Is Your Heart At Risk Of Failure?

TV pitchman Billy Mays' death at 50 years young from a heart attack has many of us worried if we or our loved ones, are at risk for suffering the same fate. According to the coroner's report, Mayes had a serious case of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, from a buildup of plaque in his arteries.

The good news, however, is that most cases of atherosclerosis can be avoided and managed through diet and exercise. The Nutrition Twins Tammy and Lyssie Lakatos, share their five key steps to lowering your risk for heart attack.

1. Eat a plant-based diet.

Focus on including whole grains, fruits, vegetables and either beans or soy products in every meal. This will ensure you are getting the nutrients, fiber and protein that you need while crowding out the fatty animal products that clog the arteries and lead to heart disease.

2. Eat healthy fats

Again, it’s fun to focus on the foods we should eat more of—like monounsaturated fats. When most people think about the heart healthy fat, they think of olive oil. But other great options to use are canola oil and avocados and nuts are a better snack than most. Research shows that just one to 2 handfuls of pistachios a day may lower cardiovascular risk factors and can reduce the bad LDL cholesterol and actually raise the good, HDL cholesterol.

3. Limit saturated fats and trans fats.

This means cutting back on foods like pastries and fatty animal meats like bacon and sausage and making simple changes like replacing butter with soft spreads. These taste great, have no cholesterol or trans fat and they’ll slash artery clogging saturated fat by 70-85%. This also means replacing goodies like trans fat filled French fries or hydrogenated oil containing crackers with chips that contain the heart healthier plant oils.

4. Enjoy heart-healthy antioxidant-packed, beverages like tea, orange juice and alcohol (in moderation).

Tea may actually help to keep heart vessels more flexible. Flavonoids are antioxidants in tea that are responsible for this. Great news for those of us in New York City—one of the social capitals in the world--research shows that alcohol in moderation can have heart health benefits. This means one drink per day for women and two for men.

5. Keep active. Exercise is a huge part of the heart health puzzle.

Do whatever you can—walk, calisthenics, jumping rope—it all helps to increase your body’s good cholesterol (HDL) which mops up your body’s bad LDL cholesterol and pulls it out of the body. Exercise is one of the few ways to boost HDLs.

For more health-related advice from the Nutrition Twins, visit: www.nutritiontwins.com