Get the basics, or sharpen your skills, around nutrition as we outline the foundation for heart healthy nutrition: guidelines that’s helpful for everyone. Understand best choices when it comes to ingredients and why those choices benefit you immediately and long term. A healthy nutrition lifestyle doesn’t have to be boring or bland.

Important Education Takeaways

• Eat more plants. The more color and the more variety, the better!

  • Plant-foods such as veggies, fruits, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds are the perfect foundation for a heart healthy eating plan. They are packed full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds, and of course fiber!

  • New information share! Our April 2024 topic focused on a plant-based diet.

• Choose heart-friendly unsaturated fats, found in foods such as olive oil, avocados, nuts & seeds, and fish.

  • Limit less healthy saturated fats found in foods like butter, cheese, whole milk, fatty cuts of meats, and tropical oils.

  • Learn more on the best oils for a heart-healthy diet from an Ask the RD blog post — plus gain access to helpful temperature and smoke points to keep those oils within healthy consumption ranges. We also offer helpful details on olive oil.

• Limit your sodium and sugar intake. Get familiar with reading food labels and ingredient lists.

  • Aim to choose mostly fresh foods and homemade meals over processed items to limit the excess sodium and hidden added sugars.

  • Get the details on low sodium, reduced sodium, and no-salt labels in our Ask the RD blog.

  • Gather tips on satisfying the salt cravings and the sugars found in store-bought salad dressings in our Ask the RD blog.

  • Helpful information on reducing added sugar consumption can be found in our Ask the RD blog.

    • Women should limit added sugars to 24 grams (or 6 tsp), and men 36 grams (or 9 tsp) per day.

• Build balanced meals and snacks, consisting of healthy foods that you enjoy and that make you feel good.

  • Remember the “Healthy Plate” model, striving to make ½ of each meal consist of veggies and fruits, ¼ as complex carb foods, and ¼ as lean protein foods.

  • Get more details on the Healthy Plate model from our Ask the RD blog post, plus expanded conversation in the posted video.

  • Our heart health video library shares great information on the Healthy Plate and a heart healthy diet. Press play!

Recipes

• Recipe of the month: Steamed Salmon and Vegetable Packets

  • As always, this recipe is the showcase of our live taught, virtual cooking class. Our chef and registered dietitian bring the recipe to life as they walk you through food prep, swaps to meet dietary or taste preferences, plus tips and tools to support you being your own healthy chef at home.

• Bonus recipe: Spiced White Fish with Orange and Fennel Salad

  • From Jamie’s kitchen to yours, our monthly bonus recipes are published on our website and social media the 4th Wednesday of each month. We invite you to browse our recipe collection and come back often to find more flavorful and heart-healthy recipes.

We invite you to join us for the live taught, virtual nutrition classes each month to gather more information on our nutrition topics. This is also an opportunity to ask topic-related questions of our experts as well as connect socially with attendees for idea sharing. As a registered participant for our In the Kitchen program, you receive a few reminders ahead of each scheduled monthly classes, but here’s an easy to remember schedule: Nutrition Education (30-minutes, 2nd Wednesday, 12pm), Cooking Class (up to 60-minutes, 3rd Monday, 12pm).

Contributing author: Jamie Libera, RD, LD, CCTD, registered dietitian, Providence.