Heart-Healthy Diets: Eating Plans Your Heart Will Love

Nutrition serves as a cornerstone for heart health. It’s a well-known fact that what you eat day after day can play a significant role in how well your heart and blood vessels perform their life-sustaining duties.

So, when it comes to picking a diet or eating plan to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and keep your ticker happy, what are your best options?

Let’s get some suggestions from registered dietitian Julia Zumpano, RD, LD.

What makes a diet heart-healthy?

When it comes to adopting a heart-healthy diet, you have options. There isn’t just ONE way to do it. But there are common themes that run through eating plans that are considered good for your heart.

Most heart-healthy diets emphasize eating:

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Nuts
• Whole grains
• Legumes
• Lean animal protein
• Fish

“The most powerful and empowering diets help you focus on what you can and should eat for your health,” emphasizes Zumpano. “They’re about including more foods that are better for your body.”

Some foods should be limited, too, given their sometimes less-than-ideal effect on your body. The list of foods to avoid while eating heart-healthy includes:

• Food high in saturated fats
• Red meat (beef, pork, veal, lamb)
• Processed meats (hot dogs, salami, pepperoni and various deli meats)
• Refined carbohydrates (white breads, crackers, salty snack foods, baked goods)
• Sweetened beverages (soda and other sugary drinks)

It can be difficult to eliminate some of these things from your diet completely — and that’s OK, stresses Zumpano. “The key is moderation,” she says. “Make these foods occasional treats instead of a regular habit.”

But the more occasional the better. These foods aren’t only bad for your heart, but they can also contribute to a variety of health issues and chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and obesity.

Heart-healthy diets to consider

The following heart-healthy diets offer more concrete plans on what to eat.

Mediterranean diet

Why do some people on this planet live longer than others? A global team of researchers who set out to answer that question in the 1950s introduced us to what’s known as the Mediterranean diet.

The diet reflects the traditional eating habits of people living around the Mediterranean Sea. That study connected those dietary patterns to lower rates of heart disease and longer life.

Meals are built around plant-based foods and healthy fats found in fish and nuts. (Learn more about what that might look like on your plate.)

By choosing foods that fit within the diet, you naturally consume:

• Fiber that helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels
• Antioxidants that protect your cells from damaging free radicals
• Omega-3 fatty acids that fight inflammation

In addition, you’re limiting:

• Saturated and trans fats that can raise your “bad” LDL cholesterol
• Sodium that can elevate blood pressure
• Refined carbohydrates and sugar that can contribute to blood sugar spikes and weight gain

Zumpano emphasizes that the Mediterranean diet is a sustainable way of eating that has been embraced by certain cultures for centuries. “It’s a diet based on eating whole foods — not going hungry,” she says.

Better yet, it seems to work. One study found that people who followed the eating plan for five years had a 30% lower risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular-related death than those who ate a low-fat diet during the same time.

“We know that the standard Mediterranean diet has proven to be very disease-preventive,” she adds. “There’s no question about the benefits.”

DASH diet

The DASH diet doesn’t mean you eat quickly. Instead, it stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, an eating plan designed to lower high blood pressure — a key factor in heart disease.

The eating plan is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. (Sounds familiar, right?) But unlike the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet encourages the consumption of low-fat dairy products, more grains and lower levels of fat.

The standard DASH diet also limits sodium intake to fewer than 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day to help keep blood pressure in check. A reduced-sodium version of the DASH diet sets the target at 1,500 mg per day. (On average, people in the U.S. consume 3,400 mg of sodium per day.)

“The foundation of the Mediterranean diet and DASH diet are similar with a focus on whole foods,” Zumpano points out. “Both are phenomenal heart-healthy diets with proven track records.”

On a side note, if you blend the Mediterranean and DASH diets you get something called the MIND diet, which is also worth a look.

Vegetarian or vegan diets

If diets that encourage plant-based foods are heart-healthy, it makes sense that diets even MORE focused on plant-based foods qualify, too.

Like the previously mentioned diets, vegetarian or vegan eating plans can be effective at reducing heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes, says Zumpano.

In case you need a refresher on those eating plans:

• Vegetarian diets most commonly exclude meat, poultry or seafood, while allowing eggs and dairy products. (Some variations of the diet may make either eggs or dairy off-limits, too.)
• Vegan diets avoid eating any animal, fish or poultry and any of their products, including eggs, dairy and honey.

Flexitarian diet

If you’re somebody who enjoys the occasional hamburger but wants to follow a more heart-healthy diet, don’t worry: The flexitarian diet has you covered.

This eating plan brings a “flexible” approach to being a “vegetarian.” The idea is to boost your intake of fruits, vegetables and other plant-based foods while still savoring the occasional cut of meat.

Doing something as simple as embracing the concept of “Meatless Mondays” can be a way to embrace a more flexitarian mindset to eat healthier, says Zumpano.

Talk to a doctor about heart-healthy habits

While diet is an important part of keeping your heart healthy, you can take other protective actions to protect your ticker, including:

• Exercising regularly
• Reducing stress
• Limiting alcohol consumption
• Not smoking

Talk with a healthcare provider or a registered dietitian about how you can develop a more heart-healthy way of living.

“Whether it’s through diet or other means, there are things you can do to help your heart,” affirms Zumpano. “The more healthy lifestyle habits you instill, the more you can contribute to your heart ticking stronger and longer.”