We're still celebrating American Heart Month here at Diet-to-Go. where our low-fat and vegetarian meal plans meet the guidelines of the American Heart Association and other major medical organization.

Diet-to-Go chief editor John McGran recently sat down with Janet Bond Brill, author of Prevent a Second Heart Attack: 8 Foods, 8 Weeks to Reverse Heart Disease (Three Rivers Press), to discuss the ways you can lower your risk of heart disease through diet and a little exercise.

So whether you've had your first heart attack or simply want to eat better for a healthier heart you can't beat this insightful advice from Dr. Brill.

Diet-to-Go: Can you really reverse heart disease simply though diet? How does that work?

Janet Bond Brill: A tremendous amount of scientific research has investigated the application of various diet and exercise plans in preventing further coronary events. I have found that the bulk of the scientific evidence overwhelmingly supports the notion that post–heart attack patients should be advised to eat a Mediterranean-style diet, be physically active at least 30 minutes a day, and not smoke.

The bulk of the scientific research is crystal clear: a Mediterranean style of eating combined with physical activity is the optimal lifestyle plan for preventing a second heart attack and is far superior to the diet regimens typically prescribed to heart patients in the fat-phobic ’90s.

I propose that a Mediterranean-style diet, as outlined in Prevent a Second Heart Attack and backed by powerful evidence, can be even more effective than the eating plans currently recommended by many cardiologists—simply because it tastes good and makes life more enjoyable.

Following vegan-style plans can also reverse heart disease... but only if adhered to—an extremely difficult chore for most Americans.

A Mediterranean diet and walking exercise have both been clinically shown to be excellent medicine for heart patients in terms of reducing progression and promoting regression of atherosclerosis—the root cause of heart disease.

DTG: What are these 8 "miracle foods" that can help us reverse heart disease?

JBB: The "Prevent a Second Heart Attack Plan" uses a two-pronged dietary strategy:

1. Cut out the foods that harm the arteries: Red meat, cream, butter, eggs and cheese

2. Add in the foods that heal the arteries: Extra virgin olive oil, greens and other vegetables, figs and other fruit, lentils and other legumes, salmon and other seafood, walnuts and flaxseeds, oatmeal and other whole grains, and Pinot Noir and other red wine.

DTG: We especially love the sound of your HEART HEALTHY BONUS... dark chocolate! Enlighten us on the benefits.

JBB: Eating a daily sweet treat of deep, dark, sinfully rich chocolate will make a significant contribution to the antioxidant potential of your diet, as dark chocolate has a higher antioxidant quality/quantity than most heavy hitters—red wine, black tea, and green tea.

Consumption of the dark, flavonoid-rich type of chocolate can improve your blood vessel health by increasing your endothelium’s production of that crucial blood vessel relaxation chemical nitric oxide, rendering your dysfunctional endothelium (the damaged inner arterial layer that instigates and promotes heart disease progression) healthier and more functional.

In fact, research shows that consuming a small daily dark chocolate treat reduces inflammation and promotes more relaxed and dilated blood vessels, especially if you’re diabetic.

Consuming just one or two squares (up to one ounce) of dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) every day can help:

• Boost your blood antioxidant level
• Lower your blood pressure
• Make your dysfunction endothelium more functional
• Fight inflammation

And the latest research just found that cocoa intake raises your HDL... the "good" cholesterol!

DTG: What are our favorite foods that are oh, so bad for our arteries -- and is there any room in our diet for them?

JBB: The Prevent a Second Heart Attack Plan consists of removing the plaque-building foods (red meat, cream, butter, eggs and cheese) that cause blood vessel damage and replacing them with delicious anti-inflammatory foods that facilitate the body's natural healing processes to reverse existing heart disease and restore quality of life.

I recommend learning a new way of eating that introduces what will surely become our new favorite foods and will love your heart at the same time!

To combat the confusion issue, the Prevent a Second Heart Attack Plan offers powerful lifesaving advice, translating the complex clinical findings into a simple, easy-to-follow set of guidelines which I call...

(1) no more butter and cream, to be replaced by extra virgin olive oil

(2) no day without greens and other vegetables

(3) no day without figs or other fruit

(4 & 5) no meat (beef, lamb, pork), and replaced by fish and legumes

(6) no day without walnuts and flaxseeds

(7) no day without whole grains and cereals

(8) and moderate alcohol consumption, mainly in the form of red wine, recommended at dinner.

Don't forget the "bonus food"—deep, dark, sinfully rich chocolate!

DTG: I realize fitness is important for my heart, too. But I don't have time or patience for the gym -- what can I do?

JBB: The scientific consensus is that walking is the best exercise prescription for fighting off heart disease. How much, how often, and how fast is detailed in my book.

The best medicine for healing the arteries and reversing heart disease is moderate exercise, and the best exercise for you is the one you will do on a daily basis! No marathons and no gyms required… just get your sneakers on and move!

