20 Foods That Can Help Unclog Your Arteries

The number one killer in the United States is heart disease: According to the CDC, 610,000 people die from it every year—that is about one out of every four deaths. The cause is clogged arteries, and things like calcium, plaque and fatty acids can do the damage. “There is no one magic food that acts like Drano and cleans out the accumulated plaque,” says Florian Rader, MD, a cardiologist at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “But good habits can help slow down that process, and maintaining a healthy weight and diet is one factor you can control to a great degree. And,” he says, “It’s never too late to start.”