Whether eating low-carb or low-fat is good for your heart doesn’t just depend on how much fat or carbs you eat—it depends on what kind of food you choose. Eating whole plants like veggies and beans helps your heart, but eating processed meats or white bread can hurt it.

If you're a health professional in the U.S. and you eat a low-carb diet full of plants, nuts, and whole foods instead of meat and sugary carbs, you're less likely to get heart disease — it’s not just about cutting carbs, but what you replace them with.

If you eat a low-carb diet full of plants like nuts, beans, and whole grains instead of meat and white bread, you’re less likely to get heart disease — it’s not just about cutting carbs, but what you replace them with.

Eating more plants and whole grains instead of meat and sugary refined foods matters more for preventing heart disease than just how much fat or carbs you eat.

Eating more whole plants like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains — and less meat and sugary refined foods — matters more for preventing heart disease than just how much fat or carbs you eat.

People who eat low-carb diets full of plants and whole grains are less likely to get heart disease than those who eat low-carb diets full of junk food and meat, according to long-term studies of U.S. health workers.