Ukmedix has just seen the new recommendations for lifestyle and diet recently published by the The American Heart Association Nutrition Committee. The Committee this year added guidelines on lifestyle for the first time and not just diet guidelines as they are increasingly recognising that cardio disease is not just a result of diet but of overall lifestyle.

The AHA releases these guidelines each year and they come with tips and help on how to eat and live healthily and how to maintain a healthy heart. The guidelines this year have advice aimed at hospitals, restaurants, schools, universities and the food manufacturers.

The targets for the AHA are to get people to consume a healthy diet and to sustain a healthy BMI level with low levels of blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose so that healthy hearts are maintained too. The AHA is also recommending that you take some form of exercise for minimum half an hour for 4 days a week and people who want to lose weight should do an hour each day.

The guidelines say that you should balance calorie intake with your personal physical activity so that you get to an optimum body weight. They also say that you should eat a diet which is high in fruit and veg and also consume alot of whole grain high fibre food and fish with omega-3 fatty acids. The guidelines also warn of the excess intake of trans fat, beverages and foodstuffs that have added sugar and salt. UKmedix wholeheartedly supports the American Heart Association diet and lifestyle tips.