DTG: I see your book offers a 14-day eating plan. Are the recipes simple enough to work for a kitchen-challenged guy like me?

JBB: Yes. I have three children, a husband and a dog, plus I work inside and outside the home. I don’t have the time nor the inclination to spend hours in the kitchen cooking up delicious heart-healthy food so if I can do it… anyone can!

The ingredients are basically fresh and wholesome foods that can be purchased in pretty much any grocery store. And the recipes are simple to prepare.

DTG: Finally, how can this nation reverse its terrifying obesity trend? Are there any promising breakthroughs in the field of heart health?

JBB: Just the slow awakening of the nation to the dire health consequences associated with our current diet and exercise (or lack of) patterns! Knowledge is power and I foresee a backlash similar to the collective consciousness that swept the nation when the health consequences of cigarette smoking finally made it on the public's radar.

For more information, visit PreventaSecondHeartAttack.com

Janet Bond Brill, PhD, RD, LDN,  is a diet, nutrition and fitness expert who previously authored Cholesterol Down: 10 Simple Steps to Lower Your Cholesterol In 4 Weeks Without Prescription Drugs. She specializes in cardiovascular disease prevention. 

There is a diet plan out there that has been making a bit of a stir, and has in fact been featured on ABC-TV. Such attention must be for a reason, so lets take a look at Diet-to-Go.

Diet-to-Go is a services offering diet foods, which provides freshly prepared, healthy, tasty, convenient meal plans that are also nutritionally balanced. For the past fifteen years, Diet-to-Go has been providing this service for its customers.

Diet-to-Go will ship to any location in the United States, and that includes Alaska and Hawaii. Though they are currently unable to ship to anywhere else, be sure to keep checking back to their website, to see if that changes.

Diet-to-Go has certain standards for their meals. The meals are low in sodium, cholesterol, and fat, and are prepared by a chef. These meals fit the dietary recommendations of the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, and the American Dietetic Association.

You get to have an interactive experience with the company by telling them whether you are attempting to lose weight, save time, simply eat healthier, or achieve something else. Then, you inform them of whether you have an allergies, or tastes that you prefer. After this, they will recommend the meal plan on offer by them, that they find to be right for you.

Should you not be happy with a meal plan, Diet-to-Go vows that you will be quite pleased with their flexibility. It takes a small free to substitute in your food from a list of dishes that they keep available, and you may also ask for double of your preferred foods. Should these efforts still lead to food you dont enjoy, you are not required to pay for it, and you will be credited with that amount of food toward your next purchase.

In another example of their stated flexibility, Diet-to-Go offers Convenience Packs that can be more suitable for you. For these and the other meal plans, the average customer can expect to pay a totally of $80 to $85 a week. The company wishes to contact you first, however. In addition to sorting out any potential allergies and taste preferences, as well as your reasons for wanting to purchase a diet plan, they also want to discuss other matters with you. The number of meals per day, the size of your portions, and the inclusion of snack, as well as several other factors, will affect the amount of money you will be expected to pay. The company wants to make sure they give the correct plan and price for you, and they will also tell you about specials and other potential promotions that will affect the amount you pay for your meals. You can also benefit by receiving a monetary amount of $20 for each friend you refer who then purchases their diet plans. What have you got to lose?

There is a diet plan out there that has been making a bit of a stir, and has in fact been featured on ABC-TV. Such attention must be for a reason, so lets take a look at Diet-to-Go.

Diet-to-Go is a services offering diet foods, which provides freshly prepared, healthy, tasty, convenient meal plans that are also nutritionally balanced. For the past fifteen years, Diet-to-Go has been providing this service for its customers.

Diet-to-Go will ship to any location in the United States, and that includes Alaska and Hawaii. Though they are currently unable to ship to anywhere else, be sure to keep checking back to their website, to see if that changes.

Diet-to-Go has certain standards for their meals. The meals are low in sodium, cholesterol, and fat, and are prepared by a chef. These meals fit the dietary recommendations of the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, and the American Dietetic Association.

You get to have an interactive experience with the company by telling them whether you are attempting to lose weight, save time, simply eat healthier, or achieve something else. Then, you inform them of whether you have an allergies, or tastes that you prefer. After this, they will recommend the meal plan on offer by them, that they find to be right for you.

Should you not be happy with a meal plan, Diet-to-Go vows that you will be quite pleased with their flexibility. It takes a small free to substitute in your food from a list of dishes that they keep available, and you may also ask for double of your preferred foods. Should these efforts still lead to food you dont enjoy, you are not required to pay for it, and you will be credited with that amount of food toward your next purchase.

