Eating out can be a disaster if you're trying to make heart-healthy choices. Restaurants up the appeal and taste of their dishes by adding extra fat so it's hard to know how to make the best decisions. Here are some tips from Eat Better America:

• Preview the menu, if possible, and make a healthy choice in advance. The key here is sticking to your choice -- no backing out last minute for the Alfredo-covered steak
• Order first. That way, you won't be tempted by what your fellow diners are getting
• Ask questions on how it's prepared, how big the portion is and what's in it.
  
• Watch what you drink too. Drinks can add a ton of extra calories. Don't assume because it's in liquid form it doesn't count
• Have a salad to start -- it will help fill you up so you don't gorge on the main course
• Order the dish with the most vegetables, and of course choose the veggies or salad over the fries as a side
• Get the fish. Unless it's battered and deep fried, it's probably your best bet.
  
• Order steam, poached or baked over fried or sauteed.
• Take your time and enjoy what you're eating.

For more great tips, check out the full article.

Having a soda habit isn't healthy, most people know that. But what may surprise you is that all soda is bad for you, diet types included. Recent research shows that as little as 1 soda per day (diet or regular) greatly increases a person's risk for developing metabolic syndrome, which is a precursor for both heart disease and diabetes.

The diet soda industry is all up in arms over this news, saying there's no evidence or proof that it's the diet soda that's to blame based on how the study was done. And they're right -- there isn't. But something here is fishy, and considering there's such a significant connection it seems better to cut back on the soda habit and be safe, rather than ignore the connection completely and be sorry.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) strikes again! The consumer-health group that sued the operator of the KFC fast food chain this week now has its eye on Starbucks Corp. CSPI is supported by the IWW Starbucks Workers Union to campaign against the worldwide coffee purveyor for selling high-fat, trans fat products -- which contribute to the rise in obesity and heart disease.

CSPI and the workers union, which have members in three stores in New York, are requesting that Starbucks list its nutritional information on its menu boards -- not just online or in brochures. In the fast-paced, coffee-swilling world of the on-the-go, who has time to read nutritional information online or in a brochure?

According to Michael Jacobson, executive director of CSPI, Starbucks may have been overlooked in the new trans fat fast food sweep due to it's health-conscious image. "People expect foods from Dunkin' Donuts to be unhealthy, but Starbucks has more of an upper middle class, healthy, hip, politically correct facade, but the food is just as harmful to your arteries," Jacobson said. Union workers report weight gain from employment at Starbucks, where they drink free unlimited coffee and eat leftover day-old pastries.

Starbucks Corp. claims it is looking for healthier, trans fat-free substitutes for its seasonal baked goods, to be replaced by the fall. This plan doesn't necessarily include other products. "In our beverage ingredients, we have reformulated any component that contained significant artificial trans fat content," a Starbucks spokesman said.

The focus of this years American Medical Association (AMA) annual conference is reducing the amount of excess salt and sugar from the nations daily diet. The 544 top U.S. doctors will contend with cutting salt in foods by at least half over the next decade and taxing sugary soft drinks to fight obesity. Obesity, a result of poor diet and other factors, is a major contributor to developing heart disease.

The AMA plans to ask the FDA to place strict regulations on salt content in processed foods and fast food. State and local level taxes on soft drinks-- though opposed by the soft drink industry-- may curb consumption, as well as raise about a billion dollars in revenue to be utilized by programs promoting healthy diets and minimizing obesity-- a first in the U.S. 

A recent Danish study reports that having a drink or two a day can prevent heart disease in middle-aged men. The study was conducted at the Center for Alcohol Research in Copenhagen, and published in the May 27th issue of the British Medical Journal. The researchers followed nearly 50,000 people over a period of 6 years.

The results found that men who drank moderately every day had a 41 percent reduced risk of heart disease than those who don't drink at all. For those men that drank only once a week, their heart risk lowered 7 percent. The study found that the comparison in women's drinking habits were minimal. Women that drank everyday lowered their heart risk 35 percent, while those that drank only once a week lowered their risk 36 percent.

The researchers stressed that the benefits of having a drink a day would be erased by the effects of heavy drinking. A healthy amount is defined by the American Heart Association as one 12 ounce beer, one 4 ounce glass of wine, or one shot of 100 proof whiskey.