Eating a heart-healthy diet

Why not give you’re own heart a little extra love? Mary Cherne-Schoenfelder a registered dietitian at St. Luke’s explains how heart healthy eating can lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, one of the top causes of death.

“We think about a really good balanced diet, with a lot of variety. We want colorful fruits and vegetables. We want mostly whole grains. We want lean meats. Heart health fats,” Mary explains that healthy fats can be found in olive oil, fish, and nuts.

“When we talk about heart health we particularly think about salt and sodium. And we think about the kind of fats that we like to be eating.”

Mary says we want to limit the amount of salt that we’re eating to keep blood pressure down.

The types of fat that we eat affect the cholesterol levels. “We want to chose more of the heart healthy fats. Instead of the more saturated fats.”

Antioxidants can be found in many plant based food that make up a heart healthy diet. “What we want to careful with is the antioxidant supplements. We really don’t have enough evidence to say that those are effective. So let’s focus on food choices first. They can potential help decrease some of the damage to cells.”

Mary says choosing to take certain supplements warrants a conversation with your dietitian.

Then exercise is a big part of heart healthy. Mary recommends 150 minutes of moderate activity per a week.