Despite claims, Mediterranean olive oil DEXA scan radiation dose Mediterranean olive oil help lower LDL "bad" cholesterol, diegary it adds flavor Hearg-healthy many Mediterranean recipes. Although you might Heqrt-healthy that Heart-yealthy certain foods can increase your heart disease risk, changing your eating habits is often tough. Fiber seems to be most effective used in conjunction with diet and exercise for contributing to weight loss. Leafy green vegetables. This article discusses whether protein powders…. Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Heart-healthy dietary aids -

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. N Engl J Med. PMID: pubmed. Fox CS, Golden SH, Anderson C, et al. Update on prevention of cardiovascular disease in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus in light of recent evidence: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association.

Grey A, Bolland M. Clinical trial evidence and use of fish oil supplements. JAMA Intern Med. Hartley L, May MD, Loveman E, Colquitt JL, Rees K. Dietary fibre for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Hooper L, Martin N, Abdelhamid A, Davey Smith G.

Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease. Jensen MD, Ryan DH, Apovian CM, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. Micha R, Peñalvo JL, Cudhea F, Imamura F, Rehm CD, Mozaffarian D. Association between dietary factors and mortality from heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes in the United States.

Mosca L, Benjamin EJ, Berra K, et al. Effectiveness-based guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in women -- update: a guideline from the American Heart Association. Moyer VA; US Preventive Services Task Force. Vitamin, mineral, and multivitamin supplements for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer: US preventive services task force recommendation statement.

Mozaffarian D. Nutrition and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Sacks FM, Lichtenstein AH, Wu JHY, et al. Dietary fats and cardiovascular disease: A presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. US Department of Health and Human Services; US Department of Agriculture.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans Accessed October 24, US Preventive Task Force. Statin use for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in adults: preventive medication. Updated November 13, Accessed April 9, Van Horn L, Carson JA, Appel LJ, et al.

Vos MB, Kaar JL, Welsh JA, et al. Added sugars and cardiovascular disease risk in children: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Reviewed by: Michael A. Chen, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington Medical School, Seattle, WA.

Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A. Editorial team. Share Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Home Health Library. Heart-healthy diet Diet - heart health - InDepth. Highlights Heart-Healthy Diet Guidelines The American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association core dietary guidelines for reducing unhealthy cholesterol levels recommend: Make vegetables, fruits, and whole grains the focus of your diet.

Include fish, legumes beans , and nuts in your diet and use nontropical vegetable oils such as olive or canola oil. Limit intake of sweets, sugar-sweetened beverages, and red or processed meats. Following this dietary pattern helps to naturally limit intake of trans fats and sodium and to replace saturated fats with mono- and poly-unsaturated fats.

Replace unhealthy saturated and trans fats with healthy unsaturated fats from plant and fish oils. Olive and canola oils are rich in monounsaturated fats. Salmon and other fatty fish, as well as walnuts and other nuts, are excellent sources of polyunsaturated fats. Restrict your sodium salt intake to avoid exceeding the recommended daily values.

Reducing sodium is especially important for middle-aged and older people, African-Americans, and people with high blood pressure. The DASH diet is a good example of a heart-healthy eating plan that limits sodium intake to less than 2.

If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation no more than 1 drink per day for women, 2 drinks per day for men. Exercise regularly so that you burn at least as many calories as you consume to attain or maintain a healthy weight. This can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Your exercise routine should include at least minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week such as 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise at least 5 days of the week , or at least 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week such as 25 minutes at least 3 times a week.

Have your health care provider create an individualized weight loss plan for you if you are overweight or obese. The plan should include a reduced calorie diet, behavioral strategies, and increased physical activity.

Get Your Vitamins From Food There is little evidence that multivitamin supplements help reduce the risk for heart disease or cancer, according to recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force. Introduction The goals of a heart-healthy diet are to eat foods that help to obtain or maintain healthy levels of cholesterol and blood pressure.

For a healthy heart it is important to: Reduce low-density lipoprotein LDL , the bad cholesterol, which is harmful to the heart Reduce other harmful lipids fatty molecules , such as triglycerides Increase high-density lipoprotein HDL , the good cholesterol Control blood pressure.

Maintain a healthy weight. The foods you consume, along with regular exercise, can help achieve these goals. General Recommendations Choose foods that are rich in nutrients. Nutrients are chemical substances essential for the body's function: Macronutrients are the major components of food. Fat, carbohydrates, and protein are macronutrients.

