Updated on March 13, 2024.
If you’re concerned about your heart health, making changes to your diet may seem daunting. A heart-healthy diet is rich in whole grains, lean protein like chicken and beans, and fresh fruits and vegetables, and low in salt, saturated fat (which is solid at room temperature), and trans fats (often found in processed and junk foods).
But where to start? Do you change your breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks first? Do you have to toss everything in your kitchen and start over?
The good news is that, like many health changes, starting small can yield incremental benefits—which can really pay off as you gradually transform your habits.
Here are three tasty foods that can provide benefits for your heart and overall health.
Nuts
In place of red or processed meat like hot dogs and deli meat, French fries or dessert, try switching to nuts. One serving is about the same as one handful of nuts (about one ounce, depending on your hand size), or two tablespoons of nut butter. Nuts are an excellent source of healthy fats and protein. An analysis of results from 13 studies found that replacing red meat with nuts was associated with about 16 percent lower risk of heart disease. The analysis was published in the journal Nutrition Reviews in 2022.
The healthiest nuts (those highest in omega-3 fatty acids) are walnuts, but many types of nuts are good for you. If you’re aiming to lose or manage your weight, you may want to avoid higher fat nuts like pecans, Brazil nuts, or macadamias, and pay attention to portion size, because nuts are high in calories.
Healthy fats
Good sources of healthy fats are found in nuts, vegetable oils, and fatty fish like salmon, sardines, and trout. Vegetable oils like canola, safflower, peanut and olive oil contain monounsaturated fats which are liquid at room temperature. These types of fats help to raise your levels of HDL (“good” cholesterol, a fat-like substance found in the blood). HDL is considered a healthy type of cholesterol because it actually helps lower LDL ("bad" cholesterol, which contributes to hardening of the arteries and heart disease). That's why when it comes to HDL, higher is generally better.
Bold-colored plant foods
Flavonoids are powerful antioxidants that can help fight inflammation and occur naturally in many plant foods. These include coffee, tea (particularly black tea and green tea), red wine, grapes, berries, citrus, onions, celery, and peppers. Flavonoids lend fruits and vegetables their pigment, which is why they’re particularly bountiful in foods with naturally bright colors.
Flavonoids benefit pretty much all your body’s health systems, particularly your heart and brain. In fact, a study published in the journal Neurology in 2021 found that people who consumed the highest amounts of flavonoids had about 19 percent lower odds of developing cognitive decline (memory loss and problems thinking) compared to people who ate the least. The study included about 77,000 health professionals who filled out questionnaires about their eating habits over the course of 16 to 20 years.
To start your healthy diet transformation, know that you can get a healthy dose of flavonoids by drinking about 12 ounces of coffee per day. Keep in mind that the amount of flavonoids in your morning cup of coffee can vary depending on how long you brew it and how the coffee beans are roasted.
