health food for your heart

Many people suffer from heart disease and do not know it until they suffer a heart attack or some other heart related illness. But this can be prevented by eating right and eating smart. Eating smart means having foods that help lower cholesterol.

Here's an excerpt of how tea can help:

With nearly one in three people in the world dying from heart disease each year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) today launched the ‘Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke’, which graphically details this global epidemic.

"No matter what advances there are in high-technology medicine, the fundamental message is that any major reduction in deaths and disability from heart disease and stroke will come primarily from prevention, not just cure,” said Dr Judith Mackay, co-author of the Atlas.

Foods designed to tackle heart health are set to grow 7.6 per cent in the UK market, according to Datamonitor, to reach sales of £145 million in the UK alone by 2007. This is second only to gut health in terms of purpose categories.

Ingredients spearing this market cover a wide range. Tea, for example, the second most consumed beverage in the world is believed to lower cholesterol levels and protect against heart attacks.

A recently published Japanese study found that black tea may be healthy for the heart through its action on blood vessels. The small study suggested that the drink dilates the vessels allowing faster blood flow.

Drinking tea can help you as a preventative measure, but you should still take care of yourself through exercise and diet.

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