Senior health minute | Heart healthy nutrition

A healthy diet is one of your best weapons to fight cardiovascular disease. It’s not as hard as you may think! Remember, it's the overall pattern of your choices that counts. As you make daily food choices, base your eating pattern on these recommendations:

• Eat a variety of fresh, frozen and canned vegetables and fruits without high-calorie sauces or added salt and sugars. Replace high-calorie foods with fruits and vegetables.
• Choose fiber-rich whole grains for most grain servings.
• Choose poultry and fish without skin and prepare them in healthy ways without added saturated and trans fat. If you choose to eat meat, look for the leanest cuts available and prepare them in healthy and delicious ways.
• Eat a variety of fish at least twice a week, especially fish containing omega-3 fatty acids (for example, salmon, trout and herring).
• Select fat-free (skim) and low-fat (1%) dairy products.
• Avoid foods containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils to reduce trans fat in your diet.
• Limit saturated fat and trans fat and replace them with better fats, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. If you need to lower your blood cholesterol, reduce saturated fat to no more than 5 to 6 percent of total calories. For someone eating 2,000 calories a day, that’s about 13 grams of saturated fat.
• Cut back on beverages and foods with added sugars.

For more information on Touro's Senior Care services and wellness tips on healthy aging, visit touro.com/seniorcare.