Heart-Healthy Diet Tips

What is a heart-healthy diet?

Heart disease is a leading killer—and claims more lives than all forms of cancer combined. Being diagnosed with cardiovascular disease can also take an emotional toll, affecting your mood, outlook, and quality of life. While weight management and regular exercise are critical for keeping your heart in shape, the food you eat can matter just as much. In fact, along with other healthy lifestyle choices, a heart-healthy diet may reduce your risk of heart disease or stroke by 80%.

No single food can make you magically healthy, so your overall dietary pattern is more important than specific foods. Instead of fried, processed food, packaged meals, and sugary snacks, a heart-healthy diet is built around “real,” natural food—fresh from the ground, ocean, or farm.

Whether you’re looking to improve your cardiovascular health, have already been diagnosed with heart disease, or have high cholesterol or high blood pressure, these heart-healthy diet tips can help you better manage these conditions and lower your risk of a heart attack.

Switching to a heart-healthy diet

Eat more:	Eat less:
Healthy fats, such as raw nuts, olive oil, fish oils, flaxseeds, and avocados	Trans fats from partially hydrogenated or deep-fried foods; saturated fats from fried food, fast food, and snack foods.
Colorful fruits and vegetables—fresh or frozen	Packaged foods, especially those high in sodium and sugar
High-fiber cereals, breads, and pasta made from whole grains or legumes	White or egg breads, sugary cereals, refined pastas or rice
High-quality protein, such as fish and poultry	Processed meat such as bacon, sausage, and salami, and fried chicken
Eggs and low-fat dairy such as skim milk or unsweetened yogurt	Yogurt with added sugar; processed cheese

Three keys to a heart-healthy diet

1. Be smart about fats

If you are concerned about your heart health, rather than avoiding fat in your diet, try replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats. Some of the most important improvements you can make to your diet are to:

Cut out artificial trans fats. As well as raising your LDL, or “bad” cholesterol level, which can increase your risk for heart attack and stroke, artificial trans fat also lowers your levels of HDL or “good” cholesterol, which can put you at increased cardiovascular risk. Many countries have effectively outlawed the use of artificial trans-fats in commercially prepared food, but it’s worth checking labels and avoiding anything with “partially hydrogenated” oil in the ingredients, even if it claims to be “trans fat-free.”

Limit saturated fats. Saturated fats are mainly found in tropical oils, dairy, and red meat and should be limited to no more than 10% of your daily calorie intake. Enjoy lower-fat dairy in moderation and vary the protein sources in your diet, opting for fish, skinless chicken, eggs, and vegetarian sources of protein where you can.

Eat more healthy fats. Eating foods rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat can improve blood cholesterol levels and lower your risk of heart disease. Eat omega 3 fatty acids every day, from fatty fish such as salmon, trout, or herring, or from flaxseed, kale, spinach, or walnuts. Other sources of healthy fats include olive oil, avocados, nuts, and nut butters.

2. Don’t replace fat with sugar or refined carbs

When cutting back on heart-risky foods, such unhealthy fats, it’s important to replace them with healthy alternatives. Replacing processed meats with fish or chicken, for example, can make a positive difference to your health. But switching animal fats for refined carbohydrates, though—such as replacing your breakfast bacon with a donut or sugary cereal—won’t do anything to lower your risk for cardiovascular disease.

Your body benefits from having a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Choosing foods with higher fiber and lower saturated fat can help provide you with the energy you need during the day.

Similarly, balancing sugary and lower-fiber food—such as soft drinks and white bread—with unrefined whole grains—like whole wheat or multigrain bread, brown rice, bran cereal, and oatmeal—can be beneficial for your heart.

3. Focus on high-fiber food

A diet high in fiber can lower “bad” cholesterol and provide nutrients that help protect against heart disease. It may also help you to lose weight. Since fiber stays in the stomach longer than other foods, the feeling of fullness will stay with you much longer, helping you to possibly eat less. Fiber also moves fat through your digestive system quicker so less of it is absorbed. And when you fill up on fiber, you’ll also have more energy for exercising.

There are two types of fiber: insoluble and soluble. Insoluble fiber helps move food through the digestive tract, while soluble fiber helps to absorb water and bulk your stool.

