The heart is a muscle, and it needs a good blood supply to keep it healthy. As one gets older, the smooth inner walls of the arteries that supply the blood to the heart can become damaged and narrow due to the build up of fatty materials, called plaque. Eating an unhealthy diet that is high in fat will make hardening of the arteries worse and increase the risk of the serious medical emergency.

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When an area of plaque breaks, blood cells other parts of the blood stick to the damaged area and form blood clots.

A heart attack occurs when a blood clot completely blocks the flow of blood and seriously reduces blood flow to the heart muscle.

This also results in patients experiencing chest pain.

As a result, some of the heart muscle starts to die. Food can either help or hinder the condition and according to leading health experts, adding this food to your breakfast daily could help to reduce the risk.

Adding a tomato to your breakfast meal daily could help to reduce your risk of having a heart attack.

Tomatoes have two key nutrients that have a big impact on heart health, lycopene and potassium.

They are low in calories, high in fibre and have many other nutrients that are good for overall health.

When processed with certain types of healthy oils, the lycopene in tomatoes actually gets easier for the body to absorb, so a person doesn’t lose out on nutrients by eating tomato paste or sauce.

How do tomatoes help with heart health?

Tomatoes have two key nutrients that aid in heart health.

Lycopene is a chemical that gives a tomato it’s red colour and is also a powerful antioxidant, a type of substance that helps keep cells from becoming damaged.

Some research shows that lycopene may lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, and keep blood from clotting, which lowers stroke risk.

Potassium is a mineral that can help lower blood pressure by taking some of the sodium out of the body, and by relaxing the walls of the blood vessels.

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What are the causes of a heart attack?

The underlying cause of a heart attack is coronary heart disease.

Some people may not know they have coronary heart disease until they have a heart attack.

For others, a heart attack can happen after weeks, months or even years of having coronary heart disease.

What are the main symptoms of a heart attack?

The Mayo Clinic explains: “Common heart attack signs and symptoms include a pressure, tightness, pain or a squeezing sensation in the chest, arms and shoulders, nausea, indigestion, heartburn or abdominal pain, shortness of breath, cold sweat, fatigue or lightheadedness.”

Not all people who have heart attacks have the same symptoms or have the same severity of symptoms.

Some people have mild pain; others have more severe pain.

The earliest warning sign might be a recurrent chest pain pr pressure that’s triggered by exertion and relieved by rest.

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