Eat for your heart

When your heart health is at risk and you know you have to eat well, putting dietary advice into practice can still be a challenge.

You may be well aware of the recommendations: eat less salt, less saturated fat, more fiber. Translating these into what to make for dinner -- or what to order when you go out -- is where it all breaks down.

That's what a friend told me recently after his second heart attack.

He and many of you have asked me for simple suggestions about where to begin and how to get better at it. It's harder than it sounds.

But there's good news, too.

Most, if not all, of the information I share in my columns is applicable to people with coronary artery disease.

It makes sense to start with a few simple changes.

•Eat more soluble fiber. It's the kind that lowers blood cholesterol levels. Find gobs of soluble fiber in oatmeal and beans of all sorts -- pintos, black beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans and navy beans, for example.

This fall, switch to a big bowl of oatmeal every morning, and bean soup, bean burritos and bean chili for lunch or dinner.

•Cut the saturated fat. Do it by radically reducing your meat intake and steering clear of cheese and other high-fat dairy products, including ice cream and butter.

Eat more grain- and vegetable-based entrees and vegetarian meals. Think of meat as a condiment -- not more than a minor ingredient -- instead of as the focal point of the plate.

Need some ideas? Peruse vegetarian cookbooks, and look to Indian, Middle Eastern, and Chinese vegetable stir-fry meals for inspiration.

•Double up on the fruits and veggies. Heap your plate with large servings of these foods, and let them replace the foods that used to occupy your plate.

Serve fruit desserts more often. Pack fruit as a snack during the day, and keep several types of fresh fruit on hand at all times at home.

•Dodge the junk. I'm talking about biscuits, fries, fried sandwiches and burgers, most vending machine snacks, commercial cookies and cakes. Cut them out.

Start with any one of these steps, and move on to the next when you feel you can. Refine your diet from there.

If you feel overwhelmed or lost, get individualized help from a registered dietitian, or simply revisit the list above and focus on one big change with the potential to yield substantial results.

Move at your own pace. Change takes time.