Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. The most important way that you can prevent a heart attack is to change your lifestyle. The three most important areas to change are to improve your nutrition, increase your exercise and stop smoking. Improvements in these three areas can reduce your chances of a heart attack and increase your chance is a long and healthy life.

There are two types of cholesterol. LDL is the bad cholesterol that clogs up the arteries. High levels of LDL can lead to potential cardiac arrest when the blockage becomes too severe. HDL is the good cholesterol and actually works in the body to keep the arteries clear by breaking off and washing away the plaque created by LDL. Your cholesterol profile factors in the levels of good and bad cholesterol in your blood.

The very first thing you need to do to protect your heart is to take a long look at your lifestyle. Are you overweight? Do you smoke? Do you eat fast foods on a regular basis? How much exercise do you get? These are all questions that you need to ask yourself. If you don't like the answers, then you really need to find ways to change your lifestyle. No one said it would be easy, but it will definitely be worth it.

A wake up call but why wait for that when it really is so simple to look after our heart and lets face it, it does most of the work! Some simple tips avoid high fat and high sugar foods, eat vegetables and fruit, choose vegetable oil over animal oil, eat fish especially those that give us more beneficial fatty acids,reduce salt intake,choose wholegrain bread over white bread,give up smoking, drink at least 8 glasses of wat

To help you keep your heart healthy, most doctors recommend that you take additional supplements that contain vitamin E. They may also suggest that you eat foods that are naturally rich in vitamin E, such as nuts. Nuts have high amounts of vitamin E, and most of them taste great. You can find other foods that contain vitamin E as well, although nuts have the highest amounts.

Maintain a healthy diet - Eating a diet that is low in saturated fats and cholesterol will increase your chances of preventing heart disease. Your body actually turns saturated fats into cholesterol so you want to avoid it as much as you can. Fresh fruits and vegetables are great to add to your diet as well as foods that are not processed and have no preservatives and are low in sodium.

Maintain a healthy diet - Eating a diet that is low in saturated fats and cholesterol will increase your chances of preventing heart disease. Your body actually turns saturated fats into cholesterol so you want to avoid it as much as you can. Fresh fruits and vegetables are great to add to your diet as well as foods that are not processed and have no preservatives and are low in sodium.