What Is Heart Disease?

There are several forms of heart disease. 

However, heart disease primarily comes from the buildup of fatty deposits on the inner surface of arteries. Eventually these deposits block the flow of blood, leading to a heart attack or stroke.

Scientists now believe it is not the eating of fat that causes the buildup on the inner surface of the arteries, but those fats that have been damaged by free radicals. 

This is called "oxidized fat," which causes the fat to be more "sticky" and therefore adhering to the inner artery walls more easily. 

This explains why smoking and stress are risk factors to heart disease, in addition to high fat consumption.

Antioxidants reduce the risk of heart disease by neutralizing the free radical and limiting the number of damaging free radicals in the body. 

This reduces the risk of free radicals "oxidizing" the fat, or making the fat stick.