Heart Healthy Eating and Weight Management

Heart Healthy Eating and Weight Management

OHSU Dietitian Tracy Severson talks about adapting a heart healthy lifestyle, including a low-fat diet, regular physical activityand managing stress levels.

hello my name is Tracy Severson I'm a registered dietician and today I'll be talking about heart healthy eating and weight management two main elements of following the heart healthy lifestyle are a low fat low sodium diet and maintaining a healthy weight when following a heart-healthy diet you'll want to limit your total fat intake aiming for fifty to seventy grams of total fat per day the fats that you do include in your diet should be primarily unsaturated fats which are healthier for your heart good unsaturated fat sources include fatty fish such as salmon and tuna which are high in omega-3 fats which are very good for your heart it also includes nuts and seeds avocado olive oil and canola oil to give you an example of what portions are recommended three ounces of salmon contains 10 grams of fat a quarter cup of chopped walnuts has almost 20 grams of fat a quarter of an avocado has seven grams of fat and one teaspoon of oil has 5 grams of fat so as you can see a little bit of these healthy fats go a long ways primarily you want to focus on limiting saturated fats in your diet this type of fat increases your total cholesterol and your LDL or your bad cholesterol you want to aim for less than 20 grams of saturated fat per day saturated fats are found primarily in animal products such as red meats whole and 2% milk butter cheese cream the skin that's on poultry and it's also found in chocolate coconut palm oil pastries and fried foods in order to reduce your saturated fat intake try to choose skinless chicken and turkey fish skim or 1% milk low-fat or fat-free dairy and limit your red meats to only once or twice per month when you do choose red meats try to choose lean cuts such as sirloin tenderloin flank steak or extra lean ground beef and trim off any visible fat also avoid fried foods cream and cheese sauces and order all dressings on the side avoiding trans fat is also an important part of your diet this type of fat increases your LDL or your bad cholesterol and lowers your HDL or your good cholesterol you always want to check ingredient lists on food packages for partially hydrogenated oils while the trans fats are listed on the nutrition label if a product has less than a half gram of trans fat per serving than the company down to zero so even if it says zero grams of trans fats if you see partially hydrogenated oil in the ingredient list then you know it still contains some trans fats and it should be avoided trans fats are usually found in processed foods baked goods and some margarine limiting sodium is a very important part of a heart-healthy diet you want to aim for less than 1500 milligrams of sodium per day which translates to about 450 milligrams of sodium per meal and leaves around 50 to 100 milligrams at one or two snacks daily in order to cut back on your sodium intake avoid adding salt during cooking or at the table you can also avoid processed foods which are things labeled ready-to-eat or instant snack foods such as chips and pretzels canned soups beans and vegetables fast food processed meats like bacon and lunch meats and frozen dinners when choosing canned beans and vegetables you can rinse them in a colander really well and that will rinse away about a third of the sodium that's listed on the label or you can find no salt added beans and vegetables fresh or frozen vegetables are also always a good choice when you're dining out always ask your server if you can get your meals prepared without any added salt and always be sure to order sauces and dressings on the side when you're cooking at home you can use sodium free seasoning blends such as mrs. – herbs spices flavored vinegars or lemon or lime juice to add flavor without adding any sodium a heart-healthy diet also includes limiting cholesterol from food cholesterol is found only in animal products particularly in egg yolks organ meats and shellfish we recommend that you limit egg yolks to three a week or less the egg whites are okay they're fat-free and cholesterol free we also recommend that you limit shellfish to 1/3 ounce serving a week and avoid fried foods and butter or cream sauces you should aim for less than 200 milligrams of cholesterol per day 1 egg yolk has over 200 milligrams of cholesterol and 3 ounces of shrimp has 165 milligrams of cholesterol so to put all this into perspective a typical fast-food meal of a quarter-pound cheeseburger a medium french fries and a baked apple pie has the following totals for fat and sodium has 16 grams of saturated fat remember you need less than 20 grams for the whole day so that's almost a whole day's worth it has seven grams of trans fats and this is an amount that we should keep as close to zero as possible this meal has 59 grams of total fat and you should aim for 50 to 70 grams of total fat for the entire day and it has 1500 and 71 milligrams of sodium and you need to keep your daily sodium and take – less than 1500 milligrams so you can see that one