A heart-healthy diet and an active lifestyle reduce the risk that you and your family members face for developing cardiovascular disease. Eating right may also help prevent or manage conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, which put you at a higher risk for heart disease. Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight can also reduce health risks and improve your quality of life, according to the American Heart Association.
Identification
Heart-healthy meal plans limit sodium, sugar and cholesterol, and include a plan for reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, according to the American Heart Association. Calories count, as does eating a balance of foods from each food group. To plan healthy meals for your family, identify healthy serving recommendations from each food group, and serve processed meats less often.
Features
A heart-healthy diet limits saturated fat to 8 to 10 percent of total caloric intake, and limits calories from fat to 30 percent of caloric intake, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Your family meal plan should limit sodium intake to a maximum of 2,400 milligrams per day, cholesterol to less than 300 mg daily and calories to a level that supports a healthy weight.
Components
A heart-healthy meal plan that supports weight loss includes the right amount of servings from food groups for each family member, based on calorie needs. Your family members likely have different calorie needs based on activity level and age. The National Institutes of Health provide an Estimated Calorie Requirements chart to help you identify calorie recommendations for each family member. Consult the Food Intake Patterns provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPyramid website to see how many servings from each food group are recommended to meet nutritional needs at various calorie levels.
Planning
Although calorie needs and serving sizes are unique to each family member, everyone needs a variety of foods from every food group. When planning your meals and snacks, include selections of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and fat-free dairy products. Help your children and spouse identify proper portion sizes from each food group or place the appropriate amount on plates to start each meal.
The American Heart Association recommends consuming fish twice a week, eating whole grains more often, getting four servings of nuts, legumes or seeds each week and limiting calories from sweetened beverages.
Considerations
Although the maximum recommended sodium intake for heart health is 2,400 mg, the American Heart Association suggests aiming for a maximum of 1,500 mg daily. One teaspoon of salt is the equivalent of 2,400 mg of sodium, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Read food labels to help you monitor sodium intake, and opt for low-sodium varieties of canned and frozen foods, when available.
The heart-healthy diet is not appropriate for children younger than 2, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute cautions, because they need more fat to support healthy growth and development.
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