You’ve just recently been diagnosed with heart disease, and in addition to exercising, your physician is urging you to change your diet. Less fat, sodium and cholesterol is on the agenda, but you’re not sure how to go about it. You could clear out your cabinets and eat all-new foods, but you really don’t have to go to that extreme. With a few substitutions, you can turn most recipes into low-fat, low-sodium and low-cholesterol specialties.

It isn’t as complicated as you might think to turn an ordinary recipe into a heart-friendly one. All you need to do is make some substitutions. If a recipe calls for a 1 cup of whole milk, for example, replace it with 1 cup of skim or 1% milk. Here are some other quick substitutions you can make:

• Replace 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of polyunsaturated margarine or 3/4 tablespoon of polyunsaturated oil.
• Replace an 8-oz. package of cream cheese with 8 ounces of fat-free cottage cheese or 4 ounces of skim ricotta cheese plus 4 ounces of tofu.
• Replace an egg with 1/4 cup of egg substitute or 1 egg white plus 2 tablespoons of unsaturated oil. For baking, use 2 egg whites for 1 egg or 3 egg whites for 2 eggs.
• Replace 1 cup of heavy cream with 1 cup of evaporated skim milk or 1% milk or 1/2 cup of low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese.
• Replace 1 cup of light cream with 1 cup of evaporated skim milk or 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil plus enough skim milk to equal a cup.
• Replace 1 cup of oil with 1-1/4 cups of polyunsaturated margarine, 1 cup of applesauce or 1 cup of prune puree.
• Replace 1 ounce of regular cheese with 1 ounce of low-fat or skim milk cheese.
• Replace 1 cup of shortening with two sticks of polyunsaturated margarine.
• Replace 1 cup of sour cream with 1 cup of fat-free plain yogurt or 1 cup of fat-free cottage cheese whipped with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
• Replace 1 square of unsweetened baking chocolate with 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder or carob powder plus 1 tablespoon of polyunsaturated oil. Carob is sweeter than cocoa, so make sure you use a fourth less sugar.

These are just some of the substitutions you can make to turn any recipe into a heart-healthy one. When possible, you should use low-fat or fat-free ingredients. For example, if a recipe calls for ice cream, make sure you use low-fat or fat-free ice cream or frozen yogurt. For other ideas, consult a heart-healthy cookbook or conduct a search online.

Keep your heart beating strong. Make heart-friendly substitutions in recipes and cut down on the fat, sodium and cholesterol in your diet.