Center for Preventive Medicine : : Programs : : Healthy Restaurants

Overview
The Heart Healthy Restaurant Program of the Center for Preventive Medicine at Prime Care Physicians, P.L.L.C. represents a cutting edge collaboration* between the medical and culinary communities. The goal is to improve heart health by offering our patients and the public a simple and reliable way of identifying the most heart healthy menu choices at select restaurants in the Hudson Valley, Capital District, Saratoga and North Country.

Heart Healthy Restaurant Identification
Participating restaurants offer menu choices which fall into three categories: 1.) Traditional Mediterranean cuisine, 2.) Traditional Asian cuisine, or 3.) Fusion (contemporary cuisine which compositionally is equivalent to 1 or 2).

To identify participating restaurants you may scroll down on this web page for a listing (see Collaborating Restaurants) as well as downloadable pdf files of the menus. Alternatively, when visiting a restaurant simply look in their window for the program emblem you see here:

Heart Healthy Menu Choices
We originally conceived of the Heart Healthy Restaurant Program to help our CARDIOFIT and NUTRIFIT program graduates continue to maintain their weight loss and eat heart healthy meals outside the home. The Heart Healthy choices marked by the heart symbol on the menus of participating restaurants have been screened by physician and dietitian staff to adhere to the recommended compositional criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program for fat, including the proportions of saturated fats, monounsaturated fat, and polyunsaturated fats.

Menu items identified as heart healthy have been modified aiming for < 10 gms of saturated fat per dinner entree. This would on average correspond to a saturated fat intake less than 7% of total calories. ( This assumes an average 2000 total calorie daily intake, in which 15 grams of saturated fat would be allowed per day and 10 grams would be allotted to dinner.)

Menu items identified as heart healthy have been further modified on the basis of epidemiological as well as landmark clinical trial information (see Evidence below) to promote the highest dietary standards of heart health. Thus, recommended choices are chosen and modified to maximize monounsaturated fats at the expense of saturated fats and trans fats, maximize omega-3 fatty acids including alpha linolenic fatty acid, lower glycemic index and glycemic load, and maximize the consumption of naturally occurring beneficial phytonutrients and antioxidants.

We will periodically assess the restaurants ongoing compliance with our heart healthy criteria and exclude from our web site menu choices not maintaining our established standards of excellence for heart healthy eating. Before eating out at a participating restaurant, please check the downloadable pdf files of the menus to ensure continued compliance with our above defined criteria. Despite standards, restaurant acceptance of standards and ongoing monitoring for compliance, the Center for Preventive Medicine cannot guarantee and cannot accept responsibility for strict compliance for a given menu choice on a given day. Any concern on the part of patrons that a given menu item exceeds our criteria should be reported to Dr. Lemanski at paul.lemanski@primecarepc.com. All reports will be kept strictly confidential.

Portion size is also important to heart health insofar as it contributes to obesity. Because individuals with different lean body masses and with different caloric expenditures will require a different portion size to maintain body weight, we have not limited or explicitly defined the “usual” portion which the restaurant may offer. We will, however, on the website menu file for each restaurant, give suggestions for the portion of each current dinner serving appropriate for a 1200 cal, 1500 cal, and 2000 cal/day total dietary caloric requirement. For example, for a given menu entrée choice 1/3 of the current serving size may be appropriate for a daily 1200 calorie diet.

We encourage that serving sizes exceeding what is recommended for your daily caloric needs be shared with a dining partner or brought home for another meal. As a general rule, we recommend that those interested in restricting calories eat a garden salad with dressing on the side and consume only 1/2 of the available entree serving size. We will identify participating restaurants which allow dishes to be shared without additional cost, or that offer half-portions of entrees at 1/2 cost. Please see our portion guide for additional information.

Evidence for Eating Heart Healthy the Mediterranean Way
Traditional Mediterranean Cuisine as represented by our menu choices not only tastes great - it’s great for your heart. In fact, regularly eating this way has been shown in epidemiological or population studies and in a clinical research trial to decrease heart disease risk. The Seven Countries Study was one observational study which identified lower rates of heart disease in Mediterranean countries. Crete was identified as having one of the lowest cardiovascular disease rates in the world. Analysis of the diet on Crete suggested that a possible explanation was the use of a Mediterranean diet in combination with increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids. The Lyon Diet Heart Study, published in the prestigious American Heart Association medical journal, Circulation (1999; vol.99: pg. 779-785 and editorial 1999; vol.99: pg. 733-735), was a randomized clinical trial proving that the composition of a high omega-3 Mediterranean eating plan reduced the risk of cardiovascular death and nonfatal heart attack by an impressive 70%. Indeed, Mediterranean people have been eating this way and enjoying life to the fullest for 3,000 years. Traditional Mediterranean Cuisine emphasizes:

Evidence for Eating Heart Healthy the Asian Way
Asian cuisine can be equally heart healthy. Like their counterparts on the island of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean, the Okinawans of Japan have one of the lowest heart disease rates in the world. Gas chromatograph analysis of the fatty acid composition of the blood of Okinawans shows it to be essentially identical to those in Crete. While the composition of the foods they consume is somewhat different, the fatty acids in those foods results in the same blood fats as in Crete. Significantly, Okinawa has a greater concentration of 100 year-old people than any other place in the world. Traditional Asian cuisine emphasizes:

Please use our portion guide to help limit your meal to the serving size appropriate to your daily caloric requirement. Specific information on daily caloric requirements may be obtained in consultation with a registered dietitian. A basic strategy of beginning the meal with lower-calorie foods such as salads and clear soups will take the "edge" off your hunger before the consumption of higher-calorie foods. This will also serve to slow the eating process which may also help achieve a feeling of fullness at lower total caloric intakes. For additional behavioral techniques to appropriately reduce the consumption of higher caloric content foods, please see our CARDIOFIT and NUTRIFIT weight reduction and weight maintenance programs.

How to Use the Collaborating Restaurant List
We hope all will benefit from and enjoy this Heart Healthy Restaurant Program. Participating restaurants are listed under geographic area and the menus are available on our site for downloading. When possible, the restaurant logos link to the restaurants' websites for general information about the restaurants. The Heart Healthy Menu for each restaurant may be downloaded by clicking on the Heart Healthy Menu link under each listing.

*Neither the Center for Preventive Medicine nor its staff have any financial relationship with the restaurants currently listed and no payment has been made for restaurant inclusion. The Center for Preventive Medicine has assumed the cost for menu analysis, modification recommendations, web site posting of menus and pdf files, Heart Healthy Restaurant Program menu covers (when used) and ongoing monitoring. Restaurants have assumed the actual cost of menu modifications and the printing of new menus.