by Pam Lockwood, RD, Community Medical Center Dietitian
American Heart Association reports healthy food habits can help you reduce three of the major risk factors for heart attack, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and excess body weight. They'll also reduce your risk of stroke, because heart disease and high blood pressure are major risk factors for a stroke.
- Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Choose five or more servings per day.
- Eat a variety of grain products, including whole grains. Choose six or more servings per day.
- Include fat-free and low-fat milk products, fish, legumes (beans), skinless poultry and lean meats.
- Choose fats with two grams or less saturated fat per serving, such as liquid and tub margarines, canola and olive oil.
- Balance the number of calories you eat with the number you use each day.
- Maintain a level of physical activity that keeps you fit and matches the number of calories you eat. Walk or do other activates for at least 30 minutes on most days. To lose weight, do enough activity to use up more calories that 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 sugar.
- Limit foods high in saturated fat, trans fat and/or cholesterol, such as full-fat milk products, fatty meats, tropical oils (coconut or palm oil), partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and egg yolks.
- Eat less than six grams of salt (sodium chloride) per day (2400 milligrans sodium).
- Have no more that one alcoholic drink per day if you're a woman and no more than two if you're a man.
