NUTRITION
Heart Healthy Eating Tips
High Fiber
- There are two types of fiber in foods:
- Soluble: helps lower LDL (low-density lipoprotein, or “bad” cholesterol).
- Insoluble: helps keep you full longer, prevent overeating, regulate blood sugar and keep bowel movements regular.
- Adding fiber to your diet:
- Eat more whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
- Eat whole fruit rather than drinking juice.
- Sprinkle oat bran or rice bran on cereals, mashed potatoes, soups, casseroles, etc.
- Incorporate beans into soups, salads and bean dips.
- Use whole wheat or ½ whole wheat and ½ white flour in baking recipes.
Cooking Tips
- Choose high-fiber carbohydrates.
- Use whole grain flours when baking, and reduce the amount of sugar in recipes.
- Make a stir-fry with fiber-rich vegetables.
- Add beans or lentils to soups.
- Reduce the fat.
- Choose lean cuts of beef and pork, “loin” or “round.”
- Remove the skin from poultry.
- Bake, broil, roast, stew or stir-fry.
- Cook ground meat, then drain off the fat.
- Eat fish two times per week (canned tuna and salmon count).
- Choose low-fat dairy products.
- Use non-stick spray and/or a non-stick pan rather than oil, butter or lard.
- When you do cook with fat, choose oils that are more heart-healthy.
- Sauté with olive oil, canola oil or soybean oil.
- Make salad dressings with olive or peanut oil.
- Cut back on sodium (salt).
- Use little salt in cooking. You can cut half the salt from most recipes.
- Don’t use the salt shaker to flavor food on your plate. Substitute with salt-free seasonings such as citrus, herbs or ground pepper).
- Check out products for sodium-free flavorings, marinades and seasoning packets, such as Mrs. Dash.
- Choose low-sodium canned/frozen foods by checking food labels.
Shopping Tips
Check out Prevention.com’s grocery shopping tips on good, better and best options. As a rule of thumb, go for foods that do not have a lot of added ingredients.
- Fruits and Vegetables:
- First go for fresh fruits and vegetables. These have no added fat, sugar or sodium.
- If buying frozen and canned, read labels:
- Avoid those with added syrups, sauces, gravies and seasonings.
- Choose low-sodium, salt-free vegetables (read the label and choose those with less than 300 milligrams sodium).
- Grains
- Chose breads/cereals high in fiber and made from whole grain:
- Whole grain options: 100% whole wheat, rye or oats.
- Breads with at least 2 grams fiber per serving.
- Cereals with 5 grams of fiber per serving.
- Check the labels for sodium content.
- Chose Breads/Cereals High in Fiber and Made from Whole Grain:
- Whole grain options: 100% whole wheat, rye, or oats.
- Breads with at least 2 grams fiber per serving.
- Cereals with 5 grams fiber per serving.
- Check the labels for sodium content.
- Dairy
- Pick nonfat, skim or low-fat (1%).
- Look for cheese low in saturated fats and sodium.
- Meats and Proteins
- For chicken and other poultry, look for breast meat or other white meat, and remove the skin, which is high in fat.
- For beef and veal, pick cuts with little marbling (fat).
- Healthier options: round steak, tenderloin, and sirloin tips.
- For pork and lamb, choose center cuts.
- Try to eat fish two times per week.
- If choosing canned fish, choose low-sodium options.
- Eat vegetable portions a few times/week such as beans, veggie/bean burgers, tofu and tempeh. These are lower in fat than many meat proteins.