The Secret of a Beating Heart: The Power of Heart-Friendly Nutrition

The Secret of a Beating Heart: The Power of Heart-Friendly Nutrition

What Are Heart-Healthy Foods?
Beyond individual foods or nutrients, following heart-healthy dietary patterns can have a significant positive impact on your cardiovascular health. Your food choices influence many aspects of heart health, including blood pressure, inflammation, cholesterol levels, and triglycerides.

A heart-healthy diet focuses on minimally processed vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans. Here is what you can do to support your heart health:

Maintain a healthy body weight by balancing calories consumed with calories burned through physical activity.
Eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
Prefer whole grains over refined grains.
Use liquid plant oils like olive oil instead of animal fats.
Choose healthy protein sources, including plant-based proteins, seafood, and lean meats.
Minimize added sugars and salt.

Heart-Healthy Foods List

The foundation of a heart-healthy diet includes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy proteins, nonfat or low-fat dairy, and unsaturated fats and oils.

Fruits and Vegetables

Research consistently shows that diets rich in fruits and vegetables are linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. These foods are important for heart health because they contain antioxidants that help protect the arteries from damage. Aim to include a variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet — whether fresh, canned, or frozen.

Try to include as many different colors of vegetables as possible each day, such as tomatoes, peppers and carrots. Leafy greens like spinach is high in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that can help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease. These greens are also rich in nitrates, which promote relaxation and widening of blood vessels. Studies have shown that people who consume the most nitrate-rich vegetables, especially leafy greens, can lower their risk of cardiovascular disease by 12% to 26%.

When choosing canned vegetables, choose vegetables that are low in sodium. Focus on fresh fruits like berries, apples, oranges, bananas. Berries, particularly strawberries and blueberries, are excellent for heart health due to their high antioxidant content, which helps protect against oxidative stress and inflammation — key factors in heart disease. Choose canned, frozen, or dried fruits without added sugars.

Whole Grains

Whole grains are an excellent source of dietary fiber, which helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of heart disease. Replacing refined grains with whole grains has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease.

Consider adding these whole grains to your meals:

Whole-grain breads
Brown or wild rice, quinoa, or oats
Whole-wheat pasta and couscous

Healthy Proteins

Plant-based proteins, including legumes, nuts, and fish, are excellent choices for heart-healthy protein sources, as they are linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

Legumes are rich in fiber, protein, and antioxidants. Common examples like beans, lentils, chickpeas. They support heart health by helping to reduce cholesterol levels and improve blood pressure. Research shows that higher legume consumption is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
Nuts are packed with fiber, polyunsaturated fats, and protein. Studies indicate that consuming more nuts may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke.
Oily fish, such as salmon, anchovy and sardines, are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which help reduce the risk of heart disease by combating harmful inflammation in the body. Evidence suggests that eating two to three servings of fish per week is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, heart attacks, stroke, and heart failure compared with consuming fewer servings.
For other types of meat, choose lean options and avoid processed meats. Examples of lean meats include 95% lean ground beef and skinless chicken or turkey.

Nonfat and Low-Fat Dairy

Swapping full-fat dairy products for nonfat or low-fat options is a heart-smart choice. This switch can help lower your intake of saturated fats while increasing unsaturated fats, which are linked to improved cardiovascular health. Examples of lower-fat dairy choices include:

Fat-free or 1% milk
Plain, fat-free, or low-fat yogurt
Fat-free or low-fat cheese and cottage cheese

Unsaturated Fats and Oils

Aim to replace saturated fats in your diet with foods rich in unsaturated fats, which are beneficial for heart health. These healthy fats are found in seafood, nuts, seeds, avocados, and certain oils.

When cooking, opt for oils high in monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats.

Polyunsaturated fats are abundant in plant-based oils such as soybean, corn, safflower, and sunflower oils.
Monounsaturated fats are found in oils like olive and canola, as well as high-oleic varieties of safflower and sunflower oil.

Olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil, is a standout choice—not only is it rich in monounsaturated fats, but it also contains antioxidants that help protect your arteries and other tissues from damage.

Avocados are another heart-friendly food, offering a combination of healthy fats, fiber, and essential micronutrients. Research has shown that eating at least two servings of avocado per week may lower the risk of heart attack or related complications from coronary artery disease by up to 21%.

Foods to Limit for Heart Health

While some foods can help protect your heart, others can contribute to cardiovascular problems and should be minimized or avoided. Diets high in sodium, saturated fat, added sugars, or excessive alcohol can raise the risk of heart disease.

The American Heart Association advises limiting foods high in these components to maintain optimal heart health:

high-fat dairy products
fatty meats
processed meats
tropical oils and partially hydrogenated fats
processed foods
foods and beverages with added sugars
foods high in sodium

Best Diets for Heart Health
Incorporating foods that are good for your heart into your daily routine offers numerous benefits. The key is to make these foods part of a balanced eating pattern you can maintain long term, alongside other heart-healthy habits such as regular physical activity and effective stress management.

With the abundance of diets and eating plans available, it can be challenging to decide which to follow. The American Heart Association (AHA) reviewed 10 well-known diets and eating styles to see how closely they matched the AHA’s recommendations for heart-healthy eating. Their conclusion: some dietary patterns are more effective for heart health than others. Two standouts — the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet — rank as the most beneficial for cardiovascular wellness.

DASH Diet
The DASH diet, short for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, has been linked to improved heart health, including reduced blood pressure and a lower risk of heart failure.

This eating plan encourages generous portions of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein sources, low-fat dairy products, legumes, nuts, and vegetable oils. It also promotes limiting foods high in saturated fats and added sugars.

Mediterranean Diet
Rooted in the traditional eating habits of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, this plant-forward diet is widely recognized for its cardiovascular benefits, including a reduced risk of heart disease.

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, and legumes, while also incorporating low-fat or fat-free dairy, fish, poultry, nuts, and healthy vegetable oils. It discourages excessive intake of added sugars, sugary drinks, sodium, refined carbohydrates, saturated fats, and high-fat or processed meats.

REFERENCES:

Harward Health Publishing, 2023, Heart-healthy foods: What to eat and what to avoid

https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/heart-healthy-foods-what-to-eat-and-what-to-avoid