Keeping the Women we Love Healthy

We think and talk a lot about how symptoms of heart attacks differ in women, and that is a crucially important topic. As cholesterol medications become more widely used, atherosclerosis is predicted to decrease leading to a decrease in heart attacks. Furthermore, rapid emergency treatment of heart attacks means fewer heart attacks are fatal or debilitating. On the other hand, we do not devote as much time to discussions of heart failure.  "Almost 6 million Americans are living with heart failure, a condition in which the heart is not able to pump enough blood to support the other organs of the body.  Heart failure appears to strike men to a greater extent than women, but it is still a serious consideration in women", comments Dr. Carole Banka, Associate Project Scientist in the Department of Medicine at UCSD School of Medicine Did you know that: More American women die of heart disease than of all forms of cancer combined?  Most women do not know that hea...

Photo courtesy of rakratchada torsap- FreeDigitalPhotos.net Talking about heart health month, it only seems appropriate to talk about CHOCOLATE!   Though recommended to eat sparingly, the health benefits of dark chocolate are widely known.   The secret of healthy dark chocolate resides in the levels of cocoa.  The higher the amount the better!  To get all the health benefits of dark chocolate, nutritionist recommend chocolate that contains 70% or more of cocoa. From famous pastry Chef François Payard, this Chocolate Tofu Mousse is as healthy as dessert can get! Ingredients: 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped 1 cup soy milk 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped 10-ounce silken tofu, drained 1/4 cup raspberries 1/4 cup blueberries Preparation: Place chopped bittersweet chocolate in a bowl.  In a saucepan, combine soy milk and scraped vanilla bean. Bring to a boil; pour over chocolate. Let stand 1 minute. Remove vanilla bean and whisk until smoo...