Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey there, sunshine. Welcome to the Power On Plants podcast. We're your host, jared and Anita Roussell, and we're absolutely head over heels for whole plant foods and helping you navigate this incredible plant based journey. That's because our lives have been completely changed by plant based goodness. We used to struggle every day with excess pounds and low energy, vascular disease, joint pain and lack of sleep, just to name a few, and even though we're medical professionals, we still weren't getting practical answers that actually worked. So we dug into the research, we started living what we learned, and now we both have our lives back, and that's what we want for you, too. The truth is, you can do this, and it's not hard. You just need a way that will bring real and lasting change, and that path. It has to be simple and enjoyable, and it's got to be delicious too. So are you ready to live your life to the fullest? Then you're in the right place, because living without limits that's what Power On Plants is all about. So pull up your chair, grab a matcha latte and let's get started. Hello, sunshine, and welcome to the Power On Plants podcast. Happy today, you know. I'm saying that because every day that we've been given is a blessing from the Father and we want to live it to the best of our ability. But we can't do that if we don't feel our best, and I sure not always love hanging out with you on the podcast.

Speaker 1: 1:24

But today is extra important because we're talking about how to eradicate the number one killer of our time, and that is heart disease. Did you know that hardening of the arteries begins in childhood, with almost all kids having fatty streaks in their blood vessels by age 10? I'll never forget the first time that I read that. It blew my mind. But did you know that it's possible to not only prevent but even reverse heart disease? And the key is twofold. The first step is to stop eating the foods that are known to clog the arteries, that's, the animal products, the saturated fats and oils and highly processed foods. And then step two, the big key, is to find out what naturally healing foods can you replace those old favorite foods with the ones that were harming you, but you want to replace them with the foods that will actually love you back. So today we're going to be sharing the top five delicious, heart healthy foods so that you can start getting more of them into your life in enjoyable ways every single day that are also doable with your busy schedule, because we know how important that is to you as a busy woman.

Speaker 1: 2:40

Now, the first food that we want to talk about is leafy green vegetables. These are things like kale and shard and spring green mixes. But today I want to highlight a power player here that many people don't ever even think about eating, and that's arugula. This is one of the leafy green vegetables that contains some of the highest volume of nitrates. Now you're probably wondering why in the world does that even matter?

Speaker 1: 3:07

It's because your body takes the nitrates found in whole plant foods and converts them into nitric oxide, which relaxes your blood vessels, improves blood flow and oxygen supply to your tissue. It also improves your body's ability to get rid of waste. Why is that? Because, as the blood vessels open up and the blood can flow more readily, you're going to get the nutrients to your cells that you need and the waste and the trash can be carried out. The widening of your blood vessels is vital to maintaining a healthy blood pressure as you age. Not only that, high blood pressure can be reversed by regularly enjoying nitrate rich whole plant foods. So what do you think about arugula, jared?

Speaker 2: 3:52

I'm pretty in favor of arugula. It's funny but I like it. It's good. It's got a peppery flavor to it. It's funny because it's not something that I ever ate growing up and we, somewhere along the line, we discovered it and we liked it was peppery, we added it to our salads and now one of our sons absolutely loves arugula and it's just yeah, he'll just take handfuls and eat it straight out of the pre-wash box.

Speaker 2: 4:19

Just eat it on you can find it in the salad mixes typically now not in high amounts because it can be peppery, but you can buy it. We get it at Whole Foods, commonly in its own container by itself.

Speaker 1: 4:31

I've gotten to where I like to just use it as the base for my bowls, my salad bowl, instead of just the spring mixes or Something like that. You can just put it in the base of your bowl, and I got this idea from one of our favorite restaurants we love to go to on the beach where they have this arugula, arugula, quinoa bowl. So they take the bowl and they fill it with arugula, then they put cooked quinoa on top and black beans and corn and salsa and all the Mexican spices like chili powder and cumin, and Then you can put some avocado and grated carrots and it is Amazing. You wouldn't think so, but that Pepperiness, blended with all these other ingredients, makes for a great Tex-Mex style dish. We absolutely love it. So that is one of the really simple ways to get arugula into your life. How do you like to eat it most? Is that your favorite?

