Heart Healthy Valentine’s Day Recipe that Will Make You Fall in Love

Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate the people you love, but it’s also a time to be good to your heart! Most of us think of heart-shaped chocolates, homemade cookies, and other treats when we think of Valentine’s Day, but not every heart-shaped treat has to put heart health on the back burner. These chocolate, lemon and almond Wild Blueberry Energy Bars are delicious, filling, and perfectly themed for Valentine’s Day.

I’ve had a lot of practice making energy bars (my no-bake bites are a huge hit with my clients and family), and Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to create a new heart-healthy recipe. Adding Wild Blueberries to any baked treat always adds the perfect amount of sweetness and moisture without relying on added sugar — and they’re a great source of heart healthy fiber and antioxidants.

Heart health is really important for everyone, and it is important to know that heart disease is not just a man’s disease. An estimated 44 million women in the U.S. are affected by cardiovascular disease, and 90% of women have one or more risk factors for heart disease or stroke.  There is good news, though: 80% of heart attack and stroke events can be prevented by lifestyle changes, such as consuming a heart-healthy diet.

Eating Wild Blueberries is a great way to keep your heart healthy. Why? Because they’re so rich in anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are a group of antioxidants that provide many benefits to the heart — not to mention being responsible for the Wild Blueberry’s deep blue color.

Studies have shown that Wild Blueberry anthocyanins can help prevent lipid accumulation and improve vascular function – both of which play a major role in the development of cardiovascular disease. What’s more, high anthocyanin intake is associated with a reduced risk of heart attack in women and an increased antioxidant capacity. With an increased antioxidant capacity, your body is better able to protect against oxidative stress, which is a large contributor to cardiovascular disease.

With all of these heart health benefits, Wild Blueberries truly are the perfect food to incorporate into Valentine’s Day, a day that’s all about being good to your heart and to the ones you love! And these energy bars have you covered on both counts! They’re super simple to make. Just pulse all the ingredients together in a food processor and spread into a pan. Then use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make heart-shaped bars for anyone you love. I’m wrapping these up for my mom, but they’re also the perfect Valentine’s Day treat to send to school with your kids – especially on a day you know will already be sweet enough.

Here’s the full recipe. Enjoy!

4 New Energy Bars that Pack a Nutritional Punch

Has anyone noticed the explosion of energy bars over the last few months? Maybe it’s just me (and my constant quest for healthy snacks for my 10-year-old), but there seems to be a whole new generation of bars coming on the market.

No longer the sugary, flour-based bars that resemble a soft cookie – the new energy bars are crunchy, chewy, nutritionally worthy, and satisfying. Whether you’re looking for ancient grains or no grains, nut-intensive or nut-free, soy-centric or soy free – there’s a bar out there for you. In fact, the new generation of bars is packed with plant-based protein and highly nutritious ingredients. Most of them are gluten-free, non-GMO, and organic. They’re also devoid of ingredients like artificial preservatives, colors, and mystery “flavors.”

Four new bars caught my attention recently for their high-value supercharged ingredients like whole nuts and whole seeds and three of them contain antioxidant-rich Wild Blueberries, which pack a nutritional punch and always get my vote.

  1. Clif Bar – Wild Blueberry Almond Bar. Clif has outdone itself with this outrageously good Wild Blueberry Almond Bar. The taste, the crunch, the chewiness, and the exceptional ingredients, like almonds, currants, cashews, and Wild Blueberries make this a top choice of the new bars on the block. And with 5 grams of protein, 11 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of fiber, this bar can honestly claim to offer pure delicious energy. Find a convenient location to purchase this bar here.
Clif
  1. Curate – Sweet & Tart Berry Bliss. This bar company claims to be in pursuit of brilliant combinations and I agree – almonds, quinoa, flaxseeds, pear puree, raspberry puree, chia seeds, and real Wild Blueberries. It’s a great combination and the company takes a culinary approach to making its bars, so they have a beautiful homemade look and feel to them. This bar not only looks and tastes great, but it has 4 grams of protein, 12 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of fiber. Find out where to find these yummy bars here.
Curate
  1. Pure – Organic Wild Blueberry Bar. This bar calls itself “wildly amazing” and we agree! The cashew butter, dates, walnuts, and brown rice protein pack a good punch. The Wild Blueberries add intense blueberry flavor and antioxidants! This one is also certified organic, non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and kosher. Wildly amazing, indeed!  You can get these amazing bars right here.
Pure
  1. Caveman Foods – Caveman Bars. Finally, we have Caveman Foods boldly reminding us that a Paleolithic diet – made up of nuts, seeds, fruit, vegetables and lean meats – is actually what our bodies are designed to eat. (These guys are actually making meat bars too.) I would have liked their Wild Blueberry Nut Bar even more if it had lived up to its ancestral promise and used the 10,000-year-old original blueberry – The Wild Blueberry. Instead, these Cavemen opted for cultivated blueberries, which don’t qualify as PALEO in my book.
Caveman

Bottom line: When you’re shopping for an energy bar, check the ingredients and the nutritional panels closely. I always look for high protein and lowest possible sugar. And of course, I always ensure that I am truly getting Wild Blueberries. Because if you’re going to consume a blueberry, then you might as well make it a wild one!