I'm a Certified Nutritionist. This Is the One Superfood I Wish Everyone Would Eat to Protect Heart Health
There's never a bad time to begin focusing on your heart health. Diet is one of the most effective, modifiable tools for preventing and managing cardiovascular disease, and certain foods are especially known for their heart-boosting benefits. Take hemp seeds, for example: a superfood that contains the perfect balance of omega-6 to omega-3 essential fatty acids, helping reduce inflammation and support healthy cholesterol levels.
"Adding hemp seeds to your diet is an easy, evidence‑supported way to support heart health," says Joy McCarthy, Holistic Nutritionist and Master of Hemp at Manitoba Harvest. "They're also rich in arginine, an amino acid that boosts nitric oxide production to relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure."
Research has highlighted hemp seeds as a promising food for preventing and managing cardiovascular disease. Studies emphasize several key mechanisms through which hemp seeds support heart health, including improving lipid profiles, reducing inflammation and oxidative stress, and supporting healthy vascular function.
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A typical daily serving is one to three tablespoons, roughly 10 to 30 grams. Just 10 grams provides roughly 3 grams of plant-based omega-3s and a good amount of arginine.
Ready to pick up a bag yourself? In grocery stores, bags are typically labeled as hemp hearts, which are the soft inner kernels minus the crunchy outer shell. They're typically sold in one-pound bags and cost anywhere between $10 to $15.
"It’s very easy to get one to three tablespoons of hemp seeds per day by adding them to smoothies, mixing them into salad dressings, sprinkling on oatmeal, or mixing them into yogurt or applesauce," McCarthy says. "You can even bake with them by adding them to banana bread or your favorite muffin recipe. Manitoba Harvest's website has tons of nourishing and tasty recipes featuring hemp."
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