By making a few small changes to your diet, you can make a massive difference to the health of your heart.

But where do you start? The main thing to remember is not to be too hard on yourself and ‘give up’ all your favourite foods. You’ll not only find it virtually impossible to stick to, you’ll also be missing out on a lot of the nutrients your body needs to function properly. So make sure you enjoy what you eat and eat a variety of foods.

What is a healthy diet?

For a healthy diet, you should be aiming to:

• Enjoy a variety of different foods from each food group, including at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day
• Eat fatty and sugary foods in small amounts. Cut down on 'bad' saturated fats and replace them with 'good' monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats
• Try to eat two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily
• Try to eat less salt
• Switch high fat dairy foods such as milk and cheese for lower fat versions
• Base meals on starchy foods such as bread, pasta, rice or potatoes. Choose whole grain varieties whenever possible
• Drink alcohol in moderation

Our healthy eating guide makes it really easy for you to create a diet that's tasty and interesting and will keep you feeling great and keep your heart in great shape by: reducing your levels of bad cholesterol, helping to control your blood pressure and helping you to achieve a healthy weight.

Did you know?

0.5kg of body fat contains 3,500 calories. So to lose 0.5kg in a week you need to eat 500 calories less than your body needs each day (7 x 500 = 3,500) and vice versa for weight gain.