Heart Health BY Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS Learn the best ways to
get your heart in shape and keep it that way.  Heart disease
shortens the lives of millions of people and diminishes the
quality of life for millions more.  The good news is that few
diseases are as preventable, or at least as modifiable by
lifestyle choices, as heart disease. Though there are certainly
factors that you can’t control, such as genes, they pale in
comparison to the ones that you can.  Five simple behaviors can
reduce the risk for heart disease by a number greater than the
effect of any drug available:    • Eating a healthy diet.   •
Maintaining a healthy body weight.   • Doing moderate physical
exercise.   • Abstaining from smoking.   • Limiting alcohol
consumption.  In the famous Nurses’ Health Study, these five
behaviors lowered the risk of heart disease by a staggering 83
percent. Look at what happened in the Lyon Diet Heart Study:
Researchers divided approximately 600 participants at high risk
for a heart attack into two groups.