Meal Check-Heart Healthy Diet
Let’s take a look at a sample meal plan of mine focusing on Fat and Sodium:
Monday
Breakfast:
2 scrambled eggs (Fat 5g, Sodium 62mg)
Green Tea (Fat 0g, Sodium 0mg)
Snack: Apple (Fat 0.3g, Sodium 2mg)
Lunch:
Green Smoothie (Spinach 0.1g, 24mg, kale-0.6g,25mg, Chia seeds-9g,5mg, Flax seeds 4.3g,3mg, Banana 0.4g,1mg, honey-0,1mg, peanut putter 15g,55mg) Total Fat=29.4g, Sodium=114mg
Cranberry Juice + Sparkling water (Fat 0g, Sodium 235mg)
Snack: String Cheese (Fat 6 g, Sodium 200mg)
Dinner:
Black Beans (Fat 0g, Sodium 430mg)
Brown Rice (Fat 2g, Sodium 10mg)
Grilled bell peppers and onion (Fat 9g, Sodium 16mg)
Salt and pepper (Fat 0g, Sodium 180mg)
Total Fat=51.7g Total Sodium=1249mg
Overall evaluation of the sample meal plan: The fat comes from heart healthy sources although it does make up a large portion of the calories. The seeds and nuts have heart healthy fats so it is a good choice for a patient on a restrictive diet. The sodium level is within the American Heart Associations recommendations but it is pretty close and I am trying out a fairly restrictive meal plan at the moment. I am focusing on eliminating sugar, especially added sugar. I can tell if I have some corn chips with dinner it might push me over the edge, I can’t imagine what french fries would do.
I can understand how this diet would be a hard change for people who eat out a lot, not to mention fast food. It would be a big change for someone who doesn’t look at what is in their food. Food journals are a great way to track food, and there are many digital food diaries that heart patients can have on their phones.
The best recommendations I would tell someone who is trying to limit fats and salt intakes is to avoid fast food and stick to whole food with as many fruits and vegetables as you want. I would also direct them to all the great resources online and any community classes directed towards healthy eating and cooking.
http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/hearthealthy-diet
