The Best Diets After a Heart Attack: Exploring Heart-Healthy Foods

For many people, a heart attack feels like a wake-up call to pay attention to their health. And a healthy diet can be one of the best ways to help your heart recover, and prevent future heart attacks. Diet has a big impact on many risk factors for heart disease, such as weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar. 

If you’ve had a heart attack or have a diagnosis of heart disease, consider dietary changes. A healthy diet can not only help prevent any worsening of your condition, but it can also help prevent many other chronic conditions and complications related to heart disease.

What kind of diets are best for people who have had a heart attack?

To understand the best diet to have after a heart attack, let’s back up and review what causes a heart attack. Most heart attacks occur because of a condition called coronary artery disease. This is when there’s a buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart. This fatty buildup can narrow and even entirely obstruct the blood flow through an artery, causing a heart attack.

People with heart disease have many options for dietary changes to improve their heart health. But before explaining some of the more specific heart-healthy diets, keep in mind that every person is different. It’s more important to develop eating habits that work best for you and your lifestyle than to follow a specific diet. Food is not just a way to take care of yourself and stay healthy, but also an essential part of enjoying life and connecting with your culture and community.

Plant-based diet

A plant-based diet focuses on foods from plants, including fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, beans, and legumes. A healthy plant-based diet maximizes consumption of these nutrient-dense plant foods while minimizing processed foods, unhealthy oils, and animal products. This diet is often about increasing plant-based foods, rather than strictly limiting or fully eliminating animal products.

Vegetarian diets and vegan diets are stricter versions of the plant-based diet. Vegetarian diets don’t include meat, poultry, or seafood. Vegan diets exclude all meat and animal products like dairy, butter, and eggs.

Two well-studied plant-focused diets include the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet.

Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet refers to an eating style that reflects the food choices and practices common in Mediterranean countries like Greece, Italy, and Spain. This diet is often rich in vegetables and healthy oils. Researchers have found that following this diet can help prevent heart disease and reduce risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension (high blood pressure). Some evidence even suggests the diet, high in olive oil, may remove excess cholesterol. 

Even though the term Mediterranean makes it sound like this diet is limited to certain foods or cultural practices, it can really be adapted to many different food preferences and preparations. It’s more about eating whole, plant-based foods. These include:

• Abundant vegetables

• Fresh fruit

• Healthy fats from olive oil, seeds, and nuts

• Low to moderate amounts of dairy products, fish, and poultry

• Low amounts of red meat and eggs  

DASH diet

The DASH diet stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.” It’s a diet that’s rich in plant-based foods, and low in sodium (salt) and saturated fats. It specifically targets lifestyle changes to decrease high blood pressure, a significant risk factor for heart attacks. The first publication to highlight the DASH diet showed that the diet can significantly lower blood pressure.

The DASH diet is goal-based and includes different serving sizes of various food groups depending on your overall caloric needs. The DASH diet focuses on nutrient-rich foods, particularly foods high in minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, and calcium, and limiting sodium and unhealthy fats.

Heart-healthy foods to add to your diet

If you’re not sure where to start, Harvard’s healthy eating plate is a helpful tool and illustrates how to structure each meal. It recommends that vegetables and fruits be the largest part of your meal, with accompanying smaller servings of whole grains and healthy protein sources. 

Here are some heart-healthy foods to consider adding to your diet:

• Leafy greens and other fresh vegetables

• Whole grains with no added sugar, such as oatmeal, brown rice, barley, whole wheat

• Fresh fruits 

• Leaner meats, such as seafood, chicken, or turkey breast

• Foods high in unsaturated fats, such as olive oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds

Foods to avoid after a heart attack

When considering which foods you want to avoid, keep in mind that no one food will cause poor heart health. It’s still important to enjoy what you eat, and incorporate moderation into your diet. But if possible, you should limit the following foods.

Highly processed meats

Processed meat is a general term that refers to meat that’s salted, cured, or smoked. This is to preserve it, or increase the flavor. Research has shown that processed meats can be harmful to heart health. A recent study showed that two servings per week of red or processed meat lead to a 3% to 7% higher risk of heart disease.

