Beans for Him, Broccoli for Her: The Heart-Healthy Veggie Split

The research team, based at Edith Cowan University in Australia, looked at 638 participants from the long-running Raine Study, all assessed around age 22. Each young adult filled out detailed diet questionnaires and had clinical measures taken, including blood pressure, waist circumference, cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar. Those five markers are the familiar warning lights of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that raises the odds of heart disease and diabetes down the road. About one in five participants landed in a higher-risk group, meaning they carried two or more of those red flags.

When the researchers sorted vegetables into groups — allium, cruciferous, green leafy, legumes, and the yellow-orange-red family — a striking pattern emerged, and it split along sex lines. Among the men, each additional daily serving of legumes of roughly 75 grams was associated with about 72 percent lower odds of being in the high-risk group, even after accounting for income, education, smoking, alcohol, and other dietary factors. Among the women, each extra daily serving of cruciferous vegetables was tied to roughly an 85 percent reduction in those same odds. Interestingly, women in the lower-risk group also ate more green leafy vegetables, but that link faded once the researchers adjusted for other factors — a small detail that speaks to how carefully the analysis was done.

The lead researcher summed it up in plain terms. According to a summary of the findings, Dr. Neal McNamara said, "We saw very clear sex-based differences. Beans for blokes and broccoli for women stood out as the real winners." It is a quotable line, and it captures the study's spirit — but it comes wrapped in some important fine print.

Here is the part the headlines tend to skip. This was a cross-sectional study, which means it captured diet and health at one moment and can reveal associations, not cause and effect. It cannot tell us that the beans or the broccoli actually lowered anyone's risk — only that higher intakes and lower risk tended to show up together. The participants were also all 22-year-olds from a single region of Australia, and their diets were self-reported, so the results may not translate neatly to older adults, to Americans, or to eating habits measured more precisely.

Those dramatic-sounding percentages deserve a gentle reality check, too. An "85 percent reduction in odds" is a statistical relationship within this particular group, not a personal guarantee that a nightly side of broccoli will cut anyone's heart risk by that much. As for why the split might exist at all, the researchers offered a hypothesis rather than a conclusion. Dr. Therese O'Sullivan suggested that men and women may process certain plant compounds differently, noting that compounds in legumes might affect testosterone more strongly while those in cruciferous vegetables could have a greater effect on estrogen and progesterone. It is an intriguing idea worth watching, but this study did not test it.

Step back from the young-adult snapshot, and beans have a much broader résumé. A 2022 systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis found that higher legume intake was inversely associated with both cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease, with an apparent sweet spot around 400 grams a week — a modest, approachable amount that works out to a small serving most days. A large 2026 analysis of nearly 47,000 U.S. adults echoed the theme, linking each extra ounce of pulses per day to a lower prevalence of cardiometabolic disease, with no meaningful differences across demographic groups.

Why might humble beans, lentils, and peas pull this weight? They are rich in fiber and plant protein, low in saturated fat, and loaded with potassium, magnesium, and folate — a nutrient profile that lines up nicely with healthier blood pressure and cholesterol. The takeaway here is quietly important: legumes look heart-supportive for everyone, not just for the men in one Australian cohort. If you are curious about other pantry staples that earn their keep, our roundup of foods for longevity shows how often beans show up on the plates of the world's longest-lived communities.

Cruciferous vegetables — broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, and bok choy — have a similarly deep bench of evidence that reaches well beyond women. In a large cohort drawn from the Shanghai Women's and Men's Health Studies, eating one to two servings of these vegetables a day was associated with roughly a 31 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared with the lowest intake, in both sexes.

Even more compelling is a piece of causal evidence. The 2024 VESSEL randomized crossover trial had adults with mildly elevated blood pressure eat a cruciferous-rich mix for two weeks, then a root-and-squash mix, and measured a mean 24-hour systolic blood pressure that was 2.5 mmHg lower on the cruciferous plan. A randomized trial can point toward cause in a way a snapshot study cannot, and while a couple of millimeters may sound small, shifts of that size across a population meaningfully move heart-disease risk.

One practical note: much of the good stuff in these vegetables survives cooking beautifully, so raw florets are far from your only option. Our guide to foods that get more nutritious when you heat them is a handy companion if raw broccoli was never your thing.

Put the pieces together and a clearer verdict appears. The "beans for him, broccoli for her" split is a memorable hook, but the sturdier evidence — meta-analyses, a very large cohort, and a randomized trial — shows both foods support cardiovascular health regardless of sex. The new study is best read as an interesting signal that the degree of benefit might differ between men and women, not as permission for anyone to skip one vegetable family entirely.

That framing carries real weight for a U.S. audience. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease was responsible for 304,970 deaths among American women in 2023 — about one in every five female deaths — yet only around 56 percent of women recognize it as their leading killer. Against those stakes, the encouraging message from the study's team lands well. As Dr. Lauren Blekkenhorst put it, "What you eat now matters — and choosing to eat these veggies every day could make a real difference on how long, and how well, you live your life."

For a broader look at the everyday choices that support your arteries, our list of everyday foods that help unclog arteries is a friendly next read.

If the research nudges you toward anything, it is simply eating more vegetables overall — a goal with plenty of room to grow, since only about one in ten U.S. adults eats enough fruits and vegetables each day.

A useful benchmark comes from the American Heart Association, which points to about 2.5 cups of vegetables a day for adults on a 2,000-calorie pattern. Here is a simple way to picture where beans and broccoli fit.

Getting there can be almost effortless. A tin of chickpeas or lentils disappears happily into soups, chili, pasta sauce, and grain bowls, and a handful of white beans blended into a dip turns a snack into something more filling. On the cruciferous side, a tray of broccoli or cauliflower roasted with a little olive oil takes minutes, shredded cabbage brightens up tacos and slaws, and Brussels sprouts caramelize into something genuinely craveable. None of this has to be all-or-nothing — even swapping one side dish a few nights a week moves you in the right direction. If cost is on your mind, our guide to affordable swaps for expensive health foods shows just how budget-friendly beans and cruciferous veggies already are.

One nice thing about this research is that it dissolves the idea of "his food" and "her food" at the dinner table. Since both families of vegetables help everyone, a shared meal built around beans and broccoli covers all the bases at once — no separate menus required. If there are picky eaters in the mix, gentle exposure and a few clever preparations go a long way, and our tips on sneaking vegetables past picky eaters can help the whole household warm up to the idea.