Let's deconstruct this – what you munch on daily plays a vital role in combating heart disease. Your food choices can significantly tweak factors like blood pressure, weight, cholesterol, inflammation, and blood sugar levels. Throw all that junk food out the window because it accelerates cardiovascular death.

Devouring saturated fats, trans fats, added sugars, and an overload of sodium is like inviting heart disease over for dinner, says Dr. Michael Shapiro. These no-no's are galore in fried, sugary sips, and pre-packaged processed foods.

Starting your journey towards stellar heart health can be as simple as ditching soda. High on added sugar and lacking any nutritional value, frequent consumption of these sweetened drinks is an open invitation to coronary heart disease and stroke. Ladies, your cap on sugar intake should be 6 teaspoons (or 25 grams), and gents, 9 teaspoons (or 36 grams) daily. But guess what – just one can of cola shoots past this limit with a whooping 39 grams of sugar!

You might be thinking, what about diet soda or no-sugar options? Well, they bring atrial fibrillation and high blood pressure to the party. Artifical sweeteners aren't your friends either; they trigger cravings for high-sugar and high-calorie food resulting in weight gain – a key antagonist for high blood pressure and heart disease.

Don't drown your sorrows in soda, instead, splash around in the world of soda alternatives! Think water, unsweetened tea, or sparkling water. Keep a keen eye out for processed meat too. Mostly cured, smoked, salted, or laced with chemical preservatives, they're heart health's worst nightmare. Bacon, sausage, deli meats, they're all villainous with high saturated fats, sodium, and often, nitrates.

Limit your bacon escapades to just two servings a week to decrease heart risk. Supplant bacon and its brethren with fish, lean cuts of meat such as chicken breast, ground turkey, or ground chicken.

Switch that white bread with a whole-wheat or other whole-grain option for your sandwiches. White bread, a type of refined grain, causes blood sugar to rocket and inflate triglycerides. Whole grains, on the flip-side, offer an arsenal of fiber improving cholesterol levels, ensuring you feel satiated for longer, and assisting you with weight maintenance. Consuming whole grain is like hiring a bodyguard against stroke, coronary heart disease, and heart failure.

Tempted by donuts for breakfast on the go? Here's why you should resist – high in calories, fat, and sugar, these fried demons amplify the risk of heart disease and heart failure. Instead, cozy up with oatmeal with berries, whole-wheat muffins, breakfast sandwiches made with lean meats, veggies, and eggs.

Nope, red wine is not your heart-friendly drink. Any alcohol consumption inflates your risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and stroke. It's not an impossible task with alternatives like sugar-free or unsweetened mocktails, flavored seltzers, sparkling water, or teas.

Those snack cakes seem harmless but they're ultra-processed, armed with artifical flavouring and preservatives. Elevate your dessert game by opting for whole fruit or squares of dark chocolate instead. Lastly, fried food, especially french fries and fried chicken, hitch a ride with trans fats and saturated fats, testing your bad cholesterol level and firing up inflammation. The verdict? Choose foods that have been baked, sautéed, or steamed instead of fried for a heart-healthier meal. Think life isn't good without trans fats? Wrong! Focus instead on the delicious, nourishing alternatives you're adding to your diet. The aim is to make heart-healthy eating a long-term commitment rather than a fleeting fad.