Baby your arteries for an allover health boost!

Great news from Johns Hopkins researchers: Just keeping your arteries young, supple and plaque-free—so that oxygen-rich blood travels easily to your heart and brain—cuts your risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia as much as 65%! And that’s easily don

✓ Reduce your risk 35% with chicken

Poultry packs lots of vitamin K-2, which dampens your liver’s production of artery-clogging LDL cholesterol, plus heals and strengthens worn arteries so they’re less likely to stiffen over the years. No wonder Dutch researchers found that simply eating 4 oz. of chicken every day could cut your risk of clogged arteries— and heart disease and stroke —35%. Other top sources of K-2 include beef and egg yolks.

✓ Stop plaque buildup with C

Cholesterol doesn’t cause much trouble if it’s just floating around in your bloodstream—but it does if it starts sticking to artery walls, fueling plaque formation. A proven prevention strategy: Take 1,000 mg. of vitamin C daily. C latches onto cholesterol molecules and makes them so slippery, they’re just half as likely to stick to blood vessels. One option: Twinlab C-plus Citrus Bioflavonoid Caps ($15 for 100 capsules, Vitaminshoppe.com).

■ Important: Ask an M.D. before starting a new supplement.

✓ Nourish your arteries with sautéed vegetables

You may think you’re doing your health a favor by eating your vegetables boiled or steamed to avoid fat, but you’d be wrong. Sauté or stir-fry them with a splash of extra-virgin olive oil, and you’ll absorb twice as many carotenoids, essential nutrients that keep your arteries strong, flexible and plaque-free!

✓ Lower your blood pressure with herbs and spices

Flavoring your food with one teaspoon of herbs and spices (any kind, including hot sauce!) helps keep your arteries healthy and young, says cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, M. D. As he explains, natural seasonings are concentrated sources of compounds that relax artery walls the same way that prescription calcium channel blockers do. Blood pressure still won’t budge? Taking 125 mg. to 200 mg. of Pycnogenol (a pine bark extract) daily tames even stubbornly high blood pressure for 58% of women who try it, research shows.

✓ Baby arteries with cheese

We think of cheese as more of an indulgence than a health food, yet a 10-year study proves eating two ounces of unprocessed cheese daily can cut your risk of clogged arteries 18% or more. Cheese boasts milk proteins, probiotics and a fat called CLA that together slow the absorption of artery-aging sugars and fats, says study coauthor Li Qin, PH.D.

✓ Quash inflammation with red fruits

Harvard pros say eating one cup of cherries or watermelon daily cuts artery-damaging inflammation 50% or more, making these fruits as effective as anti-inflammatory drugs. Their pretty red hues are created by natural compounds that rev your liver’s ability to excrete inflammatory wastes before they can irritate and age your arteries.