What to Eat For Optimum Heart Health
Dietary Guidelines - Heart
For the best heart-healthy dietary guidelines,
we draw your attention to the dietary advice offered by the leading US
heart organization - the American Heart Association (AHA)
Healthy Heart Dietary Guidelines - American
Heart Association
Summary of AHA Dietary Guidelines
Synopsis of AHA Dietary Guidelines - Eating
Plan for Healthy Americans (Oct 2000)
Three major risk factors for heart attack
are: - high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and excess body weight.
Heart disease and high blood pressure are also major risk factors for
stroke. Healthy eating habits can help you reduce all three risk factors.
Healthy eating habits should follow these dietary guidelines:
- Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Choose 5 or more servings per day.
- Eat a variety of grain products, including
whole grains. Choose 6 or more servings per day.
- Include fat-free and low-fat milk products,
fish, legumes (beans), skinless poultry and lean meats.
- Choose fats and oils with 2 grams or
less saturated fat per tablespoon, such as liquid and tub margarines,
canola oil and olive oil.
- Balance the number of calories you eat
with the number you use each day. (To find that number, multiply the
number of pounds you weigh now by 15 calories. This represents the average
number of calories used in one day if you're moderately active. If you
get very little exercise, multiply your weight by 13 instead of 15.
Less-active people burn fewer calories.)
- Maintain a level of physical activity
that keeps you fit and matches the number of calories you eat. Walk
or do other activities for at least 30 minutes on most days. To lose
weight, do enough activity to use up more calories than you eat every
day.
- Limit your intake of foods high in calories
or low in nutrition, including foods like soft drinks and candy that
have a lot of sugars.
- Limit foods high in saturated fat, trans
fat and/or cholesterol, such as full-fat milk products, fatty meats,
tropical oils, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and egg yolks.
Instead choose foods low in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol
from the first four points above.
- Eat less than 6 grams of salt (sodium
chloride) per day (2,400 milligrams of sodium).
- Have no more than one alcoholic drink
per day if you're a woman and no more than two if you're a man. "One
drink" means it has no more than 1/2 ounce of pure alcohol. Examples
of one drink are 12 oz. of beer, 4 oz. of wine, 1-1/2 oz. of 80-proof
spirits or 1 oz. of 100-proof spirits.
AHA Dietary Guidelines - Conclusion
An eating plan such as this helps you maintain
healthy eating patterns. Result? You should achieve a healthy body weight,
a desirable blood cholesterol level and a normal blood pressure. As well
as improving your heart health, these dietary guidelines may reduce your
risk for other chronic health problems, including type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis
(bone loss) and some forms of cancer.
Sources include:
American Heart Association - Web Site: www.aha.org/
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