Speaker 2: 5:22

Well, that's not really what came to mind, probably just in salad, just doing a nice big salad mixing all the greens, and that's of course before we add all the extras. So the garbanzos, the we can add strawberry potatoes, I mean all kinds of you. Make it however you want to, but I like to put it in a salad, but I like your way, since we have recreated it from time to time at our own home.

Speaker 1: 5:43

We love to put the power and plants ranch on there, and that is in the power and plants cookbook. We love that on there. Sometimes I'll add a little extra dill too, because I really love the flavor it gives that dish. And the second power packed food for reversing heart disease and preventing it is dark berries, like blue berries and black berries. The black and blue colored fruits are so incredibly good for your heart.

Speaker 1: 6:10

The problem is that most of us don't regularly eat whole plant foods that are that color. I want you to stop and think about that for just a minute. What do you normally eat that is black? What fruits do you normally eat or foods in general, for that matter that are whole plant foods that are this dark, rich color a dark, black, blue, purple, anything that comes to mind that you normally eat, because if not, you're missing out on nutrients that your body needs. So today's the perfect day to start this new heart healthy habit. But what if berries aren't in season right now? You're smiling. What are you gonna say? He's got something going on up there.

Speaker 2: 6:50

I'm just sitting here ruminating on this and rotten bananas don't count as a Dark fruit. I can just see somebody out there saying well, I've got some bananas that are a little overripe sitting on my countertop over here. Does that count as a black fruit?

Speaker 1: 7:05

That's just hard. No, it doesn't. It does not. There's. I don't know of any woman who's thinking that. If you're thinking that, right in and let us know, okay. Or the guy, maybe just in my head, maybe it's just me, I'm sorry, okay, we're gonna get serious now.

Speaker 2: 7:23

But yes, the blueberries and the blackberries and the raspberries, those really dark, rich colors and the dark and those are the powerhouses.

Speaker 1: 7:29

What about the dark grapes like? Do you normally reach for the green grapes, if you eat grapes at all or are you getting the dark, dark black ones or the dark red ones? Right, you want to get those dark colors, but particularly the black, blues and purples, because you get those anthocyanins in there. They are power packed and excellent for your heart. What if berries aren't in season right now when you're listening to this podcast episode? Never beer, because most Supermarkets now carry berries in the frozen food section. But what I want you to do is always look at the Ingredients label, right? Yes, this is crucial. It's not just about the grams and the macros and all that stuff. What are the actual ingredients? What is actually in that package? Because by the time something is packaged, nine times out of ten, they will have added a long list of something, something to it. Right? So you're not just getting the berries. So a package of frozen blackberries, what should it have in it? What should be the ingredients?

Speaker 2: 8:32

Brice and blackberries.

Speaker 1: 8:34

Brice and blackberries. And then you should have one ingredient on blueberries Just the blueberries, just the blueberries.

Speaker 2: 8:40

You know what we don't see on those labels and this is why we say really almost discount all of it, except for the ingredients. You don't see the anthocyanin levels. You don't see the isoflavone labels if it's soybeans. You don't see all the levels of all the stuff in the foods that really heal your body, right, those aren't there. No, we're not saying completely ignore salt levels. Those things, yes, keep an eye on, but don't get so caught up on the carbohydrates and the proteins and those types of macros, because I think ultimately, at the end of the day, if you're making good choices, those things don't matter. Get variety, get single ingredient berries. They don't have oil at them, they don't have chemicals. Why should they need chemicals? I don't know. That's why we keep just kind of knocking ourselves in the head and saying why? And the aisles of the supermarkets? It's crazy.

Speaker 1: 9:34

Always. It's my story. It's the supermarket thing. I mean, I pick up packages and I'm reading it going why we seriously have got to come out with some products, because it drives me crazy there are certain ones, time after time why does this have oil in it? Why does it have sugar in it? Why does it have preservatives when it just doesn't need to be there in this certain food? So ask yourself that, read the ingredients label and get some of those dark berries in.

