Tips For Heart Healthy Eating

Advice For Healthy Eating

• Plan meals around the four taste buds: bitter, sour, sweet (fruit), salty
• Ask yourself if you are thirsty, hungry or have an appetite. Many people eat because they are thirsty. Appetite is when a person desires or craves food. Hunger is the body's need for food.
• Include 20 - 25 grams of fiber per day in your food choices. Examples are: vegetables, legumes, fruit, cereals, breads, bran and grains.
• Quench your thirst with a daily intake of 8 - 10 glasses of water per day. (Hint: 4oz of water every waking hour is a guideline).
• Treat yourself to a less familiar food, such as mangoes, guavas, kiwis or some of the 15 - 20 different varieties of apples available.
• Plan to allow some of your favorite foods. Sensible eating allows for a richer dessert in small amounts, or other favorite food occasionally.
• Choose foods that take longer to eat. An orange or apple take longer to eat than juice.
• Vegetables are Mother Nature's way of exciting the eyes and taste buds with colors, textures and flavors. Packed with nutrients, no fat, and little sodium, vegetables are winners.
• The sweet spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, allspice and mace will enhance flavor without adding calories. Vanilla, almond, peppermint and other flavor extracts add sweetness also.
• When broiling or baking fish or skinless chicken, brush with orange, lime and lemon peel mixed with fresh garlic and a tiny amount of olive or vegetable oil. Fresh minced ginger and sesame oil can be used with the citrus for a different taste.

Excellent Nutrition Sites on the Web

• American Dietetic Association
• American Council on Science and Health
• American Diabetes Association
• American Society of Nutritional Sciences
• Arbor Communications Nutrition Guide
• FDA: Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
• Food and Nutrition Information Center
• National Council Against Health Fraud
• National Institutes of Health
• QuackWatch - Stephen Barrett, MD
• Tufts University Guide to Nutrition Web Sites
• University of Iowa / Hardin Meta Directory / Nutrition
• University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center Resource

For further information, contact:

Southern Illinois Heart Institute
211 South Third Street, Belleville, Il 62220
Tel: 1-800-676-SIHI (7444)
Internet: info@sihi.org