Inflammation: The Secret Killer

For years, physicians focused on basic measures, such as blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol. But recently, more and more studies have shown that there's a new MVP (most valuable predictor) when it comes to forecasting heart disease. It's a substance that sounds like a grunge-rock band: C-reactive protein (CRP).

Though it was discovered in 1930, only in the past several years has CRP been shown to be important. Doctors now know that CRP helps measure chronic inflammation and the overall health of your arteries. The higher your CRP level, the more at risk you may be for heart disease -- even if your other indicators look normal.

"Half of all heart attacks and strokes in the United States each year occur among people with essentially normal cholesterol levels," says Paul Ridker, M.D., a professor of medicine at Harvard medical school. "There's more to heart disease than just lipids. In addition to the problem of cholesterol, there's the problem of the immune system or the inflammation response."

A heart attack occurs when plaque ruptures inside your blood vessels. But that rupturing hinges not just on how much plaque you have but also on the degree of inflammation, Dr. Ridker says. Your level of CRP -- measured by a simple blood test -- helps detect this condition so you can predict whether you're in danger of cardiovascular disease and stroke. "You can be at quite a high risk of both despite having normal cholesterol," Dr. Ridker says. "Even people with low cholesterol but high CRP are at high risk."

Luckily, just as you can with cholesterol and body fat, you can take steps to shrink your CRP. "If you have your CRP measured in your 20s and 30s, you can prevent heart disease and strokes in your 50s and 60s," Dr. Ridker says. Aside from drugs such as statins, lifestyle changes are the best way to whittle down your CRP and, more important, snuff the flames before they snuff you.

Inflammation Fighter 1: Pop a Multivitamin
A grande cappuccino isn't the only thing you'd better slug down before you go to work. A study in the American Journal of Medicine showed that people who popped a multivitamin each morning for 6 months decreased their CRP by 0.7 milligrams per liter (mg/l). And a University of California at Berkeley study found that people who took 500 mg of vitamin C saw a 24 percent drop in CRP after just 2 months.

Arch Mainous, Ph.D., a professor of family medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, says CRP levels are connected to the amount of stress caused by free radicals in your body. "Vitamins C and E decrease the oxidative stress," he says.

Take 500 mg of a vitamin C supplement, or a multivitamin like GNC Men's Mega Men, which contains one of the highest levels of vitamin C (300 mg) in a multi. Another way to swallow more C: cherries.

In a small study published in the Journal of Nutrition, people who ate two daily servings of cherries lowered their CRP by 16 percent.

Inflammation Fighter 2: Trust Your Greek Friends
Whether for your car, your uncle's hair, or your arteries, the right kind of oil can make everything run smoothly. A recent study at the University of Athens in Greece found that people who most closely followed a Mediterranean diet -- one rich in olive oil -- had CRP numbers 20 percent lower than those of their less oily brethren.

"We believe olive oil helps turn off the gene that makes the pro-inflammatory molecules that attach to your arteries," says Michael Roizen, M.D., a professor of medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University and author of Real Age: Are You As Young As You Can Be?

Dr. Roizen suggests taking in 25 percent of your daily calories from monounsaturated fats, with an emphasis on olive oil as the source. One way to sneak it in: breakfast. Take a tablespoon of olive oil and mix in the spice of your choice -- oregano if you like Italian food, red pepper if you like things spicy -- then spread it on your toast, bagel, or English muffin. Or use it instead of butter when you're cooking eggs.

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