How to eat right for a healthier heart

Eating fewer high-fat, high-cholesterol foods and watching calories are important steps to a healthier diet and a healthier heart.

Guidelines for a healthy diet

With your doctor, figure out the number of calories you need each day to achieve or maintain a healthy body weight.

Eat fewer high-fat foods. Lower cholesterol intake to less than 30 mg per day.
Keep fat intake to less than 30 percent of your total daily calories.
Choose foods high in starch and fiber .
Replace some saturated fat with unsaturated fat. Limit saturated fat to 8 percent to 10 percent of total daily calories.
If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation

Is fat a major ingredient?
Read food labels. To avoid too much fat or cholesterol, go easy on products that list any ingredient high in saturated fat or cholesterol first (eg, oils, lard, cheese).
Is there more than one type of fat in the product?
When you see several high-fat ingredients on a label, the product could have too much fat.
Is the serving size appropriate?
When you are figuring out the fat content in a food, make sure you use a serving size that is close to what you would really eat-which could be more than the label says.

Be as careful when you dine out as you are when you cook your own meals!

Salad
Use vegetable oil and vinegar dressings
Bread
Use margarine instead of butter if desired
Chicken
Eat broiled or grilled chicken; remove skin before eating
Steak
Ask the chef to trim off excess fat before cooking
Hamburger
Avoid cheese or mayonnaise toppings – add tomato or lettuce instead
Fish
Select broiled or poached fillets
Pasta
Use marinara, clam, or tomato sauce without meat or sausage (avoid cream sauce)
Pizza
Choose vegetable toppings instead of cheese or meat toppings
Baked potato
Avoid toppings such as butter or sour cream
Vegetables
Eat plenty of these, but without heavy sauces
Dessert
Sherbet and fresh fruit are excellent choices
Coffee, tea
Use skim milk or nondairy, nonfat creamer