“A heart-healthy diet alone can reduce heart disease risk by 30%, “says Dr. Walter Willet Chairman of Nutrition and Public Health at” Harvard. Best success happens by focusing on overall dietary patterns”.

1. Redesign your plate.  Fill your plate with heart-protective foods. Make vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and beans the centerpiece of your meal. You can also move to a smaller size plate.
2. Think meat as a condiment. This means eating beef, poultry, and pork occasionally in the 3–4-ounce range, about a deck of cards.
3. Limit Sweets   Look for natural sweets. Read labels to see how much-added fructose is in what you purchase.  One regular soda a day may raise your diabetes risk by 20%!
4. Don’t fear all Fats!  Many “fatty foods” like avocados, fish like salmon, raw nuts and seeds, and EVOO are rich in heart-healthy unsaturated fats. Switch your saturated fats like processed meat, foods to unsaturated, often an invisible taste difference.
5. Give eggs another go. New research from Harvard shows that cholesterol in foods has a much lower impact on your total cholesterol level. So, foods that are high in natural cholesterol such as eggs, lobster or shrimp may be added to your healthy diet.
6. Minimize Proceeded foods. Look at the labels of everything that comes in a bag or a box before you bring it home from the store. Labels are very telling, learn and understand what you are bringing into the house. Sometimes easier to not have in the house and reduce the chance bag of chips snack.