Six Fruits and Vegetables for a Healthy Heart

It’s American Heart Month, and that means it’s a good time to think about eating more fruits and vegetables. These foods are the foundation of any healthy diet — and especially any heart-healthy diet. Why is that? Fruits and vegetables are high in so many good things…like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phyto-nutrients, and fiber, all of which protect your heart.

Here are six fruits and vegetables that are especially good for your ticker.

1. Berries are high in heart-healthy polyphenols. Blueberries also contain resveratrol (the same substance that gives red wine its heart-protecting properties), while raspberries have a lot of fiber (8 grams in a one-cup serving).
2. Oranges are well known for their vitamin C content, but they also contain pectin, a kind of insoluble fiber that’s important for heart health.
3. Pomegranates contain several kinds of polyphenols. They’re a good source of potassium, which protects the heart, and they’re also high in fiber, with 7 grams in a one-cup serving.
4. Tomatoes, like pomegranates, are also a good source of potassium, and they contain lycopene, a powerful antioxidant linked to heart health. In fact, tomatoes are thought by many researchers to be part of the reason the Mediterranean diet protects heart health. Tip: Cooking tomatoes helps release their lycopene.
5. Spinach is high in nitrates, which are linked to blood vessel health, and it contains 181 percent of the daily value (DV) for vitamin K, which promotes heart health, in each one-cup serving.
6. Kale is a nutritional powerhouse containing antioxidants, fiber, and numerous vitamins, including a whopping 778% of the DV for vitamin K in each one-cup serving. Kale even has some heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which are uncommon in vegetables.

What else do these fruits and vegetables have in common? They’re all in Juice Plus+ Garden, Orchard, or Vineyard Blends. Thus, adding Juice Plus+ to your diet can help you increase your consumption of a lot of the good things in fruits and vegetables. (We say “a lot” because Juice Plus+ is not a significant source of certain nutrients, such as dietary fiber.) That may be why Juice Plus+ has been found to positively impact several key indicators of cardiovascular wellness, including arterial elasticity.

Dr. Farzan Rajput of Hoag Hospital in Long Beach and Irvine, California agrees: “As a cardiologist, I do recommend proper nutrition to my patients. Juice Plus+ provides that.” He goes on to say that he recommends eight to ten servings of fruits and vegetables a day, which is, honestly, more than most of us manage. That’s why Juice Plus+ is a perfect bridge for people with less-than-perfect diets.

For a heart-healthy day, how about yogurt topped with a fruit salad of berries and pomegranate kernels for breakfast, a spinach or kale salad with broiled chicken or hardboiled eggs for lunch, an orange as a mid-afternoon snack, and chili with cooked tomatoes for dinner? And for a little extra insurance, take your Juice Plus+!

What steps do you take to help your heart? Share with us in the comments below!