DASH diet is best for healthy heart, 100 per cent aligned with AHA goals, say experts

About 697,000 people in the United States died from heart disease in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Data from other countries don't paint a pretty picture either. World Health Organization says that it is the leading killer of men and women worldwide. And now, American Heart Association has issued a call to action via its flagship journal.

A 10-member expert panel published a scientific statement on Thursday and highlighted four cardiac diets that best meet AHA's evidence-based dietary guidelines for heart health, published in Circulation in 2021.

DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet received a perfect score of 100 from AHA. The diet includes whole grains, legumes, nuts, vegetables, fruits, seeds and low-fat milk products. You can also eat lean meat, poultry meat, fish and non-tropical oils in this diet. And, you must remember to limit your intake ofsaturated fats, salt, refined grains, fatty meats, added sugar and alcohol.

Next, we have the pescatarian diet, which is 92 per cent aligned with AHA goals. It allows dairy, eggs, fish and other seafood but no meat or poultry.

The third spot was given to the Mediterranean diet, which is 89 per centaligned with the AHA dietary recommendations. The popular, award-winning diet scored less mostly because itdoesn'tlimit salt and recommends a small glass of red wine each day, says lead author Christopher Gardner, a research professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center in California who directs its Nutrition Studies Research Group.

"The American Heart Association says no one should drink alcohol if they haven't started," Gardner said. "And if they do drink, to do so minimally."

The lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet, which allows dairy and eggs, and variations that include one or the other, were 86 per centaligned with AHA guidelines.You must avoid meat, poultry meat, fish and seafood during this diet and limit the usage of refined grains, solid fats and alcohol.

"We basically were trying to say a diet doesn’t have to be 100 to be good,"Gardner said. "All of the diets in the top tier are plant-based, and if they are off base a bit aren’t hard to fix. Paleo and keto, however, really can’t be fixed. You’d have to completely overhaul them."

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