Myth Buster: For a Healthy Heart, Avoid All Fat

Myth: Only low-fat foods will make your heart healthy.

Facts: Fat is essential for a heart-healthy diet, says Marisa Moore, a registered dietitian in Atlanta and a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. U.S. guidelines recommend people get up to 30 percent of their calories from fat, which carries critical vitamins like A, D, E and K and is a vital component of cells.

But, Moore says, the type of fat you eat is as important as the amount: “Eat heart-healthy unsaturated fat like olive, canola and soybean oils in place of saturated fats like butter." Saturated fats are found mostly in animal and dairy products. Other heart-healthy fats include avocados; almonds, walnuts, pistachios and other nuts; and fatty fish like salmon, albacore tuna, herring and lake trout.

Adding heart-healthy fats and cutting saturated fats, she says, can help reduce blood cholesterol levels, a major risk for heart disease.

Barbara Basler is a senior editor on AARP Bulletin staff.