Want to have a heart attack or stroke? No? Then you may want to consider adding these foods to your diet.

They are delicious, easy to prepare and give you a pretty good fighting chance in the health stakes! Here’s what you need to know.

High cholesterol is your enemy. It can be basically divided into two main categories. LDL (low density lipoprotein) is the bad one that starts clogging up your arteries leading to unpleasant things like heart attacks and strokes.

HDL (high density lipoprotein) is the good one. It basically flushes out the bad stuff from your blood system and takes it away to the liver for cleaning.

To get the balance right in your system, there are a few things you can do. Losing weight is a good start. Eliminating saturated fats and trans-fats is a good start too.

But even easier, is to add a few of these delicious foods to your regular diet.

Olives - the savoury snack of the gods, olives are a great addition to any lunch or dinner and have the aded bonus of being able to actually reduce bad cholesterol while leaving the good stuff intact! The same thing goes for olive oil which can be added just by using it in salad dressing! Eating these babies really isn’t a chore!

Oats - just by having a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, you get some great benefits. You see, oatmeal contains soluble fibre which reduces your body’s capacity to absorb bad cholesterol! And it’s such an easy breakfast to make!

Almonds - are among the most tasty nuts. They are also pretty cheap. And as an added bonus, they also prevent LDL from being oxidised which is the process that can damage your blood vessels. Make sure you eat the ones with skins, and have half a handful as an afternoon snack!

Salmon - have omega-3 fatty acids which really help you stop dropping dead! It also reduces the chances of blood clots. Plus it is among the most delicious of fishes! Grilled salmon steak on wild rice with a salad is a great main meal. In fact, you can even use other fish species such as mackeral, herring, sardines or trout!

Blueberries - are possibly the best tasting fruit ever! They also contain pterostilbene which is a fancy word for stuff that seems to help lower LDL (bad cholesterol). A small handful of blueberries in a cup of low fat yoghurt is also a very healthy and tasty morning tea snack.

Red Wine - Ok, don’t go overboard here, but there’s nothing too much wrong with having a glass of red wine with dinner. It can actually raise the good cholesterol levels. If you are not sure which to buy or have a limited budget, then look for Merlot - of the cheaper wines, Merlot is generally one of the better quality.