Insoluble fiber is found in whole grains, wheat cereals, and vegetables such as carrots, celery, and tomatoes.

Soluble fiber sources include barley, oatmeal, beans, nuts, and fruits such as apples, berries, citrus fruits, and pears.

Reduce salt and processed foods

Higher salt intake has been linked to high blood pressure, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association recommends no more than a teaspoon of salt a day for an adult. That may sound alarmingly small, but there are actually many painless—even delicious—ways to reduce your sodium intake.

Reduce canned or processed foods. Much of the salt you eat comes from canned or processed foods like soups or frozen dinners—even poultry or other meats can have salt added during processing. Eating fresh foods, looking for unsalted meats, and making your own soups or stews can dramatically reduce your sodium intake.

Use spices for flavor. Cooking for yourself enables you to have more control over your salt intake. Make use of the many delicious alternatives to salt. Try fresh herbs like basil, thyme, or chives. In the dried spices aisle, you can find alternatives such as allspice, bay leaves, or cumin to flavor your meal without sodium.

Substitute reduced sodium versions. Choose your condiments and packaged foods carefully, looking for foods labeled sodium free, low sodium, or unsalted. Better yet, use fresh ingredients and cook without salt.

Consider using salt substitutes. Sometimes labeled “low-sodium salt”, salt substitutes contain potassium chloride, whereas regular table salt contains sodium chloride. While substituting potassium chloride can be a way to reduce your sodium intake, people with certain medical conditions may need to be careful about increasing their potassium intake. Check with your physician before incorporating into your diet.

Rekindle home cooking

It’s very difficult to eat a heart-healthy diet when you’re eating out a lot, ordering in, or eating microwave dinners and other processed foods. The portions are usually large and the meals can contain salt, sugar, and unhealthy fat. Cooking at home will give you better control over the nutritional content of your meals and can also help you to save money. Making heart-healthy meals is easier and less time-consuming than you may think—and you don’t have to be an experienced cook to master some quick and wholesome meals.

Get the whole family involved. Trade off shopping and cleanup duties with your spouse or get the kids to help shop for groceries and prepare dinner. Kids find it fun to eat what they’ve helped to make and cooking together is a great way to expand the pallets of picky eaters.

Make cooking fun. If you hate the idea of spending time in the kitchen, you need to embrace your fun side. Try singing along to your favorite music as you cook, or listen to a podcast or audiobook.

Make foods ready-to-eat. You’re more likely to stay heart-healthy during your busy week if you make healthy foods easily accessible. When you come home from grocery shopping, cut up vegetables and fruit and store them in the fridge, ready for the next meal or when you are looking for a quick snack.

Use heart healthy cooking methods. Just as important as choosing healthy ingredients is preparing them in healthy ways. You can bake, broil, roast, steam, poach, lightly stir fry, or sauté ingredients—using a small amount of olive oil, reduced sodium broth, and spices instead of salt.

Cook just once or twice a week and make meals for the whole week. Cook a large batch of heart healthy food and reheat leftovers the rest of the week. Or freeze meals in individual portions for those days when you don’t have time to cook.

Portion size—and your weight

Carrying excess weight means that your heart must work harder, and this often leads to high blood pressure—a major cause of heart disease. As well as eating less sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats, reducing portion sizes is a crucial step toward losing or maintaining a healthy weight.

Understand serving sizes. A serving size is a specific amount of food, defined by common measurements such as cups, ounces, or pieces—and a serving size may be a lot smaller than you’re used to.

Judging serving size is a learned skill, so you may initially need to use measuring cups, spoons, and a food scale to help. Once you have a better idea of what a serving should be, you can estimate your portion by using common objects for reference. For example, a serving of pasta should be about the size of a baseball (slightly smaller than a cricket ball), while a serving of meat, fish, or chicken is about the size of a deck of cards.

If you’re still hungry at the end of a meal fill up on extra servings of vegetables or fruit.

Beware of restaurant portions. They’re often larger. Sometimes ordering an appetizer instead of an entrée, splitting an entrée with your dining companion, or taking half your meal home for tomorrow’s lunch works really well.

Look at labels

In the U.S., look for foods displaying the American Heart Association’s heart-check mark to spot heart-healthy foods that meet the American Heart Association’s criteria for fat and cholesterol.

Last updated or reviewed on September 30, 2024