Eye on Nutrition: A Heart Healthy Diet

WIC food packages and nutrition education are the primary means by which WIC affects the dietary quality and habits of participants. Did you know that these two benefits are among the top reasons for continued participation in WIC (in addition to the work of WIC personnel!), and that consistent 4-year participation in WIC was associated with better diet quality?

Eye on Nutrition is a series that brings focus to the foods and nutrients in the WIC food packages to shine a light on their importance to the health of WIC participants. Healthy pregnancy outcomes, and improving the health of pregnant women, new mothers, and their children, is an integral part of WIC's mission. Nutrition education that encourages heart healthy eating during and after pregnancy, and during childhood, is key to achieving that mission. Applying that education and purchasing heart healthy foods is made easier for WIC participants with the WIC food package.

Be sure to check out heart healthy recipes shared with us from the WIC community!

What is a Heart Healthy Diet?
Why is a Heart Healthy Diet Important?
What Foods in the WIC Food Packages are Heart Healthy?
How does the Nutrition Facts Label Help in Identifying Heart Healthy Foods?
Choosing a Heart Healthy Lifestyle
Education Resources

What is a Heart Healthy Diet?

A heart healthy diet includes nutrient-dense foods that lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. It emphasizes:

• a variety of fruits and vegetables
• whole grains
• fat-free or low-fat dairy products
• skinless poultry and fish
• unsalted nuts and legumes
• non-tropical vegetable oils

Nutrients to include in a heart healthy diet include fiber, potassium, and unsaturated fats, and nutrients to limit include saturated fats, sodium, and added sugars.

This eating style is aligned with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and is based on the principle that healthy eating patterns support a healthy body weight and can help prevent and reduce the risk of chronic disease throughout periods of growth, development, and aging, as well as during pregnancy.

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Eating Plan is a flexible and balanced eating plan that helps create a heart-healthy eating style for life.

Why is a Heart Healthy Diet Important?

Making healthy food choices during pregnancy and while breastfeeding is important for the health of both pregnant people and developing babies.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. Making healthy food choices can help to avoid non-hereditary heart problems in the future.

Chronic conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes can be prevented or well-managed with a heart healthy diet and lifestyle. Many of these conditions can negatively affect women and a developing baby:

High blood pressure during pregnancy can put the mother and baby at risk for problems during pregnancy and delivery, as well as after delivery.

Poor control of diabetes during pregnancy increases the chance of birth defects and other problems. It can also cause serious complications for the pregnant person.

Healthy eating habits from an early age can lower the risk of developing several potentially deadly diseases later in life. Risk factors for heart disease include smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, physical inactivity, obesity, and a family history of early-onset heart disease.

What Foods in the WIC Food Packages are Heart Healthy?

• Whole grain foods, like whole wheat bread, pasta and tortillas, brown rice, corn tortillas, oats, bulgur, barley and some cereals
• Dry legumes, like beans, peas, and lentils
• Low sodium canned beans
• Fresh, frozen, and dried fruits and vegetables
• Low sodium canned vegetables
• Canned fruit packed in water or 100% juice
• Unsalted peanut butter
• Milk and yogurt
• Fortified soy-based beverages
• Tofu
• Canned fish
• Eggs

Heart healthy foods beyond those in the WIC food packages include unsalted nuts and seeds, and other lean proteins. Oils are not a food group, but they do provide essential nutrients and are considered in USDA food patterns. Heart healthy oils include those that are plant-based, such as olive oil or avocado oil, which are good sources of unsaturated fats.

How does the Nutrition Facts Label Help in Identifying Heart Healthy Foods?

Since most heart healthy nutrients of concern are required to appear on the Nutrition Facts Label, it serves as a good resource to determine if a food is heart healthy (i.e., it’s high in dietary fiber and potassium, and low in (or has no) added sugars, sodium, saturated fat, and trans-fat).

While the % Daily Value (DV) is based on a 2,000-calorie diet (vs. the specific needs of each individual and their life stage/caloric needs), it can be useful when comparing products and for determining if a food is high (20% DV or more) or low (5% DV or less) in a given nutrient.

Not all foods have nutrition labels. While we know fresh vegetables and fruit are heart healthy foods, some have more potassium than others. 

Choosing a Heart Healthy Lifestyle

A healthy diet is just one part of a heart healthy lifestyle, which encompasses a number of other aspects, including:

• Getting adequate sleep is important for the prevention of several conditions such as heart disease, obesity, and depression
  • Are you Getting Enough Sleep (and how much do you need)?
  • Quick tips for good sleep
  • What Should I Do if I Can’t Sleep?
• Engaging in regular physical activity is beneficial for everyone, including pregnant people during and after pregnancy, and children
  • How much depends on your age, and activity for children should be age appropriate
  • Learn more about staying active all year, indoor physical activities, and physical activity with disabilities
• Managing stress and anxiety, which can put extra strain on your heart
  • Understanding how stress can affect pregnancy
  • Tips for reducing anxiety
• Cutting out tobacco products, including e-cigarettes
  • Give Your Baby a Healthy Start
  • Smoke from marijuana can be just as harmful as tobacco smoke to pregnant people during pregnancy and breastfeeding, as well as to children
• Maintaining a healthy weight limits the daily stress on the heart and other organs
  • Healthy weight gain during pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Weight Gain Tracker
  • WIC growth charts
  • Calculating and understanding BMI for adults and children 2 years and older
  • Healthy weight for children

Education Resources

Always encourage participants to ask their healthcare provider specific questions about their health, including before starting or ramping up exercise This is particularly important for those with heart disease, asthma, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

WIC Staff can find more information on feeding older infants in the USDA WIC Infant Nutrition and Feeding Guide.

The Nutrition Facts label fact sheets for vitamins and minerals provide action steps for consuming a diet rich in vitamins and minerals, and charts that identify food sources of each vitamin and mineral.