How to build a heart-healthy plate: tips and grocery list included

Whether you’re managing a health condition or aiming to reduce future heart disease risk, the food you eat plays a crucial role. Learning the basics of heart healthy eating can help you make informed food choices to fuel your body and promote long-term well-being.

Managing or reducing your risk for high cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart disease have similar dietary recommendations. This makes it easier to take care of your health with one eating plan.  

Whether it’s called the Mediterranean diet, DASH diet, plant-based diet or plate model, these eating plans all have the same basic pattern. This guide will help you understand this balanced eating plan so you can create healthy habits, one meal at a time.  

Bonus: we’ve created a shopping list of the ingredients for heart-healthy eating.

Basic meal planning

The body is fuelled and nourished by food. From apples to fish to quinoa, food provides us with energy and nutrients, so the body functions properly. Getting the right nutrients can also help reduce your risk of chronic disease.    

You can get the nutrients your body needs if your meals resemble this plan: 

Fill half your plate with vegetables and fruit, a quarter with protein and a quarter with whole grains.

Create balanced plates 

Here are some details to help you build a healthy plate. 

• Fill half of your plate with vegetables and fruit. Vegetables and fruit are filled with vitamins, minerals fibre and antioxidants that support overall health.
  
  All fruits and vegetables are good, but here are some that stand out for heart health: 

• Orange vegetables and fruit, like carrots, squash, cantaloupe and mango. These are rich in beta-carotene (a form of vitamin A), an antioxidant that helps delay the buildup of plaque from cholesterol in the arteries. 
• Colourful berries, like blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. These berries contain phenolic antioxidants that help reduce inflammation, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.  
• Leafy greens, like romaine, kale, spinach and arugula. A green salad is filled with minerals that help lower blood pressure.  
• Cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Studies show that a higher intake of cruciferous vegetables is linked with an overall lower risk of heart disease and stroke.   

• Fill a quarter of your plate with whole grains. Swap refined grains like white bread and pasta for whole grains such as quinoa, brown rice, oats and whole wheat when you can. One study showed that every 30-gram increase of whole grains is linked to an eight percent reduced risk of high blood pressure.
  
  All whole grains are good, but some of the best choices for heart health are: 

• Oats and pot barley. These grains contain soluble fibre, which helps lower cholesterol levels.  
• The highest fibre grains, like whole wheat, amaranth and quinoa. Fibre helps you stay full for longer, which helps with weight management and lowers heart disease risk.  

• Fill a quarter of your plate with protein-rich foods. This portion of the plate can include animal-based and/or plant-based protein options.

Animal-based proteins 

• Poultry such as chicken or turkey 
• Fish and seafood 
• Lean meat such as beef, lamb or pork 
• Eggs 
• Dairy foods such as yogurt, milk and cheese

Plant-based proteins

• Soy foods such as tofu, edamame and fortified soy beverage 
• Beans such as chickpeas, kidney beans and black beans 
• Lentils 
• Nuts, seeds and nut butters

The best choices for heart health include: 

• Fibre-rich beans and lentils are high-fibre options that help lower blood cholesterol. 
• Dairy foods such as milk and yogurt and reduced-fat cheese. These contain calcium, potassium and magnesium, which helps lower blood pressure levels. 
• Fatty fish such as salmon and trout. Fatty fish contains omega-3 fats, which lower cholesterol and fat levels.  
• Nuts and seeds like walnuts, pumpkin seeds, almonds and more. Studies show that having ¼ cup of nuts about 2-3 times a week helps lower heart disease risk. 

Other parts of the meal 

In addition to building a balanced plate with vegetables, grains and protein, there are a few other choices to consider: 

Choose healthy fats. When you’re cooking, baking or making sauces and dressing, choose oils such as olive oil more often than using butter, shortening or lard. Oils have heart-healthy unsaturated fats. You will also get healthy fats from fish, nuts and seeds in your daily diet.  

Better beverages. Choose water most often. It’s sugar-free and thirst-quenching. If it seems dull, add pizzazz with a squeeze of citrus, fresh ginger, or a cinnamon stick. Or try sparkling water for fizziness. Other healthy drink options include milk or fortified alternatives, and unsweetened (or minimally sweetened with 1-2 tsp sugar) coffee and tea. 

Reduce ultra-processed food intake. Limit ultra-processed sugary drinks, candy, salty snacks and fast food like fried chicken, burgers and fries. These can be enjoyed as treats but should not be the bulk of your diet.  

Sample grocery list 

To make grocery shopping easier, here’s a sample list of items to keep on-hand. But packing your pantry with these staples, you will be ready to make heart-healthy meals.  

• Vegetables and fruit. Choose your favorite fresh, frozen or canned options. Aim for a variety of colours.  
• Whole grains. Try any of these – Quinoa, brown rice, oats, pot barley, or whole-grain breads, crackers and noodles.  
• Proteins. Keep any of these on-hand – Chicken breast, canned salmon or tuna, fresh or frozen fish or seafood, eggs, tofu, edamame, canned beans, nut butter, favourite nuts and seeds. 
• Dairy or alternatives. Meet calcium requirements with Greek yogurt, low-fat cheese, milk or a fortified plant-based alternative (make sure it contains calcium). 
• Pantry staples. Make meals from home using these ingredients – olive oil, garlic, herbs, spices, vinegar, lemon, lime.

By having these essentials on hand, you can create balanced, nutritious meals. Here are some recipes: 

• Roasted salmon with citrus slices
• Quinoa, black bean and mango salad
• Shepherd’s pie with garlic mash

Learn more 

• Tight budget? Here’s how to eat healthy while keeping costs down
• What you must know about ultra-processed foods
• Browse our full list of heart-healthy recipes