Examples of highly processed meats include:

• Cured bacon

• Hot dogs

• Beef jerky

• Pepperoni

Certain types of fats

There are four types of dietary fat: saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and trans fat. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are good for your heart. Saturated and trans fats are harmful to your heart. And research has shown that replacing these fats with unsaturated fat sources — like vegetable oils and fatty fish — reduces heart disease.

Examples of saturated fats to limit are:

• Pork

• Fatty beef

• Chicken or turkey with skin

• Cheese

• Butter or lard

• Cream

Examples of trans fats to limit are:

• Fried foods (anything from doughnuts to french fries and fried meats)

• Baked goods (cakes, pie crusts, cookies, crackers)

• Frozen or refrigerated doughs (pizza, rolls, biscuits)

• Any product that contains margarine or shortening

Ultra-processed food products 

Ultra-processed food refers to food far removed from its natural state. These foods usually have high sugar and sodium content and often lack nutrients. Research has found that eating ultra-processed food can put you at a higher risk of heart disease.

Examples of ultra-processed foods to limit are:

• Soda and energy drinks

• Packaged snacks like potato chips

• Packaged sweets like cookies 

• Candy 

• Ice cream

• Ready to heat (pre-prepared) food like pizza

Sample menu for heart-healthy eating

There are countless ways you can incorporate heart-healthy foods into your favorite dishes and meals. You don’t need to follow a specific diet or recipe — experiment with different foods and combinations to see what you like. But if you’re looking for a few examples to get you started, here are some sample menus.

Breakfast

Option 1: Oatmeal or yogurt with fruits and nuts

• Start with a bowl of plain oatmeal or yogurt.

• Mix in fresh fruit (berries are especially rich in nutrients).

• Top with nuts for added texture and protein (walnuts, almonds, chia seeds, and flax seeds are great heart-healthy options).

Option 2: Eggs

• Prepare eggs or egg whites to your liking.

• If using a frying pan, try to use olive oil or avocado oil instead of butter.

• Turn it into an omelet using your favorite vegetables. Or you can top with fresh tomato and avocado.

Lunch

Option 1: Easy salad

• Start with any leafy green.

• Add in fresh vegetables of your choice (tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, peppers are usually easy to find and chop).

• Roasted vegetables also make a great addition (like sweet potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, beets, squash) and can be an easy way to use leftovers.

• Add in some plant-based protein (like nuts, beans, or legumes).

• You can also top with animal protein like salmon or chicken (another great way to use leftovers).

• Dress with olive oil and vinegar.

Option 2: A heart-healthy sandwich

• Start with whole grain bread or wrap.

• Good lean protein options include chicken or tuna.

• If you’re looking for plant-based options, tofu and even mushrooms make for good ‘meaty’ plant-based options.

• Add in some fresh veggies like lettuce, tomatoes, onions, or sprouts.

• If you like a condiment, mustard is a better option than mayonnaise. And you can make chicken or tuna salad with a healthy oil instead of mayonnaise. Hummus can also make a surprisingly good condiment, especially for a veggie sandwich. 

Dinner

Option 1: A simple protein, vegetable, and starch

• Roast fish or poultry.

• While you have the oven fired up, pair with a roasted vegetable (some options are broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, brussel sprouts).

• You can also use the oven to make a baked potato or sweet potato.

• Other good starch options include corn, peas, or squash.

• Consider making a little extra to incorporate into next day’s meals. 

Option 2: A heart-healthy pasta

• Try swapping out traditional pasta noodles for whole wheat pasta or vegetable-based noodles (like zucchini or squash noodles, or lentil-based noodles).

• Mix in fresh or cooked vegetables (popular options include tomatoes, onions, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, broccoli, peas, asparagus).

• Instead of a cream sauce, opt for a red sauce or even just some olive oil.

• Top with cooked chicken or shrimp if you’re looking for extra protein.

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Written by:

Zach Gossman, MS, RD, CDN

Zach Gossman is a registered dietitian in New York City. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in biology, Zach pursued neuroscience research at the Cleveland Clinic, studying the cellular/molecular events involved in glial cell development.

Edited by:

Katie E. Golden, MD

Katie E. Golden, MD, is a board-certified emergency medicine physician and a medical editor at GoodRx.

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