Foods to help keep your ticker in top shape

February is Heart Month, and it's a reminder that cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death among Canadian and American men and women. While some risk factors, such as age and family history, cannot be changed, you can take certain steps to lower your overall risk. They include incorporating heart-healthy foods into your diet on a daily basis. The following foods have been shown to have a risk-lowering effect, and the accompanying tips can help you make wise nutrition choices:

Whole grains

Whole grains include the three edible parts of the grain - the bran, germ and endosperm.

Together, these three form an important source of fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Whole grains can come from a variety of grains, including rice, wheat, corn, rye or barley and have numerous health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease.

Determining which foods contain whole grains and which don't is easy once you know what to look for. Don't rely on descriptive terms such as multigrain, 12 grain or stone ground to choose whole-grain products, since these adjectives don't necessarily indicate the presence of whole grains.

The only way to determine if a product is actually whole grain is to read the ingredient list and look for the word "whole" itself, preceding a grain name (e.g., whole-grain rice, whole-grain oats or whole-grain barley).

Ideally, whole grains should be first or second on the ingredient list of a product. This means the product contains more whole grains than any other ingredient.

Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables should be the basis of a healthy diet for most people, and eating fresh produce for heart health is no exception. Research suggests a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can lower your risk of a variety of diseases, including involving the heart. For example, a 2006 meta-analysis published in The Journal of Nutrition featuring data on more than 200,000 men and women found that the risk of heart disease was decreased by four per cent for every additional daily portion of fruit and vegetable intake.

A diet rich in fruit and vegetables should include at least seven servings of fruit and vegetables per day for an adult, depending on your age and sex, as suggested by Canada's new Food Guide. While that may sound like a lot, meeting the daily requirement is not as hard as it may seem. One serving is equivalent to one medium-size piece of fruit, one cup of green leafy vegetables, or half a cup of fruit or vegetable juice.

Fibre

A heart-healthy diet includes plenty of foods that are high in fibre. While a healthy adult needs between 25 and 38 grams of fibre per day, the average Canadian is only getting about half that, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

The easiest way to up your intake of fibre is to add foods that are rich in it to your diet. Such foods include fruit, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, such as beans and lentils. But how do you know if a packaged food is a good source of fibre? Just look at the Nutrition Facts table on the food label.

According to Health Canada, two grams of fibre per serving is considered a source of fibre, four grams per serving is considered a high source of fibre, and six grams of fibre per serving is considered a very high source of fibre. Choose higher-fibre foods more often.

Cut the right fats

Dietary fat is also linked to heart health. Since not all fats are created equal, some may increase the risk of heart disease (i.e. saturated and trans fat), while others can lower cholesterol levels (i.e. monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat) and are linked with a decreased risk of heart disease.

Saturated Fat

Saturated fat can raise blood cholesterol, which is a risk factor for heart disease. Saturated fat is found in animal products, such as fatty meat, full fat dairy products and some plant oils, including palm and coconut oils.

Health Canada recommends getting no more than 10 per cent of energy from saturated fat (11 grams of saturated fat per 1,000 kilocalories). Limit your intake of saturated fat by lowering your intake of high-fat animal products. Substitute high sources of saturated fat with lean protein sources, such as beans, legumes and low-fat dairy products. Substitute palm and coconut oils with olive oil or canola oil.

Trans Fat

Trans fat also raises blood cholesterol and is linked to an increased risk of heart disease. While some trans fat occurs naturally, most of the trans fat found in foods is created through a process called partial hydrogenation that increases the shelf life of a product.

Trans fat is found in commercially fried and baked foods, such as muffins, cookies, crackers, cakes and french fries. It is also present in hard margarines and shortening. In 2006, Health Canada and the Heart and Stroke Foundation released their recommendations and strategies for reducing trans-fat consumption among Canadians, as part of the Trans Fat Task Force. Mandatory food labelling and increased consumer concern has prompted many food manufactures to cut the trans fat in their products.

However, trans fat is still present in many products. To limit your consumption of trans fat, look at the Nutrition Facts table and choose products with 0.2 grams of trans fat or less per serving - this is the limit considered to be trans-fat free by Health Canada. Read the ingredient list on food and watch out for the term "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated oil" - these terms indicate the presence of trans fat.

Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated Fat

Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can help lower blood cholesterol levels. High blood cholesterol levels are one of the leading risk factors for heart disease.

Monounsaturated fats are found in olive oil, canola oil, avocados and some nuts, including almonds, pecans and hazelnuts.

Polyunsaturated fats are especially good at ridding the body of newly formed cholesterol. This fat is found in nuts and seeds, although its most known form is omega-3 fatty acids, found mainly in cold-water fish and flax.

There is increasing evidence to suggest omega-3 fatty acids can decrease the risk of heart disease by lowering triglycerides, reducing the risk of heart attacks and stroke, slowing atherosclerotic plaque formation and lowering blood pressure.

Up your intake of omega-3 fatty acids by eating fish such as salmon, herring and anchovies two to three times per week. Other rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids include flaxseeds, walnuts and omega-3 enriched eggs.

Sodium

High sodium intake increases blood pressure and can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. The Heart and Stroke Foundation suggests Canadian adults consume no more than 1 tsp of salt (2,300 mg of sodium) per day. However, most adults consume two to three times the recommended amount of sodium.

Obvious ways to limit your intake of sodium is to reduce the amount of salt you add to food, and cut back on processed foods such as canned soups, sauces and dressings, which all tend to be high in salt.

Again, a quick glance at the Nutrition Facts table and the ingredient list will tell you how much sodium is in a serving. In Canada, products labelled sodium free have less than 5 mg of sodium per serving, while reduced sodium products have at least 25 per cent less sodium per serving than the original product. Alternatively, look at the per cent daily values (%DV) in the Nutrition Facts table and choose products that are 10 per cent or less for sodium.

Be sure to make note of the serving size on the Nutrition Facts table. If you eat more than the recommended serving, you'll be getting more sodium than what's listed on the label. To spot hidden sources of sodium, scan the ingredient list for terms that indicate the presence of sodium, such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), baking soda, sodium sulfite, sodium nitrate or soy sauce.

Incorporating heart-healthy foods into your diet is one of the easiest ways to help reduce your risk of developing heart disease. Include more whole grains, fibre, fruits, vegetables, low-fat sources of protein and less sodium to maximize the benefits.

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