American Heart Association Recommends Sourcing Protein From Plants Instead of Meat

The dietary guidelines diverge on protein from the government’s recently released guidance.

Soybeans are unloaded from a truck at a local grain dealer in Queen Anne, Md., on Oct. 10, 2025. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

The American Heart Association on March 31 recommended people primarily derive protein from plant sources, such as beans and nuts, rather than meat.

The organization said in its 2026 dietary guidelines that healthy sources of protein include beans, peas, lentils, and nuts. It said that people should also regularly consume fish and other seafood.

People who want to eat red meat should select lean cuts that are not processed and “limit portion size,” the guidelines stated.

“Dietary patterns higher in plant sources of protein and lower in animal sources of protein are associated with better cardiovascular health,” they added.

“If consuming animal protein, minimize processed meats, and prioritize lean cuts of unprocessed meat, including poultry; and reduce total intake, limit portion size and frequency of consumption.”

The guidelines cited a 2025 systematic review, which concluded that replacing red meat with protein from plants was associated with improved cholesterol levels. They also point to a 2024 report from an advisory committee that said the government should consider advising people to consume more plant-based protein, rather than red meat.

The government, when unveiling its new dietary guidelines in January, recommended people “consume a variety of protein foods from animal sources, including eggs, poultry, seafood, and red meat, as well as a variety of plant-sourced protein foods.”

In a document outlining sources for the guidance, officials said that “observational associations linking meat intake with chronic disease risk are inconsistent and may be largely driven by processed-meat subtypes,” such as sausages and deli meats.

The document also said that meat is a high-quality protein and that people can suffer from nutrient deficiencies if they eat protein only from plant sources.

“Our 2026 guidance may look familiar, as it hasn’t shifted greatly from the 2021 recommendations,” Alice Lichtenstein, volunteer chair of the American Heart Association Committee, which wrote the American Heart Association guidelines, said in a statement on March 31.

“We did find that the science supporting this guidance has strengthened.”

The association accepts funding from corporations that produce food, but says those donations do not influence its guidelines or policy positions. More than 85 percent of the association’s revenue comes from sources other than corporations, according to the organization.

The association’s guidelines also called on people to restrict dairy consumption to products that are low in fat or fat-free.

“Given the available evidence, it would be prudent at this time to continue prior guidance to replace major sources of saturated fat, including dairy fat, with sources of unsaturated fat and to choose nonfat or low-fat dairy products,” the guidelines said, pointing to studies such as one that found consuming low-fat dairy was associated with lower risk for cardiovascular disease.

The government’s guidelines recommend consuming full-fat dairy that does not have any added sugars.

Both sets of guidelines recommend consuming a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, avoiding foods that have been processed, and minimizing sugar.

Calley Means, a White House senior adviser, wrote on X that the association allowed administration officials to review the association’s dietary guidance and that it was “aligned with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines in the MAJOR issues: eat real food, limit processed foods, limit refined grains, limit added sugar.”

“These are the big things, and we will be a transformed country if we follow them,” he added.