Eat your heart out, baby.
Or at least eat for your heart. While being overweight puts people at risk for heart disease and stroke, a heart-healthy diet can help you lose weight or lower cholesterol, blood pressure or triglycerides. According to experts who rated 40 diets for U.S. News, these are the best diets for your heart:
#12 (tie) Anti-Inflammatory Diet
The Anti-Inflammatory Diet, which is based on the heart-healthy principles of the Mediterranean diet, reflects creator Andrew Weil’s belief that certain foods cause or combat systemic inflammation. According to the American Heart Association, inflammation is not a proven cause of cardiovascular disease, but it is common among heart disease patients. Plus, the program emphasizes a steady supply of omega-3 fatty acids, which research suggests protect against heart disease.
#12 (tie) Volumetrics Diet
Turns out, foods that fill your belly before you get a chance to overeat — which are a focus of the Volumetrics diet — are also heart healthy. Since the eating pattern emphasizes fruits, vegetables and whole grains while limiting saturated fat and salt, it can keep cholesterol and blood pressure in check and heart disease at bay. Research has also linked eating so-called low-density foods (chicken broth instead of chowder and broccoli instead of french fries, for example) with weight loss, which is also associated with better heart health.
#10 (tie) Nutritarian Diet
Like the Volumetrics diet, the Nutritarian diet emphasizes plant-based foods that are rich in nutrients, high in satiation and low in calories. So it makes sense the plan, developed by Nutritional Research Foundation president Dr. Joel Fuhrman, also ranks high in heart health among experts. Another heart-healthy feature of the diet is its opposition to animal proteins, which robust research has linked to an increased risk of heart disease-related deaths when it constitutes a relatively large portion of the diet. But beware: The plan may be too restrictive to keep up long term — unless you “really like green salads,” one expert says.
#10 (tie) Mayo Clinic Diet
Experts agree the Mayo Clinic Diet is a sound option for preventing or controlling heart problems. It focuses on coaching dieters to develop healthy, lasting habits around which foods they choose to eat and which to avoid. Plus, it reflects the medical community’s widely accepted definition of a heart-healthy diet: heavy on fruit, veggies and whole grains but light on saturated fat and salt.
#9 Vegetarian Diet
A vegetarian diet has the potential to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to experts, as long as vegetarians don’t load up on starches, full-fat dairy and processed foods. “There is research to suggest that people who follow a vegetarian diet have a lower risk of heart disease, but … we cannot show cause and effect,” one expert panelist says. Still, if you take a well-informed approach (choosing, say, lentil salad and almond milk over grilled cheese and soda), a vegetarian plan is a good bet for heart-conscious dieters, especially those who don’t have the heart to eat animals anyway.
#8 Engine 2 Diet
This low-fat, “plant strong” diet was created by Rip Esselstyn, a firefighter, former professional athlete and medical scion. It’s thought to prevent and often reverse diseases, like heart disease, caused by the so-called standard American diet and should also help keep cholesterol and blood pressure in check. If you adopt the Engine 2 Diet, you’ll load up on fruit, vegetables and whole grains and slash all animal products, processed foods and vegetable oils from your diet.
#5 (tie) MIND Diet
This plan is a mashup of two other expert-endorsed diets — DASH and Mediterranean — and zeroes in on the foods in each that specifically affect brain health (think green leafy vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and wine). Turns out, the heart likes the same foods, studies show. A downfall of the MIND diet: Physical activity, proven important for heart health, is not addressed in the plan, some experts pointed out.
#5 (tie) Vegan Diet
Veganism earned high marks for its potential to boost cardiovascular health. It emphasizes the right foods — fruit, veggies and whole grains — while steering dieters away from meat, dairy and salty, processed choices. In a 12-year study that compared 6,000 vegetarians with 5,000 meat-eaters, for example, researchers found that the vegans in the group had a 57 percent lower risk of ischemic heart disease than the meat eaters. (The condition involves reduced heart pumping due to coronary artery disease and often leads to heart failure.) Just keep in mind that vegans may need to take supplements to get some heart-protective nutrients like the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish.
#5 (tie) Flexitarian Diet
Flexitarian is a marriage of two words: flexible and vegetarian. The plan revolves around the idea that you don’t have to eliminate meat completely to reap the health benefits associated with vegetarianism; an occasional burger is OK. One large 2015 study of more than 450,000 Europeans found that those who ate a diet of at least 70 percent plant-based foods had a 20 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than those who were least “pro-vegetarian.” Earlier research suggests a semi-vegetarian diet also helps promote healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels. As a bonus, it’s good for the environment, one reviewer pointed out.
#4 TLC Diet
The Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet, created by the National Institutes of Health’s National Cholesterol Education Program, claims to lower “bad” LDL cholesterol by 8 to 10 percent in six weeks. Research concurs: In one Journal of Lipid Research study, participants who shifted from a typical American diet to the TLC Diet reduced their LDL cholesterol by 11 percent after 32 days. No matter your aim, the diet is “very healthy and safe for all individuals,” one expert said.
#2 (tie) The Ornish Diet
This rules-heavy plan had ranked No. 1 for heart health for seven consecutive years, but this year it’s tied for second place. Followers adhere to a strict regimen: Only 10 percent of calories can come from fat, very little of it saturated, and most foods with any cholesterol or refined carbohydrates, oils, excessive caffeine and nearly all animal products are banned. Research suggests the Ornish Diet, combined with stress-management techniques, exercise, social support and smoking cessation, could actually reverse heart disease.
#2 (tie) Mediterranean Diet
What can’t this eating style do? The Mediterranean diet has been associated with a decreased risk for heart disease, and it’s also been shown to reduce blood pressure and “bad” LDL cholesterol. One 2015 study even showed that Italian vegans, vegetarians and others who followed a mostly Mediterranean diet had more short-chain fatty acids, which are linked to a lower risk of heart disease. Since the approach largely shuns saturated fat (which contributes to high cholesterol) and includes healthier mono- and polyunsaturated fats in moderation (which can reduce cholesterol), you’ll do your heart a favor by following it.
#1 DASH Diet
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension program, or DASH, was created to help control high blood pressure — and it works. One expert called it “by far the best with data to back up lowering hypertension.” Indeed, extensive research suggests it’s an optimal choice if you want to lower your blood pressure as well as improve other markers of cardiovascular health. If you adopt the diet, you’ll emphasize the foods you’ve always been told to eat (fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean protein and low-fat dairy), while shunning those we’ve grown to love (calorie- and fat-laden sweets and red meat).
More from U.S. News
How to Make Healthful Dietary Changes Last a Lifetime
The Best Foods for Lowering Your Blood Pressure
The 40 Easiest Diets to Follow
The 13 Best Diets for Your Heart originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 01/03/18: This story has been updated to reflect the 2018 Best Diets rankings.
