Newswise — National Healthy Eating Day is this Wednesday, November 6. Mount Sinai Heart and Food and Nutrition Services at The Mount Sinai Hospital are teaming up on this special day to raise awareness of the importance of making daily heart-healthy food choices when you are cooking at home, eating-out, or at work.

In honor of National Healthy Eating Day, the top Chefs at The Mount Sinai Hospital will be offering heart-healthy food options in their Cafeteria, and an interactive cooking demonstration with free heart-healthy food samples. Also a free apple, a heart healthy snack, will also be shared as a giveaway to the thousands of expected event participants, along with free educational materials and heart-healthy recipe cards.

What: “National Healthy Eating Day” CelebrationFree cooking demonstration Free heart-healthy food samplesFree applesFree heart-healthy recipe cardsFree educational brochures

When: Wednesday, November 6 11:00am-2:00pm

Where: Cafeteria at The Mount Sinai Hospital 1468 Madison Avenue, at E100th Street New York, NY, 10029

Who:-Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, VP of Clinical Operations, Mount Sinai Heart-Matthew Krimsky, Senior Exec. Chef, Food and Nutrition Services, Mount Sinai Hospital -Rolando Rivera, Exec. Retail Chef, Food and Nutrition Services, Mount Sinai Hospital

National Healthy Eating Day, sponsored by the American Heart Association (AHA) on the first Wednesday of each November, is part of its new nationwide program initiative called My Heart.My Life. The AHA is calling on all Americans, communities, and workplaces like The Mount Sinai Hospital to make a pledge to come together to take steps toward living a healthier life by promoting daily healthy eating, exercise, and an overall heart-healthy lifestyle.

More than 144 million adult Americans are overweight or obese, along with more than one-third of children and teens. The obesity epidemic is leading to a greater prevalence of heart disease — the number one killer of Americans. Contributing to this healthcare crisis may be the increased level of eating-out dining which has doubled over the last few decades causing more Americans to consume meals higher in portion size, fat, calories, and sodium. The AHA is urging Americans to prepare more healthy meals for themselves and their families at home while choosing more healthy foods when at work or eating-out.

“A heart-healthy diet starts at home, and then at work where we spend a great deal of our time,” says Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, VP of Clinical Operations at Mount Sinai Heart. “Our goal at Mount Sinai is to raise awareness of the vital importance of a daily heart-healthy lifestyle and to start to offer the healthiest food choices not only to our patients, but also to our employees as well. Your heart-healthy meal plate should aim to have 1-cup of vegetables, a half-cup of whole grains, and 3 oz. of lean protein. Also, remember to always have five-servings of fruits and vegetables per day.”

This is why Food and Nutrition Services at The Mount Sinai Hospital, powered by the Compass Group, is working toward launching in December 2013 its heart-healthy “Great Living” menu to all inpatients, and all employees and visitors to the Mount Sinai Cafeteria. The mission is to offer flavorful heart-healthy eating options. Mount Sinai has already taken steps to eliminating some unhealthy foods. For example, it has replaced fried chicken with a dedicated baked meats carving station.

Mount Sinai Hospital’s top Chefs are recommending you incorporate into your heart-healthy diet and home cooking food choices that they incorporate into Mount Sinai’s menus.

Heart-healthy recommended food choices include:Colorful fruits and vegetablesWhole wheat bread (no white bread)Brown rice or brown rice blends (no white rice)Olive and canola oils (instead of butter)Lean-meats FishPoultry (free of antibiotics)Cage-free eggsLow-fat dairy products Yogurt Nuts Cinnamon Pomegranate juiceStrawberries, blueberries, or raspberries Beans Fresh herbs, garlic, and spices (limit salt)

About the Mount Sinai Health SystemThe Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven member hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services—from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.

The System includes approximately 6,600 primary and specialty care physicians, 12-minority-owned free-standing ambulatory surgery centers, over 45 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island, as well as 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health funding and by U.S. News & World Report.

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