Molly Morgan, our registered dietician, is the author of To Your Healthy Life.Style. Here you'll find past month's articles containing helpful advice and information on healthy eating, dairy foods, and Crowley products.

Make Your Heart Health a Priority

February is a great time to make your heart health a priority; it's National Heart Health Month! Including lowfat dairy foods as part of your eating routine is a key step to keeping your heart healthy. Here are some of the many ways that Crowley products can help you keep your heart healthy!

Cheese to Choose.
Make Crowley Cottage Cheese the cheese that you choose to enjoy a creamy taste without all of the fat! Why make this change? Cottage cheese has less fat and saturated fat as compared to other cheeses like: cheddar, whole milk ricotta, and whole milk mozzarella. Limiting the amount of saturated fat you consume is a key step in keeping your heart healthy!

The American Heart Association recommends only 7 - 10 % of your calories or less to come from saturated fats per day and only 7% of calories or less if you have heart disease.

How does that apply to the foods that you are eating? For example if you're consuming 1800 calories per day and 7% of your calories from saturated fat that translates into having. 14 grams of saturated fat or less per day! Did you know? There is about 6 grams of saturated fat in just 1 ounce of cheddar cheese, which equals about 4 dice size cubes of cheese.

So, keep your heart healthy. choose cottage cheese! Click here to discover recipes that you can make using Crowley Cottage Cheese.

Make Small Changes that Stick!

Say good-bye to diets and think of making over your eating habits with little changes. With making change this way, little by little the changes will stick in place and ultimately lead to longer lasting results. Here are some little ways you can kick some of the saturated fat out of your eating routine:

• Limit red meat to 2 times per week
• Switch to a lower fat Crowley Milk.if you drink 2% try 1%
• If you don't like the taste of fat free milk, try Fat Free Crowley Skim DeluxeT Milk. it has a really creamy taste, like 2% yet, offers no fat!
• Enjoy your bread without the butter or cut the amount of butter you use in half

For more little ways to switch up your eating, click here!.

Lower Risk for Heart Disease with Dairy

An important component to lowering your risk for heart disease is keeping your blood pressure in check. If you have high blood pressure, you're not alone! There are over 65 million Americans who have high blood pressure and another 59 million who are considered to be 'pre-hypertensive'.

If you're looking for a new eating plan to follow. consider the DASH Eating Plan (Dietary Approaches to Stopping Hypertension), it's a plan from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The emphasis of the eating plan is making lifestyle changes that include: having 2 - 3 servings of lowfat dairy products, 8 -10 servings of fruits and vegetables, regular physical activity, and moderate alcohol consumption.

Check out the ways you can get 2 - 3 servings of lowfat dairy with Crowley.

• Enjoy a lowfat yogurt at breakfast, have ½ cup Fat Free Pineapple Cottage Cheese with lunch, and a serving of lowfat milk with dinner. Total: 2+ servings of lowfat diary
• Start your day with a smoothie (blend 1 cup of lowfat milk, 1 cup of frozen berries, and 2 teaspoons of sugar), have a serving of milk with lunch, and a lowfat yogurt for an afternoon snack. Total: 3 servings of lowfat dairy
• Have 1 cup of lowfat cottage cheese with fruit, add a yogurt with lunch, and have a serving of lowfat chocolate milk for an after dinner treat! Total: 2+ servings of lowfat dairy

Research proves that this works! In fact, hypertensive men following the DASH eating plan reduced their blood pressure more than men on a traditional low fat diet!

Resources:

• Nowson CA, et al. Blood pressure change with weight loss is affected by diet type in men. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2005; 81:983-989.
• American Heart Association.