Heart Patient Diet

How much fat?
Try to reduce your total fat intake to 30 percent of your calories. Saturated fats should comprise less than 7% of your daily calories. Saturated fats raise blood cholesterol levels. These fats are solid at room temperature and include butter, shortening, hydrogenated oils, stick margarine, bacon lard, and palm oil. Saturated fats are found primarily in animal products including beef, lamb, pork, poultry skin, cream, whole milk, and egg yolks.

Meat, Poultry, and Fish
Limit fish, meat, and poultry to 6 ounces or less (90% lean) per day.

Red Meat
Limit meat to 3-4 times per week. Choose leaner cuts of meat like sirloin or round. Choose meats that are at least 90% lean. Make sure to trim away visible fat before cooking. This step can reduce overall fat content by 50%.

Poultry
Remove the skin from poultry before or after cooking. Choose white meat. Dark meat is higher in fat.

Fish
The American Heart Association encourages everyone to consume fish at least twice per week. Fatty fish contain Omega-3 fatty acids. This includes salmon, mackerel, albacore tuna, sardines, and lake trout. Omega-3 fatty acids protect against heart disease by lowering blood triglycerides (fats) and reducing blood clotting. Omega-3 fatty acids help lower the risk for heart attacks and sudden cardiac arrest due to an irregular heartbeat.

Tips for Reducing the Salt in your Diet
1. Hide the saltshaker
Remove the saltshaker from the table. Replace with a salt-free substitute like Mrs. Dashã, Papa Dash, Kroger Zesty Blends or your own mixture of favorite spices. But check with your physician before taking a salt substitute (e.g. No Salt, "Lite" Salt) because some substitutes contain potassium and should only be used after talking with your physician.

2. Avoid canned or boxed foods
Sodium is often used as a preservative in canned and boxed foods. Avoid canned meats, soups, canned vegetables, condiments, frozen convenience foods, and TV dinners. Try to use fresh or frozen vegetables and make foods from "scratch."

3. Read labels carefully to find "hidden" sodium.
Many foods that do not taste salty are actually quite high in sodium. Most "hidden" sodium comes from commercially prepared or packaged foods.

4. Learn to prepare meals with less salt
Avoid high sodium condiments like soy sauce, mustard, ketchup & barbecue sauce. Season with herbs, spices, herbed vinegar, herb rubs and fruit juices.Create your own sodium-free substitutes

Resources:
http://www.diabetes.org
http://americanheart.org
http://mayoclinic.com
http://www.dmhcares.org/patient/nutrition/cardiacdietbw.asp