22 Best Foods for a Healthy Heart: Simple 2026 Guide

Why the Full Heart Healthy Eating Pattern Matters

If you came here looking for the best 20 foods for a healthy heart, this updated guide gives you 22 practical choices.

But the number is not the main lesson.

The 2026 American Heart Association guidance says to focus on a heart-healthy diet across the whole day and across your life.

A strong pattern includes:

• many vegetables and fruits
• whole grains more often than refined grains
• healthy sources of protein
• unsaturated fats in place of foods rich in saturated fat
• more minimally processed foods
• less added sugar
• less sodium
• enough food to support a healthy body weight

Both the DASH eating plan and a Mediterranean-style diet can fit these ideas.

For the full prevention picture, read Heart Health 101.

22 Best Foods for a Healthy Heart

1. Leafy Greens

Spinach, kale, collard greens, and similar vegetables give you fibre, folate, potassium, and many plant nutrients.

Easy use: Add spinach to eggs, soup, beans, or a simple salad.

2. Broccoli and Other Cruciferous Vegetables

Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts give you fibre, vitamins, and plant compounds.

Easy use: Roast broccoli with a small amount of olive oil and herbs.

3. Tomatoes

Tomatoes provide potassium, vitamin C, and lycopene. They fit well in a plant-rich eating pattern.

Easy use: Add fresh or no-salt-added tomatoes to salads, beans, or whole grain meals.

4. Berries

Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries give you fibre and many natural plant compounds.

Easy use: Add berries to oats or plain yogurt.

5. Oranges and Other Citrus Fruit

Whole oranges give you vitamin C, potassium, water, and fibre.

Whole fruit is usually a better everyday choice than juice because it keeps the fibre.

Easy use: Eat one orange with breakfast or as a snack.

6. Apples and Pears

Apples and pears are simple sources of fibre and can replace sweets or heavily processed snacks.

Easy use: Pair an apple with a small handful of unsalted nuts.

7. Oats

Oats are a whole grain rich in beta-glucan, a type of soluble fibre.

Soluble fibre can help support healthy cholesterol levels.

Easy use: Make oatmeal with berries, cinnamon, and walnuts.

8. Barley

Barley is another whole grain that provides beta-glucan and fibre.

Easy use: Add barley to vegetable soup or use it instead of refined grains.

9. Brown Rice, Quinoa, and Whole Grain Bread

These foods help you replace refined grains with whole grains.

Easy use: Swap white rice for brown rice or quinoa a few times each week.

10. Beans

Black beans, kidney beans, navy beans, and other beans give you plant protein, soluble fiber, potassium, and magnesium.

Easy use: Add beans to soup, salad, tacos, or grain bowls.

11. Lentils

Lentils are rich in plant protein and fiber. They cook quickly and work well in simple meals.

Easy use: Make lentil soup or mix cooked lentils with vegetables.

12. Chickpeas

Chickpeas provide fiber and plant protein. They can help replace some meals based on processed or fatty meat.

Easy use: Add chickpeas to salads or make hummus with little added salt.

13. Walnuts

Walnuts provide healthy fats, fiber, and plant omega 3 fat called ALA.

Easy use: Add a small handful to oats or yogurt.

14. Almonds

Almonds give you unsaturated fat, fiber, magnesium, and plant protein.

Choose unsalted nuts most often.

Easy use: Use almonds as a simple snack instead of chips or sweets.

15. Chia Seeds and Ground Flaxseed

These seeds provide fibre and unsaturated fat. They also give you plant omega-3 fat.

Easy use: Add a spoonful to oats, yogurt, or a smoothie.

16. Salmon

Salmon is a good source of protein and marine omega-3 fatty acids.

The American Heart Association recommends eating fish twice each week, especially fatty fish.

Easy use: Bake salmon with lemon, herbs, and vegetables.

17. Sardines, Mackerel, and Herring

These fatty fish also provide omega-3 fats and protein.

Check sodium on canned fish and choose lower sodium options when possible.

Easy use: Add sardines to whole grain toast or a salad.

18. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Olive oil provides mostly unsaturated fat.

Its best use is as a replacement for foods that are richer in saturated fat.

Easy use: Use olive oil for vegetables or simple salad dressing.

19. Avocado

Avocado gives you unsaturated fat, fibre, and potassium.

Easy use: Add avocado to whole grain toast, beans, or salad.

20. Tofu and Edamame

Soy foods provide healthy protein sources from plants.

They can replace some meals based on processed meat or high saturated fat meat.

Easy use: Add tofu to a vegetable stir fry or snack on unsalted edamame.

21. Plain Low Fat Yogurt

Plain low-fat yogurt can provide protein, calcium, and potassium with less saturated fat than many full-fat dairy foods.

Choose plain versions to avoid large amounts of added sugar.

Easy use: Add berries, oats, or nuts to plain yogurt.

22. Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes provide fibre, potassium, and carotenoids.

They are useful when prepared without large amounts of salt, butter, or sugar.

