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A new study has found that following the plant-rich Planetary Health Diet can cut heart disease risk by up to 28 percent.
The study, which analyzed data from more than 65,000 post-menopausal women over 20 years, found that higher adherence to the diet was associated with the greatest risk reduction, but that moderate adherence was also linked with benefits.
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The American Society for Nutrition (ASN) announced the study, and Donya Shahamati, a doctoral student in public health at the University of California, presented the findings at NUTRITION 2026, ASN’s annual meeting, earlier today.
Shahamati said, “Our results suggest that people may not need to follow a perfect or very restrictive diet to see potential heart-health benefits. This is especially important for postmenopausal women, because cardiovascular risk increases with age and tends to rise after menopause.”
Shahamati and her team studied 66,892 participants in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a long-term national health study. All of the women included in the team’s analysis were around 63 years old, free of cardiovascular disease, and had complete information on diet and other important health and lifestyle factors in cardiovascular disease risk at the beginning of the national health study (1994-1998).
‘Planetary Diet Index scores,’ methods, and results
The team calculated a Planetary Diet Index score for each participant and divided them into five groups based on how closely their diets aligned with the Planetary Health Diet. The team then cross-referenced this with health outcomes.
“We did not only look at overall cardiovascular disease,” Shahamati said. “We also looked separately at coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure. This helped us see whether the pattern was similar across different types of cardiovascular outcomes.”
The findings showed that women with diets that closely adhered to the Planetary Health Diet had approximately 28 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart failure compared with women in the group whose diets scored the lowest for adherence. However, the study showed that even “moderate adherence” to the diet was linked with reduced risk of heart disease.
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What is the Planetary Health Diet?
The EAT-Lancet report was a groundbreaking scientific review that theorized an optimal, healthy, and sustainable food system built around plant foods. A key recommendation was “The Planetary Health Diet,” which primarily – but not exclusively – focused on plant-based foods. Last year, an updated version of the EAT-Lancet report found that widespread adoption of the Planetary Health Diet could prevent more than 40,000 early deaths per day, and 15 million deaths per year.
A large and growing body of research supports the new study’s findings and suggests that plant-rich diets are beneficial for heart health. In April, the American Heart Association (AHA) once again recommended that people eat more plant protein and less meat, and plenty of different vegetables and fruits.
“Moving toward a more plant-forward, higher-quality diet can be accomplished through small, realistic changes,” Shahamati said. “These changes might include filling half the plate with vegetables more often; using avocado or olive oil in place of butter; choosing oatmeal or whole-grain cereal for breakfast; or trying a meatless meal once per week.”
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