The modern western diet has way too much red meat, starch, carbohydrates, salt and sugar and not nearly enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains, or legumes.
This imbalance in our diets has played a very important role in the high numbers of people suffering with one type of cardiovascular disease or another.
Deaths from heart disease have increased to the point where it is now the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
The latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control are that heart disease was responsible for more than 600,000 fatalities in 2007 which is the last year full data is available.
This is a huge number and means that almost 1,700 Americans died from heart disease EACH DAY! This is a frightening statistic but there is good news too.
Getting a healthier heart can be done and it is really pretty easy.
Any positive changes you make to your lifestyle and diet, really no matter how small will strengthen your entire cardiovascular system if you keep at it.
And changes you make to benefit your heart will also have a positive effect on all the other parts of the body including the skeleton, skin, and lungs.
According to Denise Mann, as published by "WebMD", these are the top three actions you can take to improve not only your heart, but the rest of you as well:

1. Know your "heart health" numbers.
   To be able to measure your progress, and know how much at risk you are you need to know your starting point.
   The important numbers to know are LDL (bad) cholesterol, HDL (good) cholesterol, total cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) weight, and triglycerides.
   
2. Work to improve your triglycerides.
   Triglycerides are fat in the blood stream and they are very responsive to changes in lifestyle and diet, much more so than either LDL or HDL cholesterol levels.
   
3. Add plant sterols and nuts to your diet.
   Sterols are a group of substances that occur naturally in plants and help lower cholesterol in the body.
   Nuts, such as walnuts, are rich in omega-3 fatty acids which have also been shown to lower cholesterol.
   An added benefit is that eating a limited amount of nuts before a meal will help you feel full faster.
   

Heart health is also improved by certain dietary supplements that provide substances such as dietary fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, as well as vitamins and minerals.