Heart Healthy Diet: Low Fat, Low Cholesterol, Low Sodium Diet

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center - Upon request all patient education handouts are available in other formats for people with special hearing, vision and language needs, call (614) 293-3191. Heart Healthy Diet: Low Fat, Low Cholesterol, Low Sodium Diet Purpose of the diet  Control and / or decrease levels of cholesterol in your blood.  Control and / or decrease blood pr essure and / or fluid retention. Cholesterol This fat-like substance is necessary for good health. However, high levels in the blood can cause heart and blood vessel di seases. Our bodies make cholesterol. We also get it from eating foods from animals (meats, milk, eggs, cheese, butter). Foods from plants (fruits, vegetables, grains) do not contain cholesterol. Saturated fats These fats are generally solid at room temperature. They tend to increase blood cholesterol levels. Trans fatty acids These are fats that can raise cholesterol levels like saturated fat does. Trans fats are usually listed as pa rtially hydrogenated oils. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats These fats are generally liquid at room temperature. Some can lower blood cholesterol levels. Page 2 How can I lower my blood cholesterol level?  Decrease total fat intake, especi ally saturated and trans fats. Saturated fats are mainly in animal foods. Trans fats come mostly from partially hydrogenated plant oils. Food s that may contain trans fats include store bought baked goods, non-dairy whipped toppings, cream substitutes, some crackers and cookies, and many de ep fried foods. To check for trans fats in a food, look for any oil that is “partially hydrogenated” in the ingredients on food labels. If a food has le ss than half a gram of trans fat per serving, the food manufacturer can list “zero grams of tran s fat” on the food label, so it is best to check the ingred ients for partially hydrogenated oils.  Limit high cholesterol foods. Egg yolks, fatty meats, organ meats, butter, whole milk and other high fat dairy products are high cholesterol foods.  Substitute monounsaturated fat or po lyunsaturated fat for saturated fat in your diet. Monounsaturated fats include olive oil, peanut oil and canola oil. Safflower, corn and sunflower oils, and most margarines and salad dressings are examples of polyunsaturated fats. Also, fish has a higher content of polyunsaturated fat than red meat.  A special note on fish: Many fish are low fat. Some fish that have a higher fat content such as salmon are high in a kind of fat called om ega 3 fatty acids. This type of fat has been shown to be very heart hea lthy. It is recommended to eat fish three times a week for this reason. One caution: consider how you prepare it so that you don’t add large amounts of undesired fats. Baking, broiling, grilling or poaching fish is best. What is sodium? Sodium is a mineral that is necessary for good health and is present in all foods. Most people eat more sodium than they need. If the body cannot get rid of the extra sodium, fluid builds up. Extra flui d increases the work of the heart and kidneys, and may increase blood pressure . Eating less sodium may help control these problems. You will some times see the term sodium abbreviated "Na", as in NaCl (Sodium Chloride), which is table salt. The recommended sodium intake per day for most people is no more th an 2300 milligrams (m g). For anyone who has high blood pressure, is over 50, or is African American, the sodium intake is 1,500 mg.