Healthy Heart Tip: National BBQ Week

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: BBQ Week

This week is National BBQ Week, and it is a perfect time to get friends and family together to enjoy some healthy, nutritious food. We all know Covid-19 has impacted on social activities, so BBQ week provides a welcome opportunity to get together, share BBQ tips and recipes and have some fun in the process!

• Choose the rainbow

See how many different vegetables and fruits you can add to the barbeque to make it extra colourful.

Whether this is on a skewer or as a side, including more fruit and vegetables will increase your fibre intake and reduce your risk of heart disease. Grilled aubergine, courgette, peppers, pineapple and peaches work well.

• Be creative

Think of a food theme that everyone can enjoy and have fun with. How about having a variety of foods from around the world, trying new recipes, and experimenting with flavours.

You could find foods that are low in fat, such as chicken, fish, or plant-based alternatives. Burgers and sausages are often high in saturated fat, which can contribute to high cholesterol.

• Dips and sauces

How about creating your own dips and sauces by using fat free yoghurt or low-fat crème fraiche with fresh herbs and spices. A lot of ready-made sauces are high in salt and sugar and they can be high in calories, which can lead to weight-gain and high blood pressure.

By being adventurous and trying out new healthy recipes this BBQ week, you can begin to reduce your risk of heart disease and increase your creativity!

For more tips on how to stay healthy, sign up for our weekly healthy tips at www.heartresearch.org.uk/healthy-tips.

To help keep your heart healthy, why not try out some of our Healthy Heart recipes from our website: https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-recipes-2/.

Or have a look through our Healthy Heart cookbook filled with recipes from top chefs, celebrities and food bloggers:

https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-cookbook/.