Most heart problems are very easy to fix by holistic approaches, even many hereditary weaknesses and malfunctions can be healed, if the work is done before too much organic damage occurs. But it rarely is easy to get the people to take the necessary medicine; everything in their lives must change--and fast. First of all, people with heart problems must rapidly reach and maintain normal weight. This can be done by fasting or by dietary change, usually by eliminating all fats, sugars and refined starches. Alcohol and tobacco must instantly and forever become only past memories. It is almost as essential to eliminate flesh protein foods and dairy. Should that prove entirely too painful, fish in small quantities and only one or two times a week is tolerable. For starters, a long fast, especially one involving lots of bed rest, is ideal. This gives the heart a chance to heal while the body weight is adjusted. A period of intense rest even without water fasting will accomplish almost as much. Even someone with the potential for heart disease who has not yet had a heart attack would be well-served to spend a month in bed, losing weight on juice, or sitting in a rocker on the porch eating only raw foods. After the weight is down to normal or close to normal and the heart tests stronger, an exercise program should be started. Exercise has to become a religion. A daily aerobic program must be started on a carefully managed gradient, using the pulse rate as an regulator, at first raising their maximum heart rate to a point just below 150 percent of its resting pulse and keeping it there for thirty minutes. One can walk, jog, ride a bicycle or use an exercise machine. Actually, everyone should do this, even those with no heart problems. My husband, who hates the boredom of exercise, enjoys a ski machine in front of the TV while the stock market program is on. He finds the TV interesting enough that he pays no attention to his workout. Daily aerobic exercise will strengthen the heart, gradually slowing the heart's resting pulse rate, indicating that the heart has become much stronger, pumping more blood with each pulse. As the resting pulse drops the exercising heartbeat can be increased to double the resting rate.