New American Heart Association (AHA) guidance (2026) explains how to eat to protect your cardiovascular health. Cardiovascular disease poses a high risk for heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure, making it a leading cause of death worldwide in both men and women. Among the most powerful tools for maintaining cardiovascular health are everyday eating habits. In a new scientific statement, the American Heart Association lays out the evidence-based keys to optimizing your diet for cardiovascular health. Other means of protection such as regular exercise and abstinence from tobacco are dealt with elsewhere.
Focus on Dietary Patterns. The AHA report emphasizes that heart health is shaped less by individual “superfoods” or trendy diets and more by consistent, overall dietary patterns. The dietary pattern includes all the foods and beverages one consumes in a day. The ideal dietary pattern not only supports cardiovascular health but also meets nutritional requirements while allowing flexibility for personal preferences, ethnic and religious practices, and different stages of life. In general, heart-healthy eating emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, healthy protein sources, liquid plant oils (like soybean, canola, and olive oils), and minimally processed foods while limiting intake of added sugars and sodium. Dietary patterns that are higher in plant-based foods and lower in animal products have been associated with better heart health.
Make it Life-long. The habits we learn in childhood last a lifetime—and the health effects of early dietary intake may, too. Early-life dietary patterns are not only linked to risk of developing obesity, hypertension, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes in young people, but also affect lifetime cardiovascular disease risk. It is, therefore, just as important for kids to follow a healthy dietary pattern as it is for adults. The report recommends a heart-healthy dietary pattern starting around age one. To promote this, the AHA statement emphasizes that adults should model healthy eating behaviors and stock the house with healthy choices.
Find Healthy Choices Everywhere. Food is purchased, prepared, and consumed in a variety of venues—including homes, restaurants, schools, and workplaces. It’s important to make heart-healthy food and beverage choices regardless of loacation.
EATING TO PROMOTE CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH LIST
1. Avoid excess calorie intake. Preserving healthy body weight throughout life is central to optimizing cardiovascular health. In addition to avoiding excess calorie intake, adults should regularly engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity and muscle-strengthening activities, and children should be given frequent opportunities to be physically active.
2. Eat a variety of produce. Vegetables and fruits are core components of heart-healthy dietary patterns. The wide availability of fresh and frozen vegetables and fruits year-round provides multiple opportunities to consume produce throughout the day. Choose whole or minimally processed vegetables and fruits rather than juice whenever possible to gain the benefits of their fiber content.
3. Choose whole grains. Compared to dietary patterns high in refined grains, those rich in whole-grain foods are associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, Replacing refined grains with whole grains and whole grain foods (like whole wheat bread, whole grains like brown rice, oats, quinoa, and barley) have been shown to improve cardiovascular outcomes.
4. Favor unsaturated fats. Replacing sources of saturated fat with sources of polyunsaturated fat has been shown to reduce LDL-cholesterol levels and cardiovascular events. Soybean, canola, and olive oils should replace butter, beef tallow, lard, and tropical oils like coconut and palm.
5. Pick healthy proteins. While the relationship between protein quantity and cardiovascular health is uncertain, protein quality certainly matters. Heart-healthy proteins are lower in saturated fats and/or higher in unsaturated fats. Fish and seafood are good choices, and beans, lentils, peas, and nuts are sources of healthy protein that also contribute fiber. Fat-free or low-fat dairy are recommended instead of full-fat dairy products to limit saturated fat intake. To further limit saturated fat, choose plant proteins, seafood, and poultry over red meats, minimizing intake of red and processed meats and sticking to small portions of lean cuts when one does eat meat.
6. Choose Minimally Processed Foods. Ultra-processed foods often contain high levels of sodium, added sugars, and ingredients not typically used in home cooking, and are also low in beneficial components such as fiber. Dietary patterns high in ultra-processed foods have been linked to obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and higher mortality risk. Choose minimally processed foods whenever possible.
7. Limit added sugars. Diets high in added sugars are consistently associated with higher risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and higher cardiovascular mortality risk. The relationship is particularly strong for sugar-sweetened beverages. This supports the recommendations to minimize added sugar intake throughout life, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages.
8. Limit sodium intake. High sodium intake raises blood pressure, while intake of potassium-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables is associated with lower blood pressure. The report supports minimizing dietary sodium and increasing dietary potassium as an effective strategy for maintaining a healthy blood pressure. Limiting intake of ultra-processed foods strongly supports this goal. Avoid using the saltshaker, especially before tasting any foods.
9. Avoid alcohol. The report does not recommend starting to drink alcohol to improve cardiovascular health, noting that evidence for heart-related benefits remains uncertain while alcohol intake is clearly associated with increased blood pressure and other health risks. It emphasizes there is no disadvantage to avoiding alcohol. Heavy and binge drinking are strongly discouraged, and limiting or avoiding alcohol may also help reduce the risk of certain cancers.
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Below is a link to obtain my books available for purchase (digital or print versions):
Website: https://radiantmortontavel.com/
To be placed on the mailing list for future blogs, contact: tavelmorton@gmail.com