Your eating pattern affects your overall well-being. So what eating patterns have proven health benefits?

An eating pattern is everything you eat and drink in your normal diet. Everyone has one, but not everyone has a pattern that promotes strong nutritional value and helps reduce the risk of chronic disease.

Start with a plan

If you want to improve your eating pattern, consider taking cues from the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and Mediterranean eating plans, which have proven heart-healthful benefits. (Don’t forget to check with your doctor before changing your diet.)

The DASH eating plan includes foods low in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. It includes lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Protein is supplied by low-fat dairy, fish, poultry, beans, seeds and nuts. And the DASH plan limits red meat, sweets and sugary drinks.

With the Mediterranean plan, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, whole grains and vegetable oils, such as olive oil, are the base of the eating pattern. For protein, at least two servings of fish per week are suggested.

This plan limits dairy, other animal proteins and sweets.

Take one step at a time

If the idea of changing your eating pattern seems overwhelming, don’t worry! You can do it little by little by following some easy tips.

• Add another fruit or vegetable serving at lunch and dinner.
• Replace saturated fats like butter with unsaturated fats like olive oil.
• Choose whole grains like whole wheat bread, cereal or pasta.
• Buy low-sodium or no-salt-added canned goods.
• Grab a piece of fruit for your between-meals snack.
• Look for items marked with Better Choice tags on our shelves. These tags identify items that have more of the nutrients you need like fiber and less of the things you don’t need like saturated fat, added sodium or added sugar.

With these tips to get you started, you can confidently adopt a healthful eating pattern and help improve your overall well-being.

Need some recipe ideas to get you started? Search Aprons for Mediterranean and Better Choice recipes.

Sources: heart.org, mayoclinic.org, NIH 2015 – 2020 Dietary Guidelines, oldwayspt.org