Heart-healthy foods: What to eat and what to avoid

Maintaining a heart-healthy diet is one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of heart disease, which is the leading cause of death for people in the United States.

What are heart-healthy foods?

Beyond individual foods or nutrients, heart-healthy dietary patterns can significantly boost your cardiovascular health. What you eat can influence many aspects of heart health, including blood pressure, inflammation, cholesterol levels, and triglycerides.

A heart-healthy eating style emphasizes minimally processed vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends the following dietary guidelines for heart health:

• Maintain a healthy body weight by keeping calories from food balanced with calories burned exercising.
• Consume a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
• Choose mostly whole grains instead of refined grains.
• Use liquid plant oils such as olive oil rather than tropical oils such as palm oil.
• Eat healthy sources of protein, such as from plants, seafood, or lean meats.
• Minimize added sugars and salt.
• Limit alcohol.
• Choose minimally processed foods.

Heart-healthy foods list

Fruits and vegetables; whole grains; healthy proteins; nonfat and low-fat dairy; and unsaturated fats and oils are the foundation of a heart-healthy eating plan.

Fruits and vegetables

Studies consistently find that diets rich in fruits and vegetables are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Fruits and vegetables play an important role in heart health because they contain antioxidants that can help prevent injuries to the arteries. Aim to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables — fresh, canned, or frozen.

• Aim to get as many colors of vegetables as possible into your daily diet. Choose tomatoes, peppers, edamame, beets, and carrots.
• Leafy greens such as kale, spinach, and bok choy are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which can help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease. Leafy greens are rich in nitrates, which help to relax and widen blood vessels. Research has found that people who ate the most nitrate-rich vegetables (especially leafy greens) lowered their risk of cardiovascular disease by 12% to 26%.
• Opt for canned vegetables that are low in sodium.
• Look for frozen vegetables without added butter or sauces.
• Focus on fresh fruits like berries, apples, oranges, bananas, mangoes, guava, and papaya. Berries like strawberries and blueberries are also excellent for heart health, as they are packed with antioxidants, which protect against oxidative stress and inflammation that can contribute to the development of heart disease. Studies associate regular, moderate intake of blueberries with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Choose canned, frozen, or dried fruit without added sugars.

Whole grains

Whole grains are a rich source of fiber. Fiber helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels, reducing the risk of heart disease. Studies have found that replacing refined grains with whole grains can lower your risk of coronary heart disease.

Harvard Health Publishing
Harvard Medical School
Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/heart-healthy-foods-what-to-eat-and-what-to-avoid