February is American Heart Month, and rightfully so, considering it’s also the month when partners celebrate their love for one another with acts of the appreciation on Valentine’s Day.
While your sweetheart may hold the key to your heart, you hold the key to a healthier heart by controlling what’s in your diet and what you don’t allow past your lips. Eating more heart-healthy foods can be as simple as swapping out some of your favorite condiments, toppings, and cooking ingredients for healthier, yet equally delicious and effective substitutions.
By incorporating these simple swaps into your daily routine, you can lower your saturated fat intake, and increase your intake of heart-healthy fats (i.e. omega-3s and monounsaturated fats), fiber, and antioxidants, all of which promote cardiovascular health.
Show yourself some love this month by giving our top nine heart-healthy food and beverage swaps a try.
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Hers Nutrition
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12 Food Substitutions for a Healthier Diet
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<p class="article__subtitle">Switch up your diet and reap the benefits for your health and your physique.</p>
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<p class='slide-count'>1 of 9</p><img width="1109" height="614" src="/uploadfile/2024/1125/20241125082218124.jpg"><p class="photo-credit">Sea Wave/theerakit/SMarina / Shutterstock</p>Lentils for Ground Beef
In our Top Food Trends of 2017 article, we predicted plant-based proteins would rise to the top in 2017, as many health-conscious consumers are making the switch from meats to plant-based proteins for some or all of their meals. Although meat is rich in protein, it can also be high in saturated fat, which the American Heart Association states can increase “bad” cholesterol levels and increase your risk for heart disease. Meat also lacks many of the disease-fighting nutrients commonly found in plant-based proteins.
Lentils, in particular, are a rich source of magnesium and fiber, which promote heart health. This versatile legume is also high in protein, and makes for a nutritiously delicious substitute for ground beef, thanks to its size, texture, and color. Sub in one cup of uncooked, dried lentils for a pound of ground beef in your next meat sauce, taco filling, sloppy Joe mix, or whatever recipe you have in mind that uses ground beef.
Cook them in broth – vegetable or a meat-based broth if not vegetarian – to make them even more flavorful. Try this plant powered chili recipe.
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Greek yogurt for mayonnaise
It’s no secret that mayo is the miracle ingredient that can transform even the most unpopular of vegetable-heavy dishes into crowd-pleasers. But, all good things come at a price. Just one tablespoon of mayonnaise packs in 100 calories and 10 grams of fat, 16% of which is saturated fat. And let’s face it; most of us aren’t slathering a mere tablespoon onto our sandwiches.
Low-fat or non-fat, plain Greek yogurt can serve as a creamy substitute for mayo in cold salads, dips, dressings, marinades, and casseroles, and even on your sub! One tablespoon of low-fat Greek yogurt is only 10 calories and less than a half-gram of fat, saving you 90 calories and nearly 10 grams of fat per tablespoon when using as a mayo substitute. There’s also a gram of protein in every tablespoon of Greek yogurt, making it the perfect satiating snack for managing your weight, another key to a healthier heart. Some brands of Greek yogurt, like Dannon Oikos Triple Zero, even fortify their product with fiber, providing even more cardiovascular benefit with every bite.
Try these superfood recipes that use Greek yogurt.
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Nuts for Croutons
Those croutons in your soup or salad are providing satisfying crunch, but consist of empty calories. Standard croutons are made from enriched flour, which is stripped of most of the natural vitamins and minerals to increase shelf life and improve texture of the final product. Excess consumption of refined carbohydrates that are low in fiber, like croutons, is associated with lower levels of “good” cholesterol and higher levels of “bad” cholesterol. And since it’s easy to overdo it on the croutons, you’re likely taking in more sodium than you realize, too.
High sodium intake can increase your blood pressure, another risk factor for heart disease. Luckily, that crunchy texture can be easily replicated by swapping in nuts for croutons on your soup or salad! Not only will they contribute protein to your meal, but they’ll also add fiber, vitamins, minerals, and heart-healthy fats. Walnuts in particular are the richest in omega-3s among the nut family, making them the best heart protectors of the bunch.
Try dry roasting the nut of your choice to enhance flavor and crunch before turning it into a soup or salad topper. Try this Carrot, Lentil & Squash Soup with Walnut Croutons recipe from Blissful Basil.
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Red Wine for Cocktails
Can a glass of wine a day keep the cardiologist away? Although too much alcohol can have harmful effects on your body, there’s something about red wine that appears to help your heart. Red wine contains resveratrol—an antioxidant found in the skins of red grapes that helps activate proteins that protect the heart from inflammation. Additionally, research suggests that moderate red wine intake as part of a healthy diet can improve cholesterol levels and decrease cardio metabolic risk.
The key is sticking to “moderate” red wine consumption. This means one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men, or less. And no, a pour filled up to the rim doesn’t count as one drink—we’re talking a 5-ounce serving.