Micronutrients include vitamins and minerals. They are required by the body only in small amounts. The American Heart Association's AHA dietary and lifestyle guidelines recommend: Balance calorie intake and physical activity to achieve or maintain a healthy body weight.

Controlling weight, quitting smoking, and exercising regularly are essential companions of any diet program. Try to get at least 40 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on 3 to 4 or more days per week.

Eat a diet rich in a variety of vegetables and fruits. Vegetables and fruits that are deeply colored such as spinach, carrots, peaches, and berries are especially recommended as they have the highest micronutrient content. Choose whole-grain and high-fiber foods.

These include fruits, vegetables, and legumes beans. These provide additional protein, fiber, and other nutrients that are usually lost in the refining process, Include fish, poultry, fat-free or low-fat dairy products, legumes, and nuts.

Eat at least twice a week oily fish, such as salmon, trout, herring, mackerel, and sardines, which are rich in heart-protective omega-3 fatty acids. Limit intake of red meat. Grill, bake, or broil do not fry! using nontropical vegetable oils, such as olive or canola oil. Avoid trans fats found in partially-hydrogenated fats and oils, commercially baked products, and many fast foods.

Use little or no salt in your foods. Reduce or avoid processed foods that are high in sodium salt. Reducing salt can lower blood pressure and decrease the risk of heart disease and heart failure. Limit beverages and foods that contain added sugars corn syrups, sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, dextrose, concentrated fruit juice, honey.

If you consume alcohol, do so in moderation. The AHA recommends limiting alcohol to no more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women. Cholesterol and Diet Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance that is present in all animal cells and in animal-based foods not in plants.

The American College of Cardiology ACC and American Heart Association AHA joint dietary guidelines for reducing unhealthy cholesterol levels recommend: Make vegetables, fruits, and whole grains the focus of your diet Include low-fat or fat-free dairy products, poultry without skin, fish, legumes beans , nontropical vegetable oils, and nuts Limit intake of sweets, sugar-sweetened beverages, and red meats Blood Pressure and Diet High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is elevated pressure of the blood in the arteries.

Elevated blood pressure is in the range of to for systolic and less than 80 for diastolic blood pressure. High blood pressure hypertension , Stage I, a blood pressure reading between to for systolic and between 80 to 89 for diastolic pressure.

Stage II hypertension is a reading over for systolic and over 90 for diastolic pressure. Lifestyle changes are important for preventing and treating high blood pressure. They include: Maintain a healthy weight Exercise regularly Quit smoking Limit alcohol consumption to no more than one or two drinks a day Reduce sodium salt intake in your diet Sodium is the critical factor in controlling high blood pressure.

Nutrition Basics Fats Some fat is essential for normal body function. Dietary guidelines for heart health recommend that: Monounsaturated fatty acids found in olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, nuts, and avocados and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids found in oily fish, canola oil, flaxseed, and walnuts should be the first choice for fats.

Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids corn, safflower, sunflower, and soybean oils and nuts and seeds are the second choice for fats. Saturated fats are found predominantly in animal products meat, whole-fat dairy as well as tropical oils coconut, palm. Limit trans fats found in stick margarine, commercial baked goods, snack and fried foods to a minimum.

Click the icon to see an image of saturated fats. Click the icon to see an image of trans fatty acids. Omega-3 Fatty Acids Omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish and some plant sources, are a good source of unsaturated fats.

Click the icon to see an image of omega-3 fatty acids. Carbohydrates Carbohydrates are either complex as in starches or simple as in sugars. Complex Carbohydrates Fiber Complex carbohydrates found in whole grains and vegetables are much healthier than those found in starch-heavy refined carbohydrate foods, such as white-flour pastas and white potatoes.

Click the icon to see an image of complex carbohydrates. Different fiber types may have specific benefits: Insoluble fiber found in wheat bran, whole grains, seeds, nuts, beans, and fruits and vegetables may help achieve weight loss.

Consuming whole grains on a regular basis may lower the risk for heart disease and heart failure, improve factors involved with diabetes, and lower the risk for type 2 diabetes. Whole grains include brown rice, quinoa, bulgur, oatmeal, and whole-wheat bread, High consumption of nuts such as almonds, macadamia, and walnuts may be highly heart protective, independent of their fiber content.

