Label Reading for Heart Failure-TUKH
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Serving size: All the information on the label about calories and nutrients is for 1 serving. If you eat more than 1 serving, you get more calories and nutrients.
Calories: Choose foods that help you get the nutrients you need without going over your daily calorie goal. Too many calories lead to weight gain.
Total fat: Choose foods with less than 5 grams (g) of total fat per serving. For someone who needs to eat 2,000 calories per day, 50 to 75 grams per day is a good range. Try to pick foods with heart-healthy fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats).
Saturated fat and trans-fat: Choose foods with less than 3 grams per serving of saturated fat and trans-fat. (These are not heart healthy.) A person who needs to eat 2,000 calories per day should eat no more than 15 grams of saturated fat and trans-fat combined in 1 day. Read ingredients. If a food contains partially hydrogenated oils, then it has trans-fat. (If it has less than half a gram per serving, the label may still say trans fat–free.)
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Sodium: Look for foods that are low in sodium. Each day, eat less than 2,000 milligrams sodium (or the limit set for you by your health care team).
Total carbohydrate and sugars: If you have high triglycerides, choose foods with less than 30 grams total carbohydrate and less than 15 grams sugars per serving.
Dietary fiber: Aim to get 25 to 30 grams dietary fiber each day. To meet this goal, include foods with at least 5 grams fiber per serving.