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Tag: heart healthy

By Margaret R. McLean

The 10 Best Diets for Better Heart Health, Ranked by Cardiologists

Surprise! The Mediterranean diet falls in the third slot. Learn about the top two diets, plus the other fads that don’t quite make the grade.

Ali Redmond

Ali Redmond

Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RD

The Mediterranean diet is often applauded as one of the best diets for overall health. It is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and seafood and legumes and light on dairy and meat (and, as a result, low in saturated fat, too, which is a topic still up for debate in the heart-health world). It’s a heart-smart way to eat, and can be beneficial in many other areas of health as well. Mediterranean dieters also tend to have lower risk for certain cancers, cognitive decline, type 2 diabetes and more.

Circling back to heart disease risk, the Mediterranean diet tied for first in the U.S. News and World Report‘s 2022 rankings for the best diets for heart health, but a surprising new victor came out on top in 2023. That 2023 best diet for heart health also earned a gold medal in a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association, published April 27, 2023, in its journal Circulation. The U.S. News and World Report health panel and AHA cardiologists now agree that the DASH diet (which is short for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) appears to be the best diet for heart health.

Read on to learn more about what makes DASH such a heart-smart eating style, then study up on how nine other popular diets ranked in the evidence-based analysis by AHA professionals.

Related:What’s Better for Heart Health: Cardio or Strength Training? Here’s What Research Says

What This Heart Health Study Found

If you’ve scrolled through TikTok lately, chances are high that you’ve been

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By Margaret R. McLean

The best (and worst) diets for heart health, according to the American Heart Association

From paleo to pescatarian, there’s a seemingly endless list of diets to choose from. But which are the most heart-healthy?

In a statement released Thursday, the American Heart Association rated 10 popular diets based on their standards for heart health.

The diets that rated the best for improving cardiometabolic health included the DASH-style eating plan, the Mediterranean diet, pescatarian and vegetarian. Meanwhile, paleo and ketogenic diets were found to contradict the association’s guidance and did not rank as heart-healthy eating patterns.

“The number of different, popular dietary patterns has proliferated in recent years, and the amount of misinformation about them on social media has reached critical levels,” Christopher D. Gardner, chair of the writing committee for the statement and the Rehnborg Farquhar professor of medicine at Stanford University, said in a press release. 

“The public – and even many health care professionals – may rightfully be confused about heart-healthy eating, and they may feel that they don’t have the time or the training to evaluate the different diets.” he said. “We hope this statement serves as a tool for clinicians and the public to understand which diets support good cardiometabolic health.”

The DASH-style eating plan, which stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension,” received a perfect score from the analysis thanks to its emphasis on being low in salt, added sugar, alcohol, tropical oils and processed foods as well as being rich in non-starchy vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes. Protien also tends to be mostly from plant sources along with fish, lean meats and low- or fat-free dairy products.

The Mediterranean diet, patterned on the traditional cuisines of the region, emphasizes fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, legumes, nuts and whole grains. It ranked below DASH since it doesn’t “explicitly address added salt

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By Margaret R. McLean

Riverfront Museum, Peoria nonprofit partner to fight food insecurity

Peoria Grown workds to address the issue of food insecurity in the Peoria area, with an emphasis on locally grown foods and fresh produce. (Photo courtesy of Peoria Grown)

The Peoria Riverfront Museum is partnering with Peoria Grown to help residents get hands-on with their health.

The museum is hosting a Peoria Grown Pop-Up on Saturday, May 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. on the sun plaza, 222 SW Washington St.

The event is intended for the whole family, with live food demos, activities and challenges to improve individual and community wellness awareness.

Try an array of culturally diverse fruits and vegetables to fill a food passport. Participants can get their heart pumping with a dance party led by Studio Z.

Licensed dieticians will be on hand to answer questions and talk with individuals about healthy eating habits.

Peoria Grown is partnering with the Peoria Riverfront Museum for special events throughout the summer, planning heart-healthy events in conjunction with the Body Worlds RX exhibit at the museum, which opened May 13.

For more information on these events, visit RiverfrontMuseum.org.

The museum and Peoria Grown are looking for volunteers of all ages to help at one of these heart-healthy events. They will take place on the fourth Saturday of each month. See the dates and ages groups below:

May 27 — elementary students

June 24 — high school/college students

July 22 — senior adults 65 and older

Aug. 26 — open to all ages.

To sign up to volunteer, go to www.flipcause.com.

Peoria Grown was founded in 2018 with a mission is to address food insecurity issues through improved coordination of resources; access to affordable, healthy food with an emphasis on fresh produce; and education on nutrition and making healthy food choices.

The organization looks to address the

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By Margaret R. McLean

How 10 Popular Eating Plans Rank, According to Cardiologists

<p>Getty Images / miniseries</p>

Getty Images / miniseries

Fact checked by Nick Blackmer

  • A new review analyzed 10 of the most popular diets regarding their heart health benefits—only one received a perfect score.

  • Diets that focused on plant-based protein, fish, and lean meats as main protein sources were ranked higher than diets that included more red meat.

  • Experts recommend finding a diet that is healthy and sustainable to keep up; a diet you cannot stick with won’t get you very far, no matter what health goals you’re striving toward.

A new study analyzed 10 of the most popular diets regarding heart health benefits—one diet received a perfect score, with the subsequent nine ranging in benefit levels.

A different diet is trending almost daily, but if you’re looking to improve your heart health, which one do you choose? The internet and social media are full of misinformation that is confusing for consumers and patients.

A significant source of confusion among different dietary patterns is the distribution of the three macronutrients, protein, carbohydrates, and fat.

Certain diets—such as the Mediterranean diet—are high in fat, while others are significantly lower in fat and higher in carbohydrates. Some popularized diets exclude major food groups. The Paleo diet excludes dairy and the ketogenic diet excludes almost all carbohydrate sources. The question becomes about diet sustainability and what factors in these diets actually contribute to cardiometabolic health.

But the recent study, published in Circulation, a scientific journal from the American Heart Association [AHA], analyzed 10 of the most popular diets to see how they stack up when it comes to protecting your heart. The results might surprise you.

<p>Getty Images / miniseries</p>

Getty Images / miniseries

Comparing Diets

The study authors used the 2021 AHA Dietary Guidance as a set of criteria for heart-healthy diets that promote cardiometabolic health. They then examined

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