A Heart-Healthy Lifestyle - Mazola and the AllRecipes AllStars are Teaming Up!

What does heart heart-healthy mean to me? Heart-healthy means being conscientious of what I put into my body, being aware of what keeps my body running as it was intended, and limiting consumption and activities that do not allow me to be the healthiest version of me. That being said, oh boy do I have a long way to go before I can say that I make heart-healthy choices every day for me and my family. There have been periods in my life that I can say I made heart-healthy choices every day and it was an integral part of my life and routine with regular healthy activity, and food choices that were primarily homemade, lots of fresh fruits and veggies, lean proteins, and limited processed foods. Overall, we still do pretty well with our food choices at home - my husband and I cook regularly and although you will certainly see cheese, breads, pasta, and potatoes appear on the table, we always try to balance that with good, healthy vegetables and fresh fruits each day. We strive for balance, not perfection. I gave up on that a long time ago! :) In the pursuit of balance, learning about heart-healthy fats and how to make good choices with what I cook and bake with is very important, since some form of oil or fat is used pretty much on a daily basis at our house when we cook.

Making good, heart-healthy decisions is VERY important to me for my own health and that of my family - my maternal grandfather has had more than one heart attack and undergone surgery and yet I have always thought of my grandfather as very healthy and active, he is the last one of my grandparent's whom I would have thought would suffer a heart attack and this happened years ago when he was in his 70's if I remember right. And then there is my mom... My mother passed away in November of 2009. I miss her TERRIBLY each and every day. Although we didn't get a clear answer as to exactly what happened causing her death, her heart was related. My mother dealt with eating and weight issues all of her life - sometimes doing great, making healthy choices, staying active, and other times she struggled. She was taken from my life MUCH too early, much, much too early. I want to be here day, after day, after day, after day for my two precious children. I want to see my children grow up, and then see my grandbabies grow up and get married too. I don't want to leave this earth as young as my mommy did - I need to make the right choices for myself and my family because I want to live a long, happy, and healthy life.

This month the AllRecipes AllStars are teaming up with Mazola to bring you some pretty amazing recipes, and not just tasty food but some very helpful information about heart-health and the benefits of corn oil in your diet! I think by now we all know heart-healthy oils and fats ARE part of a balanced diet and Mazola provides some fantastic information on their website about Health and Wellness, and Know Your Fats to provide you with some very helpful information about what to look for when you're reading labels and preparing meals for your family.

Quote from Mazola's website:

Plant sterols, also known as phytosterols, are plant-based micro-nutrients naturally present in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, cereals, legumes and vegetable oils.1 Clinical studies indicate that, when consumed as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, plant sterols can help reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the gut, which, in turn, can lower LDL blood cholesterol.2

Check out the collection of tasty dishes from Mazola on AllRecipes.com - you'll be seeing the Pork Carnitas and the Sweet and Spicy Salmon featured here in the coming weeks!


DISCLAIMER:
I am an Allrecipes Allstar Brand Ambassador (a voluntary position) and I’m not compensated for my work with Allrecipes.com.

Products received from sponsors are only used for experienced-based reviews on Making Miracles. The reviews, content and opinions expressed in this blog are purely the sole opinions of Rebekah.




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