Quotes from Jonny Bowden

Shechter recommended sticking to foods such as oatmeal, fruits and vegetables, and legumes and nuts, which all have a low glycemic index. Exercising every day for at least thirty minutes, he added, is an extra heart-smart action to take.

Fast Action Plan: Stop eating fast food. On all packaged foods from the supermarket, check the ingredients list for "partially hydrogenated" or "hydrogenated" oils. If either of those is listed, don't eat it. Look in particular at margarines, cookies, cakes, pastries, doughnuts, and, as mentioned, fast food.

Cardiac muscle cells burn fats for fuel, so the heart is especially vulnerable to even subtle deficiencies in the factors contributing to ATP supply: coenzyme Q10, D-ribose, and L-carnitine. These

Papaya Enzymes Ease Digestion, Pain, and Inflammation Papaya—along with pineapple—is one of the best sources of digestive enzymes. Papaya contains papain, one of a class of enzymes

Even borderline deficiencies of magnesium can negatively affect the heart, and not surprisingly, there is a considerable amount of evidence associating low levels of magnesium with cardiovascular disease.21

Niacin also reduces lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a). Lipoprotein(a) is basically a special kind of LDL, and it's a really bad one. This, folks, is the real cholesterol story! Lp(a) is an independent risk factor for heart disease and for heart attacks, yet it doesn't get as much attention as cholesterol does because there aren't effective drug treatments for lowering it, and no one really knows what to do about it. Niacin lowers Lp(a) levels by a remarkable 10 to 30 percent.

omega-3 consumption "lowers plasma triglycerides, resting heart rate, and blood pressure and might also improve myocardial filling and efficiency, lower inflammation, and improve vascular function.

There is reliable and consistent research evidence demonstrating that omega-3 fats, mainly from fish, lower the death rate from heart disease and lower the risk of sudden cardiac death. This is hardcore evidence that fish oil saves lives.

You can prevent and even heal heart disease through diet, exercise, and/or nutritional supplements

orange juice a day (though those results may have been due to other healthy habits of the juice drinkers). And many of the cancer-fighting limonoids (see below) are also present in the juice. But compared to the whole fruit, orange

Sunflower Seeds

Trader Joe's, a national chain of specialty grocery stores that's huge here in California where I live, started carrying frozen edamame not too long ago and now reports that they sell better than frozen corn. Edamame

Fermented Soy (tempeh and miso)