New 9-step dietary guidelines released by American Heart Association
The American Heart Association has advised residents to eat a wide variety of vegetables, prioritise unsaturated fat sources, and minimise added sugar intake in its new nine-step health guide.
Hot on the heels of the new US Dietary Guidelines - unveiled by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy in January - comes the Nine-Step Heart-Healthy Diet Guidance For 2026.
The sweeping update, published in the Circulation journal, is designed to supersede the AHA’s 2021 ‘Dietary Guidance to Improve Cardiovascular Health: A Scientific Statement’.
As per the document’s abstract, poor diet quality is ‘strongly associated with elevated cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality risk’.
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“This American Heart Association scientific statement for food-based cardiovascular health optimisation and cardiovascular disease risk reduction guidance summarises available evidence and provides contextual guidance for the key features of heart-healthy dietary patterns,” it continued.
The updated guidelines, which lay out nine concrete features of a heart-protective diet, are designed to help maintain ‘cardiovascular health throughout the life course’.
It comes amid worrying statistics that heart disease claims a life every 33 seconds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
1. Maintain a healthy body weight
According to the AHA, ‘preserving a healthy body weight across the life course is central to optimising cardiovascular health’.
As excess body fat contributes to the development of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular-kidney metabolic syndrome, it’s advised that Americans should address their energy intake and expenditure to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight
Diets such as the Mediterranean, as well as DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) and pescatarian, are lauded for being ‘aligned with achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight’.
2. Consume a wide variety of fruits and vegetables
Veggies and fruits which are whole, minimally processed, and don’t contain any added sugars or sodium have been given a green tick by the AHA.
By eating a wide variety, you’re likely to be able to control blood lipids and blood pressure alongside consuming enough dietary fibre.
Studies have previously found that consuming at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
3. Whole grains over refined grains
Wholegrains such as wheat, oats, brown rice, quinoa, barley, and rye should be prioritised over refined grains, the health experts stated.
This is because those who consume whole-grain foods regularly are likely to have a lower risk of developing coronary heart disease and metabolic syndrome.
Refined grains, like white bread, pastries, crackers, and cakes, should be consumed less frequently.
4. Prioritise heart-healthy protein sources
Your protein intake shouldn’t start and stop with meat, according to the AHA.
The experts have advised shifting focus to plant-based protein sources, such as legumes and nuts, alongside regularly consuming non-fried fish and seafood.
Lean cuts of unprocessed meat, including poultry, are favoured over red meat, which should be limited in both frequency and portion size.
5. Unsaturated fat vs saturated fat
Despite RFK Jr. vowing to ‘end the war on saturated fats’, the AHA advises replacing products like beef tallow and coconut oil with plant oils and spreads containing predominantly unsaturated fat.
This is because studies have shown that the items may decrease low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations.
Nuts, seeds, olive oil, and fatty fish like mackerel are all popular types of unsaturated fat.
6. Ditch the ultraprocessed foods
The AHA and Dietary Guidelines are aligned when it comes to how detrimental ultraprocessed foods are to Americans’ health.
Not only do they include high levels of sodium, added sugars, and preservatives, but some ultraprocessed foods have healthful components such as fibre and nutrients removed, the nine-step guide stated.
Popular ultraprocessed foods include frozen ready meals, sausages, packaged snacks like chocolate and crisps, and carbonated soft drinks.
Instead, the AHA advised reaching for minimally processed foods; items slightly altered for safety, storage, and convenience.
These products tend to be richer in fibre, protein and water — all things that naturally help your body regulate hunger, as per the University of Kentucky.
Some examples of foods with minimal processing are: frozen and canned vegetables, fresh yoghurt, home-popped popcorn, and nuts.
7. Stay away from added sugars
Added sugars are usually found in processed foods and beverages. Consuming too much can raise blood pressure and increase chronic inflammation, as per Harvard Health.
The AHA writes that dietary patterns high in added sugars are ‘consistently associated with adverse cardiovascular health’, while sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with a higher risk of obesity.
8. Reduce salt intake
The Nutrition Source confirmed that humans need to consume a small amount of sodium to conduct nerve impulses, contract and relax muscles, and maintain the proper balance of water and minerals.
But it’s very easy to have too much of a good thing, with guidelines suggesting eating now more than 2,300 mg a day.
By reducing your salt intake, you’re less likely to have high blood pressure and lower your risk of ill-health.
9. Limit or stop drinking alcohol
The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously stated that there is no safe amount of alcohol that you can consume.
New guidelines from AHA say that you shouldn’t start drinking booze if you don’t already consume it, and that if you do, it should be dramatically limited.
Binge drinking and heavy drinking is strongly discouraged, while the ‘initiation of alcohol intake at any level to improve cardiovascular health is not recommended’.
Ella Scott