Patient was educated on measures to be considered for compliance with heart healthy diet recommendation as follows:
- Bread and bakery products like pizza, sandwich buns, dinner rolls, biscuits, bagels, pancakes, waffles, pretzels, and tortillas are very rich in sodium content, due to the additives added in the baking process. Also, more salt is added to these products as topping. In addition to this, a lot of ingredients that go with pizzas & sandwiches, such as, cheese, sauces, pepperoni, and processed meat, are very rich in salt content and contribute further to increased salt intake. Choosing smaller portions of bread and bakery items can significantly contribute towards reduced sodium intake and compliance with heart healthy diet recommendation.
- Also, observe moderation with consumption of bakery products such as, cakes, biscuits, brownies, sweet rolls, doughnuts, cookies, pastries, and pies, as the fat blends and creamers used in their preparation are high in saturated fats.
- Increase consumption of nuts and seeds, such as walnuts, pistachios, almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds, as these food sources are rich in unsaturated and healthy fats. Prefer having nuts and seeds raw or roasted versus fried, to help cut down upon consumption of unhealthy fats in the oils used for frying. While picking nuts and seeds, avoid all salted versions, to cut down intake of extra salt. Increased consumption of raw or roasted nuts and seeds, without any salt added, can help improve compliance with recommendations for heart healthy diet.
- Many alternative forms of the regular salt are currently marketed as healthier versions, such as, rock salt, sea salt, and garlic salt. All these forms of salt basically have the same nutritive value, sodium content, and so, are equally harmful. These alternative forms of salt also must be avoided, to observe compliance with heart healthy diet recommendation.
