American Heart Association Healthy Diet Guidelines

Topic Overview

The American Heart Association (AHA) publishes dietary and lifestyle recommendations for general heart health.^{footnote 1}

These recommendations are for healthy adults and children older than age 2 as well as people who already have health problems such as coronary artery disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, or heart failure.

The AHA recommends that you:

• Eat a variety of fruit and vegetable servings every day. Dark green, deep orange, or yellow fruits and vegetables are especially nutritious. Examples include spinach, carrots, peaches, and berries.
• Eat a variety of grain products every day. Include whole-grain foods that have lots of fiber and nutrients. Examples of whole grains include oats, whole wheat bread, and brown rice.
• Eat fish at least 2 times each week. Oily fish, which contain omega-3 fatty acids, are best for your heart. These fish include tuna, salmon, mackerel, lake trout, herring, and sardines.
• Stay at a healthy weight by balancing the amount of calories you eat with the activity you do every day. If you want to lose weight, increase your activity level to burn more calories than you eat.
• Eat foods low in saturated fat and trans fat. Try to choose the following foods:
  • Lean meats and meat alternatives like beans or tofu
  • Fish, vegetables, beans, and nuts
  • Nonfat and low-fat dairy products
  • Polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats, like canola and olive oils, to replace saturated fats, such as butter
• Read food labels and limit the amount of trans fat you eat. Trans fat raises the levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol and also lowers high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good") cholesterol in the blood. Trans fat is found in many processed foods made with shortening or with partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated vegetable oils. These foods include cookies, crackers, chips, and many snack foods.
• Limit sodium. Most people get far more sodium than they need. Try to limit how much sodium (salt) you eat. For good health, less is best. This is especially important for people who are at risk for or already have high blood pressure. Try to limit the amount of sodium you eat to less than 2,400 milligrams (mg) a day. If you limit your sodium to 1,500 mg a day, you can lower your blood pressure even further. And if you can't reach these goals right now, try to eat 1,000 mg less sodium a day than you are now eating.^{footnote 2}
• Limit alcohol intake to 2 drinks a day for men and 1 drink a day for women.
• Limit drinks and foods with added sugar.
• When you are eating away from home, try to follow these heart-healthy guidelines.

Special considerations include the following:

• Older people. As you age, you do not usually need to eat as many calories. Although the general dietary guidelines remain the same, older people should be careful to choose foods rich in nutrients to meet their nutritional needs without too many calories.
• Children. Children over the age of 2 can follow the AHA diet and lifestyle recommendations and maintain normal growth while lowering their risk of heart disease in the future.
• People with kidney disease. Cardiovascular disease can develop in people who lose normal function of their kidneys. If you have kidney disease, you may need to limit some nutrients including protein and sodium. For more information, see the topic Chronic Kidney Disease.

Other heart-healthy diets

These recommendations from the AHA are just one of several eating plans that help keep your heart healthy. Other heart-healthy eating plans are the DASH diet, the TLC diet, and the Mediterranean diet. You may have a hard time knowing which one might be right for you. To help you compare these eating plans, see:

• Comparing Heart-Healthy Diets (What is a PDF document?).