Maintaining a heart-healthy diet can be challenging in today's fast-paced world. Fortunately, several meal delivery services now offer convenient and delicious options designed to support cardiovascular wellness. These services provide pre-portioned, chef-crafted meals that adhere to heart-conscious nutrition guidelines, making it easier than ever to eat with your heart in mind.
The Importance of Heart-Healthy Meals
A heart-healthy meal is typically low in sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars, while being rich in fiber, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Such a diet can help:
- Support healthy blood pressure
- Maintain healthy cholesterol levels
- Promote cardiovascular wellness
CookUnity: Chef-Crafted Meals for Heart Health
CookUnity stands out by offering chef-crafted meals designed with heart-conscious nutrition in mind. These dishes feature low-sodium options and balanced ingredients to support overall well-being. CookUnity's meals follow Mayo Clinic guidelines and are reviewed by registered dietitians, ensuring they meet high nutritional standards.
Highlights of CookUnity's Heart-Friendly Meals
Low Sodium Options: CookUnity offers a variety of low-sodium meals, such as Pesto Chicken Breast and Chive Butter Salmon. The Pesto Chicken Breast is paired with crispy roasted potatoes and a baby kale side salad with cherry tomatoes, while the Chive Butter Salmon comes with a medley of roasted vegetables.
High Protein Choices: The menu includes options like Spicy Braised Beef, where whole chuck roast is braised in a spicy, Korean BBQ-inspired marinade until it becomes tender.
Read also: Comprehensive Guide to the Miami Heart Institute Diet Plan
Diverse Menu: With over 300 rotating menu options, CookUnity provides detailed nutritional information for each meal, making it easy to find something for every dietary preference.
Ordering Process
CookUnity simplifies getting heart-friendly meals with an easy-to-use ordering system:
- Browse Meals: Explore over 300 menu options and filter specifically for low-sodium or low-fat meals.
- Confirm Details: Finalize meal choices, delivery address, and payment information with assistance from a dedicated Account Manager.
- Enjoy: Meals arrive in a reusable insulated bag, ensuring they stay fresh for up to 8 hours after delivery. Every meal is ready to heat and eat.
The CookUnity Difference
- Easy to Heat: Meals are quick to prepare, taking just 2 minutes in the microwave, with some dishes ready to enjoy cold.
- Budget-Friendly: Heart-healthy meals start at an affordable price, offering exceptional quality and value.
- Diverse Meal Choices: CookUnity collaborates with over 100 chefs to craft meals, offering more than 300 options across 10+ cuisines.
- No Messy Clean Up: Meals are delivered fresh in microwave-safe, eco-friendly containers, ensuring cleanup is quick and hassle-free.
- National Delivery: Meals are shipped nationwide across the continental USA in reusable insulated bags, keeping them fresh for 5-7 days.
- Customer Support: An Account Manager is assigned to oversee orders and assist with any needs throughout the entire process.
Chefs Behind CookUnity's Heart-Friendly Meals
CookUnity’s meal delivery features dishes created by over 100 talented chefs, each bringing their unique culinary expertise to the table.
- Chef John DeLucie: Combines European influences with modern techniques, drawing from his experience at renowned NYC restaurants.
- Chef Chase Evans: Focuses on blending flavorful dishes with a health-conscious approach through his Be Well initiative.
- Chef Ivy Stark: Crafts vibrant, award-winning dishes inspired by her extensive culinary experience from top restaurants.
- Chef Chris Massiah: Brings comforting, homestyle flavors with Caribbean and Asian influences.
CookUnity as a Meal Partner for Various Industries
- Senior Care: Helps senior care providers deliver meals tailored to meet the specific nutritional needs of older adults.
- Care Providers: Assists care providers in delivering efficient and seamless support to their patients.
- Employers: Improves workplace wellness and boosts employee engagement and satisfaction through nutritious meal options.
- Healthcare Plans: Assists healthcare plans in providing enhanced nutritional support for their members.
Daily Harvest: Nourishing Your Heart with Fruits and Vegetables
Daily Harvest focuses on making it easy to eat more organic fruits and vegetables. Their offerings align with the American Heart Association's guidelines, emphasizing a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and plant-based proteins.
Highlights of Daily Harvest
- Chef-Crafted Options: Explore an array of chef-crafted options like the Apple + Cinnamon Breakfast Bowl, which blends nutrient-dense ingredients for a satisfying meal.
- Frozen at Peak Freshness: Selections are frozen at peak freshness, ensuring you enjoy both flavor and nutrition in every bite.
- Sustainable Eating: Single-serving meals are ready in as little as 4 minutes.
Benefits of Daily Harvest
- Increases energy
- Boosts inner and outer glow
- Helps achieve health goals
- Healthy for the planet
Ordering and Customization
- Delivery Dates: After entering your address at checkout, you will see a list of estimated delivery dates in your area to choose from.
- Ingredient List: Refer to the ingredient list for each item to check for allergens. Organic ingredients are identified as "organic." Any item labeled as "certified organic" means that 95%+ of the ingredients are organic.
