Heart Healthy Diet This diet is for people who have high cholesterol, heart disease, a history of heart disease in their family, or just want to make the right food choices to keep their heart healthy. This handout will explain the different types of fats and cholesterol as well as help you to plan which foods to eat and which foods to stay away from every day. Main Diet Changes: Change these things in your diet and you will be eating for a healthy heart. The rest of the handout will explain these changes in more depth Decrease total fat, especially saturated and trans fats Increase unsaturated fats Increase fiber Consider adding soy Stay away from salt and high sodium foods Cholesterol: This is a fat-like substance that is made by your liver and is needed for good health. It is also found in animal foods such as meats and dairy products. High levels of cholesterol in the blood can lead to heart and blood vessel disease. Total Cholesterol: Should be less than 200. This comes from the liver and from foods. HDL: This is the healthy cholesterol that takes cholesterol away from the blood vessels and back to the liver. Should be 40-100. LDL: This is the lousy cholesterol. It builds up inside the artery walls. This should be less than 100. Triglycerides: This is fat in the blood. It can cause damage to blood vessels that allows cholesterol to build up. This should optimally be less than 150. Types of Fat: Saturated Fat: These are fats that increase the amount of cholesterol in your blood. They are found in animal products and are solid at room temperature. Butter, cheese, and meats are foods that have saturated fat. Trans Fats: These are fats that can increase cholesterol in the same way as saturated fat. They are found in pre-packaged baked goods and products with hydrogenated fats. Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated Fats: These are both types of unsaturated fats. Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature and can lower blood cholesterol.
Examples of these include olive oil and canola oil. How can Fiber Help? There are two types of dietary fiber: soluble and insoluble fiber. Both types are good to include in your daily diet. Soluble fiber can help lower blood cholesterol levels. Fiber is found in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes. Tips to increase Soluble Fiber: Choose a high fiber breakfast cereal that has at least 5g of fiber per serving. Switch from fruit juice to whole fruits. Include legumes in your diet by eating low fat chili, soups, and enchiladas with kidney beans, black beans and other legumes. Switch from white bread to whole wheat or whole grain bread. Try new grains and include them in your diet such as brown rice, barley, kasha, buckwheat, quinoa, and couscous. What s the deal about Soy? Soy protein has been shown to lower cholesterol. Tips to increase Soy Protein: Drink soy milk, or pour it on cereal. Soy milk comes in different flavors including vanilla and chocolate. Try vegetarian or garden burgers that contain soy protein. Blend tofu into vegetable dips and for baking Add fresh or frozen edamame to stir fries and salads. Try veggie crumbles to replace ground beef in spaghetti sauce, tacos, etc. What is sodium? Sodium is a mineral that is found in all foods. It acts like a sponge for fluids and can cause fluid to build up. Extra fluid in the body increases the work of the heart, kidneys and can also increase blood pressure. Eating less sodium can help control blood pressure as well as prevent fluid gain. Salt is made from sodium. In order to follow a low sodium diet, you want to eat less than 2,000 mg of sodium per day. Tips for decreasing the amount of sodium in your diet: Don t add salt to food at the table or while cooking. Most foods have more than enough sodium already in them. Salt substitutes such as no salt can be used with your doctor s approval. Use herbs and spices such as basil, garlic, oregano, parsley as well as lemon juice and vinegar to flavor food instead of salt. Avoid processed foods that have lots of sodium added. These include canned soups, frozen dinners, cured meats, and many snack foods. Food Choices: For each of the food groups eat a good variety of the Use foods and stay away from the Avoid foods. A well-balanced and colorful diet is important for overall health. Your most powerful tool for choosing foods to eat is the nutrition facts label. Every packaged food has a label that will tell you the amount of fat, sodium, calories and other nutrition information. If you are confused about reading a label, please contact your registered dietitian.
