Heart attacks and cardiovascular disease are one of the biggest killers in the western world. Improving your cardiovascular health by following the advice in this section could save your life.

One very well known and widely reported study called The Lyon Diet Heart Study tested the effectiveness of the Mediterranean diet in a group of people that had already suffered a heart attack. After 4 years those who followed the Mediterranean diet had between 50-70% decreased risk of recurrent heart attack, angina, stroke and death even though their cholesterol levels did not change. What this means is just because you have already had a heart attack it is not too late to make significant changes to your health. It might also suggest that having high cholesterol is not necessarily the problem it is made out to be, especially when you have already suffered a heart attack.

Another study introduced the concept of the “poly meal”. Seven foods that are known to reduce cardiovascular disease if consumed together on a daily basis in a “ploy meal” could reduce heart disease by 75%.

These were:

• Fish
• Garlic
• Vegetables
• Nuts
• Fruit
• Red wine
• Dark chocolate

Another thing to think about is your blood pressure. Reducing your blood pressure can also significantly reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. One thing that is very important for blood pressure is to control your salt intake. Eat the DASH diet. This is essentially a diet low in sodium, lower in carbohydrate, higher in protein and essential fats. It is also higher in vegetables and lower in grains, fruit and dairy.

Example:

• Meat, poultry and oily fish 2-4 servings a day
• Vegetables 6-8 servings a day
• Fruits 2 servings a day
• Dried beans, seeds and nuts 1-2 servings a day
• Low fat dairy products 0-2 servings a day
• Cereals, grains and pasta 0-2 servings a day
• Fats and oils 4-5 servings a day (mainly unsaturated fats like olive oil, fish oil, however some saturated fat is allowable)
• 50 grams of fibre a day (a mix of soluble and insoluble)

To find out what foods and nutrients support your heart and to eat to prevent heart attacks and strokes Steve Hines Little book of nutrition tips now is available at

http://www.amazon.co.uk/little-book-nutrition-tips/dp/0956670113

or watch Steve talk about the book on YouTube here