The American Heart Association has released updated dietary guidance outlining nine key features of a heart-healthy dietary pattern that can reduce cardiovascular disease risk when sustained throughout life. This update comes at a critical time as more than half of U.S. adults currently have some type of cardiovascular disease, driven in part by high rates of health factors including high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity that are often linked to poor dietary habits.
The 2026 Dietary Guidance to Improve Cardiovascular Health: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association updates the Association's 2021 guidance with strengthened scientific evidence. According to the statement published in Circulation, the peer-reviewed flagship journal of the American Heart Association, the guidance emphasizes a dietary pattern rich in vegetables, fruits and whole grains with less sugar, salt and ultraprocessed foods, while prioritizing protein from plant-based sources.
The nine key features include adjusting energy intake and expenditure to maintain healthy body weight; eating plenty of vegetables and fruits; choosing whole grains over refined grains; selecting healthy protein sources with emphasis on plant-based options; choosing unsaturated fats over saturated fats; preferring minimally processed foods over ultraprocessed foods; minimizing added sugars; choosing low-sodium foods; and limiting alcohol consumption or not starting to drink. The guidance specifically notes that dietary patterns adhering to these features are unlikely to exceed 10% of energy from saturated fat, aligning with the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans issued by the federal government.
Alice H. Lichtenstein, D.Sc., FAHA, volunteer chair of the scientific statement writing committee, emphasized that while the guidance may look familiar to previous recommendations, the science supporting it has strengthened. "The stronger body of evidence is driving a few nuanced, yet important, updates that ensure the guidance remains aligned with the most current and strongest science on diet and cardiovascular health," she said. The guidance is intentionally designed to provide flexibility in customizing a healthy dietary pattern to accommodate personal preferences, ethnic and religious practices, personal needs and budgets, and varying life stages.
The importance of this guidance extends beyond individual health choices. According to the American Heart Association's 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, more than half of all U.S. adults currently have some type of cardiovascular disease, and the Association projects that number will climb to 1 in 6 U.S. adults by 2050. This increase is driven by rising rates of health factors like high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes, with more than 40% of adults and more than 1 in 5 children having obesity according to American Heart Association forecasts.
"These rates are alarming and reinforce that a lifetime of healthy eating is critical because high blood pressure and obesity are leading drivers of chronic disease and death," said Amit Khera, M.D., FAHA, volunteer vice-chair of the dietary guidance writing committee. He noted that as much as 80% of heart disease and stroke is preventable and that following the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 healthy lifestyle guidance can support those prevention efforts.
The guidance recommends that children can and should begin following a heart-healthy dietary pattern starting at 1 year of age, with families playing a crucial role in modeling healthy eating behaviors. Beyond cardiovascular benefits, a heart-healthy dietary pattern also provides essential nutrients for most people, is rich in healthy fiber, limits foods high in dietary cholesterol, and is generally consistent with dietary recommendations for other conditions like type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, some cancers and brain health.
The American Heart Association continues to address root causes of poor diets through initiatives including informing the definition of ultraprocessed foods as applied in public policy, supporting the development of a front-of-pack nutrition labeling system, and advocating to increase funding for nutrition science research at the National Institutes of Health. Through the Health Care by Food initiative and The Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI), the Association is improving understanding of the critical role healthy food can play in preventing and managing chronic disease.