Meats and Meat Substitutes Chicken and turkey without the skin (white meat has less cholesterol than dark meat) Fish including all fresh fish as well as canned tuna and salmon that have been packed in water. Lean beef, fresh pork, veal or lamb. Trim the fat before cooking and avoid cuts that have a lot of fat within the meat itself. Choose the leanest ground beef that you can. Ground turkey or chicken breast (if it just says ground turkey, they include the skin and other animal parts making it higher in fat and cholesterol). Dried beans and peas such as kidney, navy, white, pinto and others Egg whites or egg substitute Vegetarian or Garden burgers Tofu Deli chicken or turkey that is low fat and sodium Frozen TV dinners that are light and have less than 700mg sodium per serving. Sausage, hot dogs, lunch meats, bacon Cured meats such as ham, corned beef, pastrami, salami and pepperoni Regular TV dinners, pot pies, other frozen, canned or pre-packaged entrees such as Hamburger Helper, canned soups, frozen pizzas and Hot Pockets Restaurant prepared Chinese, Italian or Mexican foods Limit Egg Yolks, Peanut Butter and Liver. These are high fat or cholesterol foods but do have nutritional benefits. Use them only occasionally and in moderation. Watch how you prepare and season your meats. Bake, broil, boil, grill or roast your meats instead of frying or adding fat. Milk and Dairy Skim, 1%, or soy milk Fat free and Light yogurt Chocolate milk that is made from skim milk Low-fat or fat-free sour cream Low-fat buttermilk Low-fat cottage cheese or ricotta cheese 2% or part skim cheeses Reduced fat or fat-free cream cheese 2% or whole milk Buttermilk, chocolate milk or cocoa made with whole milk Full fat dairy products such as cream cheese, cottage cheese, regular yogurt, cheddar and other cheeses Cream, half and half, whipped cream, cool-whip Processed cheeses and cheese spread (such as American Cheese and Cheese Whiz ) Coffee creamers (dairy or non-dairy)
Breads and Starches Whole Wheat and Whole Grain bread Homemade baked goods that are made with low fat, low sodium ingredients (pancakes, muffins, breads, corn bread, waffles, cookies) Low sodium crackers (the more fiber, the better) Pastas- spaghetti, macaroni, linguini, bow tie, etc (whole wheat is best) Rice Other grains such as couscous, bulgur, quinoa and others Oatmeal Biscuits Packaged/prepared muffins, pastries, cornbread, sweet rolls, coffee cakes, quick bread (banana bread, nut breads), cakes, pies, cookies Snack foods such as buttered popcorn, salted crackers, chips, prepared trail mixes Ramen Noodles Pre-packaged mixes such as seasoned rice, stuffing, and pasta salads Vegetables and Fruits Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Canned fruit that is canned in its own juice Salt-free canned vegetables Frozen fruits and veggies Canned Tomato puree and tomato paste (don t add salt) Homemade vegetable soups Frozen or homemade French fries that are baked without salt (try sweet potato fries) Avoid Fried Vegetables (fried okra, fried green tomatoes, fried squash, fried mushrooms, etc) Vegetables cooked with fat or high fat meat (don t add ham or fatback) Pickled vegetables (these are high in sodium) Sauerkraut Packaged potato mixes (scalloped, au gratin or mashed) Regular canned vegetables V-8 or Tomato Juice Tomato products with salt added Fats and Oils Liquid vegetable oils such as canola, safflower, corn, sunflower, peanut, soy and olive oil Soft tub margarines (there are several good brands) Spray margarines Low-fat or fat-free mayonnaise or salad dressing
Shortening (Crisco) Butter Stick margarine Lard, salt pork, fat back, or meat drippings Creamy salad dressings that aren t light or low-fat Regular mayonnaise Gravy Cream or cheese sauces (look for these on restaurant menus) Coconut or palm oils Nuts are also high in fat, but it is a fat that is good for your heart. Be sure to limit the number of servings of nuts that you eat. Sweets and Desserts Frozen Fruit Bars or fudgesicles Light ice cream, sherbet, sorbet, frozen yogurt Angel Food Cake Vanilla wafers and ginger snaps Homemade baked goods that have been modified with low fat ingredients Hard candies Low fat pudding Regular and pre-packaged baked goods Ice cream Store bought mixes (cakes, brownies, cookies, pie crusts) Chocolates, candy bars Snacks and Beverages Crystal Light Diet Soda Water Skim milk Decaf coffee (watch what you put in it) Tea (especially green) Light Soy milk (chocolate or vanilla) Unsalted, unbuttered popcorn (air popped or light microwave) Salt free pretzels Unsalted nuts (watch portion size) Sweet tea, regular soda, whole milk Potato chips, popcorn, pretzels, prepared trail or snack mixes, salted nuts, other salted and/or fried snacks
Condiments Mrs. Dash Salt free seasoning mixes, salt substitutes Vinegar Lemon Juice Garlic Garlic or Onion powder Herbs and spices such as curry, basil, oregano, thyme, pepper, paprika, and many others Horseradish BBQ sauce, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cooking wine, cooking sherry Many salad dressings (look at sodium content) No more than 2 Tbsp per day of ketchup and mustard Dijon mustard Meat tenderizer MSG Seasoned Salt, onion salt, celery salt, garlic salt, herb mixes that have sodium in them such as lemon pepper, BBQ seasoning, Jamaican seasoning and others, Lite Salt Sea Salt Soy sauce, fish sauce Dill pickles, sweet pickles, relish Olives Imitation bacon bits