The American Heart Association recommends that at least half of grains consumed in one day should be whole grains. Soluble fiber found in dried beans, oat bran, barley, apples, and citrus fruits may help achieve healthy cholesterol levels and possibly reduce blood pressure as well.

Soluble fiber supplements, such as those that contain psyllium or glucomannan, may also be beneficial. Psyllium is taken from the husk of a seed and is effective for lowering total and LDL cholesterol.

It is found in laxatives Metamucil , breakfast cereals, and other products. People who increase intake of soluble fiber should also drink more water to avoid cramps. Click the icon to see an image of soluble and insoluble fiber. Simple Carbohydrates Sugar Americans eat nearly half a pound 0.

Sugars include: Sucrose. Source of most dietary sugar, found in sugar cane, honey, and corn syrup. Sucrose is a disaccharide a type of molecule formed by two simple sugars composed of glucose and fructose. Naturally occurring sugar found in fruits and vegetables. Although fructose does not appear to be have any different effects in the body than sucrose, most of the fruits and vegetables that contain it are important for good health.

However, because fructose can raise triglyceride levels, people with high triglycerides should try to select fruits that are relatively lower in fructose cantaloupe, grapefruit, strawberries, peaches, and bananas. Fructose is a monosaccharide simple sugar.

A third sugar, lactose, is a naturally occurring sugar found in dairy products including milk, yogurt, and cheese. Lactose is a disaccharide composed of glucose and galactose.

Click the icon to see an image of simple carbohydrates. Ingredients that indicate added sugars include: Corn sweetener Corn sugar Coconut sugar High fructose corn syrup Fruit juice concentrates Honey Agave Maple syrup Brown rice syrup Molasses Any sugar molecules ending in "ose" dextrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, maltose, sucrose.

Food product labels can help you determine how much sugar is present: Sugar-free. Less than 0. No added sugars or without added sugars. No sugars or sugar-containing ingredients such as juice or dry fruit is added during processing.

Protein Protein is found in animal-based products meat, poultry, fish, and dairy as well as vegetable sources such as beans, soy, nuts, and whole grains. Fish Evidence suggests that eating moderate amounts of fish twice a week may improve triglyceride and HDL levels and help lower the risks for death from heart disease and stroke.

Meat and Poultry Saturated fat in meat is the primary danger to the heart. Dairy Products The best dairy choices are low-fat or fat-free products. Soy Soy foods are made from soybeans, a legume.

Vitamins Antioxidant Vitamins Antioxidants are chemicals that act as scavengers of particles known as oxygen-free radicals also sometimes called oxidants.

B Vitamins Folic Acid Deficiencies in the B vitamins folate known also as folic acid or vitamin B 9 , B 6 , and B 12 have been associated with a higher risk for heart disease in some studies.

Click the icon to see an image of vitamin B9 sources. Click the icon to see an image of vitamin B12 sources. Vitamin D Vitamin D, in addition to promoting bone health, may also be important for heart health.

Many health care providers recommend that for bone and overall health, people should receive the following daily amounts of vitamin D, according to their age: 0 to 12 months: IU per day. Minerals Potassium A potassium-rich diet can provide a small reduction in blood pressure.

Potassium-rich foods include: Bananas Oranges Prunes Cantaloupes Tomatoes Dried peas and beans Nuts and seeds Potatoes with skin Avocados Soy milk Swiss chard and spinach Potassium supplements should not be taken without first checking with your provider. Magnesium Some studies suggest that magnesium supplements may cause small but significant reductions in blood pressure.

Calcium Calcium regulates the tone of the smooth muscles lining blood vessels. Click the icon to see an image of calcium sources. Salt Restriction Some sodium salt is necessary for health, but the amount is vastly lower than that found in the average American diet.

Here are some tips to lower your sodium salt intake: Look for foods that are labeled "low-sodium," "sodium-free," "no salt added," or "unsalted.

Be especially careful of canned, packaged, and frozen foods. A Registered Dietician-Nutritionist can teach you how to understand these labels.

Frozen and fresh vegetables are preferable to canned as they are usually lower in sodium unless they are seasoned or served in a sauce most frozen vegetables have no added sodium and are comparable to fresh.

