Food for the Heart

By Christine Gorman

Do you know what percentage of the calories you consume each day comes from saturated fat? How about polyunsaturated fat or protein or carbohydrates? Neither do I. But much of the nutritional advice that has bombarded us over the years is full of such mystifying numbers. Trouble is, people eat peas and pound cake, not percentages. So it can be tough translating dietary guidelines into everyday dos and don'ts.

Looks as if we'll be getting some relief from all the nutritional arithmetic. Last week the American Heart Association released its latest dietary recommendations, this time playing down the numbers and focusing instead on plain old foods--fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and fish--that will help most Americans prevent heart disease, hypertension and stroke. If you follow the advice, your dietary percentages will fall into line naturally. In effect, the A.H.A. has done the math for you.

So much has happened in nutrition research in the four years since the guidelines were last released that a few points stand out:

--For the first time, the A.H.A. is recommending that you eat at least two 3-oz. servings of fatty fish (tuna, salmon, mackerel) a week. The omega-3 fatty acids in the fish appear to be especially protective of the heart. (And, yes, deli lovers, canned tuna, salmon and sardines count.)

--You should limit something called trans-fatty acids in your diet. Though the FDA hasn't yet required that they be mentioned on food labels, trans-fatty acids are found in anything that contains partly hydrogenated oil, such as many commercially prepared baked goods, fast foods and some margarines.

--The ever popular high-protein diets may work in the short run, but there's no evidence that they lead to lasting weight loss or improve your health. In fact, many high-protein foods are also high in saturated fat, which can exacerbate heart disease.

Of course, even with such straightforward guidelines, portion control is still critical. To get maximum benefit from any dietary regimen, you need to limit what you take in and make sure you don't consume more than your body can burn. Indeed, it's so hard to lose weight and keep it off that the A.H.A., also for the first time, has made obesity prevention one of its top priorities. Fortunately, there's an easy way to keep your caloric intake balanced with your metabolic output: just step on the bathroom scale and see if you're gaining weight. Provided you don't have a medical problem like hypothyroidism, a steady increase of a few pounds means you need to eat less and exercise more.

If you do need to lose weight, don't try to drop more than a pound or two a week. It takes patience, but such slow progress is safer than crash dieting and more likely to produce lasting changes.

Most important, the A.H.A.'s new guidelines don't shoehorn everyone into a one-size-fits-all diet. You will find very detailed dietary information for folks who already have heart disease or diabetes, or who need to bring down their level of triglycerides, another fatty substance found in the blood. We've always known that what you eat can have a profound effect on your health. Now you won't need a calculator to figure out what's best for you.

For A.H.A. guidelines, click on "scientific statements" at circ.ahajournals.org E-mail Christine at gorman@time.com