Are You Getting Enough Heart Protecting Nutrients in Your Diet?

If you have a family history of what’s often referred to as “The Silent Killer,” you owe it to yourself to take steps to protect your health. Cardiovascular disease is expected to claim nearly a half million lives this year, once again making it the number one cause of death in theUnited States according the American Heart Association.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says the best thing you can do for your heart is to live a healthy lifestyle - which means eating a balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and managing stress. Of all these things, diet is perhaps the most important.
A healthy diet is described as one that is nutritious and well-balanced, low in saturated fat, cholesterol and salt, and high in whole grains, fruits and vegetables. But perhaps the most important nutrient of all to your heart health is the Omega 3 fatty acids.

Omega-3 is found in foods such as fatty fish (salmon, tuna, herring and sardines), walnuts, flaxseeds and soybeans and their oils. It has many beneficial effects, including decreasing triglycerides, lowering blood pressure, reducing blood clotting, enhancing immune function and reducing the risk of sudden cardiac death by decreasing the risk of abnormal heart rhythms.

In recent years concerns over contaminants, like mercury and PCBs, in fatty fish have led the health conscious in search of alternatives. That’s where fish oil supplements come in {Omega-3 }, for example, is made with highly purified pharmaceutical grade fish oil so you don’t have to worry about contaminants.

Two soft gels, the recommended daily dose, contain 650 milligrams of EPA and 500 milligrams of DHA. Evidence from several studies has suggested that getting adequate amounts of these two nutrients, whether from fish or fish oil supplements, lowers triglycerides, slows the buildup of plaque in the arteries, lowers blood pressure slightly, and reduces the risk of death, heart attack, dangerous abnormal hearth rhythms and strokes in people with heart disease.