If you live in an industrialized nation, you formed plaque in your arteries before you finished your teen years.  But research clearly shows that damage to arteries can be reversed with diets that emphasize whole, plant-based foods.  Fruits and vegetables in particular, have protective factors for heart disease because they contain plant nutrients that decrease platelet aggregation (which can lead to clots, strokes, heart attacks, etc.)  The top fruits that help keep your blood flowing include tomatoes, kiwis, grapefruit, and strawberries.  The greatest of these are tomatoes, particularly tomato seeds. You know, the gushy mess inside a tomato that a lot of us toss out. It seems that the yellowish liquid that surrounds tomato seeds contains powerful nutrients that decrease clotting factors in your blood and reduce plaque. So powerful are these nutrients that they are more effective than taking an aspirin a day. Unlike aspirin which thins the blood and increases risk of unwanted bleeding, the nutrients in tomatoes decrease platelet aggregation and plaque build-up without affecting normal blood clotting; meaning your blood clots when you need it to , but not when you don’t.

“Let Your Food Be Your Medicine and Your Medicine be Your Food” Hippocrates