Shop for your heart with NCH

Don't you just hate wandering through the aisles of your grocery story trying to decide on healthy, nutritious foods for dinner? With the number of products claiming health benefits, buying the healthiest food choices for our families can be overwhelming.

To help celebrate Heart Awareness Month, Northwest Community Healthcare dietitians will offer free personal shopping advice during two Shop for Your Heart events at Fresh Thyme, 211 W. Rand Road, Mount Prospect.

Shoppers can receive nutritious, heart healthy shopping tips from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 20, and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24.

"The supermarket has become the place where we make our most important everyday health decisions," says Caryl Inglis, clinical dietitian at NCH's Atherton Heart Failure Clinic. "What better place to spread the message about healthy eating than the grocery store?"

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four deaths in the United States has an underlying cause of heart disease - meaning about 610,000 people die from heart disease every year.

Inglis and NCH dietitians will talk with shoppers about how following a diet of quality choices can help stave off heart disease. A heart healthy grocery list checklist also will be available for shoppers. Simple choices, such as buying more fruits and vegetables, can make a difference, Inglis says. Dark, leafy greens such as kale, spinach and broccoli are also good choices, as well as walnuts, almonds and pumpkin seeds.

NCH registered dietitians offer nutritional counseling and therapy for heart health, diabetes, disease management, allergies and other diagnoses. For information on heart failure nutritional counseling, call (847) 618-2440.