Heart-Healthy Dietary Guidelines Tailored for You

According to an October 5th press release from the American Heart Association, new dietary recommendations for heart health are going to appear in the October 31st edition of Circulation, which can be downloaded for free from the AHA website. These recommendations have been revised to provide a more individualized approach to the American diet, especially for those in high-risk group, which will make dietary changes easier. The new recommendations encourage Americans to achieve an overall healthy eating pattern, an optimal body weight, desirable cholesterol levels, and desirable blood pressure levels. The American Heart Association hopes that healthier eating will lead to a lower number of deaths related to heart disease, which happens to be the number one cause of death in America for over one hundred years. Many scientists have discovered links between diet and heart health, yet American eating habits continue to decline. In response to this, the AHA has made four changes to their dietary guidelines to improve the success rate of Americans struggling to follow a healthier lifestyle.

The American Heart Association believes that the new guidelines will be easier to follow because they require less calculation. The recommendations focus on overall eating habits, which are described in terms of food groups, rather than percentages of fats and nutrients. They stress what Americans should eat, rather than what they shouldn''t. This doesn''t mean that Americans no longer have to regulate their dietary choices, but it does give them greater freedom especially in terms of dining out.

These new guidelines suggest a diet including fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, low-fat and non-fat dairy products, fish, lean meats, and poultry. Even though the diet still includes at least five servings of fruits and veggies and six servings of grain, two servings per week of fatty fish have been added to the dietary guidelines, additionally, the revised guidelines still recommend that the nutrients come primarily from food instead of supplements.

The revised guidelines also focus on the importance of preventing obesity. The American Heart Association is very concerned with the caloric intake and food choices of Americans, and they worry that Americans do not consume enough nutrient-dense foods. The new guidelines recommend smaller portions, a more varied diet, better food choices, and increased physical activity. They also warn that overweight individuals who are dieting shouldn''t lose more than two pounds each week.

The American Heart Association also hopes that the new guidelines will help health care professionals make diets that will better meet each individual patient''s needs, especially for those with high blood pressure or cholesterol, diabetes, insulin resistance, high triglycerides, congestive heart failure, kidney disease, and obesity. For these individuals, having optimal dietary habits and reaching an optimal body weight can make a huge difference. Additionally, with multiple risk factors (high blood pressure, glucose intolerance, excess abdominal fat), which are often called Syndrome X, are being told to avoid those diets that are low in fat and high in carbohydrates because they have a tendency to lower HDL, "good", cholesterol levels. Rather, these people are encouraged to add more unsaturated fats such as see oils to their diet.

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