Healthy Eating and Angina

The general healthy eating message is to eat a variety of high fibre, low fat foods with saturated fat replaced by unsaturated oils and five portions of fruit and vegetables per day.

Increase your fruit and vegetable intake: You should aim for a minimum of five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, to include a variety of vegetables, fruit, salads and fruit juice.  This will help to provide fibre and antioxidant vitamins A and C and E.

Increase your omega-3 fat intake: These are found in oily fish such as mackerel, herring, sardines, trout, salmon and pilchards.  Sardines, mackerel and salmon are also available in cans but remember that canned tuna does not contain the beneficial types of oil.  The body can also make omega-3 fats from rapeseed oil.

Reduce saturated fat: Reduce saturated fat in your diet and replace with unsaturated fat such as oils and fish.

Making several small changes, and making them a habit, gets the best results:

• Choose low fat varieties of cheese such as cottage cheese.  The harder the cheese the higher the fat content.
• Switch from full fat milk to semi-skimmed or skimmed milk.
• Switch to reduced fat or low fat spreads, preferably olive oil based.
• Choose low fat varieties of yoghurt and fromage frais.
• Use as little oil as possible when cooking.  Oil now comes in spray cans, which will give you much less oil per serving.
• Eat more fish, such as mackerel, herring, sardines, trout, salmon or pilchards. Oily fish has been shown to contain oil that helps prevent heart disease.  It is recommended to eat oily fish two to three times per week.
• Buy lean meat.  Trim all visible fat and skin from meat before cooking.

• Discard any fat that comes out of food during cooking and drain on kitchen paper towel.
• Grill or bake instead of frying or roasting in fat.
• Avoid pastry, cakes and biscuits, which are normally high in fat and sugar.
• Avoid processed meat products such as pies, pasties, sausage rolls, hamburgers and sausages.
• Replace snacks such as crisps, cakes and biscuits with vegetables, fruit or salads or low fat snacks.
• Check labels for hidden fats in processed foods and ready-made meals.  Look out for less that 4g fat per 100g on food labels.
• Food packaging can also be misleading.  A product that claims to be 90% fat free is actually 10% fat which is quite high.
• Increase your carbohydrates – preferably wholemeal – i.e. pasta, cereals, rice, bread.

Increase soluble fibre: Soluble fibre found in oats, for example, can lower total cholesterol.

Reduce your salt intake: Too much salt in the diet can contribute to high blood pressure which increases the risk of heart disease.  Reducing your salt intake can achieve a small reduction in blood pressure.  Replace salt with lemon, herbs and spices for flavour.  In time your taste buds will adjust to the changes and come to dislike salty flavours.

How do I eat less salt?

• Do not add salt to your cooking or at the table. 
• Look at processed food labels, even though they can be confusing.  This salt is already in our food without our knowing:
• 0.1g of sodium in 100g is a small amount.
• 0.2-0.5 g of sodium in 100g is a lot.
• Avoid salted crisps, nuts, crackers or other salty snacks •    Look for products that declare themselves low salt or reduced salt.
• Be aware of other foods that can have unexpectedly high salt content such as cereals, mineral water and bread.  Check the labels!

Last updated: 23/11/2007