Follow a Heart-Healthy Diet

A heart-healthy diet means avoiding trans fats, limiting saturated fat, dietary cholesterol, refined carbohydrates, and salt, while adding foods rich in fiber, monounsaturated and omega-3 fats, calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, and potassium. I know you’re probably sick of hearing advice about eating plenty of vegetables and fruit, but it really is important, especially for those fighting cardiovascular disease. People who eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily have a reduced risk of heart attack and stroke compared with people who eat fewer than three servings daily. Specifically, heart-attack risk is about 15 percent lower, and stroke risk is about 30 percent lower.