Pictured Recipe:Mixed Vegetable Salad with Lime Dressing
Sleep enough, stress less, move some; there are certain strategies nearly all health experts can agree upon related to supporting heart health. But there’s an ongoing conversation around what eating style is best to help you take heart.
Ahead, a closer look at how the researchers landed at this conclusion, a primer for how to follow the DASH diet, and a week’s-worth of heart-healthy dinner ideas to add to your meal plan this week.
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What This Heart-Health Study Found
Scientists from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School recruited 437 participants, with an average age of 45, and asked them to follow what they deemed the “typical American diet” for three weeks to kick things off. This included little fresh produce and was fairly high in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol.
After that three-week foundation, they randomly assigned each person to one of three groups, which followed a specific eating style for the next eight weeks:
The three groups were fairly consistent in terms of body size, hypertension status and physical exercise levels.
After the two-month diet trial, the researchers estimated the participants' atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk using a predictive mathematical process called thePooled Cohort Equation. This takes into account age, sex, race, blood pressure, cholesterol and other biometrics to calculate approximate heart disease risk over time.
7 DASH-Diet Dinner Recipes to Try This Week
Kick off the day with any of these16 DASH diet breakfast recipes, follow that up with one of our15 best DASH diet lunches, then keep the ticker-friendly treats going with our picks for your first week of DASH diet dinners. Designed with winter in mind, each of these is rich in vegetables, many showcase whole grains andplant-based protein(to help keep saturated fat levels in check), and all deliver a lot of cozy per calorie.
Heart-Healthy Diet Plan for Beginners
The Bottom Line
That said, this is one of many pieces of evidence that suggests that following a DASH-diet-style strategy can be a boon for your cardiovascular system. In fact, the DASH diet is ranked near the top on the list of best diets for heart health,according to the latestU.S. News & World Reportrankings. And these findings support a continued focus on increasing access toenough fruits and vegetablesfor all individuals of all income levels and hometowns, the scientists confirm.
As we continue to learn more about the connection between eating more plants and less animal fat and a healthier heart, stock up on theseheart-healthy foodsduring your next supermarket run. It’s important to remember that there are other lifestyle factors involved in your overall heart disease risk profile, too. Stress, sleep, alcohol consumption, activity levels and more can impact your chances of having a heart attack, stroke or other form of cardiovascular disease, so be sure to consult with your medical care team to keep tabs on all of the above.
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