Eating for a healthy heart
Lifestyle changes can help reduce risk of heart disease
February is heart month! Now is the time to make lifestyle changes to reduce your risk of heart disease.
Here are some steps you can take to reduce your risk: 1.Fill half of your plate with vegetables and fruit at every meal.
Fresh, frozen and canned vegetables and fruit are all good choices. 2.Choose whole grains most
often.
Examples are whole grain breads, oatmeal, brown rice or quinoa. 3.Choose higher fibre foods
every day.
The Nutrition Facts table shows the amount of fibre in foods. Look for foods with a higher percentage Daily Value (%DV) for fibre. 15%DV or more means a lot, 5 per cent or less means the foods have a little fibre. 4.Eat beans and lentils four times per week. Examples are kidney beans, black beans, soybeans, chick peas or lentils. Make this easier by keeping canned or frozen beans on hand. They are ready to use. Just heat and eat! 5.Have nuts or nut butter every day. Examples are almonds, walnuts, peanut
butter or almond butter. 6.Have fish and seafood twice
each week. Examples are salmon, haddock, shrimp, mussels, sardines or tuna. 7.Choose leaner meats and
lower fat milk products. Examples are lean ground beef, skinless poultry, light cheese or lower fat yogurt. 8.Use unsaturated fat most
often.
This includes soft margarine and oils like olive, canola or soybean. 9.Have saturated fat less often Examples are coffee cream, cream cheese, butter, coconut oil or hard margarine. 10.Limit foods that are high in
sugar, saturated fat or salt. These include foods such as pop, flavoured coffee drinks, baked goods, candy, chips or pretzels.
The best changes are the ones you can stick with for life. Set a realistic goal to improve your heart health.
NUTRITION EVENTS
Did you know? Sobeys dietitians offer a variety of free nutrition classes and one-onone counselling. Eating for Better Blood Pressure (Free). Explore foods you can add to your menu to improve your blood pressure. Thursday, March 12, 10:30 a.m. to noon.