- Dietary Restrictions: All of Daily Harvest's food is dairy-free and gluten-free. Most recipes are also soy-free, but some items include miso and tamari (made from fermented soy).
- Minimum Order: To check out, your order must total at least $50.
- Discounts: All orders over $100 receive a 10% discount.
- Flexibility: You can modify your items, delivery schedule, and plan preference whenever you'd like.
- Cancellation: You can cancel your plan any time by navigating to "My Plan" and clicking "Cancel My Plan".
Sunbasket: Delicious, Healthy Food at Home
Sunbasket offers a variety of meal options, including Fresh & Ready meals and cooking kits with easy-to-follow recipes. With a weekly menu featuring two dozen healthy, fresh meals, there’s something for every appetite, including high protein and low carb choices, gluten-free ingredients, vegetarian options, and quick-cooking meals.
Read also: The Ultimate Guide to Heart and Diabetes Diet
Highlights of Sunbasket
- Variety: Offers a wide range of options, including Fresh & Ready meals and cooking kits.
- Customization: You choose the meals and ingredients that you want.
- Freshness: Sends everything in a cold-packed home meal delivery package.
- Convenience: Fresh & Ready meals come ready to heat and eat.
Customer Testimonials
- "Everything was amazing. Produce is so fresh. Flavorful dishes without overpowering spice. Easy to understand recipes. Feels like we are eating out every night." - Corinne M.
- "Everything has tasted delicious and was so easy to make. It's such a relief to not have to plan and shop to have healthy and tasty meals." - Brittany H.
Sunbasket: The Healthy Meal Kit with the Most Variety
- Pros: Good variety of recipe options, meals feel fresh and produce-forward.
- Cons: Organic ingredients may be substituted with non-organic, price can add up depending on your selections.
- Variety of Meals: Sunbasket keeps a tight list of 15-20 meals each week, plus some additional add-ons and ready-to-eat options.
- Dietary Filters: Easy to filter recipes by dietary restriction (i.e. Paleo, Gluten-Free, etc.), nutrition (i.e. High Protein, Low Added Sugar, etc.), excluded ingredients (dairy-free, soy-free, etc.), and cook time.
Factor: Prepared Healthy Meal Delivery Service
Factor offers entirely pre-made, heat-and-eat meals that require just a short trip to the microwave. The brand positions its meals as nutritious, dietitian-approved, and “designed to support your wellness goals.”
Highlights of Factor
- Convenience: Entirely pre-made, heat-and-eat meals.
- Nutritious: Meals are dietitian-approved and designed to support wellness goals.
- Balanced: Meals tend to follow a protein plus vegetable plus starch format.
Factor: The Best Prepared Healthy Meal Delivery Service
- Pros: Easy and fast to prepare, meals feel balanced, generally tasty.
- Cons: Sides can feel repetitive, some dishes are less successful than others, portion sizes might feel small for some.
- Well-Seasoned and Flavorful: Dishes are well-seasoned and flavorful for microwave meals.
- Macro-Friendly: Great option for anyone with hyper-specific macro goals or dietary preferences in mind.
Purple Carrot: Plant-Based Meal Delivery
Purple Carrot is an entirely plant-based meal delivery service that offers both meal kits and ready-to-eat meals. This is an excellent meal delivery service for vegans and non-vegans alike.
Highlights of Purple Carrot
- Plant-Based: All meals are entirely plant-based.
- Variety: Offers both meal kits and ready-to-eat meals.
- Flavorful: Meals are a mix of fresh produce and packaged ingredients, with pre-portioned ingredients for seamless cooking.
Purple Carrot: The Best Healthy Meal Delivery Service for Plant-Based Eaters
- Pros: Healthy meals that are quick, easy, and genuinely delicious; costs significantly less than regular takeout; offers a range of difficulty levels, including fully prepared options.
- Cons: Requires you to read the recipe carefully; entirely vegan menu may not appeal to all eaters.
- Variety of Textures and Colors: Each meal offers a variety of textures and colors.
- Flavorful and Well-Seasoned: Meals are really well-seasoned.
Green Chef: Organic Healthy Meal Kit
Green Chef is the first CCOF-certified organic meal kit delivery service, which means they’re committed to sourcing organic fresh produce and eggs, as well as providing organic beef, chicken, and wild-caught seafood as an option.
Highlights of Green Chef
- Organic: Committed to sourcing organic fresh produce and eggs, as well as providing organic beef, chicken, and wild-caught seafood as an option.
- Simple Recipes: Recipes are simple and tasty.
- Easy-to-Follow Instructions: Instructions are easy to follow with step-by-step photos.
- High-Quality Ingredients: High-quality meat, seafood, and produce.
Green Chef: The Best Organic Healthy Meal Kit
- Pros: Simple recipes with tasty results; easy-to-follow instructions with step-by-step photos; high-quality meat, seafood, and produce.
- Cons: Produce options can feel repetitive and out of season.
