A colleague who happens to be an under-40-year-old breast cancer survivor shared her story and invited me to a fundraising concert for breast cancer causes.  I decided to wear red for the month of February to raise awareness about heart disease in women -- a cause that has continued to fly under the radar somewhat, even though awareness is growing. This doesn't mean that I don't think that the fight to raise awareness of breast cancer is not important--in fact, far from it. The campaigns to raise awareness and money for the breast cancer cause have led to increased rates of screening and improved treatments, which makes the chance of surviving breast cancer much better now than it was even a decade ago. 

I want to see that kind of evolution in the outcomes for heart disease. The markers for heart disease are far more ambiguous than for breast cancer. With cancer, either there is a lump or not, and it is either cancerous or benign. Heart disease tends to creep up on women. Being female is a natural protection factor until we begin to enter menopause. By that time, we have often developed bad habits that are tough to change, which makes fighting the disease tougher.

When I chose to adopt a cholesterol-fighting diet, my attitude was the first thing I had to change. I adopted the life-hacker attitude more common among people half my age.

My basic dietary plan was simple:

• Keep saturated fats to 10% of my diet or less, on average.
• Avoid processed sugars.
• Keep overall carbohydrate consumption low and eat more carbs earlier in the day.
• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.
• Eat plenty of other foods high in fiber and anti-oxidents.
• Eat plenty of soy products.