By Consumer Reports
Millions of Americans take medicine for high blood pressure and cholesterol. While drugs can be an important part of managing heart health, they aren’t a substitute for a healthy diet.
Diets high in sodium and saturated fat and low in fiber are the biggest contributors to heart disease deaths. An analysis of nearly three decades of data found that a better diet could have prevented 69 percent of those deaths. By comparison, lowering blood pressure would prevent 54 percent of deaths, and lowering cholesterol, 42 percent.
Heart health is multifaceted. Although statins and high blood pressure drugs are highly effective, they target just those risk factors. What you eat can simultaneously control cholesterol, blood pressure, inflammation, weight, and even gut health, which research suggests is tied to cardiovascular disease. Research shows that pairing healthy eating with medicine doubles down on your heart protection.
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Combat Major Risk Factors with Food
Many of the following foods are multitaskers. For example, they may have cholesterol-lowering fiber, antioxidants that fight inflammation, and minerals that reduce blood pressure.
Improve cholesterol: Your body needs cholesterol, a fat-like substance, to build cells. But too much LDL or “bad” cholesterol causes plaque buildup in your arteries. These foods help you make less LDL or remove more LDL cholesterol from the body: olive oil, beans, and nuts.
Ease inflammation: Though inflammation is your body’s first line of defense against injury and infection, chronic inflammation can raise the risk for heart disease. Experts are still studying the connection, but they think inflammation worsens plaque buildup in blood vessels. These foods help you ease inflammation: fatty fish, peppers, and berries.
Lower blood pressure: When you have high blood pressure, the force of your blood flow is too high. This requires the heart to work harder and, over time, may damage the lining of blood vessels, which can cause them to narrow and become less elastic. These foods may help relax blood vessels and improve blood flow: spices and herbs, beets, and leafy greens.
*This is a condensed version of a Consumer Reports story from May 2024. Visit ConsumerReports.org for the full story.