Heart Disease & Heart Attacks — America’s #1 killer

HEART HEALTH  ·  FUNCTIONAL NUTRITION  ·  PREVENTION

By Kim Larson  ·  Certified Functional Nutrition Coach & Founder, Larson Nutrition  ·  April 2025  ·  10 min read

IN THIS ARTICLE •       Why heart disease is still America’s #1 killer •       What coronary artery disease actually is — in plain English •       Warning signs — including the ones women most often miss •       The real root causes from a Functional Nutrition perspective •       The sugar and inflammation connection •       The DASH and Mediterranean dietary approaches •       Key nutrients for heart health •       Your 5-step action plan starting today

 

Every 34 seconds, someone in the United States dies from a cardiovascular event. That’s nearly 2,500 Americans — every single day — lost to a disease that, in most cases, is largely preventable.

Not cancer. Not car accidents. Not COVID. Heart disease. Still — in 2025 — the single biggest killer of American men and women, year after year, across nearly every racial and ethnic group.

And here is the part that keeps me up at night: up to 80% of those deaths are considered preventable — not with a miracle drug or surgery, but with what you eat, how you move, how you sleep, and how you manage stress.

That is exactly what Functional Nutrition is built to address. And that is what this article is about. Let’s dig in.

 

683K Americans died from heart disease in 2024 — still the #1 cause of death

Every 34 sec someone in the U.S. dies from a cardiovascular event

80% of heart disease deaths are considered largely preventable

 

 

By the Numbers: The Scope of the Problem

Before we talk solutions, let’s make sure the full picture is clear — because most people genuinely underestimate how serious this is.

•       Heart disease is the #1 cause of death for men, women, and most racial and ethnic groups in America
•       In 2024, it claimed 683,037 lives — up from 680,981 the year before, meaning it is still trending in the wrong direction
•       Cardiovascular diseases as a whole killed over 941,000 Americans in 2022 — more than cancer and unintentional injury combined
•       Coronary artery disease, the most common type, kills over 371,000 people per year
•       About 1 in 20 adults over age 20 already has coronary artery disease — many without knowing it
•       Heart failure affects 6.7 million Americans today and is projected to reach 11.4 million by 2050
•       The economic toll: over $168 billion in healthcare costs and medications in just two years

 

And here is what concerns me most: it is getting younger. Heart failure rates are rising in adults aged 35 to 64. This is no longer just a disease of old age — and unmanaged risk factors are driving it earlier and earlier in life.

 

 

What Is Heart Disease? (Plain English)

The term “heart disease” is a broad umbrella, but the condition behind most heart attacks is coronary artery disease (CAD). Here’s what that actually means in plain English.

 

How Your Heart Works

Your heart is a fist-sized muscle that beats about 100,000 times per day. It needs a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood, delivered through vessels called coronary arteries. When those arteries get narrowed or blocked — clogged with a substance called plaque — blood flow slows or stops. When it stops completely, the heart muscle downstream begins to die. That is a heart attack.

What Is Plaque?

Plaque is a buildup of cholesterol, inflammatory cells, calcium, and other substances on the inner wall of your arteries. It accumulates over years and even decades — driven by inflammation, high blood sugar, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance. These are all things that are directly shaped by what we eat and how we live.

Heart Attack vs. Cardiac Arrest — Know the Difference

•       Heart attack — A plumbing problem. A blocked artery cuts off blood flow to part of the heart muscle.
•       Sudden cardiac arrest — An electrical problem. The heart’s electrical system malfunctions and the heart stops beating entirely.

 

A heart attack can trigger cardiac arrest, but they are not the same thing. Both are emergencies. Both require calling 911 immediately.

 

Think of coronary artery disease like rust building up inside a water pipe. Over time, the pipe narrows, flow slows, and eventually something blocks it completely. When that happens in your heart — that is a heart attack.

 

Warning Signs You Should Never Ignore

One of the most dangerous things about heart disease is that it is often called the “silent killer.” Many people have no symptoms at all until something catastrophic happens. But there are warning signs — and knowing them can save your life.

 

Classic Warning Signs — More Common in Men

•       Chest pain, pressure, tightness, squeezing, or fullness — in the center of the chest, lasting more than a few minutes or coming and going
•       Pain or discomfort radiating to one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach
•       Shortness of breath — with or without chest discomfort
•       Cold sweats, nausea, or feeling lightheaded

 

Women’s Symptoms Are Often Different — And Frequently Missed

This is critically important. Women often experience heart attacks very differently from men — and because of that, their symptoms get dismissed, sometimes even by doctors.

