Heart Healthy Diet

In order to keep your LDL and your risk for heart disease low, you should start on the Heart Healthy Diet. The Heart Healthy Diet is an eating plan that can help keep your blood cholesterol low and decrease your chance of developing heart disease. Remember: the Heart Healthy Diet is fine for the whole family, including children from the age of 2-4 onward. Children under 2 years of age should not follow the Heart Healthy Diet - they need more fat to provide enough calories for growth and development.

Heart Healthy Diet Guidelines -- you should eat:

8-10% of the day's total calories from saturated fat.
30 percent or less of the day’s total calories from fat.
Less than 300 milligrams of dietary cholesterol a day.
Limit sodium intake to 2400 milligrams a day.
Just enough calories to achieve or maintain a healthy weight and reduce your blood cholesterol level. (Ask your doctor or registered dietitian what is a reasonable calorie level for you.)

Heart Healthy Diet and You - Your Personal Eating Plan

The recommendations for cholesterol and sodium are the same for everyone on the Heart Healthy Diet, regardless of the number of calories they should eat. You should eat less than 300 milligrams of cholesterol a day and no more than 2400 milligrams of sodium a day.

The recommendations for saturated fat and total fat are based on the percentage of calories you eat; the actual amount that you eat will vary depending on how many calories you eat. To get an estimate of the amount of calories, grams of saturated fat and fat to help you lower your blood cholesterol on the Heart Healthy Diet, follow these easy steps:

Your Weight (pounds)	Height (feet)	Height (inches)

Sex	Male Female
Age Group
Activity Level	Activity Descriptions: The following is a list of selected activities and occupations that are factors in estimating your calorie needs. These activities have been divided into three levels: light, moderate and heavy. Please look at the list and note which types of activities you spend most of your time doing. Then select the activity level that best reflects how you spend most of your time on most days of the week. There are many other activities and occupations that do not appear on this list. Use your best judgment to select an activity level that comes closest to your actual activities and occupation. LIGHT Desk work, electrical trades, carpentry, restaurant trades, child care, leisurely walking, light housework, golf, sailing, table tennis. MODERATE Office work on feet, walking for exercise, gardening and yard work, farming, strenuous housework, downhill skiing, cycling, dancing, tennis, running. HEAVY Walking uphill, construction work and other types of physical labor, basketball, climbing, football, soccer.

For more information on how to eat on the Heart Healthy Diet, visit the other interactive programs in the Virtual Grocery Store, Cyber Kitchen and Cyber Cafe

NHLBI Home Page | NCEP Home Page | NIH Home Page