Show your heart some love by adding No Yolking™ into your meal plan
By: Kerry Foreman, Owner and Founder of Muskoka Mornings®
Are eggs good for the heart?
Most nutritional guidelines state that most healthy people can eat up to seven whole eggs a week without increasing their risk of heart disease. Some studies have even shown that this level of egg consumption may also help prevent certain types of strokes and a serious eye condition called macular degeneration that can lead to blindness.
Since animal foods like beef, chicken, pork and whole eggs contain dietary cholesterol, this is important to monitor, especially if you have high cholesterol levels, heart disease or type 2 diabetes.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Health experts now suggest eating as little dietary cholesterol as you can, aiming to keep intake under 300 milligrams (mg) a day. One large egg has about 186 mg of cholesterol — all of which is found in the yolk. If your diet contains little other cholesterol, according to some studies, eating up to an egg a day might be an OK choice.”
Since No Yolking™ 100% Egg White Protein Powder itself is just egg whites, adding it to your meal plan will ensure your body is getting a clean, whole protein with all 21 essential amino acids and absolutely no fat, sugar or cholesterol!
Protein and Your Health
Consuming adequate amounts of clean protein regularly (it should make up a quarter of our plates!), ensures that our bodies are functioning properly. Protein provides the amino acids that make up our neurotransmitter, which carry signals from brain cells to other cells in the body. If you don’t get enough protein in your diet, your memory and mental agility can decrease.
Heart-Healthy Recipe Ideas
Plant-based protein foods can provide more fiber and less saturated fat than other types of protein foods, which is best for heart health. Studies suggest that eating proteins like eggs, fish, beans, poultry, nuts and low-fat dairy, rather than high-fat meats, helps prevent heart disease.
Our Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Stuffing is a delicious plant-based meal idea. It’s full of nutrient-dense quinoa, which is a good source of protein. We’ve also added super heart-healthy pecans (or swap out for pumpkin or sunflower seeds, which still give you the great nutrients but are more economical), for a healthy meal sure to please everyone around the table.
For a main dish, try these delicious Apple & Sage Turkey Harvest Patties, which use lean turkey as their main ingredient — a great low-fat source of protein. If you’re craving red meat, try our Gluten-Free Flexitarian Lamb & Cauliflower Meatloaf or meatballs (perfect for little eaters!). While lamb or lean ground beef is higher in fat than ground turkey or chicken, we’ve used riced cauliflower in this dish as a healthier, carb-free way to stretch one-pound of red meat and make it go a lot further. This way you’ll also get a great boost of B12 to help fire the mitochondria in our cells and get that added iron.
A super healthy and cost effective way to stretch the dollar, lower the bad fats and get all the heart healthy benefits of fiber is to use mung beans. Simply soak them for at least 24 hours to break the casing and wait several days to sprout. According to a Healthline.com article, sprouted mung beans appear to have a more impressive antioxidant profile and may contain as much as six times more antioxidants than regular mung beans. These high antioxidant levels may reduce chronic disease risk by helping neutralize potentially harmful molecules.
I recently made delicious stuffed peppers that tasted and felt very meaty with half the amount of beef used as normal. To one-pound of organic ground beef, I added in sprouted mung beans, cauliflower rice, onion, garlic, basil and oregano, plus a can of tomato paste. After stuffing the peppers and baking them, I topped each off with our No Yolking™ Sour Cream for added protein and taste.
As always, we know that the foods we consume have a huge impact on how our bodies perform. By incorporating No Yolking™ 100% Egg White Protein Powder into your morning latte, afternoon protein shake or smoothie and everyday meals and snacks, you’re ensuring your body is getting a heart-healthy protein all day long.
