6 Steps to Build a Heart-Healthy Plate

You eat pret­ty healthy. You exer­cise. You try to man­age stress. But when you hear ​“heart-healthy diet,” you might won­der what that actu­al­ly means beyond the basics. Here’s what mat­ters: heart dis­ease remains the lead­ing cause of death in the Unit­ed States, claim­ing over 370,000 lives each year from coro­nary heart dis­ease alone. While we’ve made incred­i­ble progress in treat­ing heart attacks and man­ag­ing heart dis­ease over the past 50 years, risk fac­tors like high blood pres­sure and obe­si­ty con­tin­ue to climb. That’s where pre­ven­tion comes in, and a lot of it starts with what’s on your plate. 

A heart-healthy diet helps main­tain healthy cho­les­terol and blood lipid lev­els while reduc­ing your risk of ath­er­o­scle­ro­sis (the buildup of plaque in your arter­ies that leads to heart dis­ease). And if you’ve already been diag­nosed with heart dis­ease or had a heart pro­ce­dure, these eat­ing habits become even more impor­tant for slow­ing dis­ease pro­gres­sion. The best part? This approach focus­es on what you can eat, not just what you should avoid.

1. Add fish to your week­ly routine

Aim for fish at least twice a week. Fat­ty fish like salmon, mack­er­el, sar­dines, and tuna pack omega‑3 fat­ty acids that sup­port car­dio­vas­cu­lar health by reduc­ing inflam­ma­tion and poten­tial­ly low­er­ing your risk of heart rhythm prob­lems. The catch? Prepa­ra­tion mat­ters. Grilling, bak­ing, or broil­ing your fish keeps those ben­e­fits intact, while fry­ing can add unhealthy fats that work against your goals. 

2. Think col­or when choos­ing produce

The 2025 – 2030 Dietary Guide­lines for Amer­i­cans spot­light veg­eta­bles and fruits for good rea­son. The more col­or­ful, the bet­ter. Dark leafy greens like spinach and kale, orange and red veg­eta­bles like car­rots and bell pep­pers, and berries of all kinds deliv­er vit­a­mins, min­er­als, antiox­i­dants, and fiber your heart needs. 

Shoot for at least three serv­ings of veg­eta­bles and two serv­ings of fruit each day. Fresh is won­der­ful, but don’t over­look frozen or canned options with­out added sug­ars or sodi­um, espe­cial­ly when fresh isn’t prac­ti­cal or available. 

3. Be strate­gic about fat

Not all fats are cre­at­ed equal, and that’s actu­al­ly good news. You need some fat for nor­mal body func­tion. The key is choos­ing the right types. Pri­or­i­tize unsat­u­rat­ed fats from olive oil, avo­ca­do oil, nuts, seeds, avo­ca­dos, and fat­ty fish. These sup­port heart health. But sat­u­rat­ed fats found in red meat, but­ter, and full-fat dairy prod­ucts can raise your LDL (the ​“bad” cho­les­terol). When it comes to pro­tect­ing your heart, the type of fat you eat mat­ters more than the total amount. 

4. Watch where sodi­um hides

You prob­a­bly know about the 2,300 mg dai­ly lim­it for sodi­um (about a tea­spoon of salt). What’s sneaki­er is where most of that sodi­um comes from. It’s not the salt shak­er on your table. Canned soups and veg­eta­bles, processed meats like deli turkey and bacon, frozen meals, condi­ments, sauces, and restau­rant foods are the real cul­prits. Start read­ing nutri­tion labels and look for ​“low sodi­um” or ​“no salt added” ver­sions. Your taste buds will adjust faster than you think. 

5. Choose whole grains over refined carbs

Whole grains bring fiber, B vit­a­mins, iron, and oth­er nutri­ents that refined grains don’t. The lat­est dietary guide­lines make this clear: choose fiber-rich whole grains and sig­nif­i­cant­ly cut back on high­ly processed, refined car­bo­hy­drates. That means reach­ing for brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat bread and pas­ta, oat­meal, and bar­ley. Mean­while, white bread, white rice, refined flour prod­ucts, and sug­ary cere­als should move to the back of your pantry, or ide­al­ly, off your shop­ping list altogether.

6. Cut added sug­ars and high­ly processed foods

Foods loaded with added sug­ars tend to be calo­rie-dense but nutri­ent-poor. The 2025 – 2030 Dietary Guide­lines dri­ve this point home: reduce con­sump­tion of sug­ar-sweet­ened bev­er­ages, can­dy, desserts, high­ly processed snacks, and foods high in refined carbohydrates. 

Excess sug­ar con­sump­tion links direct­ly to obe­si­ty, type 2 dia­betes, and increased car­dio­vas­cu­lar risk. The new­er guide­lines empha­size eat­ing ​“real foods” in their whole, unprocessed forms when­ev­er you can. Your body knows what to do with an apple. A fruit-fla­vored snack cake with 30 ingre­di­ents? Not so much. 

What this means for you

Between 2021 and 2023, near­ly 131 mil­lion U.S. adults (almost half the pop­u­la­tion) had some form of car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­ease. But here’s what that sta­tis­tic does­n’t tell you: poor diet qual­i­ty is one of the most mod­i­fi­able risk fac­tors for heart dis­ease. The changes you make to your eat­ing habits today can sig­nif­i­cant­ly shape your car­dio­vas­cu­lar health down the road. You don’t have to over­haul every­thing overnight. Start with one or two changes that feel doable. Maybe that’s swap­ping white rice for brown rice, or keep­ing a bag of frozen veg­eta­bles on hand for quick din­ners. Small shifts add up. 

If you want per­son­al­ized guid­ance based on your spe­cif­ic health needs, a reg­is­tered dietit­ian can help you cre­ate a plan that works for your life. And talk to your pri­ma­ry care provider about your car­dio­vas­cu­lar risk fac­tors. Catch­ing prob­lems ear­ly makes all the difference. 

To learn more about your diet/​nutrition, make an appoint­ment with a reg­is­tered dietit­ian. To find a car­di­ol­o­gist near you, vis­it our depart­ment of Car­di­ol­o­gy.