Changing your diet could improve your heart

Mazola Brand is a paid advertiser of Sonoran Living Live

Approximately 79 million Americans suffer from heart and blood vessel diseases. High cholesterol is one of the major risk factors leading to heart disease, heart attack and stroke. One of the surest ways to improve heart health is by making small changes to your diet.

Registered dietitian and chef, Michelle Dudash recommends adding more plant sterols to the diet to help lower cholesterol with nutrition.

“Plant sterols are micronutrients found in plants that help block the absorption of cholesterol in the foods we eat, and are proven to help lower your cholesterol,” said Dudash. “You can add plant sterols by eating more fruits, vegetables and changing the type of oil you use when you cook.

Corn oil has more cholesterol-blocking plant sterols than any other cooking oil - four times as many plant sterols than olive oil and 40 percent more than canola oil. In fact, corn oil contains the highest amount of naturally occurring plant sterols per serving so using corn oil when cooking is a great way to add plant sterols to the diet. Chick peas, soybeans and peanuts are other foods rich in plant sterols.

To build awareness for the plant sterols in corn oil, Mazola Corn Oil and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease have partnered to create the “Set a Healthier Table” program, which encourages Americans to take a pledge to set a healthier table as a way to manage their family’s cholesterol.

For every pledge made to set a healthier table at Mazola’s Facebook page, Mazola is donating $1 to WomenHeart to encourage women to be screened for cholesterol and help fund heart disease education and patient advocacy programs.

Visit Facebook.com/MazolaBrand to pledge to set a healthier table and join the movement to change the statistics - together.

www.facebook.com/mazolabrand

Mazola Brand is a paid advertiser of Sonoran Living Live