Turn that plate of pasta into a healthier meal with the addition of this heart-healthy, antioxidant-rich sauce from your local supermarket.
In a carb-eschewing world, digging into a bowl of pasta can feel like the height of decadence. However, it’s often the sauce we top our spaghetti with that’s doing more damage to our diets in the long run. While it’s nice to think that the jar of sauce in your pantry has little more than veggies and herbs in it, countless store-bought sauces are loaded with fat, sugar, and sodium. In fact, just a half-cup serving of certain tomato sauces can pack a shocking seven grams of sugar.
So, how should you be topping those noodles instead? When it comes to your health, a veggie-based pesto is your best bet. More specifically, this kale and arugula from Stonewall Kitchen has everything you might want from a store-bought sauce. Not only does the recipe contain just a single gram of sugar per serving, its ingredients pack a wealth of health benefits.
First and foremost, the kale and arugula used in the recipe are not only a low-calorie base, they may make you more mentally agile. In fact, research published in the journal Neurology links leafy green intake with decreased rates of cognitive decline as we age.
The recipe is no slouch for your heart, either. Between the walnut and olive oil in the recipe, this pesto can give you a major cardiovascular boost. Research conducted at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health reveals that nut consumption is associated with a lower risk of heart attack. And not only is olive oil heart healthy, research published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation reveals that a Mediterranean diet including olive oil can actually reduce the amount of cholesterol build-up in the arteries.
So, before you waste another minute perusing those jars of unhealthy sauce at your local supermarket, keep an eye out for Stonewall Kitchen’s pesto instead. And when you want to make every meal a winner for your health, add the 25 Foods That’ll Keep You Young Forever to your routine!
