Looking for a fresh start in the New Year? Healthy eating starts with healthy food choices. You don’t need to be a chef to create nutritious, heart-healthy meals your family will love. Learn what to look for at the grocery store, restaurants, your workplace and any eating occasion.
Want to make smart food choices but confused by all the health claims, messages and logos on foods? Use these tips while shopping online or in-person at the store.
- Read food nutrition labels, even for so-called “healthier” foods. Ingredients and nutrient content can vary a lot by brand and preparation. When there’s more than one choice, compare labels. Choose the item with the lowest amounts of sodium, saturated fat, trans fat and added sugars.
- Beware of sneaky ingredients. For example, sodium and added sugars go by many different names, making it harder to tell just how much is in there.
- Choose frozen, canned or dried produce when fresh isn’t available or practical. It can be just as nutritious as fresh, and will last longer. Choose canned fruit packed in water, light syrup or its own juice. With canned and frozen vegetables, choose the product with the lowest amount of sodium. Heavy syrups and sauces can add unwanted ingredients to your healthy fruits and veggies.
- Choose whole-grain foods. Lots of products claim to be, but there’s a simple way to know for sure. Look for the word “whole-grain” (or “whole” followed by the grain name) as the first item in the ingredients list. And we’re talking more than just bread. Include crackers, cereals, tortillas, pasta and other grain foods in your whole-grain quest.
- Look for the Heart-Check mark to quickly and easily identify foods that can be part of an overall healthy eating plan. When it’s on the label, you know the product has been certified by the American Heart Association to meet specific science-based nutrition requirements. The Heart-Check is easy to spot and takes some of the guesswork out of comparing Nutrition Facts label information.
Winter tips to stay active:
-Cold weather can make it easy to become a couch potato preventing us from getting outside and getting active. Here are some tips on how to stay active in cold weather.
-Don’t forget to drink water when exercising in cooler weather. Thirst isn’t the best indicator that you need to drink, just because you aren't sweating as much doesn't mean you don't need to hydrate.
Healthy Holiday news releases:
Advocacy has had a mission-critical role in the Association's work for more than 40 years. With staff and volunteers in every state capital and in communities across the country, we support the enactment of evidence-based public policies at all levels of government that lead to longer, healthier lives. Find out more about our efforts to equitably improve health for everyone, everywhere.
Our legislative and regulatory priorities help to mitigate risk factors and protect survivors in communities across the country. We advocate for federal, state and local policies that help Americans build healthier lives free of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Important dates in January
1/1 - New Year's Day
1/18 - Martin Luther King Day
1/25 - National Voters Day
1/1 - 1/31 - National Birth Defects Prevention Month
1/1 - 1/31 - National Blood Donor Month
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