American Heart Assocation: New Guidelines

The American Heart Association (AHA) has issued new diet guidelines.

The emphasis is on healthy diet and lifestyle patterns as opposed to lots of number-crunching.

Here are the salient points from the new guidelines:

• Balance calorie intake and physical activity to achieve or maintain a healthy body weight.
• Consume a diet rich in vegetables and fruits.
• Choose whole-grain, high-fiber foods.
• Consume fish, especially oily fish, at least twice a week.
• Limit your intake of saturated fat to <7% of energy, trans fat to <1% of energy, and cholesterol to <300 mg per day by
  — choosing lean meats and vegetable alternatives;
  — selecting fat-free (skim), 1%-fat, and low-fat dairy products; and
  — minimizing intake of partially hydrogenated fats.
• Minimize your intake of beverages and foods with added sugars.
• Choose and prepare foods with little or no salt.
• If you consume alcohol, do so in moderation.