Environmental Nutrition

Eating habits play a pivotal role in promoting a healthy heart. But if you have a family history of heart disease, does healthy eating still matter? Indeed, for most people with such a family history, lifestyle makes a major difference in whether an inherited tendency actually leads to heart disease, according to Sekar Kathiresan, M.D., a cardiologist and human geneticist, who is director of the Center for Genomic Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and director of Preventive Cardiology at its Heart Center.

In his presentation at the latest American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, Kathiresan shared research showing that although some people are at high risk from a single gene, most inherited heart disease risk stems from a combination of multiple genes. Among these people, a healthy lifestyle cut risk of events, such as heart attack or death, by nearly 50 percent.

Based on the latest heart health research presented at the AHA conference, here are four steps you can take to eat to protect your heart.

1. Cut sodium.

The AHA and 10 other major health groups recommend creating heart-healthy eating habits now. Just cutting 1,000 milligrams of sodium per day lowers heart risk. And results are magnified by adopting a DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) style diet. This means boosting vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, poultry, fish and nuts, as well as reducing saturated fat, red meat, sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages. Look beyond the saltshaker, since most sodium comes from processed foods.

Tips:

--Make your own soup with low-sodium bouillon or no-salt-added tomatoes, or select reduced-sodium soup and add your own additional flavors.

--Season unflavored rice and grains with herbs and spices, skipping sodium-laden seasoning packets included in products.

--Use raw veggies -- pepper strips, celery, cauliflower -- for dipping, instead of chips or crackers.

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