Recipes: Desserts That Help Prevent Varicose Veins
Making vein-friendly desserts is not as difficult as most people think. With the following recipes you'll be creating wonderful vein-friendly dessert dishes in no time! The dessert recipes below call for ingredients like apples, oats, raspberries, beans, cacao, buckwheat, and other foods that can help protect your veins and capillaries.
If you're interested in getting more general information about diet and varicose veins before you delve into the dessert recipes below, read the page Diet for Treating Varicose Veins as well as the page Best Foods for Preventing Varicose Veins.
Dairy-Free Chocolate Muffins Featuring Chickpeas
Good news: you don't need butter to create mouthwatering muffins! This dairy-free recipe uses pureed chickpeas and walnuts to replace the butter and cream most muffin recipes call for.
See the Recipe
Antioxidant Muffins
These scrumptious muffins feature blueberries and pecans, two antioxidant powerhouse foods. Blueberries top the list of berries with the highest antioxidant capacity, and pecans—along with walnuts and chestnuts—have the highest concentration of antioxidants in the tree nut family. See the Recipe
Weight Loss Muffins
Obesity and excess body weight have been associated with an increased risk of varicose veins. These scrumptious muffins are packed with weight loss promoting fiber and protein, while being extremely low in fat. See the Recipe
Low Glycemic Raspberry Muffins
This muffin recipe is a must-try for those who love muffins but are concerned about the high amount of simple carbohydrates in most muffins. This recipe calls for some of the lowest glycemic muffin batter ingredients, including soy flour, whole wheat flour, and raspberries. Opting for low glycemic foods helps prevent obesity which is a risk factor for varicose veins as excess body fat increases pressure on the veins in the legs. In addition, the soy and raspberries featured in these muffins contain isoflavones and ellagic acid, respectively, which have strong anti-oxidant properties. See the RecipeNettle Crêpes with Raspberries
No need to worry about this intriguing dessert stinging your tongue; the nettle in these crepes will only do you good. Young, cooked stinging nettle shoots are perfectly edible, and they help support the structure of capillaries and prevent varicose veins. As an additional bonus, these delicious crepes, served with fresh raspberries, are packed with antioxidant nutrients, which can give you a real health boost. See the RecipeBuckwheat Crepes with Bananas
Buckwheat is one of the best natural sources of the flavonoid rutin. Many nutritionists recommend foods rich in rutin to people with varicose veins due to rutin's ability to promote vascular health. It has even been hypothesized that varicose veins and spider veins could be caused by a lack of rutin in one's diet. See the RecipeBuckwheat Pancakes with Papaya Purée
Buckwheat is one of the best natural sources of the flavonoid rutin. Rutin is well known for its role in maintaining a well-functioning circulatory system by making capillaries stronger and by improving circulation. Papaya, on the other hand, is loaded which vitamin C. Vitamin C has been shown to enhance the beneficial effects of rutin. See the Recipe
Whole Wheat Brownies
Scientists have found the seeds of the cacao plant to contain significant amounts of flavonoids, mainly catechins and procyanidins. A diet rich in flavonoids has been shown to be particularly beneficial for people with varicose veins. What's particularly exciting about this brownie recipe is that it calls for dark, less processed cocoa powder—the type of cocoa that typically boasts the highest levels of flavonoids. See the RecipeLow-Fat Apple and Raspberry Crumble
Constipation increases pressure on the veins, which can contribute to the development of varicose veins over time. The apples and oats in this divine dessert are rich in soluble fiber which absorbs water in the colon, keeping the stool soft and preventing constipation. See the Recipe
Apple Slices with Cinnamon
Apples are rich in pectin, a type of dietary fiber that absorbs water in the colon, keeping the stool soft and preventing constipation. Constipation increases pressure on the veins, which can contribute to the development of varicose veins over time. See the RecipeFantastic Fiber Muffins
Looking for a high-fiber muffin recipe? This dessert dish combines wheat bran with whole wheat flour and apples to create a delicious treat that helps you reach your fiber quota. See the Recipe
Chocolate Sorbet
Scientists have discovered that dark chocolate, which is what this sorbet recipe calls for, contains significant amounts of flavonoids such as catechins and procyanidins. A diet rich in flavonoids has been shown to be particularly beneficial for people with varicose veins. However, flavonoids lose much of their power if chocolate or cocoa is consumed together with dairy. In order to maximize the antioxidant effects of chocolate, this sorbet is made with rice milk and water instead of cow's milk. See the RecipeChocolate Cake
This flourless chocolate cake has a surprising ingredient: black beans! Black beans are packed with flavonoids. Flavonoids are compounds that occur naturally in many plants and that have been shown to be particularly beneficial for people with varicose veins. Also dark chocolate and cocoa contain significant amounts of flavonoids. See the RecipeRaspberry Blueberry Smoothie
This delicious smoothie is packed with nutrients that help maintain the health of the collagen matrix by neutralizing enzymes that destroy connective tissue and by scavenging free radicals. These nutrients also repair damaged proteins in the blood vessel walls and promote the overall health of the vascular system. See the RecipeFor more recipes that help fight varicose veins, please visit the main recipe directory of HealWithFood.org's Guide to Fighting Varicose Veins.
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