In This Article Heaart-healthy All. Olive oil This oil is rich heart-hsalthy antioxidants that help protect your blood Choicez. Featured Healthy Eating Infographics View All Infographics. Corporate Alliances Corporate Alliances Corporate Alliances Home Current Alliances. You should choose these foods most of the time: Fruits and vegetables. You may want to talk with a registered dietitian.

Inspiring heart-healthy choices -

Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. MyHealthfinder Health Conditions Heart Health Heart-Healthy Foods: Shopping List. Health Conditions Heart-Healthy Foods: Shopping List. Follow these tips for heart-healthy eating: Eat less saturated fat.

Cut back on fatty meats and high-fat dairy products. Limit foods like pizza, burgers, and creamy sauces or gravy. Cut down on sodium salt. Read the Nutrition Facts label and choose foods that are lower in sodium. Get more fiber. Eat vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains to add fiber to your diet.

Vegetables and Fruits Eat a variety of vegetables and fruits — including options that are fresh, frozen, canned, or dried. Try: Fresh vegetables like tomatoes, cabbage, okra, edamame, and carrots Leafy greens like Romaine lettuce, spinach, bok choy, and kale Canned vegetables that are low in sodium Frozen vegetables without added butter or sauces, like broccoli or cauliflower Fresh fruits like apples, oranges, bananas, mangoes, guava, and papaya Canned, frozen, or dried fruit without added sugars Farmers markets are great places to buy vegetables and fruits that are in season.

You might try: Whole-grain bread, bagels, English muffins, and tortillas Whole-grain hot or cold breakfast cereals with no added sugar, like oatmeal or shredded wheat Whole grains like brown or wild rice, quinoa, or oats Whole-wheat or whole-grain pasta and couscous Proteins Choose a variety of foods with protein.

Try these healthy swaps: Vegetable oil canola, corn, olive, peanut, safflower, soybean, or sunflower instead of butter for cooking Low-fat or light mayonnaise instead of full-fat mayo Oil-based salad dressings like balsamic vinaigrette or Italian instead of creamy dressings like ranch Vegetable oils are usually healthy choices — just avoid coconut and palm oils, which are high in saturated fat.

Reviewer Information This content on a heart-healthy diet was adapted from materials from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. July You may also be interested in: Get Your Blood Pressure Checked Keep Your Heart Healthy Reduce Your Risk of Stroke. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion ODPHP cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.

You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link. Find information and resources for current and returning patients. Learn about clinical trials at MD Anderson and search our database for open studies. The Lyda Hill Cancer Prevention Center provides cancer risk assessment, screening and diagnostic services.

Your gift will help support our mission to end cancer and make a difference in the lives of our patients. Our personalized portal helps you refer your patients and communicate with their MD Anderson care team. As part of our mission to eliminate cancer, MD Anderson researchers conduct hundreds of clinical trials to test new treatments for both common and rare cancers.

Choose from 12 allied health programs at School of Health Professions. Learn about our graduate medical education residency and fellowship opportunities. She breaks down the basics of the cardiac diet, also called a heart-healthy diet, to help you get started and stick to the plan.

The diet also limits processed foods that are high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, because these increase the risk of heart disease. Several heart-healthy diets are highly recommended for cancer patients and for anyone wanting to improve their heart health. These include the DASH Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet , the Mediterranean diet , and many vegetarian diets.

Frozen vegetables and fruits can be just as nutritious, or sometimes even more nutritious, than fresh fruits and vegetables, according to the U. Department of Agriculture USDA.

Fresh produce, on the other hand, may lose vitamins and minerals during the time it takes to get from the field to the plate. Heart-healthy diets also limit sodium, which bumps up your blood pressure and makes your heart work harder. Make sure to check nutrition labels for the sodium content in processed and packaged foods.

She advises starting with one change. For example, start by replacing butter with olive oil when cooking. Not every cancer survivor will experience heart problems after cancer treatment. But those who do may live 15 years or longer before heart-damage symptoms emerge.

In fact, this is the way we should all be eating. Request an appointment at MD Anderson online or by calling Adopting a heart-healthy diet before you start treatment strengthens your heart for what lies ahead. My Chart. Donate Today. Request an Appointment Request an Appointment New Patients Current Patients Referring Physicians.

