In addition to lifestyle factors like engaging in regular exercise and not smoking, diet is one of the best ways to protect your heart. That’s because inflammation, blood pressure, cholesterol, and other heart disease risk factors are affected by what you eat
Here are the 6 best diets for heart health
The Mediterranean diet is based on the traditional eating patterns of people living in Greece and Southern Italy during the 1960s
In general, the diet emphasizes whole, minimally processed foods, including whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, and extra virgin olive oil. It also includes moderate amounts of poultry, eggs, low fat dairy, and red wine
Additionally, it limits or eliminates added sugars, refined carbs, highly processed snacks, and red and processed meats.
Numerous studies associate the Mediterranean diet with a reduced risk of heart disease, as well as heart disease risk factors like high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure
DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension and was designed to help prevent and treat hypertension, or high blood pressure. In turn, it reduces your risk of heart disease
Like the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet doesn’t mandate a strict food list.
Instead, it recommends specific amounts of food groups based on your calorie needs, focusing on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy, and lean meats while limiting red meat, refined grains, and added sugars
The diet’s emphasis on high fiber foods, such as whole grains and vegetables, and elimination of added sugars and saturated fats may also contribute to its heart-health effects
Indeed, research shows that the DASH diet reduces heart disease risk factors like blood pressure, obesity, waist circumference, cholesterol levels, and insulin resistance
Vegan and vegetarian diets are eating patterns that eliminate all meat, including poultry, red meat, and fish.
While some vegetarians include other sources of animal products, such as eggs and dairy, vegans strictly avoid all animal-derived ingredients, including dairy, eggs, bee pollen, honey, and gelatin.
Instead, these diets emphasize fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, soy products, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and plant-based oils and fats.
This high proportion of plant foods gives vegan and vegetarian diets several health benefits. For example, these diets are often high in fiber, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds, all of which aid heart health
Created by dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, the Flexitarian Diet is an eating pattern that focuses on plant foods but allows moderate amounts of meat, fish, dairy, and other animal products. It encourages you to get most of your protein from plant foods.
There’s no set rule on how much or how often you should eat animal products, so it depends on your preferences.
You’re encouraged to eat mostly whole, minimally processed foods and limit or avoid added sugars, refined grains, processed meats, and other highly processed foods
The Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet was developed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
It includes dietary and lifestyle recommendations to promote optimal cholesterol levels and a healthy weight, such as
- getting at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per day
- aiming to get 25–35% of your daily calories from fat
- limiting saturated fat to no more than 7% of your daily calories
- limiting dietary cholesterol to no more than 200 mg per day
- eating 10–25 grams of soluble fiber per day
- eating at least 2 grams of plant sterols or stanols per day
- eating only enough calories per day to support a healthy weight
The diet is thought to work by upping your intake of soluble fiber, which is found in foods like oat bran, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, and several fruits and vegetables.
High overall fiber intake is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, and soluble fiber in particular has been shown to reduce total and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels
Low carb diets not only restrict your carb intake but are also typically higher in protein and/or fat than the typical Western diet. They tend to limit foods like breads, grains, pasta, potatoes, and sugary snacks and beverages.
Yet, a study that considered diet quality associated low carb diets rich in plant protein and fat with a reduced risk of death from heart disease and all causes — whereas those high in animal protein and fat were linked to an increased risk
As such, diet quality is key. In particular, low carb diets should contain adequate amounts of fiber from plant foods like vegetables and emphasize healthy fats, such as avocados, nuts, seeds, minimally processed plant oils, and fish rich in omega-3s.
