Every 34 seconds someone dies of cardiovascular disease

 

In 2016, I wrote an article about cardiovascular disease where I shared that every 43 seconds someone in the United States dies from a heart attack.

That was a scary statistic.

And, it’s getting scarier!

As of 2025, the new statistics

There are lots of things in life that can kill us.

But, the number one known killer in the world is cardiovascular disease. Here are some scary statistics:

• Cardiovascular disease claims more lives than all forms of cancer combined.
• In the United States someone has a heart attack every 43 seconds.
• Every 90 seconds someone dies from a cardiovascular-related disease (stroke, heart attack).

Those are staggering statistics.

And, the most shocking of all is that over 80% of cardiovascular-related diseases are preventable with diet and lifestyle improvements.

By the time you get to the next paragraph, someone may have already had a heart attack that could’ve easily been prevented.

So, let’s get to the heart of the matter.

Below are some major contributing factors to this deadly disease that you need to be aware of:

• Bacterial infections
• Viruses
• Poor immunity
• Inflammation
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Lack of exercise
• High blood pressure
• Stress

You’ll notice that cholesterol has been omitted from the list of contributing factors. Cholesterol contributing to heart disease is a long overdue medical myth.

Your liver creates cholesterol in response to stress, cell damage, inflammation, and other factors. Cholesterol is created by your body to support bodily processes and protect it from damage, not harm it. You can read more about that here: The Big Fat Cholesterol Myth.

According to medical science, your heart is a muscle about the size of your fist. The heart sends blood to your body and provides your system with the oxygen and nutrients it needs to stay alive.

Without oxygen, your cells (and you) would die. Your heart is like a pump. The right side of your heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. The left side of the heart receives oxygen from the lungs and then pumps out oxygen-rich blood to the body. The body then takes oxygen out of the blood and uses it in your cells. When the cells use that oxygen, they make carbon dioxide waste that gets carried away by the blood. And, the process of oxygenating the blood starts all over again.

By the way, it’s been approximately 3 minutes since you began reading this article. That means 4 people have had heart attacks and 2 people have died from some form of cardiovascular disease.

This is a BIG problem.

The time is NOW to improve your cardiovascular health, not 3 minutes from now.

Below are easy ways to support your heart and circulatory system.

Reduce/Eliminate Refined Sugars

We all know what that means….

Kick the Kit-kats, M&M’s, and Skittles to the curb.

As well as potato chips, pretzels and other crap.

And, real wholesome foods like fish, vegetables, pastured animal products, nuts, seeds, and fruit.

It’s as hard and as simple as that.

Eat Cooling Foods and Herbs

Heart disease is often considered a fiery hot condition, so it would be wise to incorporate foods like veggies and fruits that are cooling in nature.

This includes:

• Lettuces (Romaine, green & red leaf, arugula, etc.)
• Dark leafy greens (kale, collards, bok choy)
• Watermelon and other melons
• Blueberries (all berries)

There’s a lot to choose from.

Trust me… you won’t go hungry looking for cooling foods.

Use Bitter Herbs

If you are struggling with inflammation, or have high blood pressure, bitter herbs are awesome at clearing and cooling the body.

Dandelion, burdock, yellow dock, artichoke leaf, and gentian all promote good digestive health by clearing a stagnant system, and they increase the absorption of vital nutrients into the blood.

One final, and most important thing to consider is that the heart is NOT just a mechanical organ that does a physical pumping job.

According to ancient healing wisdom, the heart is responsible for human intelligence, understanding, compassion, joy, happiness, and the ability to connect with other humans in loving relationships.

Are you connecting with your heart on a deeper level?

Part of that could be doing things you love with other people.

For example, the thing I love to do most is teach people how to support their health with good food, herbs, and delicious recipes.

 

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