When it comes to heart health, most of us are focused on what we shouldn’t eat. However, keeping your heart healthy isn’t just about avoiding saturated fat and sodium. There are certain nutrients that are instrumental for better heart health. The most important, yet underrated one, may be fiber. “Dietary fiber acts in multiple ways on cardiovascular health,” says cardiologist Adedapo Iluyomade, M.D. “It blunts post‑meal glucose and insulin surges, helps create a gut microbiome environment that generates short‑chain fatty acids with anti‑inflammatory effects, and consistently tracks with lower rates of coronary events and cardiovascular mortality.” 

Yet, almost all of us aren’t getting enough of this heart-supporting nutrient. “That gap is one of the quiet drivers of our country’s heart‑disease burden,” says Iluyomade. Read on to learn why fiber is critical for a healthy heart, plus quick, tasty ways to work more of it into your favorite meals and snacks.

How Fiber Can Improve Heart Health

Aids in Lowering Cholesterol

Fiber may be best known for its digestive health benefits. But there’s one kind of fiber that’s been proven to lower cholesterol, namely soluble fiber. How does it work? “Soluble, gel-forming fibers bind bile acids in the small intestine,” says Iluyomade. “Your liver then pulls LDL‑cholesterol out of circulation to make new bile, reducing LDL.” Soluble fiber is so powerful, in fact, that it’s our No. 1 nutrient to lower cholesterol.

The strongest evidence is for viscous soluble fiber from oats, barley and psyllium husk. However, you can also find soluble fiber in apples, pears, broccoli, sweet potatoes, beans and lentils.   

Helps Manage Blood Sugar 

High blood sugar can spell trouble for multiple aspects of your health, including your heart. Enter fiber. Fiber helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels after meals because it slows nutrient absorption in the digestive tract. Iluyomade likens it to “a traffic cop for carbs” because it regulates how quickly sugar from food moves into the bloodstream. “Over time, those steadier numbers translate into slightly lower average blood sugar and better insulin response,” he says. 

Research has found that soluble fiber is particularly beneficial for blood sugar management. In addition to slowing carbohydrate digestion, it is also believed to work by positively influencing good gut bacteria that help regulate insulin and blood sugar levels. Fiber-rich foods additionally contribute to feelings of fullness and satisfaction. This, in turn, may be beneficial for weight management, which can impact long-term blood sugar control.

May Lower Blood Pressure

A lesser-known benefit of fiber is its ability to lower blood pressure. “Packing more fiber into meals—think oatmeal, berries, beans and crunchy veggies—tends to reduce blood pressure by a few points,” says Iluyomade. The link is so strong that one systematic review and meta-analysis of 83 studies found that consuming just 5 extra grams of soluble fiber per day significantly lowered blood pressure. And the more soluble fiber a person ate, the more blood pressure-lowering benefits they experienced. While the cause is still being studied, Iluyomade says that the extra bulk of fiber-rich foods nudges people toward lower-sodium, lower-calorie foods while also feeding good gut bacteria that make compounds that relax blood vessels. 

Strategies to Eat More Fiber

If you’d like to add more heart-friendly fiber to your meals and snacks, these simple strategies can help.

• Experiment with Oats: Oats are loaded with a powerful soluble fiber called beta-glucan. While a bowl of oatmeal is a great way to get your day off to a heart-healthy start, there are loads of other tasty ways to put these heart-supporting whole grains to work. Try adding oats to smoothies, bake them into snack bars or granola bars, or fold them into crab cakes or meatloaf. For even more beta-glucan, try adding barley to soups and stews. Like oats, it’s packed with this cholesterol-lowering fiber.
• Swap in Some Plant Protein: Plant proteins like beans, tempeh and tofu are easy ways to score heart-healthy plant protein and fiber in one shot. For instance, one cup of tofu provides 44 grams of protein, which is comparable to the amount in one cup of diced, cooked chicken breast. However, the tofu gives you 6 grams of fiber while the chicken (like all animal proteins) has zero fiber.,
• Try New Fruits and Vegetables: Fruits and veggies are filled with fiber, yet most of us don’t eat enough of them. One way to make this happen is by trying new types of produce. The variety can help with meal satisfaction by introducing new flavors and textures. Mixing up your fruit and vegetable varieties can also provide a new favorite to add to your regular rotation.  
• Add Produce to Mixed Dishes: You don’t need to eat fruits and vegetables alone or as a side dish to reap their fiber. Mixed dishes like pasta with marinara sauce or spring vegetables, veggie casseroles or a veggie-topped pizza are all great vehicles for squeezing in more fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. 
• Think Nuts and Seeds: Nuts and seeds are a surprising source of fiber. An ounce of almonds, pistachios or sunflower seeds provides roughly 3 grams of fiber. That’s more than 10% of the 28-gram Daily Value for fiber., , To work more of these gems into your day, add nuts or seeds to cereal, salads, yogurt, pasta and grain dishes. Or, for a quick fiber-filled snack, whip up a satisfying batch of energy bites.

The Bottom Line

Fiber is a key nutrient for heart health, yet few of us eat enough of it. In addition to lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, a fiber-rich diet also keeps your heart healthy by regulating blood sugar. While all fiber is good for you, the best evidence for heart health is for soluble fiber. Easy ways to increase your fiber intake include eating more oats and barley, swapping in plant proteins for some of the animal protein in your diet, adding vegetables to mixed dishes and sprinkling nuts and seeds over your cereal, yogurt or salad. Because, in the end, it’s the small consistent changes that are the most powerful.