Good nutrition and a balanced diet are simple and very effective ways to battle one of the major risk factors for heart attack – high blood cholesterol. The following are five simple rules that are your key to heart smart cooking.

1. Shake less salt. Limit your daily intake of salt to no more than 3 grams, roughly a teaspoon, which contains 2,400 milligrams of sodium. If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may recommend even less.
   Taste before you shake – maybe you don’t need the salt after all.
   Use half the salt recommended in standard cookbook recipes.
   When eating out, don’t hesitate to ask if a dish can be prepared using less salt or none at all.
   Read the labels on packaged foods. Salt appears in many forms: Other names for sodium include monosodium glutamate, sodium benzoate and sodium citrate.
2. Carve the fat away. Saturated fats, which clog up arteries even more than dietary cholesterol does, are found primarily in meats, whole-milk products, and tropical oils such as coconut, cocoa butter and palm oil. Although it isn’t necessary to monitor your dietary fat every day, you should try to stay below the 30-percent intake level. A good rule of thumb is to eat no more than 3 grams of fat per 100 calories. If, however, you already have heart disease, you may need to reduce your total dietary fat intake to 10 percent of total dietary calories, and avoid foods that contain cholesterol.
   Choose lean cuts of beef. Trim visible fat before cooking.
   Instead of frying foods, such as chicken or vegetables, try "oven-frying" them: Place the food on a nonstick cookie sheet and bake at 400°, turning for even browning.
   Cooking chicken with the skin on helps it remain moist, but remove the skin before eating.
   Substitute lean ground turkey for ground beef in recipes.
   Cook more fish, which is low in saturated fat. Shellfish is also low in fat. Shrimp and lobster, though, contain a bit more cholesterol than fish, lean red meat and poultry, so eat shrimp and lobster less often.
   When baking, replace whole milk with nonfat milk. Evaporated milk can be substituted for cream.
   Most cheeses are high in fat. Use low-fat varieties that have no more than 5 grams of fat per serving, like ricotta, part-skim-milk mozzarella or low-fat cottage cheese.
   Avoid tropical oils such as coconut, cocoa butter and palm oil.
   When cooking, use two egg whites in place of one whole egg, and three egg whites in place of two whole eggs.
3. Watch those oils. Butter is a great flavor enhancer, but it is also mostly saturated fat. Polyunsaturated oils, including vegetable and safflower, are better choices. Unfortunately, margarine contains trans-fatty acids, which have been linked to coronary artery disease. The best oils are monounsaturated, which have been shown not to raise cholesterol levels. Olive and canola oils are good choices.
   Use nonstick pans or buy nonstick vegetable oil sprays to replace the oil used to coat cooking surfaces.
   When baking, replace oil with an equal amount of applesauce. If the recipe’s only liquid is oil, use one-half applesauce and one-half nonfat milk.
   Small amounts of sherry, wine, lemon juice or low-fat chicken broth can replace oil or margarine when sautéing vegetables or browning meats. Use a lower-than-normal heat setting when cooking without oil.
4. Avoid refined sugars. Sugar may provide you with a quick source of energy, but a high intake of refined sugar – such as corn sweeteners, syrups, brown sugar, honeys, jelly, candy and soda – only add more calories than nutrients to your diet.
   Try to limit your intake of foods with added sugars to no more than 10 percent of your total daily calories. If you get your daily supply of sugars in the form of simple carbohydrates like fresh fruits, you will add more vitamins and nutrients to your diet.
5. Load up on lots of fiber. High-fiber foods help protect against heart disease and also enable you to lose weight because they contain little, if any, fat. You need two kinds of fiber: soluble, which helps lower cholesterol, and insoluble, which lets your intestines function normally.
   Good sources of soluble fiber are vegetables and fruits with edible peels and seeds; legumes; and oat, corn and rice bran. Insoluble fiber is found in cereals, whole-grain breads, rice and pasta.