Speaker 1: 9:59

You've done your thinking. You thought about how much you ate them. Are you eating blueberries or blackberries every single day? If not, why not? And how can you easily get them into your life in the way that you will? Right, because you want to think about how's this going to work for me with my busy schedule. Do I already drink a smoothie? If so, I could easily put some in there. If I'm eating salad, could I easily get some berries onto my salad? That's something we don't think about doing a lot of times, but they're so good on your salad. I seriously tossed a handful of fresh blueberries onto my salad the other day and I thought why am I not doing this more often, right? I?

Speaker 2: 10:35

throw them in my smoothies. I throw them in my oatmeal.

Speaker 1: 10:38

Why not?

Speaker 1: 10:38

in my salad why not? So we need to get more of these wonderful foods into our life on a regular basis. It's just going to bump up the flavor and make you feel better all at the same time. The third heart, healthy food we need to talk about right now whole grain. Specifically, I want to point out oats. Yeah, now, I'm not talking about the little Quaker Oat packs that I used to love, like peaches and cream, strawberries and cream. There are so many additives, flavors and not a lot of nutrient value in there.

Speaker 2: 11:08

We still enjoy peaches and cream flavored oatmeal we just enjoyed in a way that loves us back. It tastes the same. I just wanted to say that I just want to interject, isn't it amazing? Like you can still make it.

Speaker 1: 11:18

You can learn how to make your favorite foods. It's easy. That was one of my all favorites, I mean now when I eat it, I dream of home. I think of my mom and growing up and eating this food, and it just wasn't good for me. We didn't know back then, you know, we didn't know how to make these swaps and how to make it dairy free. You don't have to have all those artificial ingredients and flavors. You can know and you can have all the good stuff, all the nutrients that promote heart health, that promote gut health and that make you feel great and power you literally well. We say this all the time, but these foods literally power you well.

Speaker 1: 11:53

When you're getting your oats to make your heart healthy even better, what could you throw in there? A handful of black or blueberries, right. You can even use your oats to top a naturally sweet berry cobbler. Or you could add them to your berry packed, leafy green packed smoothie. Right, we're going back. I'm adding all the ingredients here. You see what I'm doing. I'm I'm stacking them up, because what happens is you stack one on the other, on the other, and then it's Amazing what can happen in your life. You're gonna feel better, you're gonna have energy, you're gonna think clearly why cuz? The blood can get everywhere? Because your vessels have opened up. We've literally seen the pictures, the x-rays that show these vessels opening up in stage heart disease Reversing. It can happen. Don't ever let somebody tell you you're in stage and give you a certain number of days to live.

Speaker 1: 12:50

Listen, go back and let's start episode. If you've gotten a diagnosis and you feel kind of hopeless and you're just trying to figure out what to do, I want you to go back and listen to episode 210. You have a diagnosis now what? That's where we deal with that. But I want you to think about how simple it truly can be to get these things into your life. If it seems hard to you and you're new to plant-based and you're thinking I don't know what to do, I don't know where to start, just find one of your favorite foods and replace it with a new favorite that you like just as much or even more.

Speaker 1: 13:22

So we talk about this on the podcast. We talk about this in the membership. We walk you step by step through how to do this. Do not get overwhelmed. One thing and then another thing and then another thing stack up, just like what I'm doing for you in this heart health episode. Right, and it's amazing what just two or three new things can start to do in your body. The inflammation starts to go away, the blood starts flowing, your gut starts to be healthy, the leaky gut can repair.

Speaker 2: 13:51

It's just pain starts to go away. It's incredible. You get excited, then you start to see the results, then you just become an unstoppable force an unstoppable force.

Speaker 1: 14:00

I love that and that's what we want to be. We want to be freedom makers in our life. We want to be an unstoppable force because we've got all these goals and dreams, a calling that we want to live out. And if you're an unstoppable force, you are gonna get there, and this is how you do it. It does not have to be difficult. Do not get overwhelmed and feel like you're gonna be spending hours in the kitchen, or I mean, maybe you think I don't like to cook, anita, and you probably just love to cook and you like to get very creative in the kitchen. Well, let me tell you something. The reality is we have a lot going on too, on a day-to-day basis. We're homeschooling our children, we're running the business full-time Cheers, still sees patients, telemedicine We've got a lot of stuff going on, and this is the quickest, easiest way We've ever been able to get food on the table. It just doesn't get any easier than this listen, don't over complicate it.

