DMH hosts healthy heart seminar about food as part of series


Remember to always have a daily dose of 3 grams of fat or less, 3 grams or more of fiber and no more than 300 milligrams of sodium.

It was a message heard by many people who were in Hickory Point Mall on Saturday.

Decatur Memorial Hospital kicked off the first in a series of presentations at the mall to bring awareness and celebrate a healthy heart during American Heart Month in February.

A different program about the heart will take place each Saturday.

While at the mall, Rick and Patty McKinney, who are health conscious, learned a little more during the cooking demonstration part of the program.

The couple take their daily dose of fiber and wheat and try to watch the cholesterol, fat and sodium in the foods they eat.

Patty McKinney said she already eats more than the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables every day.

"When you don't eat a lot of sweets, your tastes change. I eat carrots now like it's a piece of candy," she said.

"Something they failed to mention is that manufacturers try to fool you with the serving sizes on the labels," said Rick McKinney, who does a lot of the cooking at home.

McKinney said he has had troubling heart symptoms, but he and his wife said the healthy heart presentation gave them ideas for having more variety of meals and not fixing the same things to eat.

Monica Nyman, registered dietician with the Wellness Center at Decatur Memorial Hospital, headed up the presentation and prepared a tasty peach dessert.

"Look for things low in sodium, cholesterol and high in fiber. If you follow those tricks, then you're eating a healthy diet," she told the audience.

She then browned in a skillet on a hot plate some Grape Nuts cereal, a light margarine and apple pie spice. She took a glass and filled it with peaches, added vanilla yogurt and topped it all off with the cooked cereal mixture.

Samples of her heart-healthy peach dessert seemed to delight everyone's palate.

"My goal was to make people realize that they still can eat good and tasty food that is heart healthy," Nyman said.

"What people miss the most in the diet are more fruits and vegetables," said Robyn Reising, a registered nurse with the Heart and Lung Institute at Decatur Memorial Hospital.

Nurse Donna Higgins added that the healthy heart presentations were a valuable way to inform people.

"People think they may be doing well, but I guarantee you that they'll come and learn something new," she said.

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