Managing Blood Pressure with a Heart-Healthy Diet

Eating a heart-healthy diet is important for managing your blood pressure and reducing your risk of heart attack, heart disease, stroke and other diseases.

Aim to eat a diet that's rich in:

	Fruits
	Vegetables
	Whole-grain, high-fiber foods
	Fat-free and low-fat (1 percent) dairy products
	Beans
	Skinless poultry and lean meats
	Fish, especially fatty fish contain omega 3 fatty acids such as salmon, trout and herring (eat at least twice a week)

...And low in:

	Saturated and trans fats
	Sodium

And limit:

Added sugars

Be sure to work with the chefs in your household and plan together for any dietary changes that are needed. When dining out, look for healthy options.

By adopting the habit of reading food labels, you can choose foods more wisely. Watch for foods that have high levels of saturated fat or hydrogenated fat and include trans fat - all factors that can raise your cholesterol. Eating foods that are high in sodium (salt) can increase blood pressure. On average, the higher your salt intake, the higher your blood pressure.

When reading labels, watch for these key terms, and know what they mean.

	"Free" (Examples: cholesterol free, fat free, dairy free) If you are seeking to avoid a certain dietary element, the term "free" is your safest bet.
	"Very Low" and "Low" (Examples: very low sodium, low fat, low cholesterol) Products labeled "low" or "very low" may be helpful if you are seeking to reduce a certain dietary element.
	"Reduced" or "Less" (Examples: reduced carbs, less sugar, reduced fats) These terms always mean the food has 25 percent less of that nutrient than the reference (or standard) version of the food. So if you see "Reduced sugar" peanut butter, it means this version has at least 25 percent less sugar than its standard counterpart.

With so many marketing messages being thrown at you in the grocery store, it can be difficult to know what is truly healthy. To make it easier, the American Heart Association developed the heart-check mark. When you see this symbol on food packaging, it means that the product meets the American Heart Association's criteria for saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol for a single serving of the food product for healthy people over age 2.

To further assist you in shopping, AHA has developed the My Grocery List tool that allows you to create your own list and download it to your PDA.