The Surprising Truth About Blocked Arteries

When it comes to your arteries, we -- and YOU -- want them to be as clean as possible. So it makes sense that you're better off if an artery is 50% blocked than if it's 90% blocked, right? Oddly, not always. One strange aspect of heart disease is that sometimes the person with the most arterial buildup is better off than someone with less of a waste dump there.

How's that? Well, if an artery has spent 20 years growing plaque and narrowing, your body has spent at least some of those years learning how to do some of the artery's work somewhere else. It's called collateral blood supply. It's as if the bridge you take to work every day has closed down a lane and caused traffic jams. Eventually, you learn new routes to your office. Your body does, too: It builds new vessels to compensate for blocked ones, especially if you do physical activity.

With a 50% clog, your body may not have found it necessary to build extra highways or alternate-route bridges. So when a clot fills that path, the main bridge is closed, and the party's over.

Put those potato chips down! That doesn't mean you should eat your way to a 90% blockage! It means that your body helps you when things get really bad. But it's far better to prevent plaque in the first place through what you eat and how active you stay. There's even better news: Those good food choices and activities can pull that already-formed plaque out -- but that's another tip.