Looking for a way to spice up your next glass of red wine? Check out 7 Wines That Promote Fat Loss
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Coffee for Soda
It’s no surprise that sweetened, carbonated soft drinks like cola aren’t good for your health, so why can’t we stop drinking them? Soft drinks are both sweet and caffeinated, which makes it hard to break the addiction. If it’s the caffeine that’s got you turning to soda on a regular basis, you’re in luck. Just one, eight-ounce cup of coffee contains 95 mg of caffeine, which is at least double the amount of caffeine contained in your average twelve-ounce soft drink. Better yet, this caffeine doesn’t come at the price of over 30 grams of sugar.
High sugar intake is known to cause weight gain and high insulin levels, both of which can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. Regular coffee consumption has been inversely associated with cardiovascular disease in some studies, thanks to antioxidants and other chemical compounds found in coffee beans. Start with a cup of black coffee, and add only a little bit of sugar or natural zero-calorie sweetener, if necessary.
You can also add some skim milk or unsweetened almond or cashew milk to take away some of the bitterness without adding many calories. If you yearn for that refreshing, cold taste, you’re in luck again because any hot coffee can be turned into an iced version!
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Applesauce for Butter in Baking
When you’re trying to eat healthy, baking may seem out of the question. However, avoiding sweets completely often leads us to crave them even more. Luckily, making sweet treats from scratch lets you control what goes in them, and what doesn’t, which allows for healthier baking.
Butter is often used in baking to provide flavor, structure, and texture, but also contributes a good amount of saturated fat. It’s also calorically-dense, making it problematic for those of us looking to watch our weight and support a healthy heart. Fortunately, a popular low-fat snack from childhood can substitute for some of the butter in recipes for baked goods.
Unsweetened applesauce can replace half the amount of butter in a recipe; if the recipe calls for one cup of butter, use one-half cup applesauce and one-half cup butter. You can also substitute applesauce for oil in baking at a 1:1 ratio; if the recipe calls for one-quarter cup oil, use one-quarter cup applesauce.
Other pureed fruits, like prune puree or mashed banana, can also be used in the same fashion. And since these fruits contribute natural sugar to the batter, you can also reduce how much sugar you add, making your baked goods even more heart healthy.
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Beans for Flour in Brownies
Butter and oil aren’t the only ingredients that can be swapped out for healthier alternatives. Flour, too, can be entirely replaced by another common food item—and it’s not one you’d expect. A can of black beans can be swapped in for a cup of flour in your favorite brownie recipe. More of a Blondie fan? Well, you’re in luck! A can of chickpeas can be swapped in for a cup of flour in those as well.
By swapping these in, you’ll not only save over 150 calories and 30 grams of carbohydrate, but you’ll also up the protein and fiber, which helps fill you up without filling you out.
Fiber is especially beneficial for improving cholesterol levels, which is key to reducing your risk for heart disease. Using beans or chickpeas instead of flour will also cut out the gluten, making them the perfect sweet treat for those with Celiac’s disease.
When using canned legumes in your baked goods recipes, just be sure to drain and rinse them before pureeing them. Try this Flourless Peppermint Black Bean Brownies recipe from Nutritiously Twisted.
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Avocado Instead of Cream Sauce
Cream-and butter-based sauces can certainly elevate a dish, but their high calorie and fat content does nothing more for your body than elevate cholesterol levels. Your average store-bought alfredo sauce contains about 10 grams of fat per quarter-cup serving, half of which is saturated fat. But how can that creamy texture and rich flavor be replicated in a healthier way without sacrificing on flavor—look no further than avocados.
The creamy texture of avocados makes them an excellent substitute for mayonnaise and sour cream in dips and casseroles, and also adds richness to a lightened-up pasta sauce when pureed with a low-calorie liquid. You may be thinking, aren’t avocados high in fat as well? While this may be true, the majority of the fats in avocados are of the heart-healthy, monounsaturated kind. Monounsaturated fats have been shown to help reduce “bad” cholesterol levels in your blood, which can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke.
Using avocados instead of heavy cream, butter, and cheese in your cream sauces will also suit those who are lactose intolerant or who are following a vegan diet. Try this Vegan Alfredo from Glow Kitchen.
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Mini Bell Peppers for Chips
When afternoon snack time hits, we like crunchy munches to satisfy our need to nosh. Mini bell peppers can also offer that crunch you yearn for, but without all of the unnecessary calories found in chips. Don’t worry, we’re not suggesting you swap in peppers for chips cold turkey here.
When halved lengthwise and turned skin-side-down, mini bell peppers act as the perfect vessel for nacho fixings. You can add a mixture of lean ground chicken or turkey, reduced-fat cheese, black beans, salsa, guacamole, and more to the insides of the pepper halves, broil them for a few minutes, and voila! You’ve got a gourmet, crunchy snack that’s easy on the waistline, but that’ll still satisfy your afternoon cravings. You can even simply dip the halved peppers into guacamole, hummus, or a Greek yogurt-based dip for a healthier “chips and dip”-style snack.
You’ll save at least 200 calories per serving, and you’ll get hefty doses of fiber and vitamin C. The antioxidant effects of vitamin C play a huge role in protecting heart health, and a high intake of the vitamin can reduce your risk for heart disease. Try these Mini Bell Pepper Loaded Turkey Nachos from Skinnytaste.