SLASH Your Heart Disease Risk in HALF (Veggie Secret)

Heart disease may be the number one killer in the U.S., but remember this:

Heart disease isn’t inevitable.

And you don’t need to take drugs to avoid it.

There are specific foods you can eat that have been scientifically shown to reduce the primary factor involved in heart disease.

These vegetables are the bane of children everywhere—but personally, I think they’re delicious.

And as this study showed, your heart loves them, too.

Previous studies have shown that people who eat the most cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage have a lower risk of heart disease.

They are also less likely to suffer from a cardiovascular event like a heart attack or stroke.

Now, a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found out why.

Researchers looked at data from 684 women, and they found that the women who consumed the most cruciferous vegetables were less likely to have extensive buildup of calcium in their aorta – a major blood vessel.

This is a key marker of structural blood vessel disease.

Blood vessel disease occurs when calcium deposits build up on the inner walls of your blood vessels, which reduces blood flow and ultimately contributes to heart attacks and strokes.

One reason for this protective effect is because cruciferous vegetables are loaded with vitamin K, which could help inhibit the calcification of your arteries. (Read more about the vitamin K/artery connection here.)

The best part? You don’t have to eat a whole cabbage to get these protective benefits.

The women who ate just ¼ cup of steamed broccoli or ½ cup of raw cabbage per day were 46 percent less likely to have extensive calcium buildup in their arteries compared to the women who rarely ate these vegetables.

Imagine how much your body would benefit by eating even more!

It shouldn’t be too hard to get that much (or should I say that little) cruciferous vegetables in your diet on a daily basis.

Vegetables like broccoli are great steamed, roasted, tossed in stir fries, or eaten raw with your favorite dip (personally I like hummus).

And if you’re not a fan of cabbage, try dicing it up and putting in a smoothie. You won’t be able to taste it at all.