Ten Steps to Healthy Food Choices
Advice from the American Heart Association
- Eat a variety of VEGETABLES and FRUITS daily. Serve your family lots of different types of vegetables and fruits, especially deeply colored ones—they have the highest concentration of nutrients. Aim to serve at least one vegetable and one fruit at every meal. Encourage your kids to eat fruit instead of drinking juices; they’ll get more fiber and probably fewer calories. Limit fruit drinks with added sugar.
- Eat WHOLE GRAINS rather than refined grain products as often as possible. Serve whole-grain and high-fiber breads, pastas, cereals, and side dishes for their fiber and important nutrients. Try to be sure at least half of the grain you eat are whole grains (check that the labels on grain products list a whole grain as the first ingredient).
- Include FAT-FREE OR LOW-FAT DAIRY products daily. Serve fat-free and low-fat milk, cheese, yogurt, and other dairy products. Limit whole-fat dairy products, such as whole milk and full-fat cheese. These little changes can make a huge different in your family’s health.
- Eat FISH at least twice a week. Fish is a good source of protein and is low in harmful saturated fat. Fatty fish, especially salmon, tuna, trout, and halibut, are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which help reduce the risk of heart disease. If you’re concerned about the mercury in fish and shellfish, remember that the risks from mercury exposure depend on the amount of seafood eaten and the levels of mercury in the individual fish itself. Eat a variety of fish to minimize possible adverse effects. Women who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or nursing—and young children—should avoid eating the fish most prone to contamination, such as shark and swordfish. For most people, however, the benefits of eating fish far outweigh the risks.
- Eat lean POULTRY and MEATS. For poultry, choose white meat most often, discard all visible fat, and don’t eat the skin. Meats can be heart-healthy if you choose lean cuts and discard all visible fat before cooking them. Grill, bake, or broil poultry and meats without adding saturated fat, and cut back on processed meats, which can be high in fat and sodium.
- Include LEGUMES, NUTS, and SEEDS in your diet. Legumes, such as peas, peanuts, and peanut butter, beans, and lentils, are a great source of fiber and meatless protein. Nuts and seeds are rich in helpful monounsaturated fats and may actually help keep down blood cholesterol levels when they are part of a diet that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Nuts are high in calories, so don’t go overboard.
- Use liquid vegetable OILS and soft margarines. Vegetable oils, such as olive and canola, provide heart-healthy unsaturated fats. When you can’t use an oil, use fat-free spray margarine or the light spreads that are lowest in saturated and trans fats. Avoid butter and stick margarines, and limit cakes, cookies, crackers, and other commercial products made with partially hydrogenated or saturated fats.
- Cut back on SODIUM. When shopping, be mindful of the hidden sodium in packaged and processed foods. Compare the food labels of similar products to find the ones with less sodium, choose low-sodium or no-salt-added products, and watch for high-sodium restaurant meals. Limit condiments, such as soy sauce, that are high in sodium. When cooking, use little or no salt.
- Cut back on added SUGAR. Limit sugary foods and beverages that are low in nutrients but high in calories. Read the ingredient lists and choose products that don’t list sugars in the first four ingredients.
- Cut back on foods high in dietary CHOLESTEROL. Try to eat less than 300 mg of cholesterol each day. Common cholesterol-containing foods include whole milk, egg yolks, and shellfish.
Copyright © 2009 by AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION, INC.
From the book AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION HEALTHY FAMILY MEALS published by Clarkson Potter Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. Reprinted with permission. |