•       Neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back, or upper stomach pain — often without dramatic chest pain
•       Unusual and extreme fatigue — sometimes weeks before a heart attack — that may feel like the flu
•       Shortness of breath, nausea, or vomiting
•       Night sweats not related to menopause
•       Lightheadedness or dizziness

 

Women are also more likely to have heart attacks while resting or even asleep, and are more likely to have blockages in smaller arteries — making diagnosis harder.

 

⚠  HEART ATTACK WARNING SIGNS — ACT FAST F Feel it — Chest pressure, tightness, or discomfort lasting more than a few minutes A Arms/body — Pain radiating to arm, back, neck, jaw, or stomach S Shortness of breath — With or without chest discomfort T Time — Call 911 immediately. Do not drive yourself. Every minute of delay means more heart muscle lost.

 

Concerned about your heart health? I work one-on-one with clients to build personalized, root-cause nutrition and lifestyle plans. Visit LarsonNutrition.com →

 

The Real Root Causes: A Functional Nutrition View

Conventional medicine is excellent at crisis intervention — it saves lives. But it has traditionally focused on managing risk factors rather than asking the deeper question: why do you have high cholesterol? Why is your blood pressure elevated? Why is your blood sugar out of control?

Functional Nutrition asks those “why” questions first. And when you follow the trail, you almost always end up in the same place:

 

The root driver of most heart disease is chronic, low-grade inflammation — and that inflammation is largely driven by what we eat, how we move, how we sleep, and how we handle stress.

 

1. Chronic Inflammation

Inflammation is your immune system’s fire alarm. Short-term, it’s lifesaving. But chronic, low-grade inflammation — the kind that smolders for years — damages the inner lining of your arteries, triggering plaque formation. What lights that fire? Processed foods, refined sugars, trans fats, a sedentary lifestyle, chronic stress, poor sleep, and environmental toxins.

2. Insulin Resistance and Blood Sugar Dysregulation

This is the one that doesn’t get enough attention. When you eat sugar or refined carbs constantly, your cells start tuning out insulin’s signal. Blood sugar stays elevated — and high blood sugar directly damages blood vessel walls, speeds up atherosclerosis, raises blood pressure, and promotes inflammation. A landmark study in JAMA Internal Medicine found that consuming large amounts of added sugar significantly increased the risk of dying from heart disease — even in people who weren’t overweight.

3. The Sugar Problem

We spent decades blaming dietary fat for heart disease. But the research increasingly points the finger at added sugars and ultra-processed foods.

•       High sugar diets raise blood pressure, triglycerides, and LDL (bad) cholesterol
•       They lower HDL (good) cholesterol
•       They promote liver fat accumulation — a major cardiovascular risk
•       Regular sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is independently associated with cardiovascular death
•       Sugar disrupts sleep — and disrupted sleep independently raises heart attack risk

 

4. Oxidative Stress

When free radicals outpace antioxidants in your body, you get oxidative stress — which directly damages heart tissue and blood vessels, accelerates plaque formation, and impairs heart function. The antidote? A diet rich in colorful fruits, vegetables, and whole foods.

5. Chronic Stress

Chronic psychological stress isn’t just a mental health issue — it is a cardiovascular one. Stress hormones cause blood vessels to constrict, blood pressure to rise, and pro-inflammatory molecules to flood your system. For women especially, emotional stress is a significant and underrecognized heart disease risk factor.

6. Sleep — The Underrated Heart Protector

Both too little sleep (under 6 hours) and too much sleep (over 8 hours) raise cardiovascular risk. People with insomnia have been found to have up to a 69% higher risk of heart attack compared to those without it. Even the shift to daylight savings time — just one hour of disruption — is associated with a measurable uptick in heart attacks in the days that follow.

 

The Functional Nutrition Playbook for Heart Health

Here is the empowering truth: the vast majority of heart disease is preventable. And even if you already have risk factors or a family history, you have far more control than you may have been led to believe.