Do not cook with salt and do not add salt to your food. Try pepper, garlic, lemon, or other spices for flavor instead. Be careful of packaged spice blends as these often contain salt or salt products like monosodium glutamate, or MSG.

Avoid processed meats particularly cured meats, bacon, hot dogs, sausage, bologna, ham, and salami. Processed meats have been associated with increased risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

Avoid foods that are naturally high in sodium, like anchovies, nuts, olives, pickles, sauerkraut, soy and Worcestershire sauces, tomato and other vegetable juices, and cheese. Take care when eating out.

Stick to steamed, grilled, baked, boiled, and broiled foods with no added salt, sauce, or cheese. Use oil and vinegar, rather than bottled dressings, on salads. Eat fresh fruit or sorbet when having dessert. Red meat is a source of saturated fat. According to several studies , replacing red or processed meat with plant protein may lower the risk of heart disease.

Many processed foods and beverages contain added sugars, especially sodas and energy drinks. If following a 2,calorie diet, this equates to calories, or 12 teaspoons of sugar, per day. Avoiding excess sugar may help a person reach or maintain a moderate weight and prevent heart disease.

Processed foods often contain long lists of ingredients, many of which are not beneficial for a healthy heart.

For example, many processed foods contain:. Refined carbohydrates lack fiber and can cause a person to feel hungry again quickly. Replacing refined carbohydrates with nutrient-dense whole grains lowers the risk of many conditions, including stroke and metabolic syndrome.

Learn about heart-healthy dessert options here. The cardiac diet plan suggests consuming little or no alcohol. People who consume alcohol may wish to consider doing so in moderation. This means consuming no more than one drink per day for females and no more than two drinks per day for males.

Some people believe that a moderate intake of red wine can help protect the heart because it contains antioxidants. However, the evidence for this is weak, according to the AHA.

Research suggests a link between salt consumption and high blood pressure. Limiting salt intake can lower blood pressure and may also reduce cardiovascular health risks.

Many processed foods contain added salt, so a person can monitor their intake by reading the labels and instead choosing whole foods, when possible.

Eating foods cooked at home with limited or no salt, rather than restaurant foods or takeout, can also help lower salt intake. A person may wish to try making gradual changes, maybe two each week.

This is preferable to making many changes all at once and then giving up quickly. Another tip is to add herbs and spices to meals to boost their flavor, instead of salt or heavy sauces.

Keeping a food journal or having a diet buddy can also help people with motivation. It is important to recognize that not everyone has the same access to health-promoting foods.

Factors such as income level and neighborhood amenities affect whether a person can easily purchase items such as fresh fruits and vegetables. These factors are also influenced by structural racism in the U. These are real and complex challenges. Changing them may involve actions such as policy changes and food access projects.

Consider planning meals for the week, and prioritizing ingredients that are frozen or can be stored safely for longer periods of time. When eating restaurant meals or takeout, a person can aim for dietary choices that follow the cardiac diet. People may wish to avoid fried foods and sauces and dressings high in sugar, salt, and fat.

They may also aim to limit their alcohol intake when dining out. Starting and sticking to the cardiac diet is a process. If a person is used to eating refined carbs and processed foods frequently, they may find it difficult to make larger dietary changes.

Trying the tips above may help. Whole grains, vegetables, legumes, and oily fish are nutritious staple foods to include in the cardiac diet. People may wish to limit processed foods, sugar, salt, and saturated fats. It can be helpful for people to plan their diet and be mindful of their choices when dining out.

Getting daily exercise and managing stress are also beneficial for heart health. Read this article in Spanish.

The microbiome diet aims to promote good bacteria in the gut.

Heart-Healthy Diet Guidelines The Aidw College of Cardiology and Glycogen replenishment for endurance Heart Association core dietary guidelines vietary reducing unhealthy cholesterol levels recommend:. Hert-healthy guidelines from the U. Departments of Agriculture Mediterranean olive oil Health and Human Services, released Mediterranean olive oil latefollow similar recommendations Mediterranean olive oil dietwry sugars, saturated fat, and sodium salt. Restrictions on dietary cholesterol have been removed, since saturated fat is a larger concern for heart health than the amount of cholesterol found in food sources. There is little evidence that multivitamin supplements help reduce the risk for heart disease or cancer, according to recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force. The agency specifically recommends against taking vitamin E or beta carotene supplements because there is conclusive evidence that they do not help prevent disease.