HeartShield Recipe Quality Standards

How we support your heart health journey through better eating

Our Approach to Heart-Healthy Recipes

At HeartShield, we believe that food should be both delicious and supportive of your health goals. Our recipes are designed with hypertension management in mind, focusing on practical changes that can help improve your blood pressure over time.

Rather than imposing strict dietary rules, we aim to provide a variety of recipes that make heart-healthy eating enjoyable and sustainable. Research shows that even moderate dietary adjustments can contribute to meaningful blood pressure improvements.

Our Recipe Priorities

Key Focus Areas:

  • Lower salt content: We aim to reduce sodium where possible without compromising flavour
  • Higher potassium foods: We include potassium-rich ingredients where appropriate
  • Mediterranean diet influence: Many recipes draw inspiration from Mediterranean eating patterns
  • Nitrate-rich foods: We incorporate foods with blood pressure-lowering properties when possible

Recipe Variety

Our collection includes a range of options:

Heart-Healthy Mains

Balanced meals that form the foundation of heart-conscious eating.

Better-For-You Treats

Healthier versions of favourite sweets and treats. While not perfect nutritionally, these offer improved alternatives to conventional recipes.

Quick & Simple Options

Recipes designed for busy days when time is limited but you still want to support your heart health.

Quality Assurance

All recipes in the HeartShield app are reviewed by a doctor to ensure they are appropriate for people with high blood pressure. We consider both nutritional properties and practical aspects of meal preparation.

While we don't advocate for a single strict diet plan, we do follow guiding principles from research on dietary approaches that benefit blood pressure, including Mediterranean eating patterns and elements of the DASH diet.

Reference

Filippou CD, et al. Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet and Blood Pressure Reduction in Adults with and without Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Adv Nutr. 2020 Sep 1;11(5):1150-1160. doi: 10.1093/advances/nmaa041. PMID: 32330233.