Speaker 2: 14:50

It's not that hard to eat blueberries. I can buy the pack, rinse them off and enjoy.

Speaker 2: 14:56

I mean really, just that simple handful or with the oatmeal's we were talking about stacking. This very morning I had blueberries and raspberries on my oatmeal. I didn't even cook the oatmeal, I just stirred some cacao powder. This is my typical, if you've heard it before. I just I love it and I eat it most mornings Makes it together kind of work, that water into the oatmeal cuz you make a meal, right right, that's how you make oat milk straight in your bowl.

Speaker 2: 15:27

Yes, oat milk. So you just just work it in there and then you put the berries in there and that's it done. I mean, it's not cooking it for 10 minutes. It takes me a couple minutes and I love it.

Speaker 1: 15:40

But what if I don't like the texture of raw oats? Well, guess what? I don't really love it. Mixed up right away and eating it right then. So what do I do? I put it in the night before and it sits overnight. Do I have to stand over stovetop and cook it? No, it's ready for me. When I get up, I dump it in a bowl, I let it soak overnight, it's done. I mean, I just put the water in there, mix it up, make the oatmeal Sit and then I drop my berries and things in it the next day.

Speaker 1: 16:04

It's so Easy. You've just got to know how. Find someone who can take you by the hand and show you how to do this and start doing it. Now we're showing you, start doing what we're saying. Okay. So here we are. We've got leafy green veggies such as arugula. You're probably not eating it right now.

Speaker 1: 16:24

Find new ways to get it into your life. Dark, black and blue colored fruit, specifically berries like blueberries and blackberries. And now we've got a whole grain oatmeal. Okay, we've talked about how do you get your oatmeal. You know another thing that you can do with oatmeal you can make delicious gluten-free waffles or raspberry oatmeal delight cookies. We have these recipes in the power on plants cookbook. It is so simple. Most of them have probably no more than seven ingredients. I mean, it's just so easy to do. So these are some of the ways that you can get more oatmeal into your life. Find the ways that you love and eat it on a daily basis. Can you cook it Absolutely? If you say the only way I like it is cooked, eat it. What if I like a grout instead? What if I like steel cut better than rolled? What if I like rolled better than steel? Cut Absolutely, whatever, just eat your oats.

Speaker 1: 17:19

Eat your oats. Okay, step number five Beans. Beans are good for your heart. The more you eat, the longer you'll live, think Dr Gregor said. I think that's what he says, but it's absolutely true, right? Because beans are so good for your heart. They're not only tasty, but they're high in fiber. They've been shown to reduce the levels of cholesterol and lower your blood pressure all at the same time.

Speaker 1: 17:43

So what beans should you be eating more of? The one you will, the one you will. That's how simple it is. Okay, I would suggest, if you already enjoy beans on a regular basis, find a new one to love, because we know that all beans are heart-healthy and studies show the number one determining factor of gut health is the variety of plants that you eat. So a great way to boost your heart health and your gut health all at the same time is by choosing a new to you favorite bean to fall in love with. And the final thing I want to touch on is a power pack seed, and that is flax. This is a great source of heart-healthy Omega's, and they're packed with fiber too. So I want you to grind up some flax seeds and get at least two tablespoons every single day. It's so easy to do this. You can throw them into your smoothie and grind them there. You can buy them whole and put them into a little like a tiny little coffee grinder or spice grinder?

Speaker 2: 18:44

Yeah, spice grinder.

Speaker 1: 18:45

So it takes two seconds Done, literally. You can stir it into water and drink it down. You can sprinkle it on your salad, you can sprinkle it on your oatmeal. There's another thing you can do. I mean seriously. You can eat oats and get almost every one of these categories Now. You can put greens in your oats and have it savory too, but I probably wouldn't do that along with the blueberries and the blackberries and the other stuff.

Speaker 2: 19:08

So it'd be a little different.

Speaker 1: 19:10

You could do it, or you could just take a handful of rickle and eat it on the side. Whatever you want to do, however, you are going to get them. Okay. But the flax seed? I want you to just think about how simple it is. You can stir it in water and drink it, sprinkle it over your oats, sprinkle it on your salad. I love the flavor that raw flax gives. It's almost like that croutonny flavor. You don't want to put too much or it makes your salad really thick, because they also thicken, but I love to put a sprinkle of flax seed over it. So your goal is to get two tablespoons a day.

