Five Heart Healthy Foods to Start American Heart Month

Joan Salge Blake, BU nutrition professor and dietitian, offers tips and recipes

Published on Feb. 11, 2026

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February is American Heart Month, and BU nutrition professor Joan Salge Blake shares five heart-healthy foods that can help lower blood cholesterol levels, including beans, oats, vegetables, fruits, and flaxseeds. She provides tips on how to incorporate these foods into your diet through simple recipes.

Why it matters

Lowering blood cholesterol levels can help reduce the risk of heart disease, which is a leading cause of death in the United States. Incorporating more soluble fiber-rich foods into one's diet is an effective way to naturally lower cholesterol and support heart health.

The details

The key is that soluble fiber, found in foods like oats, beans, fruits, and vegetables, can help lower blood cholesterol levels by interfering with the reabsorption of bile acids in the intestines. As the body replaces these lost bile acids, it removes cholesterol from the blood, resulting in lower overall cholesterol levels.

  • February is American Heart Month, as recognized by the American Heart Association.

The players

Joan Salge Blake

A Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences clinical associate professor of nutrition and health sciences at Boston University, and a leading dietitian who hosts the nutrition and health podcast Spot On!

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What they’re saying

“Lowering blood cholesterol levels can help lower your risk for heart disease.”

— Joan Salge Blake, Nutrition professor and dietitian

“The way this works is that the fiber interferes with the reabsorption of bile acids in the intestines.”

— Joan Salge Blake, Nutrition professor and dietitian

The takeaway

Incorporating more soluble fiber-rich foods like beans, oats, vegetables, fruits, and flaxseeds into one's diet is an effective way to naturally lower cholesterol and support heart health during American Heart Month and beyond.