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Eating for a Healthy Heart

The goal of this lesson is to help participants understand the relationship between a healthy heart and the food we eat, and to learn how to choose and prepare food with less fat and salt in our daily meals.

Note: Before beginning this lesson, read in full first, to get all the facts. Some seniors will have one or more risk factors for heart disease. This chapter also may be adapted for adults and teens.

Basics of Eating for a Healthy Heart

Some risk factors for heart disease, such as age, family history, or racial background, can’t be controlled, but others, such as diet and activity levels, can be modified to reduce one’s risk for heart disease.

We can change cooking methods to reduce fat content and keep flavors.

When we modify recipes to reduce fat and sodium, flavors can be enhanced with herbs, spices, and other ingredients.

When eating at restaurants, we can find words on menus that indicate how a food is prepared, and we can ask for foods to be prepared with less fat and salt.

Learning Objectives

After completing this lesson, participants will be able to:

1. Identify two sources of fat in their diets that they can eat less frequently.
2. Identify two sources of sodium in their diets that they can reduce or eat less frequently.
3. Identify seasonings other than salt that can be used in preparing food.
4. Make simple changes in preparing food to decrease fat in cooking.
5. Recognize higher-fat food descriptors on menus, when eating out.

Instructional Activities

The following activities can be used with either individuals or groups. Complete descriptions are included in the activities immediately following this chapter. Facilitators are encouraged to provide handouts for the activities you do not have time to complete.

1. Heart Disease: What Are the Risks?
2. Good Fat, Bad Fat
3. Eating to Prevent High Blood Pressure
4. Let’s Get Sodium Savvy!
5. Cooking with Flavor
6. Eating Out: Choosing Less Fat

Note: Other lessons can be used to support this topic. For example, see Simply Good Eating: Now You’re Cooking! curriculum: “Old Favorites, New Ways - Easy Recipe Changes for Less Fat”.

Conclusions and Goal Setting

See individual activities for specific topics.
Use the handout, “Tips for Eating for a Healthy Heart” to help summarize the lesson.

Check for Understanding and Behavior Change

See individual activities for specific topics.

References and Resources

Complete references and additional resources for the introductory section above and for each activity are listed at the back of this unit.