Try our new Butter Blend Stick.
It's 50% real butter, 50% Smart Balance® Buttery Spread and
great for cooking and baking.
Plus it has 28% less saturated
fat than regular butter.
- Get cooking today with
The Smart Balance™ Food Plan
You’re here because you know that eating well today means feeling great tomorrow. So are we.
In fact, our Food Plan
is designed to help you do just that, with benefits like
improving your cholesterol ratio, boosting your Omega-3 intake, reducing saturated
fat, and eliminating trans fats from your diet altogether. Welcome to Smart Balance.
Your heart-healthy lifestyle just got that much easier.
What’s so smart about our products?
They prove that heart-healthy and delicious – award-winning delicious – do go hand
in hand. Our Buttery Spreads and Microwave Popcorn (to name just two examples)
contain a patented blend of natural fats that can help you improve your cholesterol.
Even our new Milk is smarter, offering more calcium and protein than standard milk,
as well as Omega-3’s and Vitamin E.
Our easy-to-follow Food Plan is packed with recipes and ideas for
eating smarter all week long, as well as helpful tips for optimal
nutrition and safe weight management. When you request your free
printed copy of the Plan, we’ll include valuable coupons, for saving
on Smart Balance products, with our compliments.
To receive your printed copy of the Smart Balance Food Plan and save with Smart Balance coupons,
click here.
Why the buzz about omega-3s?
Omega-3’s are “essential” fatty acids: compounds that our
bodies need, but can’t produce. We simply have to get them
from our food. The American Heart Association recognizes
Omega-3s to be integral to heart health, and evidence of
their other possible benefits – from lowering blood pressure
to improving joint health – continues to stack up.
Fish and plant sources: EPA, DHA and ALA
Oily coldwater fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines and herring are an
excellent source of the two valuable “long chain” Omega-3 fatty acids,
eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
In fact, the AHA recommends eating such fishes twice a week to promote heart
benefits in healthy people, and increases its recommended EPA and DHA amounts
for individuals with heart disease. Another useful Omega-3, alpha-linolenic
acid (ALA), is typically derived from flax seed. You’ll find that many Smart
Balance products incorporate Omega-3s from both flax and fish sources, to help
you easily increase your daily intake of these key nutrients.
The Omega-6 factor
If Americans tend to be deficient in Omega-3’s, we’re typically too high in
another essential fatty acid, Omega-6. Research suggests that both fats do
their best work in our bodies when properly balanced. That’s why the Smart
Balance Food Plan is designed to help you target an ideal 4-to-1 Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio.
Get tips for avoiding trans fats in your diet >
Partially hydrogenated and totally unhealthy
Not to be confused with beneficial fatty acids like Omega-3s, trans-fatty acids are a
commercial food ingredient that, as the American Heart Association warns, can raise
“bad” LDL cholesterol, lower “good” HDL cholesterol, and increase risk of heart
disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes.
A dietary outlaw
Trans-fats are also known as “partially hydrogenated oils” because they’re
created by adding hydrogen to vegetable oils.
The resulting industrial advantages – think shelf life and fast-food frying –
have made trans fats ubiquitous in restaurant and processed foods. However,
as research continues to reveal their harmful health effects, the tide is
turning fast; New York City banned trans fats from its restaurants in 2006
(with more cities sure to follow suit), and commercial food producers are
increasingly rethinking the ingredients in their major brands.
Avoiding them is easy
The AHA recommends limiting your trans fat intake to less than 1% of
your total daily calories. Fortunately, this isn’t so hard to do.
For starters, read nutrition labels for trans fat content, and
scan ingredient lists for “partially hydrogenated” oils. Limit
fried foods, especially fast foods, to the occasional treat
(emphasis on occasional). Of course, Smart Balance products are
absolutely non-hydrogenated and trans fat free – and our Food
Plan is packed with ideas and recipes for delicious eating that
avoids trans fats altogether.
Cholesterol: good for you, bad or both? Learn more >
Understanding “good” and “bad” cholesterol
Concerned about “lowering your cholesterol”? Guess what: there are two types
of cholesterol, and one of them is very good for you. The goal is to keep
them balanced. Let’s take a closer look.
LDL and HDL cholesterol
Your body relies on cholesterol for vital functions including the production of
cell membranes. Cholesterol is carried in your blood by substances called lipoproteins.
Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is the “bad” cholesterol. Excess LDL
contributes to the buildup of arterial plaque, narrowing the vessels that channel
blood to your heart and brain; that means risk of heart attack and stroke.
But High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol – the “good” cholesterol – is considered
to help prevent heart attacks. As the American Heart Association observes, HDL
cholesterol may retard the buildup of arterial plaque, flushing excess cholesterol
to your liver (and out of your blood). In fact, according to the AHA, low HDL
levels can increase risk of heart disease.
Striking the right balance
Smart Balance continues to be the only Spread that can help you improve your ratio of HDL to LDL
cholesterol through nutrition alone, when enjoyed in a varied low-fat diet that’s free of hydrogenated
oils. In fact, our patented natural blend of saturated, poly- and monounsaturated fats was formulated
exactly for this purpose.
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