In a new statement from the American Heart Association, researchers have outlined 10 key features of a heart-healthy eating pattern.
These features can be adapted to accommodate individual food likes and dislikes, cultural traditions and whether most meals are consumed at home or on-the-go.
The new statement reflects the latest scientific evidence on the benefits of heart-healthy eating throughout life and that poor diet quality is strongly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death.
The statement emphasizes the importance of looking at the total dietary pattern rather than “good” or “bad” individual foods or nutrients.
A dietary pattern refers to the balance, variety, amounts and combination of foods and beverages regularly eaten.
The statement also highlights the critical role of nutrition education, starting healthy eating early in life and maintaining throughout the lifespan, as well as societal and other challenges that may make it harder to adopt or maintain a heart-healthy diet pattern.
Because food is often eaten in places besides the home, the statement emphasizes that it is possible to follow a heart-healthy dietary pattern regardless of whether food is prepared at home, ordered in a restaurant or online, or purchased as a prepared meal.
The statement details 10 features of a dietary pattern to promote heart health:
- Balance food and calorie intake with physical activity to maintain a healthy weight.
- Choose a wide variety and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables to get a full range of nutrients from food rather than supplements;
- Choose whole grains and other foods made up mostly of whole grains;
- Include healthy sources of lean and/or high-fiber protein such as plant proteins (nuts and legumes), fish or seafood, low fat or non-fat dairy, lean cuts of meat and limit red and processed meats;
- Use liquid non-tropical plant oils such as olive or sunflower oils;
- Choose minimally processed foods rather than ultra-processed foods as much as possible;
- Minimize intake of beverages and foods with added sugars;
- Choose or prepare foods with little or no salt;
- Limit alcohol consumption; if you don’t drink, do not start; and
- Apply this guidance no matter where food is prepared or consumed.
Processed foods include meats that are preserved by smoking, curing or adding chemical preservatives, and plant-based foods that have added salt, sugar or fats.
Many processed meats are high in salt, saturated fat and cholesterol. Research shows that replacing processed meat with other protein sources is associated with lower death rates.
Ultra-processed foods are those that go beyond added salt, sweeteners or fat to also include artificial colors, flavors and preservatives that promote shelf stability, preserve texture and increase palatability.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about antibiotic drug linked to greater heart attack risk, and findings of food that may harm your heart rhythm.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about statin drugs that can do double duty on heart disease and cancer, and results showing two effective ways to quickly restore normal heart rhythm.
The study is published in Circulation. One researcher of the study is Alice H. Lichtenstein, D.Sc., FAHA.
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