Key Takeaways

Your health is closely tied to the choices you make in your day-to-day life, and that’s especially true when it comes to having a healthy heart. Regular exercise, enough quality sleep, and not smoking are a few of the most well-known “heart-healthy” lifestyle practices.

“Heart healthy” is also a buzz phrase that gets thrown around when talking about popular diets, too. And that makes sense becausewhat you eatcan have a powerful positive or negative effect on your heart. While you usually hear about specific foods or food groups, some researchers are looking a little deeper at the heart-nutrition link.

According to new research, intake of essential vitamins and minerals (micronutrients) is a key part of the link between diet and cardiovascular health. But which micronutrients support your heart best? And are any potentially harmful? Here’s a breakdown of what the researchers found and what experts have to say about micronutrients for heart health.

Micronutrients in Food: Benefits, Deficiency Symptoms

What Are Micronutrients?

In simpler terms, that means that your body can’t make these nutrients, so you have to get them through the foods you eat, or supplements if you can’t get enough through diet alone.

Micronutrients are different frommacronutrients. The main reason you need macronutrients is because they provide calories, which your bodies need for energy. Micronutrients, on the other hand, are essential substances your body needs to perform all kinds of functions. If you don’t get enough of specific vitamins and/or minerals, certain bodily processes may not work as well.

6 Essential Nutrients: Importance of Main Micro and Macronutrients

Do Micronutrients Help Your Heart?

Oxidative stress can then triggerplaqueto form in the arteries. As plaque builds up, it can reduce the blood supply to vital organs such as the brain and heart. Over time, this can lead to serious health consequences like heart attacks and strokes.

The bigger question was, if certain micronutrients could potentially help reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in the body, does that mean that they could also help prevent cardiovascular disease?

While the authors of the study concluded that “micronutrients play significant roles in cardiovascular health through mechanisms involving inflammation, oxidative stress, and endothelial function” and that “certain micronutrients, such as calcium, zinc, vitamin D, and selenium, show promise in supporting cardiovascular health,” they also noted some important exceptions in their research.

Based on their review, the evidence “does not support the routine use of vitamin supplements for reducing cardiovascular risk.” They also noted that excessive levels of certain vitamins and minerals “may pose risks.”

Getting too much of a micronutrient is less likely to happen if you’re eating nutrient-rich foods and is more often the result of taking supplements. To that end, the researchers also felt that their overall conclusion highlighted “the need for balanced micronutrient intake through diet rather than supplementation.”

Still, they did find some evidence of a few specific vitamins and minerals that could support cardiovascular health—and experts agree that these micronutrients are key players.

Best Vitamins for Heart Health

The researchers called out vitamin D as being indispensable to cardiovascular health. A food food source of vitamin D is fatty fish, like salmon.

They also noted that “folic acid alone reduced the incidence of stroke, as did folic acid supplementation with B6, and B12.”

Melissa Ann Prest, DCN, MS, RDN, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, told Verywell that vitamins C, E, and B (including folic acid), B6, B12, and beta carotene also play an important role in heart health.

“Vitamins C and E are powerful antioxidants, and B vitamins help to lower high levels of homocysteine, which has been associated with increased heart disease risk,” said Prest.

Best Minerals for Heart Health

Calcium, zinc, and selenium topped the study’s list of heart-healthy minerals.

Selenium and zinc are thought to play a role in reducing cardiovascular risk because they regulate inflammation and oxidative damage.As an antioxidant, zinc prevents the formation of free radicals, which can harm cells and induce degenerative diseases.Both can be found in fish and meat.

Prest added that potassium, magnesium, and calcium can also keep blood pressure in check—an important heart disease risk factor.

11 Heart-Healthy Foods to Add to Your Diet

How to Get More Micronutrients

While there are many supplements on the market,Kimberly Snodgrass, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist and renal care coordinator, told Verywell that she’s a huge proponent of getting vitamins and minerals from your diet. Not only is it cheaper, but it’s often easier. And it also can help prevent overconsumption of specific micronutrients, which can have negative effects.

