Heart Disease: Prevention Methods

Healthy Lifestyle: Diet and Nutrition, Exercise and Fitness

A healthy diet and lifestyle are the best weapons you have to fight heart disease. Many people make it harder than it is. It is important to remember that it is the overall pattern of the choices you make that counts. As you make daily food choices, base your eating pattern on these recommendations:

•Choose lean meats and poultry without skin and prepare them without added saturated and trans fat.
•Select fat-free, 1% fat, and low-fat dairy products.
•Cut back on foods containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils to reduce trans fat in your diet.
•Cut back on foods high in dietary cholesterol. Aim to eat less than 300 mg of cholesterol each day.
•Cut back on beverages and foods with added sugars.
•Choose and prepare foods with little or no salt. Aim to eat less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. All persons who have hypertension, all middle-aged and older adults, and all blacks should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day.
•If you drink alcohol, drink in moderation. That means no more than one drink per day if you're a woman and two drinks per day if you're a man.
•Keep an eye on your portion sizes.

Physical activity in your daily life is an important step to preventing heart disease. You can take a few simple steps at home, at work, and at play to increase the amount of physical activity in your life.


Information taken from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) Website, www.cdc.gov.