American Heart Month: Heart-Healthy Cooking & Food Shopping Tips

Dietary habits play an impactful role in the prevention of heart disease and management of heart-related conditions. At God’s Love We Deliver, we prepare nutritious, medically tailored, meals that support cardiovascular health. Our meals are rich in lean proteins, whole grains, vegetables, and are made with love to be low in sodium, added sugar, and saturated fat.

Want to try making heart-healthy meals at home? Here are some simple tips to help with grocery shopping and cooking up nutritious meals straight from your kitchen!

1. Choose Healthier Types of Fats and Cooking Techniques

• Opt for healthy cooking oils with less saturated fat like olive oil, avocado oil, sesame oil, and canola oil.
• Use avocados, nuts, seeds, and fatty fish rich in omega-3s such as salmon, trout and tuna.
• Try different cooking methods such as baking, blanching, braising, poaching, roasting, sautéing, steaming, and stir-frying. These cooking methods can help to reduce fat and bring out the natural flavor of the food being cooked.

2. Increase Dietary Fiber

• Choose whole grains over refined grains when possible. Examples of whole grains include whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, quinoa, and farro.
• Fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables and consume their edible peels and rinds to boost fiber intake.

3. Choose Lean Proteins and Limit Saturated Fats

• Choose skinless poultry, fish, and minimally processed plant-based proteins like tempeh, tofu, lentils, and beans.
• Opt for lean cuts of red meat, typically anything with ‘round’, chuck’, or ‘loin’ in its name.
• Limit processed meats high in saturated fat like bacon, deli meats, and hot dogs.
• Replace higher-fat cheeses with lower-fat options like part-skim mozzarella, fat-free Swiss, 2% cottage cheese, reduced fat feta cheese, or part-skim Ricotta.

4. Reduce Salt (Sodium)

• Flavor with herbs, spices, citrus juices, and vinegar.
• Limit high-sodium processed foods and use fresh ingredients instead.
• Buy canned vegetables labeled “no salt added” and frozen vegetables without sauces.
• Look for foods labeled with the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Heart-Check mark. This means the food meets the AHA’s sodium criteria.

Resources:

• https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html
• https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/cooking-skills/cooking/techniques/healthy-cooking-methods
• https://www.eatright.org/health/health-conditions/cardiovascular-health-heart-disease-hypertension/heart-healthy-cooking-tips
• https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/healthy-cooking-oils
• https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sodium/how-to-reduce-sodium