Coronary heart disease and heart attack and stroke can be avoided to a large extent by lifestyle measures. The direct causes of coronary heart disease and stroke are factors like these:

- Restriction of blood vessels in the heart and the rest of the body by arteriosclerosis.
- High blood cholesterol level.
- High blood pressure.
- Excess weight.
- Diabetes.
- High level of the amino acid homocysteine in the blood.
- High content of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and low-density lipoprotein (HDL) in blood. Lipoprotein is a combination of protein and fatty substances that are linked to each other.
- Inflammation in the circulatory system.
- High age.
- Inherited tendencies for high cholesterol and heart disease.
- Men are more likely to get heart disease than women.

These factors are interrelated in complex ways, and are causing or amplifying each other. For example, arteriosclerosis will cause higher blood pressure, high blood pressure and will cause even more atherosclerosis. Many of these factors are ultimately caused or aggravated by the lifestyle of these factors:

-A too-high intake of fat, cholesterol and sugar.
-The fat consumption of the wrong type.
-Lack of fiber, vitamins, minerals and other dietary deficiencies.
-The stress at work and in everyday life.
-Lack of exercise.

Lifestyle adjustments will therefore be the main methods of prevention of heart failure.

A diet with the aim of preventing heart disease is usually the same as a diet to prevent cancer and other diseases. Here are the general diet advice

- Avoid or reduce the amount of food that are industrially processed, artificially made or heavily fried.

- Eating fish at least every second day. Also eat seafood and fouls.

- Do not eat much red meat.

- Eat 5 fruits or vegetables per day. Each piece should be the size of an apple or carrot. They should be raw or carefully boiled so that nutrients are not washed out.

- Eat full corn bread, whole grain corn, peas, beans and potatoes.

- Eat only a moderate amount of fat.
- Consume cholesterol rich foods like egg, spawn or liver in only moderate amounts.
- Ideally most fat you eat, shall be of the mono-unsaturated. You also need some of the polyunsaturated omega-3 and omega 6, but not too much of omega-6. The consumption of saturated fats should be moderate.
- In order to achieve a balance of fat, most of the fat supply should come from a mixture of sources such as olive oil, canola oil, nuts, sunflower oil, sunflower oil, linseed oil (oil fiber), fish and fish oil.

- Use only a moderate amount of soy oil and corn oil in the diet. Only using such oil types will give you too much polyunsaturated fat of the omega-6-type.

- Use only a very moderate amount of fat sources like butter, coconut oil and palm oil. A high level of consumption of these fat sources gives you a lot of saturated fat.

- Avoid letting the fat has been chemically modified, thus called trans-fat. This type of fat is often found in margarines, crackers, snack foods, fast food and other food pre-made.

- Consume just a very moderate amount of sugar, refined flour or refined cereals.

- Consume just a moderate amount of tranquilizers and stimulants like alcohol and caffeine.

- Use only a moderate amount of salt in food. However, in hot weather and the hard physical work, you will need more salt.

Evidence suggests that it will be helpful to take supplements of some natural substances to prevent heart disease and help improve already have heart problems. These supplements are:

- Supplement of vitamin C was thought to help prevent heart disease, but more recent findings cast doubt on that.

- Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), folic acid / foliate, vitamin B12 and riboflavin appeared to prevent the accumulation of the chemical homocysteine in the blood and thus help prevent heart disease, according to the results of research projects.

The style of the measures referred to in this article will also help you loose weight. If these measures fail, you should consider a greater involvement in the specific program for weight reduction. You should choose a program that has a moderate fat content philosophy. Some programs of weight loss have a higher fat and low-carb philosophy, and those are probably not the best to reduce the chance of getting heart disease.

You should do some exercises at least half an hour at least every second day. Training as a condition vigorous walking, jogging, cycling or swimming is the best to reduce the likelihood heart attack. Muscle building exercises are also of value, especially exercises building leg muscles

If you smoke, stop or radically reduce this habit will reduce the chance of getting heart problems.

If you have type 1diabetes, good control of the disease through medication and insulin diet adjustments will help prevent heart disease.

Many people over 50 years, and a growing number of young people suffering from type 2 diabetes because of bad lifestyle. This disease does not necessarily give dramatic symptoms, but the disease increases the chance of serious heart problems, and many have the disease without knowing it.