AUSTIN, Texas — According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the U.S.
Cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods Dr. Elizabeth Klodas said heart disease kills more men and women than all other conditions.
"It takes the lives of approximately 875,000 people every single year. To put some of this a little bit closer to home, because a lot of us know someone who's had a heart attack or had someone in our family who's had a stroke, a heart attack happens every 40 seconds in the United States, and a fatal stroke occurs every three-and-a-half minutes," said Klodas.
For the vast majority, Klodas said heart disease is preventable. The major risk factors for heart disease that we have some control over includes smoking.
"So if you smoke, quit. Inactivity, start moving. And then it's high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, diabetes, excess weight and poor diet," said Klodas.
The foods you eat can also affect your heart health. Klodas said if it's one thing you're going to do, change what you eat and improve your nutrition to follow a more heart health-supporting pattern.
Some heart-healthy foods include whole food fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, nuts and seeds.
"If you put it all together, it's really about increasing the proportion of plant-based foods in our diet, whole plant based foods. I'm talking beans, lentils, leafy greens, fruits, vegetables, grains in there, most whole and unprocessed forms. I'll add nuts and seeds and avocados in there, too," said Klodas.
Step One Foods was created specifically to help make eating or consuming whole food, fiber, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids in clinically meaningful amounts easier.
Dr. Klodas is the founder and said there's food items like bars, pancake mix, instant oatmeal and raw ground granola that can all boost the nutritional impact of what you're eating.
"Small improvements in cholesterol numbers can yield huge effects. This is medication-level effects attained with food. We have a lot of power over our health, and that's related to what's on our plates," said Klodas.
Step One Foods is available for purchase online. Every single week, Dr. Klodas writes a blog about a relevant educational topic, nutrition, heart health and how to reduce blood pressure without resorting to medications.
"It's really about helping people help themselves and be better stewards of their own health," said Klodas.