Certain foods you are eating may increase your heart disease risk, but many bad eating habits are hard to break. If you want to start eating healthier for your heart and try to break any bad habits, it is important to know some heart-healthy diet tips. These tips include what you should eat more of and what you should limit.
Limit Unhealthy Fats and Cholesterol
Limiting the amount of saturated and trans fats you eat can reduce your cholesterol and is important for your general heart health. Saturated fats should make up less than seven percent of your total daily calories, trans fats less than one percent, and cholesterol should be less than 300mg a day and less than 200mg a day for adults who need to lower cholesterol. Limit the amounts of solid fats that you eat, such as butter, margarine and shortening to reduce saturated and trans fats in your diet. You can also trim fat off of your meat and eat meats low in fat. Chicken and fish are good alternatives. Other ways to watch fat are to check labels on packages of chips, cookies, and crackers for their fat content and substitute a low-fat alternative instead of butter on foods, for example salsa on a baked potato. When you use fats chose monounsaturated fats like olive or canola oils. Polyunsaturated fats, which are found in nuts and seeds, are also good choices for a healthy diet.
Eat Fruits and Vegetables
Try to eat four to five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Vegetable or 100 percent fruit juice counts toward this goal. While fruits and vegetables are high in heart-healthy vitamins, minerals, and fiber, they are low in calories.Try to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables each day so you don't get bored and you get all your nutrients. It doesn't matter if they are fresh, frozen, dried, or canned but try to make sure canned foods are low in sodium.
Choose Whole-Grains
Whole-grain foods are low in saturated fats and cholesterol and they have plenty of fiber. Try getting six to eight servings of grains a day, especially whole grains. Whole grain foods include whole-wheat bread, rye bread, brown rice and whole-grain cereal.
Limit Salt
Eating a lot of salt can lead to high blood pressure. Healthy adults should eat less than 1,500mg of salt daily. Processed and canned foods contain a lot of salt, so eat fresh and homemade foods when possible. If you use processed or canned foods, look for those with reduced sodium. Some alternatives to salt you can use to spruce up your food include herbs, spices and salt substitutes.
Allow Treats
Some candy or a few chips are okay to have occasionally. If you combine limited treats with the right food, you will still be on the right track for following a heart-healthy diet.
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