 

1. Eat to Fight Inflammation

The single most powerful thing most people can do for their heart is change what they eat. Specifically:

•       Eliminate or dramatically reduce added sugars, refined carbohydrates, and ultra-processed foods
•       Load up on colorful fruits and vegetables — rich in antioxidants that fight arterial damage
•       Eat fatty fish — salmon, sardines, mackerel — 2 to 3 times per week for omega-3 fatty acids
•       Choose a Mediterranean-style eating pattern — linked to reduced inflammation, better HDL cholesterol, and improved survival in people with existing heart disease
•       Eat nuts, seeds, and leafy greens — rich in magnesium, which helps blood vessels relax
•       Cut sugary drinks completely — regular consumption is independently associated with cardiovascular death

 

2. The Power of Omega-3s

The REDUCE-IT clinical trial found that high-dose omega-3 supplementation reduced major cardiovascular events — including heart attack and stroke — by 25% over five years in high-risk patients. Earlier research found a 28% reduction in heart attack risk overall, and 40% in people with low fish intake. If you don’t eat fatty fish regularly, supplementation is worth discussing with your healthcare provider.

3. Magnesium — The Mineral Most People Are Missing

Low magnesium levels are associated with high blood pressure, arterial calcification, hardening of the arteries, and increased cholesterol. Modern diets are chronically low in magnesium because processed foods strip it out. Find it in almonds, dark leafy greens, avocados, pumpkin seeds, and dark chocolate.

4. Move Your Body — Consistently

Physical inactivity is a major independent risk factor for heart disease. Research shows 75% of Americans don’t meet even the minimum exercise recommendation. But you don’t need to run marathons — 30 minutes of brisk walking on most days of the week significantly reduces heart attack and stroke risk.

5. Manage Stress — Actively

Stress management is cardiovascular medicine. Research-backed tools include regular physical activity, mindfulness meditation, deep breathing, maintaining social connections, and protecting genuine downtime. These aren’t luxuries — for many people, they’re medicine.

6. Prioritize Sleep

Aim for 7 to 9 hours. Address sleep apnea if you snore. Create a dark, cool, consistent sleep environment. Limit screens before bed. Your heart literally needs this recovery time.

7. Know Your Numbers

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Ask your doctor for:

•       Blood pressure — aim for below 120/80
•       Fasting blood sugar and HbA1c — to catch insulin resistance early
•       Full lipid panel — including triglycerides and HDL, not just total cholesterol
•       C-reactive protein (CRP) — a key marker of inflammation
•       Fasting insulin — rarely ordered but highly revealing for metabolic health
•       Vitamin D levels — deficiency is associated with increased cardiovascular risk

 

Looking for targeted heart health support? Visit LarsonBotanicals.com — Kim’s personally curated wellness product line to complement a heart-healthy lifestyle.

 

Your 5-Step Action Plan — Start This Week

Information without action is just noise. Here are five concrete steps you can take right now:

 

✓     Cut one source of added sugar today. A soda, a sweetened coffee, a packaged snack. Just one. Start there — and repeat it tomorrow.

✓     Add one anti-inflammatory food to every meal. A handful of walnuts. A cup of blueberries. Salmon for dinner. A big handful of leafy greens. One change at a time.

✓     Walk for 30 minutes today. Not tomorrow — today. It doesn’t need to be a gym. It just needs to happen consistently.

✓     Call your doctor and ask for a complete metabolic workup — fasting insulin, CRP, and a full lipid panel. Not just total cholesterol. Know your actual numbers.

✓     Go to bed 30 minutes earlier tonight. Do it again tomorrow. Your heart recovers while you sleep — give it the time it needs.

 

Heart disease didn’t develop overnight — and it won’t reverse overnight. But the trajectory changes with every meal, every walk, every night of good sleep. That is the power of Functional Nutrition. It gives you back control.

 

🎙️  Listen to the Full Episode — The Larson Health Podcast · “Heart Disease & Heart Attacks” · Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Deezer & more

 

Ready to Take Your Heart Health Seriously? At Larson Nutrition, I work one-on-one with clients to build personalized, root-cause nutrition and lifestyle plans — around your labs, your lifestyle, and your goals. Let’s build yours together. LarsonNutrition.com   ·   LarsonBotanicals.com

 

Kim Larson Certified Functional Nutrition Coach  ·  Fast Like a Girl Coach  ·  Founder, Larson Nutrition Kim Larson is a certified Functional Nutrition Coach and the founder of Larson Nutrition, where she helps clients address the root causes of chronic health conditions through personalized nutrition, lifestyle medicine, and functional medicine principles. She is the host of The Larson Health Podcast and the founder of LarsonBotanicals.com. Learn more at LarsonNutrition.com.

 

Tags: Heart Disease, Heart Attack, Functional Nutrition, Cardiovascular Health, Inflammation, Mediterranean Diet, DASH Diet, Omega-3, Magnesium, Insulin Resistance, Kim Larson, Larson Nutrition

 

Medical Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your diet, exercise routine, or medication regimen.