The Heart-Healthy Diet

By paying close attention to what you eat, you can reduce your chance of developing atherosclerosis, the blocked arteries that cause heart disease. If the artery-clogging process has already begun, you can slow the rate at which it progresses. With very careful lifestyle modifications, you can even stop or reverse the narrowing of arteries.

While this is very important for everyone at risk for atherosclerosis, it is even more important if you have had a heart attack and/or procedure to restore blood flow to your heart or other areas of your body, such as angioplasty, bypass surgery or carotid surgery. Following prevention advice can protect against restenosis, or the re-narrowing of your arteries.

Feed Your Heart Well

Feeding your heart well is a powerful way to reduce or even eliminate some risk factors. Adopting a heart-healthy nutrition strategy can help reduce total and LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol), lower blood pressure, lower blood sugars, and reduce body weight. While most dietary plans just tell you what you CAN'T eat (usually your favorite foods!), the most powerful nutrition strategy helps you focus on what you CAN eat. In fact, heart disease research has shown that adding heart-saving foods is just as important as cutting back on others.

Here are six nutrition strategies to reduce your risk:

1. Eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes. These beautiful and delicious wonders of nature may be one of the most powerful strategies in fighting heart disease
2. Choose fat calories wisely. Keep these goals in mind:
3. Limit total fat grams.
4. Eat a bare minimum of saturated fats and trans-fatty fats (for example, fats found in butter, salad dressing, sweets and desserts).
5. When you use added fat, use fats high in monounsaturates (for example, fats found in olive and peanut oil).
6. Eat a variety -- and just the right amount -- of protein foods. Commonly eaten protein foods (meat, dairy products) are among the main culprits in increasing heart disease risk. Reduce this nutritional risk factor by balancing animal, fish and vegetable sources of protein.
7. Limit cholesterol consumption. Dietary cholesterol can raise blood cholesterol levels, especially in high-risk people. Limiting dietary cholesterol has an added bonus: You'll also cut out saturated fat, as cholesterol and saturated fat are usually found in the same foods. Get energy by eating complete carbohydrates (pasta, potatoes, whole-grain breads) and limit simple carbohydrates (regular soft drinks, sugar, sweets). If you have high cholesterol, these simple carbohydrates exacerbate the condition and may increase your risk for heart disease.
8. Feed your body regularly. Skipping meals often leads to overeating. Eating five to six mini-meals is the best way to control blood sugars, burn fat calories more efficiently and regulate cholesterol levels.

Other Heart-Healthy Strategies

• Reduce salt intake. This will help you control your blood pressure.
• Exercise. The human body was meant to be active. Exercise strengthens the heart muscle, improves blood flow, reduces high blood pressure, raises HDL cholesterol ("good" cholesterol), and helps control blood sugars and body weight.
• Hydrate. Water is vital to life. Staying hydrated makes you feel energetic and eat less. Drink 32 to 64 ounces (one to two liters) of water daily (unless you are fluid restricted).
• Enjoy every bite. Your motto should be dietary enhancement, not deprivation. When you enjoy what you eat, you feel more positive about life, which helps you feel better. An added bonus is that you eat less when you eat food you love, and that helps control weight and reduce cholesterol levels.

How Much Is a Serving?

When you're trying to follow an eating plan that's good for your heart, it may help to know how much of a certain kind of food is considered a "serving." The following table offers some examples.

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