Dietary guidelines to help you lose weight

The key to a healthy diet is choosing healthy, high quality foods and eating a healthy balance of those foods. One diet that effectively improves heart health is the Lyon Heart Diet, which is a type of Mediterranean diet.

This diet is named for the Lyon Heart Study which evaluated whether a Mediterranean style diet could improve heart health. More than 600 patients who had already had heart attacks participated. The Mediterranean-style diet in the experiment limited red meat and instead used fish and poultry as protein sources, along with a small amount of yogurt and cheese. The Lyon Heart Diet included an abundance of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and seeds. Instead of butter, the study subjects used olive oil and spreads with a high omega-3 fatty acid content. Instead of sugary desserts, the subjects ate fresh fruits. After four years the experiment concluded, with the result that heart health was greatly improved among the subjects who adhered to the Lyon Heart Diet instead of a typical American diet.

Want to learn more? This page shows average energy needs in calories per day, and explains how the balance between food intake and physical activity should balance out to avoid weight gain.