In another example of their stated flexibility, Diet-to-Go offers Convenience Packs that can be more suitable for you. For these and the other meal plans, the average customer can expect to pay a totally of $80 to $85 a week. The company wishes to contact you first, however. In addition to sorting out any potential allergies and taste preferences, as well as your reasons for wanting to purchase a diet plan, they also want to discuss other matters with you. The number of meals per day, the size of your portions, and the inclusion of snack, as well as several other factors, will affect the amount of money you will be expected to pay. The company wants to make sure they give the correct plan and price for you, and they will also tell you about specials and other potential promotions that will affect the amount you pay for your meals. You can also benefit by receiving a monetary amount of $20 for each friend you refer who then purchases their diet plans. What have you got to lose?

Now this is something that I might try. I met a new friend online, who originally contacted me about doing a blog design for her. She has lost over 130 lbs! And she has lots of tips and ideas that she would like to share with the blogging world. We will hopefully have her blog launched within the next couple of weeks.

Anyway, she emailed me today about how she just started Diet To Go. And she loves it! This is what she said:

“I think I told you I ordered from Diet To Go? Well I started it Tuesday and as of today I am down almost 5 lbs. The food is awesome and it’s just a total no brainer. I LOVE IT !!!”

So I decided to look into this. I absolutely have never heard of this program. Here’s a few FAQs from the Diet To Go website:

What is Diet-to-Go?

Diet-to-Go is a diet food service that provides freshly prepared, tasty, healthy, convenient and nutritionally balanced meal plans. Diet-to-Go has been serving its Customers for the past 15 years.

What do the meals consist of?

We have four weeks of different diet food plans that offer excellent variety. All of the meals are low in fat, low in sodium and low in cholesterol. Our healthy food is prepared by our chef, and adheres to the dietary guidelines of the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association.

How can Diet-to-Go work for me?

First, we need to know whether you are trying to lose weight, eat healthier, save time or achieve some other objective. Second, we need to know if there are any dietary restrictions such as allergies or taste preferences. Based on that and any other pertinent information, one of our meal counselors will recommend an appropriate and healthy food plan for you.

Will I lose weight by eating your healthy diet food plan?

Our low-fat diet food plan has helped thousands of busy new mothers, executives, home-bound individuals and many others shed unwanted pounds. On the average, our customers lose from 2 to 3 pounds per week while on our full meal plan.

What’s really cool about this program is, they have 3 locations where you can actually have your food home delivered. Each location has several distributors in their area. The locations are: Baltimore/D.C. area, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. You can also order your food online and have it shipped to you, which is what I will have to do, considering I’m a Mississippi gal. Not sure where my online friend lives, I’ll have to ask her. But this is definitely something I’m going to look into. If you are interested in trying Diet To Go, just click the banner below, and right now they are offering $20 off your first order, just use coupon code PJ2000 at checkout. The promotion ends June 30, 2008.

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Technorati Tags: diet, Diet program, Diet To Go, food, full meal plan, Healthy Food, home delivered meals, meals delivery, weight loss

There is a diet plan out there that has been making a bit of a stir, and has in fact been featured on ABC-TV. Such attention must be for a reason, so lets take a look at Diet-to-Go.

Diet-to-Go is a services offering diet foods, which provides freshly prepared, healthy, tasty, convenient meal plans that are also nutritionally balanced. For the past fifteen years, Diet-to-Go has been providing this service for its customers.

Diet-to-Go will ship to any location in the United States, and that includes Alaska and Hawaii. Though they are currently unable to ship to anywhere else, be sure to keep checking back to their website, to see if that changes.

Diet-to-Go has certain standards for their meals. The meals are low in sodium, cholesterol, and fat, and are prepared by a chef. These meals fit the dietary recommendations of the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, and the American Dietetic Association.

You get to have an interactive experience with the company by telling them whether you are attempting to lose weight, save time, simply eat healthier, or achieve something else. Then, you inform them of whether you have an allergies, or tastes that you prefer. After this, they will recommend the meal plan on offer by them, that they find to be right for you.

Should you not be happy with a meal plan, Diet-to-Go vows that you will be quite pleased with their flexibility. It takes a small free to substitute in your food from a list of dishes that they keep available, and you may also ask for double of your preferred foods. Should these efforts still lead to food you dont enjoy, you are not required to pay for it, and you will be credited with that amount of food toward your next purchase.

In another example of their stated flexibility, Diet-to-Go offers Convenience Packs that can be more suitable for you. For these and the other meal plans, the average customer can expect to pay a totally of $80 to $85 a week. The company wishes to contact you first, however. In addition to sorting out any potential allergies and taste preferences, as well as your reasons for wanting to purchase a diet plan, they also want to discuss other matters with you. The number of meals per day, the size of your portions, and the inclusion of snack, as well as several other factors, will affect the amount of money you will be expected to pay. The company wants to make sure they give the correct plan and price for you, and they will also tell you about specials and other potential promotions that will affect the amount you pay for your meals. You can also benefit by receiving a monetary amount of $20 for each friend you refer who then purchases their diet plans. What have you got to lose?