Currently some 26.6 million Americans have survived a heart attack or have been diagnosed with heart disease. Experts predict that heart disease deaths are projected to increase sharply between 2020 and 2030, and the population of heart disease survivors is expected to grow at a much faster rate than the U.S. population as a whole. We are a population of aging, heart-disease-prone baby boomers. In fact, people 75 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the population, and 40 percent of them have heart disease. I encourage all Americans to follow the Mediterranean Diet—scientifically proven to be the best diet for preventing and treating heart disease—our nation’s number one cause of death among American men and women.

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