Heart friendly foods
to build you up
The advice below is aimed to improve the nutritional intake of your diet
in 3 easy steps. It supports the discussions you have with your dietitian
and should be given to you following a detailed dietary assessment.
Sometimes for a variety of reasons you may not eat or drink enough.
It is important to make sure you get all the nutrients your body needs.
We also need to consider your health longer term, such as reducing the
risk of a stroke and keeping the heart healthy.
1 pint of fortified milk every day
• Milk is very good for you as it contains lots of nutrients
including protein, vitamins and minerals.
• Aim to have one pint of whole milk every day including
what you have on cereal and in drinks.
• If you find it difficult to drink milk and milky drinks every
day, try to eat more foods that contain milk, such as custard
and rice pudding.
+
How to fortify your milk
You can add extra energy and protein to your milk by adding:
Four tablespoons of dried milk powder to one pint of full fat milk.
Stir the milk powder into cold milk until dissolved and leave it covered in
the fridge. Aim to use the full pint by the end of each day. This fortified
milk can be used in nourishing drinks, cereals, puddings and sauces.
2 nourishing snacks every day
If you can’t eat full portions of your meals it is important to eat between
your meals to ensure your body still gets all the nutrients it needs.
Savoury ideas
• Toast or crumpets with a suitable margarine or peanut butter
• Soup and bread
• Digestive biscuits with a suitable margarine
• Crackers or bread with hummus or oily fish pate or paste
• Packet of unsalted nuts
• Avocado pear
x4
Sweet ideas
• Malt loaf with a suitable margarine
• Dried fruit and yogurt-coated dried fruit
• Toasted teacake, fruit loaf or hot cross bun with honey,
chocolate spread or jam
• Fruit or plain scones with suitable margarine and jam
• Breakfast cereal with fortified milk, sugar and some dried fruit
• Full fat mousse
• Thick and creamy yogurt
• Tinned fruit in syrup with ice cream
(avoid luxury varieties with added cream)
• Greek yogurt and honey
3 fortified meals every day
Fortify your meals using the suggestions below:
• Use extra margarine on bread, toast, crackers and chapattis
• Add extra margarine to potatoes and vegetables
• Fry foods in a suitable oil such as olive oil or vegetable oil
instead of grilling
• Drizzle extra oil over pasta and salads
• Add chopped up avocado pear and hard boiled egg to salads
• Use jam, syrup, honey or chocolate spread on porridge, milk
puddings, cakes and bread
• Add extra sugar or dried fruit to puddings, cereals and
porridge
• Use fortified milk with cereals and milky puddings
Frequently asked questions
What are suitable fats?
• Oil – choose rapeseed or olive oil for cooking
• Margarine – choose olive oil based margarine or vegetable oil
margarine with buttermilk (if you are missing that ‘buttery’ taste!)
Can I fry foods?
Frying foods is a good way to add extra energy to your diet. Using a
suitable oil is healthy for your heart when you need to put on weight.
What about red meat?
You can have lean red meat which can be cooked using a suitable oil.
Can I eat eggs?
You can have up to one egg a day or seven a week.
© Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, October 2013 ref: 0914