Best heart food

In today's Western society it's much easier, and not to mention quicker, to spend a few dollars at the McDonald's across the street than it is to make a satisfying dinner. As a result, however, our fatfilled diets have brought about an epidemic of heart disease, which has become North America's No. 1 killer. Fortunately over the years, scientists and nutritionists have studied the foods that are good for the heart, and some of these might come as a surprise.
Cutting your risk of heart disease can be achieved with good dietary habits or, as we like to call it, an anti-heart disease diet. The truth is that adding the right foods and avoiding others can keep heart disease at bay.
Oats, for example, belong to a larger category of foods referred to as whole grains. They, in particular, contain a soluble fiber that decreases the total cholesterol in your blood as well as your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. This is important because it is the LDL or "bad" cholesterol that's responsible for heart attacks.
Red wine is cardio-protective. This effect comes from antioxidants found in it. More recent scientific studies have shown that red wine has the ability to relax arteries and, therefore, lower your blood pressure. But although red wine is beneficial for heart health, too much alcohol, especially in the form of excessive drinking, can lead to trouble that promotes heart disease.
Healthy eating and drinking require a change in behaviour as much as a change in what we eat or what we do in our daily life. Diet is only one modifiable factor in the development of coronary heart disease, and so we have to remember that regular exercise and smoking cessation should always be incorporated in promoting a healthy lifestyle. It is a balancing act. Exercise, combined with an anti-heart disease diet can help you live longer, feel great and prevent heart attack. How easy is that?

1. Comprehension exercises

1.a. According to the text 

• your risk of heart disease decreases with good dietary habits.
• many people prefer eating a McDonald's hamburger because it is cheaper.
• most people are studying the foods that are good for the heart deseases.

1.b. According to the text 

• drinking red wine helps you to have less blood pressure.
• oats have a fiber which is important for the LDL or "bad" cholesterol.
• antioxidants found in red wine can lead to trouble that promotes heart disease.

1.c. Diets with an excess of fat have caused many heart diseases.
Answer "True" or "False" AND write the sentence supporting this idea.

• TRUE: our fat-filled diets have brought about an epidemic of heart disease.

1.d. Diets, exercise ad stop smoking are modifying factors of our lifestyle.
Answer "True" or "False" AND write the sentence supporting this idea.

• TRUE: Diet is only one modifiable factor in the development of coronary heart disease, and so we have to remember that regular exercise and smoking cessation should always be incorporated in promoting a healthy lifestyle. 

2. Do the following grammar exercises according to the instructions given

2.a. Complete Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one with "used to".

When I was a child I went to my parents' village very often.

• When I was a child I used to go to my parents' village.

2.b. Turn the two sentences into a clause containing "unless"

You can use my car. You are going to be late.

• You are going to be late unless you use my car.

2.c. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one

It will be better for her not to arrive late.

• She had better not arrive late.

2.d. Turn the two sentences into a clause containing "so"

It is very hot today. The best place to stay is the swimming pool.

• It is so hot today that the best place to stay is the swimming pool.

3. Identify ONLY FOUR words from their definitions

• good for your well being: healthy
• the substance in plants which cannot be digested and helps food pass through your body: fiber
• the possibility of something bad happening the possibility of something bad happening: risk
• the type of food that someone usually eats to become thinner, or because you are ill: diet
• experts on the subject of eating: nutritionists
• the thick tubes that carry blood from the heart to other parts of the body: arteries

+EXÁMENES RESUELTOS