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Heart healthy eating

• More information on heart healthy eating

What you eat affects your risk for having heart disease and poor blood circulation, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Heart disease is the #1 killer and stroke is the #3 killer of American women and men.

To help you prevent heart disease and stroke, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has developed three heart healthy eating plans:

• Heart Healthy Diet is for people who do not have heart disease and want to keep their blood cholesterol levels at healthy levels. Unhealthy cholesterol levels can, in time, lead to heart disease.
• Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) Diet is for people with unhealthy blood cholesterol levels.
• Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan is for people with high blood pressure, or hypertension. Hypertension can raise your risk of heart disease and stroke.

For more information on these eating plans, see our Heart Healthy Eating Fact Sheet.

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More information on heart healthy eating

Read more from womenshealth.gov

• Heart Healthy Eating Fact Sheet — This fact sheet provides information on how healthy eating habits can help to reduce the risk of heart disease. It explains what a healthy portion is and how to make heart-healthy food choices.
  http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/heart-healthy-eating.cfm

Explore other publications and websites

• When Delicious Meets Nutritious: Recipes for Heart Health — Here's some terrific news: What's good for your heart is great for your taste buds. The recipes in this pamphlet show you don't have to lose flavor to gain health. Heart-healthy cooking simply means making dishes that are low in saturated fat, total fat, cholesterol, and sodium. As an added bonus, these dishes have fewer calories than those higher in fat. Recipes include "Classic Macaroni and Cheese" and "1-2-3 Peach Cobbler."
  http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth/material/factsheet_recipes.pdf

Connect with other organizations

• American Dietetic Association
  http://www.eatright.org/default.aspx
• Food and Nutrition Information Center, USDA
  http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/
• International Food Information Council Foundation
  http://www.foodinsight.org/Home.aspx
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/index.htm
• Nutrition.gov
  http://www.nutrition.gov/
• Women's Heart Foundation
  http://www.womensheartfoundation.org

Content last updated June 17, 2008.

Resources last updated June 17, 2008.

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