Maintaining a diverse and balanced diet can significantly enhance your health, both in the present and for the future. This is true not only for heart disease but also for various chronic ailments. Additionally, keeping a healthy weight can positively influence blood pressure and reduce other risk factors associated with heart disease.
What is Heart Disease?
Heart disease, also known as cardiovascular disease (CVD), encompasses a range of disorders affecting the heart and circulation. This includes coronary heart disease—manifested as angina and heart attack—as well as heart failure and stroke. A major contributor to CVD and stroke is atherosclerosis, a gradual process where fatty materials accumulate, narrowing arteries that supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart and brain. This narrowing can lead to angina, characterized by pain and discomfort in the chest.
A heart attack occurs when a blocked coronary artery prevents oxygen-rich blood from reaching the heart, causing lasting damage. Similarly, a stroke can result when a blood clot obstructs an artery supplying the brain or when a blood vessel ruptures, leading to insufficient blood flow to brain cells.
What Causes Heart Disease?
Several personal and lifestyle factors can elevate your risk of heart disease, including:
Risk factors that you can’t control:
- Family history of cardiovascular disease
- Your ethnic background
- Age – the risk of developing cardiovascular disease increases with age
- Sex – studies indicate that men may develop CVD earlier than women
What Can I Eat for a Healthy Heart?
1. Get Your 5-a-Day
A diet abundant in plant-based foods, particularly a variety of fruits and vegetables, can help lower the risk of heart disease. These foods are rich in vitamins, minerals, fibre, and other essential nutrients that contribute to reducing your risk for various illnesses. Fresh, frozen, chilled, canned, or dried fruits and vegetables, along with beans, pulses, and 100% unsweetened juice (not from concentrate), all count. Aim for a minimum of five portions a day.
One reason fruits and vegetables are particularly beneficial is their high content of antioxidants and potassium, which can help manage blood pressure and regulate heart rhythm. Additionally, they contain folate, important for blood cell formation and regulating the levels of a compound called homocysteine. Evidence is increasing that elevated homocysteine levels may correlate with a higher risk of CVD.
You can achieve your five-a-day in a single meal with our 5-a-day recipes.
2. Choose Your Fat Wisely
Saturated fat has faced considerable scrutiny, historically linked to cardiovascular disease. Foods like red meat, butter, cheese, and processed meats contain high levels of saturated fat.
Recent studies, however, suggest that the relationship is more nuanced than previously thought. Some saturated fats, particularly those from certain dairy products like cheese, might have a neutral or even positive effect on heart health. The presence of other beneficial nutrients, such as calcium or the fermentation process, may also alter the impact of saturated fats.
Nonetheless, the advice remains to keep saturated fat intake within Reference Intakes (RI) and prioritize heart-friendly fats. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, and oily fish are excellent options.
Enjoy healthy unsaturated fats with recipes like avocado salad, broccoli lemon chicken with cashews, carrot pilaf with coriander chutney, and tomato penne with avocado.
3. Heart-Healthy Fish
According to guidelines, it is recommended to consume at least two portions of fish each week, with a preference for oily varieties such as herring, mackerel, pilchards, sardines, salmon, and trout. These fish provide excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which may help lower blood triglyceride levels.
For delicious heart-healthy meals, consider trying salmon salad, grilled mackerel with soy, lime & ginger, or zingy salmon with brown rice salad.
If you have a fish allergy or prefer not to consume fish, there are vegetarian sources of omega-3 fats, including flax seeds, chia seeds, rapeseed oil, and walnuts. However, the omega-3s from these plant sources are less potent, so regular consumption is key.
4. Fill Up on Fibre
Fibre is beneficial for reducing blood pressure and the amount of cholesterol absorbed in the bloodstream. Foods high in soluble fibre, like porridge oats, barley, beans, pulses, lentils, fruits, and vegetables, can help manage cholesterol levels.
A high-fibre diet also promotes satiety, making you less likely to indulge in sugary snacks.
Start your day with a wholesome high-fibre muesli, raspberry kefir overnight oats, avocado & black bean eggs, or feta & roasted tomato shakshuka.
5. Be Salt Savvy
In the UK, the average salt intake exceeds the recommended limit—adults should aim for no more than six grams per day. Excessive salt consumption is linked to high blood pressure, particularly in salt-sensitive individuals.
Notably, up to 80% of the salt we consume comes from processed foods such as canned items, instant noodles, sauces, and salty snacks. Everyday staples like bread and breakfast cereals also contribute significantly.
To lower your salt intake, get in the habit of reading labels, which will guide you in making lower-salt choices. Discover more about how diet adjustments can help.
Explore our collection of low-salt recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
6. Ditch the Ultra-Processed Foods
Often high in saturated fat, salt, and sugar, ultra-processed foods have been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly in middle-aged individuals.
To mitigate this risk, try cooking from scratch more frequently, using whole, fresh, and preferably seasonal ingredients. Batch cooking can be especially useful, ensuring you always have healthy meals ready and reducing the temptation to opt for takeaways or convenience foods.
Avoid last-minute meals by exploring our top batch-cooking recipes.
7. Go Easy on the Alcohol
According to UK guidelines, it is recommended to limit alcohol consumption to no more than 14 units per week, ideally distributed over at least three days. This equates to roughly six medium (175ml) glasses of wine or six pints of 4% beer.
Keeping within these limits is essential to avoid binge drinking. Additionally, because alcohol is calorie-dense, even modest amounts can lead to increased appetite and potential weight gain. While no drinking level is entirely safe, adhering to these guidelines can help minimize health risks.
For more insights into healthy drinking habits, visit drinkaware.co.uk.
For More Information:
The British Heart Foundation
The Stroke Association
Diabetes UK
Additional Ways to Maintain Heart Health:
Healthy recipes approved by The British Heart Foundation
What to Eat for a Healthy Heart
Top 10 Tips for a Healthy Heart
Heart-Healthy Portions
More Health and Nutrition Tips
Kerry Torrens BSc. (Hons) PgCert MBANT is a registered nutritionist with a postgraduate diploma in personalized nutrition and nutritional therapy. She is a member of the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) and the Guild of Food Writers. Over the last 15 years, she has contributed to various nutritional and culinary publications, including BBC Good Food. Follow her on Instagram at @kerry_torrens_nutrition_
Jo Lewin is a registered nutritionist (RNutr) specializing in public health through the Association for Nutrition. You can find her on Twitter at @nutri_jo.
All health content on bbcgoodfood.com is for general informational purposes only and should not substitute for the professional advice of your doctor or other health care providers. For any health concerns, please consult your local health care provider. For more details, see our terms and conditions.
