What To Look For
When shopping for a cookbook that provides heart healthy recipes, the number one thing to look for is a book that you'll actually use. When you flip through the cookbook, look to see that most of the recipes use ingredients that you like and are familiar with, that the recipes seem easy to follow and that the "heart healthy" claim is backed up with some credentials, such as a recommendation from the American Heart Association.
Common Pitfalls
One easy mistake to make is choosing a cookbook that seems enticing because it's exotic. If you choose a cookbook that is too complicated or includes too many strange ingredients, it will likely wind up unused.
The most common mistake when it comes to choosing a heart healthy cookbook is selecting one that doesn't meet heart healthy standards. You can overcome this by choosing a cookbook that includes nutritional information for each recipe. Make sure most of the recipes are low in saturated fat and cholesterol. The American Heart Association recommends you consume less than 78 grams of fat daily, with only 16 grams of fat coming from saturated sources. You should also limit cholesterol to 300 mg each day. Recipes in a heart healthy cookbook should have a low "percent daily value" for fat, saturated fat and cholesterol, contributing only 5 percent to each per serving.
Where To Buy
When choosing a cookbook, it's often useful to go to a physical bookstore such as Barnes and Noble and Borders so that you can flip through different books and choose one that best fits your needs. You can also buy through a trusted online source. The American Heart Association, for example, offers several heart-healthy cookbooks.
If you can't physically go browse through several cookbooks, check out the online selection at Amazon. Amazon's "Look Inside" feature will let you see some of what's inside each book you are considering.
Cost
A heart healthy cookbook is essentially a book and should be priced accordingly. Typically, cookbook prices are a little higher than an average book, but not much. Expect to pay $7 to $15 for a downloadable cookbook on the low end and up to $35 for a hardback edition on the high end.