You can get most of the micronutrients you need from your food. Prest recommends eating a diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean cuts of meat and poultry, fish and seafood, and healthy fats like nuts and seeds. For example, zinc can be found in beef, veal, pork, lamb, cereals, grains, fish, vegetables, nuts, milk, and certain dairy products.

“If you are concerned that your diet does not have enough variety or is low in fruits and vegetables, think of at least one way to make a smart swap or add in a fruit or vegetable,” said Prest.

11 Snacks for a Healthy Heart

While rare,vitamin D toxicityis a potential consequence of over-supplementation that can lead to constipation, confusion, and high calcium levels in the blood (hypercalcemia).

There’s no magic age to start consuming more micronutrients to support your health. Prest said the key is to build health-supporting eating habits and minimize your consumption of overlyprocessed foodsat every age. In general, heart-healthy habits will go a long way in preventing cardiovascular disease as you age, and nutrition is just one part of that lifelong journey.

What This Means For YouCertain vitamins and minerals may support your heart health, but it’s best to get them through your diet instead of supplements. While the research is still not totally clear about which micronutrients are the best, an overall nutritious diet and heart-healthy lifestyle will go a long way in preventing cardiovascular disease.

What This Means For You

Certain vitamins and minerals may support your heart health, but it’s best to get them through your diet instead of supplements. While the research is still not totally clear about which micronutrients are the best, an overall nutritious diet and heart-healthy lifestyle will go a long way in preventing cardiovascular disease.

4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bakheet T, El-Fetoh NA, Ahmed A, Ali M.Impact of micronutrients on cardiovascular health: a review article.Egypt J Hosp Med. 2024;96:2578. doi:10.21608/ejhm.2024.368100Batty M, Bennett MR, Yu E.The role of oxidative stress in atherosclerosis.Cells. 2022;11(23):3843. doi:10.3390/cells11233843Sunkara A, Raizner A.Supplemental vitamins and minerals for cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment.Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. 2019;15(3):179-184. doi:10.14797/mdcj-15-3-179National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Hypervitaminosis D.

4 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bakheet T, El-Fetoh NA, Ahmed A, Ali M.Impact of micronutrients on cardiovascular health: a review article.Egypt J Hosp Med. 2024;96:2578. doi:10.21608/ejhm.2024.368100Batty M, Bennett MR, Yu E.The role of oxidative stress in atherosclerosis.Cells. 2022;11(23):3843. doi:10.3390/cells11233843Sunkara A, Raizner A.Supplemental vitamins and minerals for cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment.Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. 2019;15(3):179-184. doi:10.14797/mdcj-15-3-179National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Hypervitaminosis D.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Bakheet T, El-Fetoh NA, Ahmed A, Ali M.Impact of micronutrients on cardiovascular health: a review article.Egypt J Hosp Med. 2024;96:2578. doi:10.21608/ejhm.2024.368100Batty M, Bennett MR, Yu E.The role of oxidative stress in atherosclerosis.Cells. 2022;11(23):3843. doi:10.3390/cells11233843Sunkara A, Raizner A.Supplemental vitamins and minerals for cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment.Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. 2019;15(3):179-184. doi:10.14797/mdcj-15-3-179National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Hypervitaminosis D.

Bakheet T, El-Fetoh NA, Ahmed A, Ali M.Impact of micronutrients on cardiovascular health: a review article.Egypt J Hosp Med. 2024;96:2578. doi:10.21608/ejhm.2024.368100

Batty M, Bennett MR, Yu E.The role of oxidative stress in atherosclerosis.Cells. 2022;11(23):3843. doi:10.3390/cells11233843

Sunkara A, Raizner A.Supplemental vitamins and minerals for cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment.Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. 2019;15(3):179-184. doi:10.14797/mdcj-15-3-179

National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus.Hypervitaminosis D.

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