Foods and artery health: what the research suggests

No single food can magically “clean out” or unclog your arteries—but your diet can influence important cardiovascular risk factors like LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.

Can certain foods actually help keep your arteries healthier? This video explores five foods that can contribute to healthier arteries by improving factors like LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. It highlights foods such as beans, lentils, almonds, carrots, and olive oil, emphasizing the importance of nutrition and healthy eating for cardiovascular disease prevention. Incorporating these nutrient-rich foods into one's diet can positively impact heart health over time.

In this quick pharmacist explanation, I break down 5 foods worth considering as part of a heart-healthy diet:

• Beans & lentils — fiber and plant protein
• Nuts — including walnuts and almonds
• Fatty fish — including salmon, sardines, and trout
• Extra-virgin olive oil — especially when replacing fats higher in saturated fat
• Oats — a source of beta-glucan soluble fiber that can help lower LDL cholesterol

The important takeaway: these foods don't physically scrub plaque from your arteries. Instead, they can be part of an overall dietary pattern that supports better cardiovascular health and helps improve certain risk factors over time.

And food is only part of the picture. Blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, diabetes, physical activity, smoking, and appropriate medications can all play important roles in cardiovascular risk.