You are going to hear a lot about oatmeal and heart disease here on Jackie Unfiltered. In fact, this delicious Pecan Banana Split Overnight Oats Recipe is the perfect place to start talking about women and heart health.
Did you know the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that “heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States?” This fact surely knocked me on my butt. I have always thought of heart disease as more of a “testosterone disease,” meaning it impacts men more than women. In actuality, the CDC reports that “the same number of men and women die each year of heart disease.”
So once you soak all that in, your next question is probably, “Hey Jackie, how do I lower my chances of getting heart disease or having a heart attack?” Well the answer is fairly simple:
- get regular check-ups with a health provider
- eat healthy
- stay physically active
- manage your weight by eating healthy and staying acting (you see the trend here ?)
- be smoke-free (couple calls and texts I plan to make today to a certain person, she knows who she is)
- limit daily alcohol use (meaning don’t drink every day)
Basically, you can drastically reduce your chances of getting heart disease by doing all the things we talk about here on Jackie Unfiltered. I’m not suggesting you overhaul your lifestyle overnight. Rather, I want you make small healthy choices everyday that add up in the end to living healthier.
One easy thing we all can do is add more oatmeal to our diets. In 1997 (20 years ago), the FDA approved the claim that the “soluble fibers in oats lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.” Why is this important to you as it relates to heart disease? Without getting to scientific on you, to much bad LDL cholesterol will clog your arteries and drastically increase your chances of developing heart disease and having a heart attack. The fiber-rich food oatmeal works to reduce this bad cholesterol and keep your arteries clear.
In this recipe, I really wanted to amp up the heart benefits, so I also added raw pecans (click here for an entire post dedicating to explaining why raw nuts are mother nature’s gift to us). Pecans are low in unsaturated fat and will also work to lower bad cholesterol.
I added strawberries here because they are high in antioxidants and vitamin C while being low in calories and fat. Most importantly, strawberries taste yummy when paired with bananas, pecans and touch of maple syrup. Everybody knows Jackie does not believe in eating yucky foods. No way. No how!
Pecan Banana Split Overnight Oats Recipe. Heart Healthy & No Cooking Required.
Oatmeal and raw pecans work to lower the bad cholesterol in our bodies meaning that they help prevent arteries from getting clogged. Strawberries are loaded with antioxidants and vitamin C while bananas add even more fiber and minerals. Oh yeah, and because you know Jackie believes in eating food that's really good, this is so yummy that you may just think that you are eating an actual banana split. We call that Win-Win!
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Old-Fashioned Oatmeal
- 1/4 Cup Almond Milk Unsweetened
- 1 Cup Greek Yoghurt Full Fat
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tsp Maple Syrup Grade B
- 1 Banana Sliced
- 4 Strawberries Sliced
- Pinch of Sea Salt
- Toppings: Raw Pecans, Sliced Strawberries, Sliced Banana, a drizzle of maple syrup and a couple shavings of dark chocolate if you are feeling fancy
Instructions
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Night Before: Gently mix together oats, almond milk, yoghurt, vanilla extract, maple syrup, banana, strawberries and a pinch of sea salt in a container with a tight lid. Store in the refrigerator overnight.
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Right Before You Eat: Divide the overnight oats into two servings and top each serving with 1/2 tbsp raw pecans, sliced strawberries, sliced bananas, a drizzle of maple syrup and some shavings of dark chocolate.
Enjoy!
As always, thank you for stopping by Jackie Unfiltered. We are looking forward to talking more heart health with you. Enjoy this recipe and let us know your thoughts and comments below.
Xoxo,
Jackie
