Updated AHA dietary guidance encourages intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains
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The American Heart Association has published an updated dietary guidance that outlines 10 recommendations for improving diet quality and cardiometabolic health in the U.S.
The guidance encourages consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean and high-fiber protein and liquid non-tropical plant oils and discourages consumption of ultra-processed foods, red meat, added sugars and high amounts of salt.
According to the statement published in Circulation, the recommendations supersede the 2006 AHA scientific statement on diet and lifestyle.
“We can all benefit from a heart-healthy dietary pattern regardless of stage of life, and it is possible to design one that is consistent with personal preferences, lifestyles and cultural customs. It does not need to be complicated, time-consuming, expensive or unappealing,” Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, FAHA, senior scientist and director of the cardiovascular nutrition team at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University and chair of the statement writing committee, said in a press release. “You can absolutely adapt a heart-healthy diet to different lifestyles ... including one that incorporates eating out at restaurants. It might take a little planning; however, after the first few times, it can become routine.”
According to the statement, poor diet is the leading risk factor for death from major noncommunicable diseases in the U.S.
The committee cited a review published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics stating that improved diet quality scores were associated with lower risk for CVD, all-cause or CV death, cancer, type 2 diabetes and cognitive decline.
Updated recommendations
The writing committee offered the following 10 recommendations to improve cardiometabolic health:
- Balance food and calorie intake with physical activity.
- Choose a variety and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables rather than relying on supplements for adequate nutrition.
- Choose whole grain foods and foods made up mostly of whole grains.
- Include healthy sources of lean and/or high-fiber protein such as plant proteins, seafood, low fat or non-fat dairy and lean meat and limit intake of red and processed meat.
- Use liquid non-tropical plant oils such as olive or sunflower oils.
- Choose minimally processed foods instead of ultra-processed foods.
- Reduce intake of foods and beverages with added sugars.
- Choose or prepare foods with little or no salt.
- Limit alcohol consumption.
- Apply this guidance no matter where food is prepared or consumed.
“The food environment has a substantial influence on people’s food choices, diet quality, and subsequently cardiometabolic health at many levels, making it difficult for many Americans to consume heart-healthy diets,” the authors wrote. “In the background of rampant nutrition misinformation are numerous systemic federal, state, and local practices and policies that impede the adoption of heart-healthy dietary patterns.”
Barriers to cardiometabolic health
According to the statement, barriers to eating a heart-healthy diet include targeted marketing of unhealthy foods, structural racism, neighborhood segregation and food insecurity.
“Improving diet quality and related chronic health conditions across all populations will require addressing these upstream systemic problems, in particular, among people of underrepresented races and ethnicities,” the authors wrote. “An important adjuvant approach alongside widespread environmental changes is to directly combat nutrition misinformation among the public and health care professionals. Reintroduction of food and nutrition education in curricula for K-12, and medical school, as well, may facilitate these efforts.”
With the goal of improving diet quality and nutrition among Americans, the NIH initiated its 2020 to 2030 Strategic Plan for NIH Nutrition Research to evaluate the impact on cardiometabolic health of what, why, when and how individuals eat. According to the statement, the plan could inform the development of clinical strategies to improve dietary intake and health.
“Multilevel precision nutrition strategies could help reduce socioeconomic and racial and ethnic disparities in dietary intake and cardiovascular disease outcomes,” the authors wrote. “However, although precision nutrition has future potential to provide personalized diets for CVD prevention, the field is still developing. Hence, the current focus on public health nutrition strategies to improve the food environment is warranted.”
References:
- Morze J, et al. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2020;doi:10.1016/j.jand.2020.08.076.
- New look at nutrition research identifies 10 features of a heart-healthy eating pattern. newsroom.heart.org/news/new-look-at-nutrition-research-identifies-10-features-of-a-heart-healthy-eating-pattern. Published Nov. 2, 2021. Accessed Nov. 2, 2021.
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