High noon can be a time of high anxiety for heart health as a greasy, salty lunch can undo the nutritious choices people make at breakfast or dinner.
Lunch has the potential to be the unhealthiest meal of the day, cardiologists say. They see their patients trying to eat in a hurry, grabbing pre-packaged and processed food, or succumbing to the temptation of burgers and pizza.
Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist, clinical associate professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, calls it “the danger zone.”
“You’ve got to get a quick bite, so it’s fast food, french fries and fried foods,” Goldberg, author of “The Women’s Healthy Heart Program: Lifesaving Strategies for Preventing and Healing Heart Disease,” tells TODAY.com.
“It’s really important when you’re choosing things to eat for lunch to look for the hidden issues.”
The other danger is skipping lunch altogether, says Dr. Sean Heffron, a cardiologist in the Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at NYU Langone Health in New York.
“It’s a rare person who’s able to be comfortable while fasting for the entirety of the workday,” Heffron says.
“And when you get hungry or hangry, you’re far more liable to make choices not based on a well thought out meal plan, so reaching for (unhealthy) snacks or overeating at dinner because you’ve felt deprived all day long.”
Heffron is a morning exerciser, while Goldberg tends to get up very early, so both cardiologists say they’re hungry by mid-day and consider lunch an important meal.
What do doctors who take care of other people’s hearts eat for lunch to stay heart-healthy? Goldberg and Heffron shared their favorites:
What cardiologists eat for lunch:
Salad with a lean protein
Goldberg’s most frequent lunch is a salad of romaine lettuce topped with a protein such as a hard-boiled egg, grilled salmon or grilled chicken. She likes to add tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers to the mix. A few nuts like almonds or walnuts are also a favorite topping.
She likes making her own vinaigrette dressing that contains olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard and some pepper.
Goldberg also likes a tabbouleh salad or a hummus salad.
Vegetables and healthy sources of protein are key to a heart-healthy diet, the American Heart Association notes. Olive oil is a healthy monounsaturated fat, and a handful of nuts each day may lower risk of heart disease.
Grain bowl
Heffron’s favorite lunch starts with a base of whole grains such as quinoa or farro, which he tops with vegetables and a salmon patty or another type of protein.
That’s drizzled with a tzatziki dressing made with low-fat Greek yogurt, olive oil, lots of herbs and spices to add flavor without adding extra calories or fat. Crunchy nuts complete the dish.
Eating whole grains may reduce heart disease risk in middle-aged and older adults, a 2021 study found.
Peanut butter sandwich
“If I’m in a rush in the morning and I’m not able to put something together, sometimes I make a peanut butter sandwich on multigrain bread,” Goldberg says. But she skips the jelly or other sugary toppings.
Peanut butter delivers both healthy fats and protein that the body digests slowly, meaning people feel full longer, nutritionists say.
Regularly eating nuts or nut butters is linked with a lower risk of heart disease or Type 2 diabetes, according to the American Heart Association.
Nutrient-packed smoothie
On days when Heffron wants to avoid eating a heavy lunch, he makes a smoothie before his morning jog. He freezes it, then puts it in the fridge when he gets to work so that it’s somewhat thawed but still pretty thick by the time he drinks it at lunch.
One of his favorite smoothies is made of roasted beets and sweet potato, with some almond butter, Greek yogurt and strawberries.
“I put in a little dark cocoa too, which goes well with the beets,” says Heffron, who used to be a chef before he was a doctor. “That might last me for a good amount of the afternoon… it’s pretty sustaining.”
Greek yogurt with berries or nuts
Buy the plain kind and bring your own add-ins to control the sugar and ingredients. Heffron likes mixing in nuts or almond butter, calling it “a great high-protein, mineral-rich food.”
Goldberg likes adding blueberries and raspberries because they’re full of antioxidants, praising this option as “really heart healthy.”
A daily dose of yogurt may help people manage high blood pressure, studies have found.
What cardiologists think about popular lunches:
Hamburger and fries
Both cardiologists say that’s the No. 1 lunch they would avoid.
“That would be basically the poster lunch for atherosclerosis. It hits on everything: cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure,” Heffron says.
“The hamburger and fries, particularly if you add a shake, that has to be the absolute worst one,” Goldberg adds.
If you must have a hamburger, she advises skipping the bun and fries, and adding extra lettuce and tomato.
Relying on fast-food in general is a mistake because it contains lots of calories and saturated fat, both doctors say.
Sandwich
Skip sandwiches piled high with processed meat or made with white bread, they advise.
Instead, be choosy about your ingredients. Start with whole grain brown bread that contains nuts and seeds, and include a foundation of vegetables such as lettuce, tomato, onion, sprouts, grilled or roasted vegetables.
Add a lean protein — Heffron recommends poaching a chicken breast and keeping it in the refrigerator to slice up — plus a flavorful topping like mustard.
Soup and salad
Prepared soups are usually high in salt, and cream soups like chowder or bisque contain a lot of saturated fat, the doctors caution.
There’s lots of potential in salad, but it depends on the ingredients and the dressing. “If you can see your reflection in the salad because it’s so greasy, don’t choose it,” Goldberg notes.
The typical chef salad is not heart healthy, Heffron adds. “Iceberg lettuce with shredded cheese, bacon, deli ham and a cream-based dressing is not far away from the hamburger and french fries,” he says.
Go for a salad with lots of raw or grilled vegetables, legumes, nuts and a lean protein on top, dressed with a light vinaigrette or a yogurt-based dressing.
