Make Yourself Heart Attack Proof: Eat to Your Heart's Content
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With heart disease the number one killer of both men and women in this country, you would think a cure that could dramatically reduce these deaths would be big news. And yet the most effective remedy is so simple that most people can't seem to believe it works. "In traditional societies, where people don't eat processed foods, heart disease is rare," says cardiologist Arthur Agatston, MD, author of The South Beach Wake-Up Call. "If you start with a healthy diet in childhood, heart attacks are almost completely preventable."
Studies have shown that up to 70% of heart disease can be averted with the right regimen, according to Walter Willett, MD, chair of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. But is diet alone as powerful as drugs? "Oh, no, it's much more powerful," says Dr. Willett. "Statins, the most effective single medications for reducing heart disease, only cut risk by 25 to 30%."
In fact, you would need a cabinet full of prescription drugs to bestow all the benefits of a serious heart-healthy meal plan. There's nothing a drug can do for your heart health that foods can't do, too.
In that spirit, here are nine top foods for the heart. But this list is only a beginning. A truly healthy diet features a broad range of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes--not a select few. Hippocrates understood the concept more than 2,000 years ago: "Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food."
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