{"id":18357,"date":"2026-03-04T15:40:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/?p=18357"},"modified":"2026-03-27T11:50:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:50:30","slug":"what-your-heart-wants-you-to-eat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/new-reads\/what-your-heart-wants-you-to-eat\/","title":{"rendered":"What Your Heart Wants You to Eat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style>\n.architecture .architecture-department:nth-child(1){\n    color: #999;\n    letter-spacing: 3px;\n    font-size: 1rem;\n    font-weight: 400;\n    margin-top: 2em;\n    margin-bottom: 0;\n}\n\n.architecture .architecture-department{\n\ttext-transform: uppercase;\n\tfont-family: Hind, Arial, sans-serif;\n}\n\n<\/style>\n\n<div class=\"architecture\">\n\t<p class=\"architecture-department\">Currents<\/p>\n\t<p class=\"architecture-department\">Pro Tips<\/p>\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n<section class=\"cl-wrapper cl-panel-wrapper\"><div class=\"cl-panel-super  \"><div class=\"cl-panel-super-blur\" style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/ds26_hearthealth_hero_v2.jpg)\"><\/div><div class=\"cl-panel-super-content\"><div class=\"cl-panel-super-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/ds26_hearthealth_hero_v2.jpg\" srcset=\"\" alt=\"\"><\/div><div class=\"cl-panel-super-text\"><p>\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Your Heart Wants You to Eat<\/h1>\n\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n<p class=\"type-intro\">If you were ever told to eat your veggies, that was good advice. But you don\u2019t have to overhaul your diet completely. A 911±¬ΑΟ nutrition professor says to start by making one small change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For years, nutritionists and organizations like the American Heart Association have offered fairly consistent guidance on what constitutes a healthy diet for cardiovascular health and overall nutrition. In spite of the consistent advice, most Americans\u2019 diets fall short of the ideal.<br><br>The U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Healthy Eating Index, a measure of how well Americans\u2019 diets align with guidelines, gives us a failing grade\u201458 out of 100. Clearly, changes are needed, but 911±¬ΑΟ associate professor of nutrition Maya Vadiveloo says diet changes can be difficult for people.<br><br>Vadiveloo, who is also chair of the AHA\u2019s Lifestyle Nutrition Committee, says, \u201cDiet is the number one risk factor for leading causes of death and disability. We need to do something about diet, because changing it can prevent heart disease. After people have developed heart disease, treatment is more difficult and more expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vadiveloo offers some advice on how to eat for heart health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span class=\"p-question\">Is there an ideal diet, or does it vary by person?<\/span><\/strong><br>There\u2019s some variability, but more consistency: Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables (7\u20139 servings daily), whole grains, plant protein (like nuts, seeds, and legumes), and heart-healthy oils. Reduce intake of highly processed food, especially those high in added sugar, salt, and saturated fat. Those principles underlie a healthy diet pattern for the average person. Among popular diets, the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets tend to align with those principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span class=\"p-question\">What are some of the obstacles to achieving an ideal diet?<\/span><\/strong><br>There are many obstacles. Eating more fruits and vegetables sounds simple, but things get in the way, whether it\u2019s cost, availability, or how quickly fresh foods spoil. Processed foods\u2014high in salt, sugar, and refined grains, not nutritionally balanced\u2014are inexpensive, portable, and engineered to be consistently tasty, so they\u2019re an easy choice. And if we make that choice often, our palate adjusts, and things like bitter-tasting vegetables are less appealing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"945\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/ds26_hearthealth_portrait_v2-945x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18387\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/ds26_hearthealth_portrait_v2-945x1024.jpg 945w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/ds26_hearthealth_portrait_v2-277x300.jpg 277w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/ds26_hearthealth_portrait_v2-768x833.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/ds26_hearthealth_portrait_v2-1417x1536.jpg 1417w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/ds26_hearthealth_portrait_v2-364x395.jpg 364w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/ds26_hearthealth_portrait_v2-500x542.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/ds26_hearthealth_portrait_v2-1000x1084.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/ds26_hearthealth_portrait_v2-1280x1388.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/ds26_hearthealth_portrait_v2.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 945px) 100vw, 945px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<section class=\"cl-wrapper cl-quote-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"cl-quote\">\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center quote-body-amplify\"><span id=\"quote-keaney\">\u201c<\/span>Try making one small change and see how long you can stick with it. Focus first on what you can add, not on what you should take away.<span id=\"quote-keaney\">\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center quote-cite\"><span style=\"color:#2277b3\"><strong>\u00ad\u2014Maya Vadiveloo,<\/strong> associate professor of nutrition<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span class=\"p-question\">What\u2019s one thing people can do today to improve their diets?<\/span><\/strong><br>Try making one small change and see how long you can stick with it. Add a piece of fruit at breakfast, a vegetable at lunch, or incorporate one of those as a snack. Focus first on what you can add, not on what you should take away. If you pair a less healthy snack, like chips, with a piece of fruit and some nuts, you may find that you feel full and eat fewer chips over time. You can slowly move toward a healthier pattern, and you may feel better, too. So, you\u2019re naturally shifting, as opposed to being in a restrictive mindset. The goal with heart health and dietary changes is for them to be sustainable and permanent. It\u2019s not a quick fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2014Interview by Patrick Luce \u201999<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"feature-caption photo-credit\">PHOTOS: SETH JACOBSON<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nutrition professor Maya Vadiveloo shares tips on the best way to shift to a heart-healthy diet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":18388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[330,360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-reads","category-spring-2026","architecture-currents","architecture-pro-tips"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18357"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18581,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18357\/revisions\/18581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}