TY - JOUR T1 - Optimal diet for cardiovascular and planetary health JF - Heart JO - Heart DO - 10.1136/heartjnl-2019-316373 SP - heartjnl-2019-316373 AU - W M Monique Verschuren AU - Jolanda M A Boer AU - Elisabeth H M Temme Y1 - 2021/10/10 UR - http://heart.bmj.com/content/early/2021/10/10/heartjnl-2019-316373.abstract N2 - Learning objectivesThis article provides information on the importance of diet for cardiovascular disease prevention. It gives insight to elements of the diet that are harmful or protective and stresses the importance of the totality of the diet. In addition, dietary choices are discussed in relation to the aspect of environmental sustainability of food production.A healthy diet is the cornerstone of cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention.1 Dietary habits influence cardiovascular risk, through an effect on, for example, blood pressure (BP), blood lipids, obesity, inflammation and endothelial function.2 Over the past decades, knowledge about the components of a healthy diet has grown. Since there are few randomised controlled trials, most evidence on diet–disease relationships comes from prospective cohort studies, with inherent methodological problems, such as measurement error in dietary intake and correlations between dietary components. Still, the basic principles of a healthy diet can certainly be outlined. Since average dietary intake in most countries is far from optimal, the potential health gain is large, not only for CVDs but for other chronic diseases as well.Diet also has a large impact on the environment.3 Food production systems are associated with approximately 25% of the worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 80% of the loss of biodiversity, 70% of water withdrawals for irrigation and 40% of land use. Therefore, dealing with environmental challenges is also a major food system challenge, especially when the foreseen growth of the world population and increasing demands for meat are considered. The EAT-Lancet commission recently introduced ‘The Great Food Transformation’: an urgent call for a transformation of the whole food system, from production to consumption,to decrease the total environmental impact of our current and future food system.4In this paper, we will discuss diet in relation to both cardiovascular and planetary health.Diet and cardiovascular healthThe focus of dietary … ER -