Show Your Heart Some Love in American Heart Month

By Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD 

February is American Heart Month, an annual celebration focused on raising awareness about managing and preventing heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. 

In honor of this month, we rounded up 10 of the diet and exercise recommendations put forth by the American Heart Association. 

Incorporating these tips, even if it’s just one of them, can help boost heart health. Once you get into the habit of following one recommendation, you can work on incorporating more of them into your routine. 

1 – Lose weight if you are overweight or obese. 

Getting to a healthy weight, which can be achieved through eating a healthy diet, helps reduce the risk of heart disease. That’s where Healthy For Life Meals comes in! 

Our plans are designed to include nutritionally complete meals that taste great, while providing the appropriate amount of calories for healthy and sustainable weight loss. You can use our online tool to help you choose the plan that will work best for you – 1200, 1500, or 2000 calories per day. 

2 – Increase intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and lean proteins (especially fish). 

While some recommendations focus on what you should limit in your diet, try emphasizing the foods that have been shown to boost hearth health instead. 

These include plant foods, which are rich in micronutrients and beneficial compounds that support the heart, and lean proteins that can take the place of processed and high-fat meats. In particular, consuming fatty fish that are rich in omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. 

Current AHA recommendations suggest 2 servings of fish (7 ounces or 1.5 cups) per week.  Healthy For Life Meals meets this important recommendation, offering two servings of fish each week.

3 – Aim for <2,300 mg of sodium per day, and closer to <1,500 mg per day. 

Most Americans get too much sodium from their diet, which can increase blood pressure. Therefore, the AHA recommends reducing sodium intake to promote heart health. You can do this by limiting the amount of meals you eat at restaurants and cutting back on store-bought foods that are high in sodium, like canned soups, lunch meat, and frozen meals. 

Healthy For Life Meals fall within the recommended daily sodium limit of <2,300 mg. Our 1,200-calorie traditional menu has an average of <1,500 mg per day, which meets the stricter sodium guideline set forth by the AHA. 

4 – Incorporate 3,500-5,000 mg of potassium from your diet per day. 

In addition to watching your sodium intake, getting enough potassium is vital to optimal heart health. Potassium helps blood vessels relax, which in turn can decrease blood pressure. 

Potassium-rich foods include avocados, leafy green vegetables, peas, potatoes, oranges, bananas, tomatoes, yogurt, and some fish, many of which can be found in abundance in Healthy For Life Meals. 

For an easy way to add more potassium to your diet, try a smoothie with spinach, avocado, and banana. 

5 – Reduce alcohol consumption to <2 drinks per day for men and <1 drink per day for women. 

Consuming too much alcohol may raise blood pressure and therefore increase the risk of heart disease. If you drink alcohol, limit yourself to the above recommendations. 

One standard drink is considered 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, and 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits. 

6 – Decrease intake of added sugar, especially from sugar-sweetened beverages. 

Some of the biggest sources of added sugar in the American diet include soda, candy, cookies, ice cream, and packaged desserts. Limiting your consumption of these foods, and/or replacing them with fruit or more nutritious options, can have several health benefits and may reduce heart disease risk. 

Did you know that Healthy For Life Meals significantly restricts added sugars?!

7 – Eliminate trans fat from your diet, and cut back on saturated fat. 

Trans fats, which are made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oils, are used in packaged foods to increase their shelf life. They are associated with several adverse health effects, may increase cholesterol levels and inflammation in the body, and are linked to a higher risk of heart disease.  

Foods that contain trans fats will have “partially hydrogenated oils” listed on their nutrition label and may include fried foods, baked goods, and margarine. Be sure to read the ingredient list to help you avoid sources of trans fats, especially since companies are allowed to report <0.5 grams of trans fat per serving as 0 grams.  

A high intake of saturated fat is thought to increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, but the exact association is unclear. Currently, it’s recommended to limit intake of saturated fat (mostly found in animal foods) and instead eat healthful, unsaturated fats from nuts, seeds, olives, olive oil, and fish. 

Healthy For Life Meals uses no ingredients that contain trans fats, so “zero trans fats” truly does apply. HFLM also restricts saturated fat, falling well below the AHA’s recommended maximum amount per day.

8 – Incorporate more complex carbohydrates, instead of refined ones. 

Refined carbohydrates, such as white flour and added sugars, are generally less nutritious than complex carbs that provide more fiber, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Eating too many refined carbohydrates can lead to poor blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes, who are at an increased risk of heart disease. 

What’s more, excessive intake of refined carbs may increase triglyceride levels in the blood, which has been associated with heart disease. 

Easy ways to eat more complex carbs include swapping whole grain pasta for regular, snacking on fruit instead of candy, and eating oatmeal for breakfast instead of white toast or bagels. 

With Healthy For Life Meals, the majority of carbohydrates are complex: vegetables, fruits, and whole grains!

9 – Add at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity, aerobic activity to your routine.  

Engaging in regular exercise is excellent for your heart and can help reduce heart disease risk. Examples of moderate-intensity aerobic activity include brisk walking, biking, dancing, or active yoga, while jogging, tennis, swimming laps, and biking more than 10 mph count as vigorous-intensity activities.  

Every bit of exercise, even if it’s only for 10 minutes at a time, can have an impact! 

There are additional benefits associated with getting greater than 300 minutes of moderate-intensity and 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week, as well as with resistance training. 

10 – Decrease sedentary behavior in general. 

The average American adult spends more than 7 hours per day on sedentary activities, including sitting, reclining, and watching TV. This may negatively impact health and increase the risk of heart disease.  

To reduce time spent on sedentary activity throughout the day, try incorporating a short walk over lunch, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or parking further away from your destination. Just keep moving!

Note from Healthy For Life Meals: Our meals follow the AHA guidelines for reduced sodium, saturated and trans fat, added sugar intake, and more. Plus, we emphasize heart-healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. Show your heart some love, and order one our plans today.