A few days ago, I was visiting my friend Marjorie and much to my delight, she had a container of homemade pumpkin soup for me.  What a fabulous and unexpected surprise!  I enjoyed it for lunch, savoring the rich flavor, with just a hint of cinnamon.

Pumpkin is rich in the powerful antioxidant beta-carotene and it’s a low-fat way for you to practice healthy eating, help prevent heart disease and certain types of cancer. And with this being peak pumpkin season, it’s the perfect time to indulge.

Want to know more about why pumpkin is so good for us and how to use it? Take a listen to this week’s audio tip for more information.

And check out this tasty pumpkin recipe:

Autumn Harvest Breakfast Bars Recipe

Yield: 8 bars

Ingredients
1/4  cup  orange juice
1/2  cup  whole dates (about 5), halved and pitted
1  cup  whole raw almonds with skins
1/2  cup  dried apricots
1/4  cup  dried plums (prunes)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1/4  cup  raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1/4  cup  raw sunflower seeds

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 300°. Pour orange juice over dates and let soak 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place almonds, dried apricots, and dried plums in a food processor and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped. Add salt and dates with orange juice and pulse until mixture starts to stick together. Add pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, pulsing a few times just to incorporate.
3. Using wet hands, scoop mixture onto a work surface and form into a log about 1 3/4 in. wide and 1/2 in. thick. Use your palms to flatten into a bar, and cut bar into 8 equal pieces.
4. Arrange pieces about 1 in. apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes. Using a heatproof spatula, turn bars over and bake another 8 minutes, or until nuts are toasted (but before fruit begins to burn). Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 210 (56% from fat); Protein: 6g; Fat: 13g (sat 1.4); Carbohydrate: 22g; Fiber: 3.5g; Sodium: 76mg; Cholesterol: 0.0mg

In fact, eating pistachios on a regular basis has been linked to reductions in cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation that can lead to heart disease.

I came across an interesting article in Women’s Health magazine today about a recently released research study from Penn State University. The study followed men and women who ate 1.5 ounces of nuts for four weeks, and then upped it to 3 ounces of nuts for another four weeks.  Interestingly, they saw a decrease in LDL cholesterol (that’s bad cholesterol) when eating 1.5 ounces, which dropped even more when they increased their pistachio intake. Penn State has also done other research linking pistachios to lowered blood pressure.

Because pistachios are low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fat, they’re known to be heart healthy. And what’s even better is that you get roughly 50 pistachios in 1 ounce — not bad!

What about you? Do you eat pistachios or other nuts? What are your favorites for supporting your heart health?

Do you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women, taking close to 500,000 lives each year, far surpassing breast cancer, diabetes and other causes of death?

The reality, however, is that heart disease is highly preventable, yet research shows that many women don’t even know they’re at risk. Why? For a myriad of reasons women often put their health last on the list, despite their best intentions.

I say enough is enough. It’s time for each of us to take a stand and take action about our heart health.

That’s why I created the Take Your Health To Heart Challenge. The Challenge motivates and inspires women across the country and around the world to make heart-healthy lifestyle changes that help prevent heart disease and significantly reduce risk factors. Heart disease has affected people in my own life and I’m determined to help spread the word and encourage women to truly take their health to heart.

Here’s where I need your help.

My goal is to inspire at least 1 million women to take the Challenge and get heart healthy.

The Challenge is simple. It’s about making a pledge to take exquisite care of your heart and tools to inspire you to do so. Simply click the link below to learn more, sign up, and get into action – it only takes a moment and it doesn’t cost a thing.

www.TakeYourHealthToHeart.com

When you sign up and get inspired about your own heart health, you can empower the women in your life to do the same. Together, we can move from heartsick to heart healthy!

So go ahead, put yourself first on the list and make your heart health a priority. I can’t wait to help you take your health to heart!

I came across an article today that’s very interesting and speaks to the notion of heart health. Although it’s not specific to women, but is helpful to everyone. The Harvard Heart Letter suggests that eating a healthy breakfast reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes. Eating breakfast helps to regulate blood sugar throughout the day and can curb your appetite. In particular, they emphasize eating more whole grains and healthy forms of protein. What do you eat for breakfast? Do you notice a difference when you eat more whole grains than not?

I personally couldn’t agree more with the results. Eating breakfast is something I’m in the habit of doing everyday, and I’m all about eating whole grains. Just this morning I had a small bowl of quinoa, a grain from South America, with some vegetable soup I made. I know, it may be a little odd to be eating soup and quinoa for breakfast, but it was healthy and delicious and got my day off to a good start.  Oatmeal and whole grain toast are other good options.

Tell me more about your breakfast routine. What works for you and how heart healthy is it?

And stay tuned for information about my upcoming Take Your Health to Heart Challenge which encourages women to take their heart healthy seriously and get into action — more details to follow about that soon.

Heart disease develops over time when we have increasing amounts of plaque in our body. Plaque is made up of a variety of substances including fat and cholesterol. As our arteries become clogged, blood flow is restricted which can lead to heart attack or stroke.

The reality, however, is that we can drastically reduce the likelihood of heart disease by making some simple and healthy lifestyle changes. Diet, exercise and stress are contributing factors that we have the ability to control.

What can you do to help prevent heart disease?

Eat a diet low in saturated fat
Increase your intake of heart healthy fruits, vegetables and whole grains (check out my blog for lots of great ideas and recipes!)
Get regular exercise, a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 3 times per week
Reduce your stress levels
Understand your risk factors
Educate yourself. Visit www.GoRedForWomen.org, the American Heart Association’s campaign to increase awareness and knowledge and inspire women to take preventative action. Try to the “Go Red Heart Checkup” and see how healthy you are