nuts in your diet. One of the ways we do this in our house is simple. We eat nut porridge for breakfast.

Here’s Maribel giving you a little bit of the recipe.

Here’s the recipe:

Nut and Coconut Milk Porridge

Soaking time: 3 hours
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 1 minute
Servings: 4

Ingredients

1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup raw pecans or walnuts
2 cups coconut milk or macadamia nut milk
2 tsp cinnamon
Cardamon to taste (optional)
Favorite scoop of protein powder (optional)

 Directions

  1. Place the nuts in a large bowl. Add enough water to cover the nuts by a least 1 inch. Cover and soak for at least 3 hours.
  2. Drain the nuts and rinse 2 or 3 times, until the water runs clear.
  3. Add the nuts to a food processor or high-speed blender. Add the coconut milk or macadamia nut milk, and cinnamon and process until smooth.
  4. Let the porridge sit for a couple of hours.
  5. In the morning, place one portion of the porridge in the microwave for a minute.
  6. Add favorite protein powder if wanting a bit more protein for the morning.

Note from author:

This dish will serve 4 small portions, which is more than enough as it is rich and filling. Serve with strawberries, blueberries, and an extra splash of milk if desired. If you make the porridge the night before, you can microwave the porridge for a minute in the morning for a quick breakfast. Adding favorite protein powder is also a great way to increase the protein value of the meal.

Recipe adapted from Against All Grains

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