This month, not one but two new studies solidified the link between a plant-based diet and heart health as well as longevity.

Both published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the first study, titled "A Plant-Centered Diet and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease during Young to Middle Adulthood" took into account data from 4,946 people spanning from 1986 to 2016.

Researchers found that plant-based eating was directly linked to a lowered risk of heart disease—which happens to be the number one cause of death in the U.S.

Similarly to the other study, researchers found that this way of eating was linked to better heart health.

David Jacobs, PhD, one of the study authors, explains that the goal of the study was to see if there was a connection between a diet that centered on plant-based foods and lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

The results show a strong link: People who most ate nutritionally-rich plant foods and fewer animal products had a 52 percent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease compared to those who didn't have a diet where nutrient-rich plant foods were the focus.

The study on the portfolio diet started collecting data in 1993—again, long before plant-based eating was a term we were saying on the reg.

Though this study focused specifically on postmenopausal women, the results echoed that of the other study: A diet high in plant-based foods was linked to an 11 percent less likelihood of developing heart disease.

Jacobs and his fellow researchers saw in their findings was that regardless of how people ate earlier in life, improving their diet had a 61 percent lower risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease at the 20-year check-up compared to people whose diets got less nutrient-rich.