Eat whole, minimally processed foods as your daily staple

Build your diet around whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, and fish. Minimize ultra-processed foods (UPFs) which make up over 50% of calories in the US and UK but under 20% in the lowest-CVD nations.

Why It Works

A 2024 meta-analysis of 41 cohort studies (8.3 million participants) found each additional 100g/day of UPF consumption increases hypertension risk by 14.5% and cardiovascular events by 5.9%. The PREDIMED trial showed a Mediterranean diet with olive oil reduced major cardiovascular events by 30%. Nations with strong whole-food traditions (Japan, South Korea, France) consistently have the lowest CVD mortality globally.

Tips

• A diet low in whole grains is the single leading dietary risk factor for CVD worldwide
• Cook with olive oil or other unsaturated fats rather than lard, butter, or palm oil
• The Japanese, Korean, and Mediterranean diets all differ but share one trait: minimal processing