What Are the Best Diets for Heart Health?
The American Heart Association (AHA) scored 10 popular diets based on how well the eating patterns align with the association’s guidelines on eating for heart health. The recommendations, published Thursday in the AHA’s journal, Circulation, debunked misinformation about restrictive fad diets that scored the lowest when it came to heart health.
Diet trends like keto and paleo plans, which may restrict carbs and emphasize protein without considering saturated fat, have exploded in number in recent years. Social media has exacerbated both the diets and misinformation about their health benefits, the authors of the AHA statement noted.
“The public — and even many healthcare professionals — may rightfully be confused about heart-healthy eating, and they may feel that they don’t have the time or the training to evaluate the different diets. We hope this statement serves as a tool for clinicians and the public to understand which diets promote good cardiometabolic health,” Christopher Gardner, PhD, the Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine at Stanford University in California, and one of the experts who drafted the recommendations, said in an AHA press release.
Excerpted from Everyday Health
