When a water pipe clogs in your house, every room can be affected. The same goes for the pipes in your body — the veins, arteries, and capillaries that make up the vascular system and supply your organs with blood. If these blood vessels are damaged by high blood pressure, diabetes, or plaque buildup, a whole cascade of problems can ensue, including kidney failure, dementia, peripheral artery disease, erectile dysfunction, heart attack, and stroke. Keeping all of your body's blood vessels free flowing is vital because “it is very rare for only one part of the vascular tree to be affected by disease,” says Dennis Goodman, MD, FACC, senior cardiologist at Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine in La Jolla, California. In other words, if the vessels that carry blood to the feet, legs, arms, stomach, and kidneys aren't healthy, it's likely your heart and carotid arteries, and the pipes that supply blood to the brain, will be affected too.

But vascular disease is preventable and in some cases reversible when you take healthy steps — even if heart disease, stroke, or other vascular problems run in your immediate family, Goodman says. Here's how to keep the clogs out and lessen your chances of needing pharmaceutical drugs.

NUTRITION

The lining of your blood vessels, called the endothelium, provides a Teflon-like coating that helps blood flow smoothly through veins, arteries, and capillaries, says Ralph Felder, MD, PhD, a cardiologist at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and inflammation all can create nicks in the endothelium. These encourage a buildup of arterial plaque, and can lead to decreased blood flow to the heart, brain, and other organs. What you eat — and don't eat — has a monumental impact on the health of this vital blood-vessel lining. As Felder writes in The Bonus Years Diet (Putnam Adult, 2007), a breakthrough study found that when consumed together and in the specific quantities detailed below, the following foods actually act like a powerful drug and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 76 percent and add 6.4 years to a man's life and 4.6 years to a woman's life — all by protecting the endothelium.

Cook with garlic.

Flavor your meals with one garlic clove (cooked or raw) daily and your chance of developing cardiovascular disease drops by 25 percent. That's because garlic inhibits the cholesterol production in the liver, much the way statin drugs do. Garlic specifically lowers low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and may help to usher this bad form of cholesterol out of the body.

Drink red wine.

Sipping 5 ounces of red wine daily lowers LDL, raises the good high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and prevents LDL oxidation and the formation of dangerous blood clots. Added together, the benefits of red wine's protective antioxidants slash cardiovascular disease risk by 32 percent. (Women, take note: Alcohol, including wine, has been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer. However, research shows that up to 5 ounces of red wine daily is safe, Felder says. Because it increases estrogen levels, “more than that can lead to health problems for women.”)

Eat fruits and vegetables.

Antioxidant- and fiber-rich fruits and vegetables lower blood pressure, and “the lower the blood pressure, the better the endothelium is able to dilate the arteries to keep blood flowing smoothly,” Felder says. Eating 4 cups of fruits and veggies daily lowers your cardiovascular disease risk by 21 percent. Different types of produce offer different benefits — so aim for variety to receive the full spectrum of antioxidants and phytochemicals, the special chemicals found in plants that reduce inflammation and protect against disease.

Favor cold-water fish.

Want to shrink your risk of heart attack and stroke by another 14 percent? Eat three 5-ounce servings (which is slightly less than the size of two standard decks of cards) of wild-caught, cold-water fish, such as salmon, mackerel, and herring, per week. The omega-3 fatty acids in these fish prevent blood clots, lower triglycerides, raise HDL, reduce inflammation, and prevent fatal heart arrhythmias (an interruption of normal heart rate).

Grab a handful of nuts.

Almonds, macadamias, and other nuts provide an almost perfect balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats — particularly heart-protective monounsaturated fats. Nuts, on average, also contain about 170 mg potassium and 60 mg magnesium per ounce, both of which help lower blood pressure, Felder says. Add in 2 ounces of nuts daily and you'll reduce your overall cardiovascular disease risk by 12 percent.

Treat yourself to chocolate.

Packed with flavonoids (a type of antioxidant), dark chocolate reduces blood pressure, which improves endothelial function and decreases LDL oxidation. Eat 2 full ounces (with a minimum 60 percent cocoa content) daily and you'll cut your cardiovascular disease risk by 11 percent.

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