15 Best Diet Tips Ever
No. 1: Drink plenty of water or other calorie-free beverages
No. 2: Think about what you can add to your diet, not what you should take away
No. 3: Consider whether you're really hungry
No. 4: Be choosy about nighttime snacks
No. 5: Enjoy your favorite foods.
No. 6: Enjoy your treats away from home
No. 7: Eat several mini-meals during the day
No. 8: Eat protein at every meal
No. 9: Spice it up
No. 10: Stock your kitchen with healthy convenience foods
No. 11: Order childrenas portions at restaurants
No. 12: Eat foods in season
No. 13: Swap a cup of pasta for a cup of vegetables
No. 14: Use non-food alternatives to cope with stress
No. 15: Be physically active
Heart Disease: Heart-Healthy Diet
A heart healthy diet begins by paying close attention to what you eat. You can reduce your chance of developing atherosclerosis, the blocked arteries that cause heart disease with a heart healthy diet. If the artery-clogging process has already begun, you can slow the rate at which it progresses.
Feed Your Heart Well
Feeding your heart well is a powerful way to reduce or even eliminate some risk factors. Adopting a heart-healthy nutrition strategy can help reduce total and LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol), lower blood pressure, lower blood sugars, and reduce body weight. While most dietary plans just tell you what you CAN'T eat, the most powerful nutrition strategy helps you focus on what you CAN eat. In fact, heart disease research has shown that adding heart-saving foods is just as important as cutting back on others.
Here are nine nutrition strategies to reduce your risk:
1. Eat more fish. Fish is a good source of protein and other nutrients. It also contains omega-3 fatty acids, which may help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. The American Heart Association recommends two servings a week of omega-3 fatty acid-rich fish like salmon.
2. Eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans. These beautiful and delicious wonders of nature may be one of the most powerful strategies in fighting heart disease.
3. Choose fat calories wisely. Keep these goals in mind.
4. Limit total fat grams.
5. Eat a bare minimum of saturated fats and trans fats (for example, fats found in butter, hard margarine, salad dressing, fried foods, snack foods, sweets, and desserts).
6. When you use added fat, use fats high in monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats (for example, fats found in canola, olive, and peanut oil).
7. Eat a variety -- and just the right amount -- of protein foods. Commonly eaten high-fat protein foods (meat, dairy products) are among the main culprits in increasing heart disease risk. Reduce this nutritional risk factor by balancing animal, fish, and vegetable sources of protein and choosing the leanest protein sources.
8. Limit cholesterol consumption. Limiting dietary cholesterol has an added bonus: You'll also cut out saturated fat, as cholesterol and saturated fat are usually found in the same foods. Get energy by eating complex carbohydrates (whole-wheat pasta, sweet potatoes, whole-grain breads) and limit simple carbohydrates (regular soft drinks, sugar, sweets). The American Heart Association says it is OK to have an egg a day if your cholesterol is normal. When it comes to lowering blood cholesterol levels, limiting saturated fats is more important than dietary cholesterol intake. The recommendation is not to exceed 300 milligrams of dietary cholesterol each day