Return to NVFC Heart Healthy Firefighter homepage
Return to NVFC Heart Healthy Firefighter homepage
Photo

Media Room

Heart-Healthy Tips: National Nutrition Month

Focus on making healthy food choices this March during National Nutrition Month®. Sponsored by the American Dietetic Association, National Nutrition Month is a nutrition education campaign that promotes healthy eating and physical activity habits. This year, the campaign is encouraging everyone to eat right for every age and lifestyle.

Use these low-calorie alternatives for old favorites to help you eat right while still enjoying a variety of foods. When making a food choice, remember to consider all the information on the food label. Some foods provide most of their calories from sugar and fat but give you few, if any, vitamins and minerals. Find more tips like these here.

Instead of:                              Try this:

Dairy
Whole milk                              Low-fat (1%), reduced fat (2%), or fat-free milk
Ice cream                                Sorbet, sherbet, low-fat or fat-free frozen yogurt
Whipping cream                      Imitation whipped cream (made with skim milk)
Sour cream                             Plain low-fat yogurt
Cream cheese                         Neufchatel or “light” or fat-free cream cheese

Cereal, Grains, and Pastas
Ramen noodles                       Rice or whole-grain pasta
Pasta with white sauce            Pasta with red sauce
Pasta with cheese                   Pasta with vegetables
Granola                                  Cooked grits or oatmeal, low-fat granola, bran

Meat, Fish, and Poultry
Bacon or sausage                    Canadian bacon or lean ham
Ground beef                             Extra lean ground beef or ground turkey
Duck, goose, or skin-on           Skinless, white meat chicken or turkey
chicken or turkey
Oil-packed tuna                       Water-packed tuna (rinse to reduce sodium)
Beef (chuck, rib, brisket)          Beef (round, loin), trimmed
Pork (spareribs)                       Pork tenderloin or trimmed, lean smoked ham
Frozen breaded or fried            Fish or shellfish, unbreaded               
Whole eggs                              Egg whites or egg substitutes
Chorizo sausage                       Turkey or vegetarian sausage 

Baked Goods
Croissants                                Hard French rolls or soft rolls
Donuts, sweet rolls,                  English muffins, bagels, reduced-fat and fat-free muffins, scones, or pastries       muffins or scones
Cake (pound, chocolate,          Cake (angel food, white, gingerbread)
yellow)

Fats, Oils, and Salad Dressings
Margarine or butter                  Light spread margarine, whipped butter
Mayonnaise                             Light or diet mayonnaise or mustard
Salad dressing                          Reduced-calorie or fat-free dressings, lemon juice
Oils, shortening, or lard            Nonstick cooking spray; when baking, use
                                               applesauce or prune puree as a substitute for oil or
                                               butter
Miscellaneous
Canned Cream soups              Canned broth-based soups (choose low-sodium)Gravy (homemade with fat)     Gravy mixes made with water or homemade with
                                               the fat skimmed off and fat-free milk
Fudge sauce                            Chocolate syrup
Guacamole dip                        Salsa
 

_____________________________________