Use Vegetable Power to Block Heart Attacks - By: Casey Yew

Heart attack is the leading killer of men and women in the United States. A 2006 statistics showed that heart attack accounted for 29% of deaths in the country.

But heart attacks can be prevented, or at least your likelihood of having it. That, we will discuss later. For now, let us look into how heart attacks occur.

How Heart Attacks Occur

A heart attack happens when oxygen-rich blood fails to reach the heart muscle due to a blockage. This commonly occurs when there is a build up in the artery leading to the heart muscle which prevents blood from reaching that area.

But the story goes deeper than that. The blockage of the artery happens when fat (called plaque) builds up in the artery walls and the inside of the arteries hardens. This commonly happens to people with high cholesterol levels.

Now when the plaque bursts, a blood clot may form which could completely prevent the blood flow. This is when a heart attack happens.

So you see, a heart attack is actually the culmination of a series of changes in your body. That is why it's important that you take preventive measures before a heart attack actually hits you.

A Healthy Diet to Prevent Heart Attacks

We mentioned earlier that the common cause of a heart attack is the blockage of the arteries due to fat build up. These fats are most likely to block arteries when you have high cholesterol levels. Thus, it is important that you change your diet to one that is low in fat.

The best option you have is by introducing a good amount of vegetables into your diet. Why vegetables? Because vegetables are rich in fiber. And a type of fiber called soluble fiber can help flush away bad cholesterol from your system.

And it doesn't end there. Now that you have flushed bad cholesterol away from your system, you can prevent taking in unhealthy amounts of cholesterol by having vegetables in your diet. That is because vegetables don't contain any cholesterol.

So which vegetables in particular are good at preventing cholesterol build up? Cabbage, carrots and sweet potatoes are just some vegetables that are rich in soluble fiber. Again, soluble fiber flush out unhealthy cholesterol from your body.

If you're unsure of the amount of vegetables to have in your diet, refer to the so-called DASH eating plan. An acronym for ?Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension', the eating plan recommends that you have 4-5 servings of vegetables every day. You have, of course, to supplement it with other healthy foods such as fruits, poultry, fish, etc.

How You can Prevent Further Risks of Heart Attack

We already mentioned having a healthy diet, but it's actually just a part of the things that you can do to prevent heart attack. You should also have a healthy lifestyle. Not smoking, exercising regularly and keeping yourself from getting stressed are recommended ways of cutting down your heart attack risks.

About the Author

Eat plenty and different variety of vegetables. Find out how to ensure their freshness and wholesomeness, and how to use them to enhance the quality of food at your table at The Vege.

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