Speaker 2: 19:41

It has a very nice light nutty flavor that accents a lot of other flavors extremely well.

Speaker 1: 19:46

Oh, they are so good and bake with them. You can use them as an egg substitute with water. It's absolutely incredible. Alright, now we've covered five foods and I want you to think. Just five. What do you, each one of these foods, have in common?

Speaker 2: 20:03

Are you quizzing me you?

Speaker 1: 20:04

know it.

Speaker 2: 20:06

Well, they're all plants.

Speaker 1: 20:08

Woo, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding ding. I wish I had a little background like sound generator. That would be awesome. I'd have applause going. I'd have the confetti drop in. I don't know, does confetti make a sound? It drops.

Speaker 2: 20:21

Only if it's in big chunks. Only if it's in big chunks. I thought that was a trick question. Honestly, I thought maybe it was some special type of fiber in them.

Speaker 1: 20:30

No, sister, they are all plant foods. Jared nailed it. All of these foods are whole plant foods. So the simple answer to gaining heart help is what Is? To eat more whole plant foods. Right, eat more whole plant foods. And it really is just that simple. Now I've got a challenge for you and I'm going to challenge Jared right now. I want you to think right now of some whole plant foods and then I want you to type them into Google with the words heart health or blood vessel health and see what happens. Now, you're not going to type. Now Jared's turned to his computer. You're not going to type. I'm going to type them in, but what I want you to do is help me come up with some. So you're just going to give me the idea, so that I haven't pre-done any of this now.

Speaker 2: 21:15

Okay, yes, because she didn't tell me this ahead of time. She said I've got a little surprise for you, Jared, along with you, our listener, and we're just going to have a little fun with this.

Speaker 1: 21:25

Yeah, so Jared's just going to toss out some names of some whole plant foods that he thinks of, and then I don't want you to toss out any that you just absolutely think are heart healthy. I want you to just give me the name of a couple of whole plant foods. We'll go one at a time, okay, randomly naming off some whole plant foods, and I am going to search for them with the words heart health or blood vessels. Okay, and this is what we're going to and we're going to see what comes up.

Speaker 2: 21:49

Okay, so I'm going to Google.

Speaker 1: 21:52

All right, now I'm on Google, I'm ready for it. Jared, what you got.

Speaker 2: 21:56

Okra.

Speaker 1: 21:57

Okra Heart Health. Okay, I'm going to read to you what I got. Another possible health benefit of Okra is its polyphenol content. One four-year study and 1,100 people showed that those who ate a diet rich in polyphenols have lower inflammatory markers associated with heart disease. It can also help your gut and help to lower cholesterol levels too. That's the first thing that pops up. Seriously, seriously. Okay, give me another.

Speaker 2: 22:25

Oh, let me think how about celery?

Speaker 1: 22:29

Celery Heart Health. Celery is often disregarded. It's nothing more than a disposable garnish Served with buffalo chicken wings. Please don't do that. Please do not do buffalo chicken wings to yourself. Okay, let's do some buffalo tofu cubes and we'll talk about that. That would be delicious. However, it goes on to say however, the extraordinary health benefits associated with this crunchy vegetable make it one of the most underrated foods on the planet. Celery is loaded with polysaccharides and antioxidant Explain bestselling. Author Dr Partha Nandi. The antioxidants have the ability to cure free radical damage that contributes to inflammation. Chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and arthritis are caused by inflammation, so eating celery can help prevent and reverse heart disease.

Speaker 2: 23:20

Are we doing any more?

Speaker 1: 23:22

Oh, yeah, bring it.

Speaker 2: 23:23

Those two are vegetables. How about pears?

Speaker 1: 23:27

Pear Heart health. Pear heart health, since pears are high in fiber and potassium, which helps to counteract excess sodium. According to the American Heart Association, they're a great snack to incorporate into a heart healthy diet. Let's keep looking and see what else we get. Pears are rich in fiber and vitamin C. Likewise, pears are sodium free, fat free and cholesterol free. All things are important for a heart healthy diet. In fact, a study that looked at data from the Iowa Women's Health Study researchers found that pears and apples were the most protective against heart disease compared with other common fruits.

