Heart healthy eating
What you eat really does matter. By choosing the right balance of foods to eat, you can reduce your chances of having a heart attack or stroke. The correct balance of foods will also complement any medicines that may have been prescribed by your doctor.
There are many ways to enjoy a heart healthy dietary pattern, using foods and recipe ideas from a variety of traditional and cultural eating styles.
The Heart Foundation’s nine steps to eating for a healthy heart
- 1. Enjoy three meals per day, selecting from dishes that encourage you to eat plant foods and fish and with little or no dairy fat, meat fat or deep fried foods.
- 2. Choose fruits and/or vegetables at every meal and for most snacks.
- 3. Select whole grains, wholegrain breads, or high-fibre breakfast cereals in place of white bread and low-fibre varieties for most meals and snacks.
- 4. Include fish, or dried peas, beans or soy products, or a small serving of lean meat or skinned poultry, into one or two meals each day.
- 5. Choose low-fat milk, low-fat milk products, soy or legume (pea or bean) products every day.
- 6. Use small amounts of oil, margarine, nuts or seeds.
- 7. Drink plenty of fluids each day, particularly water, and limit sugar-sweetened drinks and alcohol.
- 8. Use only small amounts of total fats and oils, sugar and salt when cooking and preparing meals, snacks or drinks. Choose ready-prepared meals that are low in these ingredients.
- 9. Mostly avoid or rarely include butter, deep-fried and fatty food, and only occasionally choose sweet bakery products.
The following information helps to describe the quantity of food needed to support a heart healthy eating pattern. By choosing foods mostly from the ‘heart healthy food’ groups and limiting ‘other foods’ you can lower your individual risk of cardiovascular disease.
Heart-healthy food groups
Fruits and coloured vegetables - Aim to eat at least 8 servings daily.
How much is a serving? 1 piece of fruit, ½ cup of canned fruit in natural fruit juice, 1 cup raw leafy or salad vegetables, ½ cup cooked vegetables, 1 tomato or 1 carrot.
Grains and starchy vegetables (choose a variety of grain products – at least half of these should be wholegrain products) - Aim to eat at least 6 or more grains and starchy vegetables daily.
How much is a serving? 1 medium slice bread, ½ cup pasta or porridge, 2/3 cup wholewheat cereal, 1 small potato, ½ cup kumara, 3 wholegrain crispbreads.
Fish* and seafood, dried peas and beans, lean meat and skinned poultry - Eat between 1 and 3 servings daily depending on kilojoule requirements.
How much is a serving? 150 grams ‘lite’ tuna, 2 small or 1 large fillet of cooked fish, ½ cup lean mince or casserole, 1 cup cooked dried beans.
*If you do not eat oily fish, include fish oil capsules, linseeds, walnuts, wheatgerm, canola or linseed oil for heart-healthy omega-3 fats.
Milk and milk products (use soy substitutes if preferred) - Eat 2-3 servings daily depending on your kilojoule requirements.
How much is a serving? 1 cup trim or very low-fat milk, 1/3 cup cottage cheese, 1 small pottle low-fat yoghurt, 2 tbsp grated parmesan.
Oils, spreads, nuts, seeds and avocado (choose products made from sunflower, soya bean, olive, canola, linseed, safflower, or nuts and seeds other than coconut) - Eat 3 servings daily or more depending on your kilojoule requirements.
How much is a serving? 1 tsp soft table margarine or oil, 2 tsp light margarine, 1 dessert spoon nuts, 1 tbsp avocado.
Non-alcoholic drinks - Between 6 and 8 non-alcoholic drinks daily.
How much is a serving? 1 glass water, 1 cup tea, coffee or ‘diet’ soft drink.
Other foods
Alcoholic drinks - Daily limits: Up to 2 drinks for women and 3 drinks for men.
How much is a serving? 1 can/stubbie of beer, 100ml wine or 2 nips of spirits; use ‘diet’ drinks as mixers.
Eggs - For people with heart disease or those at risk of heart disease, the Heart Foundation recommends having no more than 3 eggs per week, while the general population can have one egg per day (if desired), but within the context of having an overall diet which is low in saturated fat.
Savoury snack foods - Daily limits: These can sometimes replace ‘grain’ servings or ‘high sugar foods’.
How much is a serving? 3 reduced-fat crackers, 15 rice crackers, 30g rice snacks or low saturated fat crisps (low saturated fat crisps generally have less than 4g of saturated fat per 100g).
High sugar foods - Daily limits: Up to 1 for low-kilojoule needs# and 4 for high-kilojoule needs
How much is a serving? 1 tbsp jam or honey, 3 small low-fat biscuits, ½ small muffin, ½ cup light frozen dessert or frozen yoghurt.
High saturated fat - Weekly limit: Up to 2 for low-kilojoule needs# and 6 for high-kilojoule needs per week.
How much is a serving? 3-4 small chocolate or cream biscuits, ½ cup cream, cheese or coconut milk sauce, 100g ice cream, 1 medium fries or instant noodles, 50g chocolate or crisps.
# Low kilojoule needs are for people who have type 2 diabetes who are overweight, others who need to lose weight and people who are physically inactive.
Check out other risk factors
See the links below for more information on tackling the individual risk factors you may need to address to have a healthy heart and cardiovascular system, remembering that they all work together to affect your risk level.
Also see: Know Your Numbers Heart Age Calculator
Do you need a heart risk assessment?
Original material provided by the Heart Foundation of New Zealand and the New Zealand Guidelines Group, March 2010. Reviewed by everybody, February 2011.
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