People who eat mostly plants and live healthily are less likely to get heart disease—and this protection is even stronger for people who are genetically more likely to get heart disease anyway.

If you're genetically likely to get heart disease, eating a super healthy plant-based diet and living a healthy lifestyle might cut your risk of having heart disease by almost half compared to others with the same genes who don't eat well.

If you're not genetically prone to heart disease, eating mostly plants and living a healthy lifestyle might cut your chance of getting heart disease by about 20% compared to someone who doesn't follow such a lifestyle.

Eating more healthy plant-based foods like vegetables, fruits, and beans is linked to a lower risk of heart disease—even when you account for common health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol. This suggests these foods protect your heart in ways that go beyond just fixing those common issues.

If you eat a lot of plant-based foods like white bread, soda, fries, and candy, you might be more likely to get heart disease than people who don’t eat as much of these foods—even though they’re still plant-based.

If you eat a lot of plant-based foods like white bread, soda, fries, and candy instead of healthy plants like vegetables and whole grains, you might be more likely to get heart disease—even if you don’t eat any meat. It’s not just about avoiding animal products; what kind of plants you eat matters.