- Beginner-Friendly: A beginner cook could easily follow the instructions and make a delicious meal.
- Nutrition Coaching: Offers a free one-on-one nutrition coaching session with your first box.
Sakara: Wellness-Focused Meal Delivery
Sakara is a wellness-focused meal delivery and supplement brand with two nutrition program offerings: their Signature Nutrition Program and their Level II Detox. Meals are entirely plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
Highlights of Sakara
- Wellness-Focused: Meals are designed with wellness in mind.
- Plant-Based: Entirely plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
- Aesthetically-Minded: Think rainbow-hued salads, veggie-laden soups, and protein-rich breakfast parfaits crowned with granola.
Sakara: The Best Healthy Meal Delivery Service for Wellness Heads
- Pros: Healthy, nourishing meals; appealing to vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free eaters; curated menu means all the planning is taken care of for you.
- Cons: Premium price point might not fit into a lot of people’s budgets; most breakfast options skew sweet, which may not suit savory fans.
- Balanced, Thoughtfully-Designed Meals: Salads are generously portioned and thoughtfully designed with a range of textures and colors.
- Flavorful: Everything is already packed with flavor.
Gardencup: Salad Delivery Service
Gardencup specializes in salads and bowls packaged in plastic jars. Their offerings are nostalgic (think Caesar, Cobb, Southwest chicken, and wedge salads), travel-friendly, and ultra convenient.
Read also: Comprehensive Guide: Low Sodium Meals
Highlights of Gardencup
- Convenience: Salads and bowls are packaged in plastic jars.
- Travel-Friendly: Offerings are travel-friendly.
- Protein-Packed: Meat options come with generous amounts of protein.
Gardencup: The Best Healthy Meal Delivery Service for Salad Lovers
- Pros: Fresh ingredients; meat options come with generous amounts of protein; super convenient for on-the-go lunches.
- Cons: Vegetarian/vegan salads don’t feel as substantial; hard to mix thoroughly without transferring to a bowl.
- Fresh Ingredients: Salads stay relatively fresh through day five.
- Crunchy Toppings Packaged Separately: No need to worry about sogginess.
BistroMD: Heart Healthy Meal Delivery
BistroMD offers heart-healthy meal plans designed to help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Their meals are created with the right foods in the optimal amounts to take the guesswork out of improving heart health.
Customer Testimonials
- “I have enjoyed the variety of plans and options that BistroMD offers. For me, the heart healthy plan works best and I also add a few plant based options."
- “Love the meals! I was with a different meal company for a while, but HAD to change, because they had way too much sodium, fat, sugar and cholesterol!"
- “Shockingly effective program. My doctor had me on blood pressure medication. After joining bistroMD, in just 1 month I no longer needed meds!"
- “My husband is on Week 4, and he is extremely happy with both the meal variety and deliciousness and with his dramatically improved blood pressure. We clearly made the right choice when looking at meal delivery services."
- “It's really working well! My blood sugar and blood pressure are down, getting close to normal."
- “I love this program. Just recently diagnosed with High Blood Pressure. My genetics are cardiovascular issues. The meals are delicious, and I am surprised every time I eat my dinner. I have been recommending bistroMD to family and friends."
Mom's Meals
Mom’s Meals has meal options and programs that serve a wide range of health and nutritional needs. With nine condition-specific menus and 60+ meal options, there are numerous tasty choices to make.
Customer Testimonials
- "I am so pleased with Mom's Meals. I am managing my mother's health and well-being as she ages in place. My mother couldn't be more pleased with the variety, taste, and freshness of the food. I couldn't be any more pleased with the customer service provided when I call to make changes and/or updates to meals or delivery. Everyone has been so courteous and efficient."
- "Food tastes good. The serving size is perfect! Really enjoying. Customer service (when I've had to call) has been very kind and helpful."
- "I just wanted to tell you how easy it is to make your tasty meals for dinner each night. Three days a week, I come home from dialysis tired and hungry. In less than five minutes from fridge to plate, I have a great tasting meal ready to eat. My husband has diabetic diet needs and I have renal diet needs, so we order our meals and put them in the fridge separately."
- "I just received my first shipment today and I'm very happy. I have cancer and I get so tired. Cooking can be hard (even though I love to cook). It's been so difficult getting the proper nutrition. I have nausea and vomiting frequently, and often the only nutrients I get are from shakes or tomato juice because I don't have the strength or appetite for anything else. These meals are the perfect size, easy to make, and really take the pressure off of me to shop and cook every day."
- "I love this option for my consumers. Others cannot meet most dietary restrictions and have no choice. Choice gives consumers a sense of control that is tremendously important. Some tell me they look forward to choosing as if they were ordering take out."
- "I received the meals yesterday as a sample. I have to tell you that I am impressed with the quality and taste. I want to thank you for the delicious meals. They are very good, and I really appreciate your services. I am 82 years old and your meals have made it much easier to enjoy three meals each day in my home."
- "This company is absolutely wonderful! Worth looking into."
- "I received my produce box today and was pleasantly surprised!"