We all know that lowering risk of heart attack, stroke, and amputation is up to us. We know we need to eat right. We know we need to exercise? Are we faithful at making healthy choices all the time. No one is perfect. In this episode, hosts Dr. John Phillips and Kym McNicholas talk about what makes especially the healthier food choices tough. They also provide easy ways to improve our diet starting with simple substitutions and small compromises. All the information is available in a new handbook available for sale on Amazon, called “Food For Thought: A P.A.D. Warriors Handbook for Healthier eating.” P.A.D. Is an acronym for peripheral artery disease, which is restricted blood flow in mainly the leg arteries due to plaque build-up. Three-in-five heart attack sufferers have P.A.D. Most don’t know it, if it all, until it reaches advanced stages and heart attack, stroke, and/or amputation are eminent. If someone has plaque build-up in their leg arteries, it’s likely systemic. So, while this handbook discussed is geared toward P.A.D. Patients, it addresses overall artery health and how to start on the road to making healthier food choices. After the food discussion, Dr. John Phillips discussed important diagnostics, how to know when you should feel confident in your heart health, and how to decide when an intervention is necessary to clear some plaque from your coronary arteries and have a stent placed.

What we eat is central to our health. It can prevent, maintain, cure, and cause different diseases. It can be argued
that the number one killer in America, heart attack, might occur prematurely because of poor food choices. That's
why Dr. Michael Dansinger is leading our discussion during this episode about how we cure America of its deadly
eating habits. He talks to hosts Kym McNicholas and Dr. John Phillips about what he's learned throughout his
medical career, which is heavily focused on research and education on the power of dietary selection, including
his time working with hit cable TV show, 'The Biggest Loser." Dr. Dansinger most recently served as the Medical
Director for the Lifestyle Program at Boston Heart Diagnostics since 2011. Other career highlights include, credits
as a "Nutrition Doctor" for "The Biggest Loser," author of the Tufts University Popular Diet Trial, which was
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January of 2005, and he's served as an
expert with Medscape and WebMD since 2005. He says, "I quickly recognized during my fellowship training that
much of the underlying cause of our broken healthcare system has been fueled by the growing financial burden
of “Lifestyle Diseases”. I came to understand that the epidemics of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and related
conditions were not only making millions of people sick, but also overwhelming our healthcare system. A few
months into my fellowship program I decided I’d like to train in the prevention and reversal of lifestyle diseases."

We acknowledge American Heart Month every year but are we using the information provided to take our health
into our own hands? Heart Disease, the number one killer, is manageable if you are willing to take the steps to
mitigate your risk. Lifestyle changes are the most impactful preventative measure. What's stopping you? During
this episode, hosts Kym McNicholas and Dr. John Phillips talk to Doctor of Physical Therapy, Ofir Isaac, with All
Care PT out of Brooklyn, New York, about how he's getting people to take their health into their own hands. He
talks about some new, innovative approaches, to cardiac rehabilitation. Joining the discussion in this week's Save
My Piggies series, Learn to Love To Exercise (LTLTE) founder Linda Terjesen talks about her journey to prevent
genetics from taking control of her life and through her story you will be inspired to do the same.