Speaker 2: 24:05

Surprise surprise.

Speaker 1: 24:07

Next, I'm stretching them here y'all.

Speaker 2: 24:11

We are.

Speaker 1: 24:12

Anything just off the top of your head? Anything, something you might think wouldn't help heart health, something that wouldn't be especially beneficial.

Speaker 2: 24:18

I'm trying to just think of something that's not a common thing, that we eat necessarily all the time. Another thing that came to mind was radish.

Speaker 1: 24:28

Radish heart health. Radishes are rich in antioxidants and minerals like calcium and potassium. Together, these nutrients help lower high blood pressure and reduce your risk for heart disease. The radishes also are a great source of natural nitrates that improve blood flow.

Speaker 2: 24:46

I didn't think about that because I know beets are really good with nitrates, oh yeah, absolutely. I don't know if they're exactly, if beets and radishes are in exactly the same family, but obviously they're both roots.

Speaker 1: 24:59

Oh yeah, yum, yum. Okay, let's go. What you got?

Speaker 2: 25:05

Oh, I don't know. We want to go for a berry. No not a berry. We covered berries.

Speaker 1: 25:12

Give me something totally different. Pretend that you're cruising the produce section of whole feeds.

Speaker 2: 25:18

I thought of this earlier artichoke.

Speaker 1: 25:20

Artichoke, that's a little different. And heart health Okay, thank you, versailles. Now it's pulling up artichokes hearts. Artichokes are also a good source of potassium, with one artichoke providing a similar amount of potassium to that of a medium banana. Like magnesium, potassium is essential to nerve and muscle function. What is your heart? It's a muscle. It's a muscle. It also helps support healthy bones and kidneys and maintains the body's fluid balance. Getting adequate amounts of this mineral help your body urinate out excess sodium, improving your ability to control your blood pressure, says the American Heart Association. I'd say you won at this game. You know why you won, jared. I mean, I do believe you're extra special, but I really believe that you won because every food you named is a whole plant food.

Speaker 2: 26:14

Is a whole plant food.

Speaker 1: 26:15

Right, but are some plant foods not heart healthy? None of the ones you named were heart healthy right, because we have a lot of fiber, right, and we have a lot of minerals, the phytonutrients, all these things that God put in these foods to naturally help our bodies heal.

Speaker 2: 26:31

But what don't they have? Cholesterol and animal-based saturated fats.

Speaker 1: 26:37

Right.

Speaker 2: 26:38

And the inflammatory components that are found within animal proteins.

Speaker 1: 26:42

Sister. This is why Jared and I regularly see blood pressure decrease naturally and our clients cholesterol naturally returns to normal and why blood vessels regularly open back up. Eating this way, whole plant foods are the heart healthy foods. So the moral of this story once again is this Don't try to remember every single one of the foods we've necessarily talked about today. I mean, yes, we know they're heart healthy. So if you're not getting them, get more of them into your life. What we don't want you to do is try to remember. These foods are healthy for your heart and these are healthy for this and these are healthy for that. Okay, whole plant foods are the healing foods. They're the foods that will power your body well, so eat more of them, eat a wider variety of them on a regular basis, but the important thing is learning how to have them in a way that you actually enjoy and that's doable with your busy schedule, so you can enjoy more of them every single day.

Speaker 1: 27:42

Now, the first thing we mentioned on this episode was leafy greens, specifically arugula, but there are a lot of leafy greens you can get into your life. Maybe you don't know how to do that. You want more ideas to know how do I get those? In a simple way, I have put together for you leafy green secrets. If you have not gotten your copy, go right now to poweronplantscom forward slash leafy green secrets, where you can grab your free guide to learn how to boost your energy, lose weight and reverse disease naturally and promote heart health right. But this guide, I've made it intentionally simple for you because I know how busy you are. Each of the 25 suggestions is a beautiful picture and just a simple idea of how you can get more of these delicious whole plant foods into your life on a regular basis so you can heal and thrive in your calling. So go right now, if you don't have your copy yet, and download your copy at poweronplantscom. Forward slash leafy green secrets and sunshine. Have a great week and we will look forward to seeing you next time on power on plants.