fast-food meal is at or above your daily guidelines for total fat saturated fat trans fats and sodium when following the heart-healthy diet it's important to reduce your fat and your sodium intake but also focus on increasing your fiber intake the goal for fibrous 25 to 35 grams a day and eating more fiber helps maintain a healthy weight because it helps you stay feeling full longer which will help with portion control it also helps lower cholesterol levels and control your blood sugar levels fibers found in whole grains fruits vegetables beans and lentils so try to include these foods at every meal in order to increase your daily fiber intake when shopping be sure to always check nutrition labels in particular you want to check for saturated fat remember you need less than 20 grams for the whole day sodium any food with less than 140 milligrams per serving is considered a low sodium food and fiber you want to look for foods that have at least 3 grams per serving when looking at a nutrition label this is a sample for a macaroni and cheese product you always want to start at the top where it talks about the serving size the serving size of this food is one cup and the servings per container is two if you know that you're going to eat the whole container of this product or two cups then you would need to double all the numbers for the nutrients listed below second you always want to check the calories and make sure that they aren't too high in order to help maintain a healthy weight the total fat saturated fat trans fat cholesterol and sodium are all listed remember you want to keep these values as low as possible so always keep an eye on the numbers dietary fiber is listed down below and remember you want that number to be as high as possible don't get too confused by the percentages listed on the right remember that we talked all in grams and milligrams before so those are the numbers that you should focus primarily on and don't worry too much about the percentages over on the side the next part of following a heart healthy lifestyle is maintaining a healthy weight a useful tool for weight management is the healthy plate which helps with portion control the healthy plate is a tool to help make sure you've got a good balance of fruits vegetables lean proteins and whole grains so when following the healthy plate try to fill half of your plate with non starchy vegetables and fruits always start your meals with as big salad or have steamed or raw vegetables on the side and choose a piece of fruit for dessert a quarter of your plate should be filled with whole grains such as brown rice whole wheat bread or whole grain pastas I always try to choose whole grains instead of refined grains like white rice or white bread because these products have more fiber and nutrients the remaining quarter of your plate should be filled with healthy lean proteins such as fish skinless poultry or beans remember to try to limit red meats cheeses and bacon or processed meats in order to cut back on saturated fat and sodium always stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water are choosing low-fat or nonfat milk or dairy and use healthy oils when cooking such as olive oil or canola oil you can try vegetarian meals once a week in order to reduce some of the calories and fat from meats and increasing your fiber intake meatless Monday is a movement that encourages a plant-based diet one day a week and their website has great recipes and resources for choosing vegetarian meals it's very important not to skip meals if you're trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight many people will skip breakfast or other meals in order to lose weight but this actually makes them eat more calories in the long run to make up for that missed a meal so ideally you should eat breakfast within 1 hour of waking and then have a meal or snack every 3 to 4 waking hours try to include lean protein and fiber at meals and snacks to help you feel full longer some good fiber protein snack combinations include fruit with nonfat Greek yogurt whole-grain crackers and low-fat string cheese or hummus and veggies it's also important not to drink your calories you really want to avoid sweetened beverages such as soda flavored teas energy drinks sports drinks and fruit juices if you do drink fruit juice make sure you're choosing 100 fruit juice and limit it to 1/4 ounce serving a day it's always better to choose a piece of whole fruit rather than drinking fruit juice because you get all the fiber from the whole fruit stay hydrated by drinking more water or other calorie free beverages another important piece of weight management is increasing your physical activity with a goal of at least 30 minutes every day as you're following a heart-healthy lifestyle try to make small changes and set achievable goals remember to keep trying every change you make helps your heart and if you have any questions you can call us at five oh three four nine four eight six three six thank you for your time I hope that this information helps you follow a heart-healthy lifestyle you

#Heart #Healthy #Eating #Weight #Management

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