ORANGES TO PREVENT HEART DISEASE?

HEART DISEASE IS THE #1 KILLER OF BOTH MEN AND WOMEN IN AMERICA!

One thing you can do for yourself as well as your family to help prevent heart disease is to add oranges to your diets.  If you have young children, it is important to serve them healthy meals from the very beginning!

We often think of oranges as a source of vitamin-C but they are so much more. They help to reduce blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart failure so why wouldn't you add them to your diet?  And while orange juice is good, eating the orange is healthier.  Check out the following information about the properties of oranges and their affect on the heart:

• Soluble fiber pectin - acts like a giant sponge, sopping up cholesterol in food and blocking its absorption - just like a class of drugs known as bile acid sequestrants.
• Potassium - helps to counterbalance the salt in your diet, helping to keep blood pressure under control.
• Citrus pectin - helps neutralize a protein called galectin-3 that causes scarring of heart tissue, leading to congestive heart failure.

Peter Muntendam, MD, of BG medicine in Waltham, MA, says research has shown that 20% of Americans over the age of 50 have galectin-3.  A study in 2009 showed that a diet high in fruits and vegetables decreased the risk of heart failure by 37%!

You will notice that 2 of the 3 bullets above are about pectin.  Since pectin is found in the pulp and pith, if you buy orange juice you should buy it with pulp.  Even better, as mentioned earlier, eat the orange!