Easy use: Bake a sweet potato and top it with beans or plain yogurt.

How Much Fish Should You Eat for Heart Health?

The American Heart Association recommends two servings of fish each week, especially fatty fish.

Examples include salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring, anchovies, and some types of tuna.

Pregnant people, people who may become pregnant, and young children should follow current FDA advice about fish choices and mercury.

Why Fibre Matters for the Heart

Fibre-rich foods are a major part of both DASH and other heart-healthy eating patterns.

Good sources include oats, barley, beans, lentils, chickpeas, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds.

Fibre can help with fullness, bowel health, blood sugar control, and healthy cholesterol.

Increase fibre slowly if you are not used to eating much. Drink enough fluid unless your healthcare team has given you a fluid limit.

Healthy Fats Matter More Than Simply Eating Less Fat

The 2026 AHA guidance focuses on replacing sources of saturated fat with sources of unsaturated fats.

This is why olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocado, and fish can be useful choices.

Adding large amounts of oil or nuts on top of a high calorie diet is not the goal. Replacement matters.

For people with high cholesterol, read High Cholesterol: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment.

Sodium Matters for Blood Pressure

Too much sodium can make blood pressure harder to control.

The FDA says more than 70 percent of sodium in the typical United States diet comes from packaged and prepared foods.

Compare labels. Choose lower sodium canned beans, soups, sauces, and prepared foods when possible.

Rinsing canned beans can also remove some sodium.

For more help, read How to Lower Blood Pressure Safely.

Foods Often Called Heart Superfoods: What the Evidence Really Means

Garlic, green tea, dark chocolate, grapes, and many herbs can fit in a healthy diet.

But they are not required foods for heart disease prevention.

Garlic

Garlic is useful for flavour. It may help you use less salt. Do not treat it as a replacement for blood pressure or cholesterol medicine.

Green Tea

Unsweetened tea can be a low-sugar drink choice. But it is not a proven treatment for heart disease.

Dark Chocolate

Dark chocolate can fit in a small portion. Many products still contain added sugar and saturated fat.

Red Grapes

Grapes are a healthy fruit. You do not need red wine to get plant compounds from grapes.

The stronger message is simple. Eat a healthy pattern rather than chasing one superfood.

Foods to Limit More Often for Heart Health

You do not need a list of forbidden foods. Think about what you eat most often.

Foods High in Sodium

Packaged meals, processed meat, restaurant food, salty snacks, and sauces can add a lot of sodium.

Sugary Drinks

Soda, sweet tea, energy drinks, and many sweet coffee drinks can add a large amount of sugar with little fullness.

Processed Meats

Bacon, sausage, hot dogs, and many deli meats can be high in sodium and saturated fat.

Foods That Push Saturated Fat Too High

Large amounts of butter, fatty meat, cream, and some full-fat dairy foods can make saturated fat intake high.

Use unsaturated fat sources more often.

Heavily Ultraprocessed Foods

Some ultraprocessed foods are high in sodium, sugar, refined starch, and unhealthy fat.

The 2026 AHA guidance says to choose minimally processed foods more often.

What About Dietary Cholesterol?

The 2026 AHA guidance says dietary cholesterol is not a primary target for heart risk reduction for most people.

This means the old idea that everyone should avoid eggs simply because they contain cholesterol is too simple.

The full eating pattern still matters.

A Simple One-Day Heart Healthy Menu

Breakfast

Oats with berries, walnuts, and plain low-fat yogurt.

Lunch

Lentil and vegetable soup with whole grain bread and a side salad.

Snack

An apple with a small handful of unsalted almonds.

Dinner

Baked salmon, broccoli, and barley with olive oil and lemon.

Drink

Water or an unsweetened drink.

This is only an example. Your food needs depend on your health, culture, medicines, activity, and energy needs.

Simple Heart Healthy Shopping List

• spinach or kale
• broccoli
• tomatoes
• berries
• oranges
• apples
• oats
• barley or brown rice
• beans and lentils
• chickpeas
• walnuts or almonds
• chia or flaxseed
• salmon or sardines
• extra virgin olive oil
• avocado
• tofu or edamame
• plain low fat yogurt
• sweet potatoes

Who May Need a Different Heart Healthy Food Plan?

A general heart healthy diet is not right for every medical situation.

Kidney Disease

Some foods on this list are high in potassium or phosphorus. People with kidney disease may need different amounts.

Heart Failure

Some people with heart failure need special sodium or fluid advice. Follow your own care plan.

Read our Heart Failure Symptoms and Causes Guide.

Diabetes

Fruit, whole grains, and beans can fit a diabetes eating plan, but portion and medicine needs differ.

Visit the Diabetes and Blood Sugar Management Hub.

Food Allergies or Digestive Conditions

Nuts, dairy, soy, fish, whole grains, and high-fibre foods are not suitable for everyone.

Ask a doctor or registered dietitian for a personal food plan when you have a medical condition that changes your nutrition needs.