The Importance of Diet

Tips for choosing heart-healthy meals

You probably know that eating too many calories, especially from fat and sugar, can cause you to put on extra pounds. And you may know that carrying excess weight can cause strain on your heart. But many don't know that eating a heart-healthy diet can be simpler than you think.

The American Heart Association (AHA) updates its diet recommendations for keeping your heart in great shape each year. Through understanding the details of how diet can positively affect our heart's health, it will become easier to make the best choices when you're in the grocery story or at a restaurant.

Keep these guidelines in your diet and you will be well on your way to reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease:

• Think green. Make sure your diet includes plenty of vegetables and fruit.
• Avoid white. Choose whole-grain, high-fiber foods. When possible, choose whole-grain bread over white.
• Go fish! Work fish, especially oily fish, like salmon or tuna, into your diet twice a week or more.
• Limit fat. The AHA recommends choosing lean meats and vegetable alternatives, fat-free (skim) milk, and low-fat dairy products. Avoid any partially hydrogenated ("bad") fats whenever possible. Why? These guidelines will help limit your saturated fat to <10% of your diet and your cholesterol to less than 300 mg per day, and keep your trans fat intake as low as possible, which are key nutritional recommendations.
• Remember water! Minimize your intake of beverages with added sugars, including alcohol, and choose water as your beverage whenever possible.
• Skip the salt. Use little or no salt when cooking or seasoning your food to keep your sodium intake at a healthy level. And remember that processed foods often contain large amounts of sodium, so check the label.

By instilling these guidelines into your daily diet from an early age, you can reduce your risk of heart disease dramatically.

Quick guide to fighting fats

Not all fats were created equal, in fact some are good for you. Replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats is effective in lowering serum cholesterol and reducing risk of CHD. But saturated and trans fats can increase your risk of heart disease, and are to be avoided whenever possible.

Good fats = Good to go
You can find unsaturated fats in foods like:

• Olives
• Nuts
• Avocados
• Fish
• Corn, soybean, and safflower oils
   

Bad fats = Foods to avoid
Saturated and trans fats can be found in foods like:

• "Full-fat" dairy products
• Milk chocolate
• Coconuts (including milk and oil)
• Most margarines
• Vegetable shortening
• Deep-fried foods
• Many fast foods
• Most commercial baked goods