Beyond statins: This doctor’s brand shows us where food fits into heart health

February is Heart Health Month, and news around the subject often focuses on risk factors and screenings. Those conversations matter, but there is an overlooked middle ground between “do nothing” and “start medication immediately,” and it lives in the kitchen.

Not in a restrictive, trend-driven way. Not in a way that requires a dramatic overhaul of your day-to-day. It’s in the cumulative power of consistent, research-backed food choices. May not read sexy now, but it’s a sexy way to live. Let me explain.

There exists a brand founded by board-certified cardiologist Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACC, called Step One Foods. It was created after years of Dr. Klodas watching her patients leave appointments with vague instructions to “watch your cholesterol” and very little guidance on how to do that in daily life.

Step One Foods

But rather than positioning food as a rebellion against medicine, Dr. Klodas’s brand frames nutrition as a clinically grounded tool that can work alongside modern treatments.

In a landscape where medication is often assumed to be the only meaningful lever, especially in Ozempic’s America, Step One Foods is built on published clinical research showing that consistent dietary patterns can produce measurable improvements in cholesterol, sometimes within weeks (not to mention all the other improvements they can make).

What is Step One Foods?

Step One Foods

The 30 Day Starter Pack is a clear entry point. The bundle includes a mix of cholesterol-supporting bars, oatmeal, and other ready-to-eat items formulated with ingredients studied for their impact on LDL levels, such as plant sterols, soluble fiber, flaxseed and nuts.

The concept is simple: replace two snacks or meals per day with these targeted foods and maintain that consistency over time. The packaging and format remove guesswork, translating research into something as straightforward as opening a wrapper or stirring a bowl.

For adults who feel hesitant about medication due to potential side effects, or who simply want to try a food-first strategy before escalating care, this is a fact that counts. It reframes the topic with feasibility rather than fear.

Step One Food’s approach is particularly aligned with the educational mission of Heart Health Month. Instead of amplifying alarm, it focuses on empowerment. Instead of promising miracles, it emphasizes habit. And instead of abstract advice, it offers tangible, portioned foods designed to fit into normal routines.

What Step One Foods underscores, especially during February, is a principle cardiologists often repeat but that rarely becomes a headline: dramatic change is less important than small, sustainable changes.

For readers over 50, or anyone navigating new lab results, this can shift the weight of the heart health topic away from urgency and toward personal agency. When food isn’t treated as a cure-all or an afterthought, but a legitimate part of a broader care plan, further action like exercise, medication, and regular screenings becomes that much easier.

Why Trust Post Wanted by the New York Post

This article was written by Kendall Cornish, New York Post Commerce Editor & Reporter. Kendall, who moonlights as a private chef in the Hamptons for New York elites, lends her expertise to testing and recommending cooking products – for beginners and aspiring sous chefs alike. Simmering and seasoning her way through both jobs, Kendall dishes on everything from the best cookware for your kitchen to chef-approved gourmet meal kits to the full suite of Ninja appliances. Prior to joining the Post’s shopping team in 2023, Kendall previously held positions at Apartment Therapy and at Dotdash Meredith’s Travel + Leisure and Departures magazines.