With heart disease on the rise, to the tune of 1 in 2 people have it some form of it, and the newest FDA, The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association (AHA) recommendations, it’s opening up the serious issue that our country has faced for decades. Heart disease gone awry.

The American Heart Association states that in 2009 over 81 million (1 in 3) people in the U.S alone suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease. It is a serious health risk and needs to be addressed. But perhaps leaving the statins off the table might just be a better alternative.

Statins such as Lipitor, AstraZeneca, Crestor, Simcor, Advicor, and several others all cause many serious side effects, and can do permanent damage.

Certainly, by now most American’s realize that diet is the main culprit. The small percentage of hereditary heart disease is around 5 percent, but can mostly be attributed to commonality in foods. The typical method of treatment for Allopathic medicine is treating the symptoms and very rarely considering prevention or cause.

Diet is a preventative measure, and a way to treat the cause. Remember Hippocrates, the father of Western Medicine when he said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” There is some merit to his statement.

There are foods that can dramatically reverse and prevent heart disease. According to the research prevention center at Stanford University, a plant based diet is the optimum way to lower LDL, the bad cholesterol, as well as raise HDL.

From the Stanford study, “We conducted a study designed to determine whether a plant-based diet consistent with the 2000 AHA dietary guidelines would be more effective in lowering blood cholesterol than the previously recommended low-fat, low-cholesterol diet. We randomly assigned 125 participants with moderately elevated cholesterol to eat either a plant-based diet, low in saturated fat and cholesterol but also rich in fiber, nutrients and phytochemicals, or a convenience foods-based diet with the same level of total and saturated fat and cholesterol. After 4 weeks, the participants eating the plant-based diet, rich in nutrients and phytochemicals, reduced their total and LDL cholesterol significantly more than the participants consuming a standard low-fat diet. To learn more about the details of the study, read the Abstract published in the Journal Annals of Internal Medicine.”

Foods that are nutrient dense, contain no saturated fats or trans fats have proved to lower cholesterol without medication! They include:

1. Oats, barley and whole grains that are high in fiber
2. Beans and legumes, also high in soluble fiber and many other essential nutrients
3. Green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach, green leaf lettuce and other deep greens
4. Apples, grapes, strawberries and citrus fruits that are rich in pectin, are known to lower LDL
5. An abundance of fresh vegetables, with tomatoes, red bell peppers and broccoli being at the top of that list

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Soy is also a great LDL lowering food, and can lower cholesterol by 5 to 6 percent. Soy can be found in tofu, soy milk, soy dairy or in its natural form, known as edamame.

Many experts suggest giving a change of diet a try before getting on medication.

Hear former president Bill Clinton on how he reversed his heart disease with diet:

Images via Wikimedia Commons – 1, 2