6.
Food FIXES for the Heart
The natural way to keep your arteries clear and your heart
strong.
It’s a sacred moment when I first see the heart in surgery. Cut the skin, split the
ribs, open everything up—and there it is. As the heart beats, the muscle reminds
me of the strength of a python. It’s alive in its own way, somewhat reclusive as it
cowers in the chest wall, unsure of what will happen next.
So the first thing I do to a damaged heart is caress it. I want to make peace
with it and calm it. Amazingly, the heart does beat more slowly in response to a
caring hand.
When we look inside, we know what to expect. All the diagnostics and
assessments have told us why we’re there and what we’ll find.
I know there’s a buildup of plaque if I see a substance that looks like dried
icing or old French fries. Not coincidentally, the plaque resembles things that
may have caused it.
If I feel the blood rumbling through an artery, like the turbulence in a hose, I
know that the vessel is in trouble.
If there’s a circular patch on the heart, like a black-and-blue bruise on a piece
of fruit, that’s the scar that shows the patient has had a heart attack.
If the patient has been a smoker, I can tell. How? A healthy heart has tissue
like the finest linen. It’s supple, soft, and easy to sew together. A heart damaged
by smoking is more like cardboard. Connecting pieces together is more
challenging.
Sometimes we see a heart that’s enlarged and beating fast, like a scared bird