Nutrition tips for healthy heart

Nutrition tips for healthy heart

· Eat a variety of foods.
Choose a diet with plenty of vegetables and fruits
The diet should contain at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, both as meals and snacks. There are no restrictions on any type of fruits and vegetable (except for those with diabetes). Fruits and vegetables are high in nutrients and fibre and relatively low in calories, and can be consumed in large quantities. Fruit juices tend to be high in calories and lack fibre, and hence you should eat the fruit rather than have the juice.


Choose a diet low in saturated fat
There are three kinds of fat: saturated mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated. Saturated fat raises blood cholesterol more than other forms of fat. Reducing saturated fat to less than 10 percent of calories will help you lower your blood cholesterol level. Oil should be used sparingly for cooking. It is recommended that not more than 1 tbsp (1 tbsp = 3 tsp = 15 ml) be used per person per day. The oil selected should be low in saturated fat and should have a healthy mixture of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Among the oils, groundnut, soybean, rice bran, mustard and sunflower are recommended. Olive oil is an excellent choice, but it is very expensive and its flavor may not be palatable to everyone.


Foods high in saturated fat include:
· Red meat
· Whole milk and milk products.
· Bakery products, such as muffins and cakes
· Ghee, vanaspati, coconut oil
· Butter, mayonnaise, cheese


FOODS YOU CAN SUBSTITUTE WITH:

FOOD

SUBSTITUTE
1.

Whole eggs

Egg whites
2

Whole milk

Skimmed milk / cows milk
3

Ice creams

Frozen fruit based desserts
4

Fried foods

Baked or steamed foods
5

Pulses

Sprouts
6

Coconut chutney

Sambhar or coriander chutney
7

Cashewnuts

Almonds / walnuts
8

Mayonnaise based salad dressings

Yogurt based salad dressings
9

Red meat (mutton, beef, organ meat)

White meat (chicken and fish)


Choose a diet low in cholesterol
The body makes the cholesterol it requires. In addition, cholesterol is obtained from food. Dietary cholesterol comes only from animal sources such as egg yolks, meat(especially organ meats such as liver), poultry, fish, and milk products. Contrary to popular belief cholesterol is not present in vegetable oils. However, in addition to dietary cholesterol, the saturated fat that you consume is converted to cholesterol in the body, and should therefore be kept to a minimum. Choosing foods with less cholesterol and saturated fat will help lower your blood cholesterol levels.

Foods high in cholesterol include:
· Egg yolk
· Organ meat, like liver and kidney
· Red meat
· Shell fish, like prawns and crab
· Whole milk, cheese
· Choose a diet high in grains and low in simple sugars
The diet should contain 4-6 servings per day of grain products, which provide complex carbohydrates, vitamins ,minerals and fiber. Complex carbohydrates (like brown rice)are recommended over simple carbohydrates(like sugar). People tend to put on weight on high carbohydrate diets when they obtain their carbs from simple sugars (like soft drinks) instead of complex carbohydrates. Grains, vegetables fruits legumes and nuts are good sources of fiber.
· Eat Smaller, More Frequent Meals
Smaller meals help stave off feelings of starvation, which can lead to binge eating. It's also an easy way to get fruits and vegetables into your diet.
· Keep your food low in salt
The simplest way to avoid extra salt is to remove the salt-shaker from your dining table. Foods high in salt include:
· Pickles,
· Papad
· Processed foods
· Baked beans
· Canned soups


HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU EAT:
It is important to match intake of energy (calories) to overall energy needs. There is no `magic formula' for weight loss. Weight loss or gain is dependant on a simple mathematical equation:


CHANGE IN WEIGHT = CALORIES CONSUMED – CALORIES BURNED
We consume calories through the food we eat and burn the calories through activities of daily living, exercise, and through our metabolism.
The basal metabolic caloric requirement can be calculated by multiplying your weight in kg by 20 cals.
In addition you need to add 20% of calories for a sedentary person (desk job); 50 % for a person who is moderately active; and 100% for a person who is very active (such as a labourer).
Example: for a 60 kg sedentary individual, the caloric requirement would be
60 x 20 = 1200 + 240 (20% of 1200) = 1440 cals.
This is the amount of calories a person would require to maintain their current weight. However, when BMI is excessive (>25 kg/m2-to calculate BMI, see article on risk factors for heart disease),caloric intake should be less than energy expended to reduce BMI . Diets for weight reduction should be limited in total calories, and should try and achieve a deficit of 500 to 1000 kcal a day. This will help achieve a weight loss of 0.5- 1 kg per week. The overall intake and health status should be considered while determining the amount of caloric deficit .


Caloric content of 20 most common Indian foods.

Food Products

Amount

Calories


Breakfast Items


1

Idli

2 in no

208
2

Toast

2 slices

102
3

Pohe

1 plate

150
4

Upma

1 plate

154
5

Corn Flakes with milk

1 bowl (30 gms)

153


Main Meal Items

6

Rice

1 katori (30gm)

104
7

Chapati (with oil)

1 medium Size

150
8

Dal

1 Katori

162
9

Mixed Vegetable

1 katori

89
10

Chicken Tandoori

1 piece

109


Snacks

11

Sandwich

1 in no

153
12

Khakhra

2 in no

147
13

Banana

1 in no

58
14

Apple

1 in no

53
15

Papaya

100gm

32


Beverages

16

Tea/Coffee

1 cup

55
17

Milk (cow)

(200ml)

134


Miscellaneous

18

Kheer (rice)

1 katori

125
19

Almonds

4 in no

55
20

Alcohol (whisky, rum etc)

40ml

70




Follow the above mentioned tips to lead a healthy and a happy life.
ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOUR FAMILY DOCTOR