In practical terms, a heart-healthy diet such as the Step One diet recommended by the NCEP and the American Heart Association is moderately low in fat. It emphasizes limiting the amount of fat in your diet, especially saturated fat, as well as cholesterol. It also emphasizes complex carbohydrates in place of simple ones. The specifics:
Eat meat sparingly. Relegate meat to a minor part of your diet instead of making it the centerpiece of most meals. Avoid fatty cuts of beef, pork, and lamb; instead choose lean ones, or substitute fish or skinless white-meat poultry. Trim off fat and skin from meats and poultry. When dining out, choose a smaller portion of meat, or choose pasta or fish dishes.
Choose low-fat dairy products and other foods. Avoid dairy foods that contain whole milk or cream; instead, use low-fat or nonfat ones. Choose low-fat snacks (pretzels, homemade popcorn, carrots, dried fruits, fresh fruits) instead of high-fat ones (potato chips and candy bars). Avoid store-bought bakery products unless they are explicitly low-fat or fat-free.
Cut down on saturated fat in cooking. Use liquid cooking oils rather than butter or margarine. Use nonstick pans. Instead of frying, bake, broil, roast, steam, or stew. Discard drippings, and baste with wine or broth.
Avoid palm and coconut oils. Most vegetable oils are unsaturated, but these two oils contain mostly saturated fats. Choose canola, sunflower, safflower, corn, soybean, olive, and peanut oils.
Avoid trans fats. Because trans fats increase your LDL and decrease your HDL, the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board says there’s no safe level of trans fat intake, and the NCEP urges people to eat as little as possible. Avoid or eat only very small quantities of products that list shortening, partially hydrogenated oil, or hydrogenated oil among their first ingredients. These ingredients contain a lot of trans fat. Choose margarines labeled trans fat-free, or try using olive oil on your bread or cooked vegetables. Use canola oil or olive oil when frying. And be on the lookout for true-but-tricky advertising in restaurants and on packages of frozen fried foods. Food that’s fried in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils is often labeled "cholesterol free" or "cooked in vegetable oil."
Trans fat is also found in unexpected places like commercial breads, soups, cereals, bean and other dips, and packaged entrees. Whenever possible, make these foods from scratch, using non-hydrogenated fats.
Reduce dietary cholesterol. Strive to eat less than 200 mg of dietary cholesterol a day. Limit eggs to no more than four egg yolks per week; two egg whites can replace a whole egg in most recipes. Limit lean meat, fish, and poultry to no more than 6 ounces per day (a 3-ounce portion is about the size of a deck of playing cards). Stay away from cholesterol-rich organ meats, such as liver, brains, and kidneys.
Increase complex carbohydrates and fiber. Emphasize foods with complex carbohydrates, such as fruits and vegetables, whole-grain products, and legumes (dried beans and peas) that are low in calories and high in fiber. Eat more water-soluble fiber, such as that found in oat bran and fruits. This type of fiber can significantly lower your blood cholesterol level when eaten in conjunction with a low-fat diet.
Read labels carefully. Avoid prepared foods that list any of the following among the first few ingredients: meat fat, coconut or palm kernel oil, cream, butter, egg or yolk solids, whole milk solids, lard, cocoa butter, chocolate or imitation chocolate, or hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fat or oil. Watch out for fast foods and other unlabeled products; when you don’t know what you’re getting, eat sparingly.
Change strategy. If three months of this eating plan doesn’t bring your total and LDL cholesterol levels into the desired range, consult your physician and a dietitiaN
source : everydayhealth.com
