Healthier, Faster Grocery Shopping (NAPSA)}—Your computer mouse can be your secret weapon for healthy food shopping. Beforesetting foot in the grocery store, save time by arming yourself with a list of tasty, heart-healthy foods. It can be a great first step in creating a sensible eating plan for you and your family. From the manyhealth claims on labels to the sheer volumeof products on shelves, making wise food selections can seem overwhelming. For help in making informed choices quickly and reliably, look for the American Heart Association’s red heart with a white check mark on food packages. This distinctive mark is your assurance that the product meets American Heart Association certification criteria for being low in saturated fat and cholesterol for healthy people over age 2. Products high in whole grains may also meet the Association’s standard for being high in fiber, as well as being low in saturated fat and cholesterol. “With all the messages in grocery stores, consumers are bombarded with information,” says Penny Kris-Etherton, R.D., Ph.D. and professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University. “The heart-check mark makes it easy to cut through the clutter and reliably find the nutritious foods consumersare lookingfor.” You can save even more valuable time by first visiting heartcheckmark.org to use the free grocery list builder tool. Click on the “grocery list” link and browse through approximately 800 products certified by the American Heart Association. Products are organized by food manufacturer and by categories such as breads, Go online before you go to the grocery store and create a free, heart-healthy shoppinglist. dairy case, frozen foods, fruits and vegetables, meats, snacks and more. A category called “My Items” lets you easily type in other products, such as spices or bottled water. Finished? Just print the list and head to the store. Refer to yourlist to help you select the healthy foods you want, which are conveniently identified by the recognizable heart-check mark on food packages. “The online grocery list builder is a quick and easy tool,” Kris-Etherton adds. “Shoppers save time, plus they have the peace of mind that the foods they are buying are part of a heart-healthy diet.” Heart-healthy grocery shopping can be just a click away. For more information about the grocery list builder, visit heartcheck mark.org. To learn more about reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke through healthy lifestyle changes, visit american heart.org, or call (800) AHA-USAL for a free copy of the “Shop Smart with Heart” brochure.
