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Eating a heart-healthy diet can reduce your risk of heart disease and even help reverse heart disease.
To help you eat a healthy diet and nutritious foods, you can do the following:
- Eat more fruits and vegetables: Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide recommends 7 to 10 servings per day for adults and teens, and 4 to 6 servings per day for children.
- Limit your sodium (salt) intake: Check food labels to see how much sodium your food contains - especially processed foods, which tend to be high in salt.
- Get plenty of fibre: Health Canada and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada recommend 21g to 38g of fibre per day for adults.
- Eat foods that are low in cholesterol, saturated fat, and trans fat.
- Choose healthier fats such as unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids.
- Do not eat more calories than you need to maintain a healthy weight.
To help you and your family eat healthy, you can check Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide for the amount and type of food recommended for children, teens, and adults. Following the tips in Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide can help you meet your needs for vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, reduce your risk of heart disease and other diseases, and contribute to your health and vitality. It is important not to confuse serving sizes with portion sizes. A serving size is the amount of food that makes up one "serving" in Canada's Food Guide. The portion size is the amount of food you put on your plate, or are given as part of your meal in a restaurant. To find out how much food makes a serving , read Serving Sizes for Canada's Food Guide.
You can start eating healthy by making simple changes:
Choose healthy foods. By making some simple changes, you can move towards a heart-healthy diet. Try eating an apple instead of a chocolate bar, whole-grain bread or pasta instead of refined grain products, and low-fat dairy products in place of full-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese, and use herbs and spices instead of salt for flavour. When you are eating out, order a salad instead of fries.
Plan ahead. Once or twice a week, plan your meals and shop for groceries based on your meal plan. Keep heart-healthy snacks like fresh fruit, veggies, and low-fat yogurt in the house so they are ready when you need a snack. Buy some frozen and canned fruits and low-sodium vegetables so you always have some on hand. Try cooking a large batch of healthy meals on the weekend and freezing the leftovers to eat during the week. If you are short on time, it is alright to buy ready-made salads or veggie trays - just watch out for ready-made meals, which can be high in salt.
For information on nutrition and healthy eating, visit the Dial-A-Dietitian website or call and speak to a registered dietitian toll-free in BC at 1-800-667-3438 or in Greater Vancouver at 604-732-9191 Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm.
To learn more about heart-healthy eating, see:
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