Reducing your risk of heart disease could be as easy as changing up the type of carbs you eat -- from refined carbs to whole grains. In fact, according to recent studies, eating just one serving of whole grains can reduce your risk of high blood pressure by 4%. That might not seem like much, but it's a pretty promising result for such a small change in your lifestyle. Imagine the difference you could make to your heart health if you changed all of your grains to whole grains?

Cutting your blood pressure risk is as easy as switching from regular pasta to whole wheat, from white toast to whole wheat. You might not like the taste at first but you'll get used to it. I used to live for white bread and now I only eat whole wheat -- it's the only kind of bread I have a taste for these days.

Another thing to keep in mind is to check the labels on supposed 'whole grain' products to make sure they really are. If 100% whole grains isn't the first item on the ingredients list, toss it.

It's a harsh reality but it's the truth: after a heart attack, African American patients are given sub-standard care compared to their Caucasian counterparts. A study found that African Americans were 30% less likely to receive proper care than white Americans, regardless of the hospital they're treated at.

What's the reason for this? Many believe it's because discrimination, either blatant or subtle. Which I think is especially sad because it shows that no matter how far we've come, we've still got a long way to go in terms of equality for all.

Do you have any personal experience with this sort of injustice?

Mushrooms are an excellent source of antioxidants -- just as good or even better than carrots, broccoli, green beans, tomatoes and red or green bell peppers. All kinds of mushrooms -- from your everyday white button mushrooms to the more expensive gourmet shitake and oyster mushrooms -- contain rich heart healthy free radical fighters.

Both raw and cooked, mushrooms contain high levels of chitin and beta gluten -- known to lower cholesterol. Interestingly, the white button variety -- along with its brother the brown crimini and the larger portabello version -- had a higher antioxidant readings than the more exotic varieties. Full of fiber and protein, mushrooms are delicious in all kinds of dishes from pasta to risotto.

Good news for white wine lovers! Recent studies have shown that it is not just the grapes skin which is used in red winemaking that has heart health benefits, but the grapes flesh as well -- which is why white wine, made without the grapes skin, is just as heart protective as red wine!

The study reports that the skin, previously thought to be the only beneficial part of the grape due to its high antioxidant levels, is equally potent as the grapes flesh -- which is rich in polyphenols, a plant compound with proven cholesterol lowering capabilities. Regular wine drinking, not in excess of one glass daily, is recommended for optimal heart health.

White-collar workers, both male and female, with high levels of job stress are at 33 percent increased risk of having higher blood pressure levels. The effects of little or no social support from supervisors and co-workers cause even higher levels.

Researchers observed stress and blood pressure levels in white-collar men and women, ages 18 to 65, over a seven-and-a-half year period in Quebec City. Study subjects filled out questionnaires surveying their exercise and smoking habits, their family history of heart disease, and their experience of work and social life.

At the end of the study, the most pronounced effects were seen in men -- though women were not exempt from the effects of job stress on blood pressure levels. Men who experienced high levels of job stress over the seven-year period measured out two points higher in blood pressure than men who experienced no job stress. This is equivalent to the increase in blood pressure of men who live sedentary lives, researchers note.

Recent studies have linked depression to heart disease, and obesity is also a widely-known heart risk factor. A new study reveals obese people to be 20 percent more likely to suffer from depression.

Depression and obesity go hand-in-hand. Depressed people symptomatically binge eat due to increased appetite, exercise less, and sometimes gain weight as a side effect of anti-depressant medication. Conversely, depression can result from the stigma associated with obesity. Interestingly, the likelihood of depression rises to 44 percent in the white, college-educated obese-- possibly due to a larger obesity stigma in upper-class white communities. Past studies linked obesity and depression mostly in women, however the current larger scale study proved the statistics were the same in both men and women.