Heart-Healthy Diet

Sodium is a mineral found in many foods. In general, most people consume much more sodium than they need. Diets high in sodium can increase blood pressure and lead to edema (water retention). On a heart-healthy diet, you should consume no more than 2,300 mg (milligrams) of sodium per day—about the amount in one teaspoon of table salt. The foods highest in sodium include table salt (about 50% sodium), processed foods, convenience foods, and preserved foods.

Cholesterol is a fat-like, waxy substance in your blood. Our bodies make some cholesterol. It is also found in animal products, with the highest amounts in fatty meat, egg yolks, whole milk, cheese, shellfish, and organ meats. On a heart-healthy diet, you should limit your cholesterol intake to less than 200 mg per day.

It is normal and important to have some cholesterol in your bloodstream. But too much cholesterol can cause plaque to build up within your arteries, which can eventually lead to a heart attack or stroke.

The two types of cholesterol that are most commonly referred to are:

• High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol—Also known as “good” cholesterol, this type of cholesterol actually carries cholesterol away from your arteries and may, therefore, help lower your risk of having a heart attack. You want this level to be high (ideally greater than 60). It is a risk to have a level less than 40. You can raise this good cholesterol by eating olive oil, canola oil, avocados, or nuts. Exercise raises this level, too.
• Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol—Also known as “bad” cholesterol, this is the cholesterol that tends to build up along your arteries. Bad cholesterol levels are increased by eating fats that are saturated or hydrogenated. Optimal level of this cholesterol is less than 100. Over 130 starts to get risky for heart disease.

Fat is calorie dense and packs a lot of calories into a small amount of food. Even though fats should be limited due to their high calorie content, not all fats are bad. In fact, some fats are quite healthful. Fat can be broken down into four main types.

• The fats that you want to limit are:
  • Hydrogenated or “trans” fat—found in margarine and vegetable shortening, most shelf stable snack foods, and fried foods; increases LDL and decreases HDL
  • Saturated fat—found in animal products, many fast foods, and a few vegetables; increases total blood cholesterol, including LDL levels
    • Animal fats that are saturated include: butter, lard, whole-milk dairy products, meat fat, and poultry skin
    • Vegetable fats that are saturated include: hydrogenated shortening, palm oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter
• The “good-for-you” fats are:
  • Monounsaturated fat—found in oils such as olive and canola, avocados, and nuts and natural nut butters; can decrease cholesterol levels, while keeping levels of HDL cholesterol high
  • Omega-3 fatty acids—particularly those found in fatty fish (such as salmon, trout, tuna, mackerel, herring, and sardines); can decrease risk of arrhythmias, decrease triglyceride levels, and slightly lower blood pressure
  • Polyunsaturated fat—found in oils such as safflower, sunflower, soybean, corn, and sesame; can decrease total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol

It is generally recommended that you limit your total fat for the day to less than 30% of your total calories. If you follow an 1800-calorie heart healthy diet, for example, this would mean 60 grams of fat or less per day.

Saturated fat and trans fat in your diet raises your blood cholesterol the most, much more than dietary cholesterol does. For this reason, on a heart-healthy diet, less than 7% of your calories should come from saturated fat and ideally 0% from trans fat. On an 1800-calorie diet, this translates into less than 14 grams of saturated fat per day, leaving 46 grams of fat to come from mono- and polyunsaturated fats.