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Find Inspiring heart-healthy choices and resources for choicess and returning hdart-healthy. Learn about clinical trials choicee MD Inspiring heart-healthy choices and search our database for heary-healthy studies. The Lyda Hill Cancer Prevention Center provides cancer risk assessment, screening and diagnostic services. Your gift will help support our mission to end cancer and make a difference in the lives of our patients. Our personalized portal helps you refer your patients and communicate with their MD Anderson care team.

Inspiring heart-healthy choices -

When selecting foods for each meal and snack, emphasize vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Choose lean protein sources and healthy fats, and limit salty foods. Watch your portion sizes and add variety to your menu choices. For example, if you have grilled salmon one evening, try a black bean burger the next night.

This helps ensure that you'll get all of the nutrients the body needs. Variety also makes meals and snacks more interesting. Allow yourself an indulgence every now and then.

A candy bar or handful of potato chips won't derail your heart-healthy diet. But don't let it turn into an excuse for giving up on your healthy-eating plan.

If overindulgence is the exception, rather than the rule, you'll balance things out over the long term. What's important is that you eat healthy foods most of the time. Include these eight tips into your life, and you'll find that heart-healthy eating is both doable and enjoyable.

With planning and a few simple substitutions, you can eat with your heart in mind. There is a problem with information submitted for this request. Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health.

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Heart-healthy diet: 8 steps to prevent heart disease Ready to start your heart-healthy diet? Here are eight tips to get you started.

By Mayo Clinic Staff. Thank you for subscribing! Sorry something went wrong with your subscription Please, try again in a couple of minutes Retry. Show references Sacks FM, et al.

Dietary fats and cardiovascular disease: A presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. How to avoid portion size pitfalls to help manage your weight. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed Feb. Department of Health and Human Services and U. Department of Agriculture.

Accessed Jan. How to use fruits and vegetables to help manage your weight. Flaxseed and flax oil. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Hadi A, et al. Effect of flaxseed supplementation on lipid profile: An updated systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of sixty-two randomized controlled trials.

Pharmacological Research. Natural Medicines. Sea salt vs. table salt. American Heart Association. Zeratsky KA expert opinion. Mayo Clinic. The skinny on fats. How much sodium should I eat per day?

Healthy diet adult. FDA extends compliance date for certain uses of partially hydrogenated oils in food; denies petition for certain uses of PHOs. Food and Drug Administration. Products and Services Blood Pressure Monitors at Mayo Clinic Store A Book: Live Younger Longer A Book: Future Care.

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ART Home Heart healthy diet 8 steps to prevent heart disease. Show the heart some love! Give Today. Help us advance cardiovascular medicine. Find a doctor. Explore careers. Talk to your healthcare provider about the amount of sodium that is right for you or your child.

Try these shopping and cooking tips to help you choose and prepare foods that are lower in sodium:. Learn about how to cut down the amount of salt you take in each day with the Tips to Reduce Salt and Sodium tip sheet.

Read food labels and choose foods that are lower in saturated fats and higher in unsaturated fats. You should limit the amount of calories you get each day from added sugars.

This will help you choose nutrient-rich foods and stay within your daily calorie limit. Some foods, such as fruit, contain natural sugars. Added sugars do not occur naturally in foods but instead are used to sweeten foods and drinks. They include brown sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, raw sugar, and sucrose.

In the United States, sweetened drinks, snacks, and sweets are the major sources of added sugars. Talk to your healthcare provider about how much alcohol you drink. They may recommend that you reduce the amount of alcohol you drink or that you stop drinking alcohol.

Alcohol can:. If you do not drink, you should not start. You should not drink if you are pregnant, are under the age of 21, taking certain medicines, or if you have certain medical conditions, including heart failure. You should eat the right amount of calories for your body, which will vary based on your sex, age, and physical activity level.

Remember that some healthy foods, including oils and dairy, can still have a lot of calories. Some fruits can have a lot of natural sugar, especially when they are dried.

Develop a personalized food plan at Get Your MyPlate Plan. You can visit the U. Heart-Healthy Living. What Is Heart-Healthy Living?

Understand Your Risk for Heart Disease Get Your Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Checked Choose Heart-Healthy Foods Aim for a Healthy Weight Get Regular Physical Activity Manage Stress Quit Smoking Get Enough Good-Quality Sleep.

Fact sheets and handouts.

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