You’ve just had a brush with death. Maybe not the white-light-in-a-tunnel experience, but a close call nonetheless. Lucky for you, you’re still alive to read this.

Now it’s time to make some tough decisions. You can repeat all the dietary mistakes that set the stage for your heart attack. You can bet your life on your doctor’s meds. Or if you’re really serious about staying alive, you can make some real changes to add quality years to your life.

This article focuses on 10 steps for making those changes. The changes involve your eating habits, losing weight if you’re overweight, taking supplements, engaging in physical activity, and reducing stress. If it all seems a bit daunting, consider that you might not get a second chance.

Work on Your Eating Habits

1. Eat more veggies. If you’ve never been a big fan of veggies, consider them an “acquired” taste worth cultivating. Nonstarchy vegetables, which include broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and salad greens, are rich in antioxidants and fibre. The antioxidants prevent free-radical damage to your heart and keep your cholesterol from “going bad,” while the fibre lowers your blood sugar levels.

Steam these veggies or sauté them in a small amount of olive oil. Avoid starch-heavy potatoes in all forms, though it’s all right to occasionally eat a baked sweet potato or yam.

The same principle applies to fruits. Nonstarchy fruits, such as raspberries, blueberries, apples, and kiwifruit, are great. But stay away from bananas and pears.

2. Eat more fish. Studies have repeatedly found that high-protein diets reduce cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood sugar levels. But if you’re wary about following a strict low-carb regimen, you can eat protein without a lot of saturated fat.

Cold-water fish, such as salmon and tuna, contain virtually no saturated fat. Instead, they are rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fats, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These fats lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, reduce blood pressure, and help prevent heart-rhythm abnormalities such as arrhythmias. The benefits apply to women as well, with high fish intake associated with a low risk of heart attack.

According to a study by Christine M. Albert, MD, of the Harvard School of Public Health, men who ate a lot of fish were 81 percent less likely to die from sudden cardiac death. The condition kills thousands of Canadians each year, usually people who had no symptoms of heart disease. Meatier options include chicken, turkey, or ostrich, all of which are relatively low in saturated fat.

3. Cook with healthier oils. It’s no secret that the traditional Mediterranean diet, rich in fish and vegetables, has another healthy ingredient: olive oil. Extra-virgin olive oil (made from the first pressing of ripe olives) contains oleic acid, a heart-friendly cooking oil. Australian macadamia nut oil is just as good and can also tolerate slightly higher cooking temperatures.

4. Drink more tea. Green tea and ordinary black tea–hot or iced–are loaded with powerful antioxidant flavonoids. Dutch researchers recently confirmed what the Japanese have known for years: people who drink three or more cups of tea daily have almost half the risk of suffering a heart attack and are almost three fourths less likely to have a fatal heart attack.

Meanwhile, stop drinking sugary soft drinks and cut back or completely eliminate beer and spirits. One glass of red wine daily should be alright.

Take These Supplements

5. Take antioxidants. Vitamin E and other antioxidants have long been known to quench harmful free radicals which oxidize cholesterol and damage arteries. Some recent research has clouded the picture for vitamin E, but the totality of evidence–cell, animal, and human studies–show that it can reduce the risk of heart disease and heart attack.

In a six-year study of 440 men and women, Jukka T. Salonen, MD, PhD, of the University of Kuopio, Finland, found that a combination of natural vitamin E (136 IU) and time-release vitamin C (250 mg) reduced carotid-artery thickness by 37 percent, compared with people taking placebos.

Jack Challem is a leading health writer with 25 years experience reporting the latest research on nutrition, vitamins, and minerals. His most recent book is The Inflammation Syndrome (John Wiley, 2003). www.inflammationsyndrome.com.

Source: alive #282, April 2006