Heart "Beet" healthy recipes for your sweetheart! 

Guest post by Isidora Liliana Muñoz Segovia

Healthy Acadia SNAP-Ed Nutrition Educator - Hancock County

Happy hearts make happier people, and therefore happy and healthier lives! This Valentine’s Day, as we celebrate love and those dear to our hearts, let’s check our heart’s health!

What could be better than learning how to show your sweethearts how much you love them by making sure their hearts beat happily and healthily?

I am excited to share with you some foods that are good for our heart’s health as well as a sweet tooth-satisfying (and healthy) delicacy recipe for special occasions: Beet Brownies!! Beets are an amazing superfood that help lower your blood pressure and increase blood flow. Beets are also a great source of folate and manganese and a good source of potassium. A one-cup serving of beets provides 37% of our daily requirement of folate and 7.4% of Vitamin C. Check out the easy recipe below.

Need some extra motivation to engage with taking care of your heart’s health? In September 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ranked heart disease as the leading cause of death in the US. So before you get ready to start baking those delicious healthy brownies, here are some other examples of foods that are very beneficial for our heart’s health and that you can try to add into your daily diet:

  • Leafy greens such as spinach, collard greens, kale, cabbage

Dark leafy greens help to lower LDL cholesterol levels, known as the “bad” cholesterol. Due to their high fiber content, leafy greens benefit blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

  • Protein-rich foods such as:

    • Fish such as salmon, tuna, and trout – high in omega-3 fatty acids

High omega-3 fats help to lower triglycerides (a type of fat in your blood), reduce the risk of developing an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), and slow the buildup of plaque in your arteries.

  • Lean meats like 95% lean ground beef, turkey, and chicken

  • Eggs

  • Nuts, seeds, and soy products (like tofu)

Information has been sourced from the CDC U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Medlineplus.gov, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. 





POSTTracey CarlsonHFFA, HPM