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Protect Your Heart With 10 Tips Food Choices

To have a heart-healthy diet:

• Eat fruits and vegetables. Eat a variety of fruit and vegetable servings every day. Dark green, deep orange, or yellow fruits and vegetables are especially nutritious. Examples include spinach, carrots, peaches, and berries.
• Eat a variety of grain products every day . Include whole-grain foods that have lots of fiber and nutrients. Examples of whole grains include oats, whole wheat bread, and brown rice.
• Eat fish at least 2 times each week . Oily fish, which contain omega-3 fatty acids, are best for your heart. These fish include tuna, salmon, mackerel, lake trout, herring, and sardines.
• Limit saturated fat and cholesterol . To limit saturated fat and cholesterol , try to choose the following foods:
  • Lean meats and meat alternatives like beans or tofu
  • Fish, vegetables, beans, and nuts
  • Nonfat and low-fat dairy products
  • Polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats, like canola and olive oils, to replace saturated fats, such as butter
• Read food labels and limit the amount of trans fat you eat . Trans fat raises the levels of LDL ("bad”) cholesterol and also lowers high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good") cholesterol in the blood. Trans fat is found in many processed foods made with shortening or with partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated vegetable oils. These foods include cookies, crackers, chips, and many snack foods.
• Choose healthy fats . Unsaturated fats, such as olive, canola, corn, and sunflower oils, are part of a healthy diet. But all fats are high in calories, so watch your serving sizes.
• Limit salt ( sodium ). Limit sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day (about one teaspoon). Choose and prepare foods with little or no salt. Watch for hidden sodium in foods.
• Eat only as many calories as you need to stay at a healthy weight. Learn how much is a serving , and then check your portion sizes. Limit drinks with added sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. If you want to lose weight, increase your activity level to burn more calories than you eat.
• If you drink alcohol, drink in moderation . Limit alcohol intake to 2 drinks a day for men and 1 drink a day for women. See a picture of a standard drink.
• Limit added sugar . Limit drinks and foods with added sugar.
• When you are eating away from home, try to follow these heart-healthy diet tips.

You can get even more benefit from making diet changes if you also get plenty of exercise and don't smoke.

But you don't have to be perfect, and you don't have to do it all at once. Make one or two changes at a time. As soon as you are used to those, make another one or two changes. Over time, making a number of small changes can add up and make a big difference in your health.

Here are some ideas about how to get started:

• Choose whole-grain bread instead of white bread.
• Have a piece of fruit instead of a candy bar.
• Try to eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Add one or two servings of fruits and vegetables to your day. Slowly add more servings until you are eating at least 5 servings a day.
• Switch from 2% or whole milk to 1% or nonfat milk.
• Instead of meat, have fish for dinner. Brush it with olive oil, and broil or grill it.
• Switch from butter to a cholesterol-lowering soft spread. Use olive or canola oil for cooking.
• Use herbs and spices, instead of salt, to add flavor to foods.

It may take some time to get used to new tastes and habits, but don't give up. Keep in mind the good things you are doing for your heart and your overall health.

Test Your Knowledge

All fats are bad for me...... The answer is FALSE

Not all fats are bad for you. Fat is an important nutrient. The problem comes when you eat too much fat or the wrong kind of fats. Saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol are unhealthy types of fat. Unsaturated fats like canola and olive oils are good for you if you use them in moderation.

Standard Alcoholic Drink

Beer, wine, and hard liquor (distilled spirits) all contain alcohol. The following common alcoholic drinks contain equal amounts of alcohol and are often referred to as a drink or a standard drink:

• One 12 fl oz (355 mL) bottle of beer or wine cooler
• One 5 fl oz (148 mL) glass of wine
• One mixed drink containing 1.5 fl oz (44 mL) of 80-proof hard liquor, such as gin, whiskey, or rum

Proof is the amount of alcohol in hard liquor or distilled spirits. The percentage of pure alcohol in the hard liquor is usually one-half the proof. For example, a 100-proof liquor is about 50% pure alcohol. Thus, the higher the proof, the more pure alcohol the hard liquor contains.

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Fibre

Dietary fiber is the part of plant foods that the body cannot digest. Eating foods with fiber helps to keep the digestive tract healthy, stabilize blood sugar levels, and control cholesterol levels.

The recommended daily intake of fiber is 20 g to 35 g.

Fiber in the diet is classified as either soluble or insoluble.

• Soluble fiber. As part of a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet, soluble fiber has been shown to help lower blood cholesterol. Foods high in soluble fiber include oat bran, oatmeal, dry beans and peas, rice bran, barley, citrus fruits, strawberries, and apple pulp (the solids left after making apple juice).
• Insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber does not lower blood cholesterol, but it is important in keeping the bowels healthy and preventing constipation and diverticular disease. Foods high in insoluble fiber include whole-wheat breads, whole-grain cereals, and whole bran. Other examples are cabbage, beets, carrots, brussels sprouts, turnips, cauliflower, and apple skin.

Bran is widely known as a good source of fiber. But many commercially made bran products, such as muffins and waffles, actually contain very little bran, and they are often high in saturated and total fat. Check the labels for the actual fiber content.

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Saturated fats

Saturated fats are those that become hard at room temperature. They are found mostly in animal-based foods (such as meat, butter, milk, and cheese) and in coconut oil, palm oil, and cocoa butter.

Saturated fats should only be eaten in limited amounts because they harm blood vessels, which increases a person's risk for developing hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). Saturated fats also affect the levels of cholesterol in the blood and increase the risk of developing coronary artery disease.

Most of a person's fat calories should be from monounsaturated fats (such as from olive oil, peanut oil, avocados, and nuts) or polyunsaturated fats (such as from liquid vegetable oils, corn oil, or soybean oil).

Food labels usually show how many fat calories come from saturated, trans, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats.

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Sodium

Sodium is a naturally occurring mineral that the body needs to function properly. But too much sodium can cause problems, such as high blood pressure (hypertension) or heart failure, or make problems worse.

Salt is the most familiar source of sodium. Sodium is often hidden in foods that don't taste salty, such as cheddar cheese and processed foods. Sodium is also a major ingredient of monosodium glutamate (MSG), disodium phosphate, and baking powder.

Most people get far more sodium than they need. Anything over 2,500 mg of sodium per day is probably too much.

If you want to cut back on the sodium in your diet:

• Limit ready-mixed sauces and seasonings, frozen dinners, canned soups, and salad dressings, which usually contain a lot of sodium. Products labeled "low sodium" contain less than 140 mg of sodium per serving.
• Eat lots of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. These foods have very little sodium.
• Don't put the salt shaker on the table, or get a shaker that lets very little salt come out. Use light salt or salt substitute sparingly.
• Always measure the salt in recipes and use half of what is called for.

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Hidden Salt (Sodium)

Salt (sodium) can be found in many substances that you might not suspect. Some nonprescription medications and many canned and other processed foods contain sodium.

Check your food labels. Sodium can have many different names. Be careful about using products that have these ingredients:

• Monosodium glutamate, or MSG (often added to Chinese food)
• Sodium citrate
• Sodium sulfite
• Sodium caseinate
• Sodium benzoate
• Sodium hydroxide
• Disodium phosphate

Check your medications. Sodium can be an ingredient in medicines.

• Prescription medicines. Talk with your doctor about whether the medicines you take contain salt.
• Nonprescription medicines. Many medicines that you can buy without a prescription contain sodium. Read the labels. If you are not sure whether a medicine contains sodium, talk with a pharmacist. Be sure to check with your health professional before taking any new nonprescription medicine.

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