Cook with heart ... for the heart

Having a heart-smart diet is one of the most important things you can do for your health. It significantly affects your risk and management of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death around the world, and people with diabetes are especially at risk - more than 65% (2 out of 3) die from these afflictions. Heart attacks also occur earlier in life with diabetes. That's why it's essential for everyone with diabetes to be heart smart in the kitchen.

With a little planning, meals can be delicious and nutritious as well as easy and economical. It's just a matter of getting healthy ingredients and recipes. The new cookbook, "The Heart-Smart Diabetes Kitchen: Fresh, Fast, and Flavorful Recipes Made with Canola Oil" from the American Diabetes Association and CanolaInfo, is here to help.

Why canola oil? As far as fats and oils are concerned, you can't get more heart-smart. Canola oil has the least saturated fat of all common culinary oils and is free of trans fat and cholesterol. It even received a qualified health claim from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on its potential to reduce the risk of heart disease due to its unsaturated fat content. What's more, canola oil has one of the highest smoke points of all cooking oils at 468°F. This heat tolerance, along with a neutral taste and light texture, make canola oil extremely versatile. It can be used in just about any culinary application.

We hope that you, whether or not you have diabetes, will enjoy our fresh, fast, and flavorful recipes for good health.