Do you keep your health care plan in the fridge? It’s not a bad idea actually because if you pick your foods the right way, you can pack heart disease, colon cancer, osteoporosis, and diabetes prevention all in a day’s worth of groceries.

Heart Disease It kills nearly 500,000 women a year. The American Heart Association warns that heart disease, including stroke, claims more women’s lives than the next six causes of death combined. Yet few women realize their risks for heart disease.

Hip 30-something singer Toni Braxton thought her chests pains were just from parenting stress before she discovered that she had heart disease. While the singer is OK now, she’s getting the word out about heart disease as the spokeswoman for the American Heart Association’s “Go Red For Women” campaign.

If you want to be heart smart, you need to be food wise. For example, according to the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, a diet loaded with whole grains may lower your risk of developing heart diseases.

Another clinical research from the Archives of Internal Medicines found a link between increased dietary fiber and reduced blood pressure. In short, more fiber may reduce hypertension and thus lower the blood pressure.

Where to get fiber and whole grains: Apples, grapes, celery, whole grain bread and cereal (make sure that sugar is not a main ingredient), whole-wheat pasta, popcorn, barley, oats and oatmeal, rye, corn, brown rice, bulgur or cracked wheat, and wheat germ.

Colon Cancer The fiber gleaned from a whole oat rich diet also reduces the risks of developing colon cancer. Similarly in animal studies, selenium has shown anti-cancer benefits. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health noted that calcium limits the development of rectal lesions, which could become cancerous.

Where to get calcium and selenium: Broccoli, bran, brown rice, cottage cheese, garlic, onion, Brazil nuts, molasses, eggs, yogurt, celery, tahini, kidney beans.

Osteoporosis Are you going to scream if someone else tells you to drink your milk to make your bones strong? While calcium has hoarded the spotlight for osteoporosis prevention, Dr. Alan R Gaby points out in the Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, that magnesium, manganese, and zinc are just as important in the fight against osteoporosis.

Where to get them:

Magnesium: Almonds, bran, oat, hazel nuts, pecans, lentils, sunflower seeds.

Manganese: Avocado, walnuts, pineapple, buckwheat, parsley, spinach

Zinc: Cheese, raw cashews, egg white, sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, wheat germ

Diabetes Christine Gerbstadt, M.D., R.D., spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association suggests limiting your risks for diabetes by consuming orange and leafy green veggies. Adding on a high quality fiber rich cereal can also limit your risk for diabetes.

Where to get orange and leafy green veggies: Spinach, yams, papayas, peppers, rich green varieties of lettuce, lemons, parsley, cilantro

Here’s a final reason to stash your health care plan in the fridge. A finding presented at the Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology that analyzed the records from 2,857 heart attack survivors treated at Michigan hospitals found that men had a better chance of surviving after treatment than women.

One reason for this could be that the women receive less one-on-one sessions with the doctors or nurses before going home. The lesson here is to put health in your own hands before you even need to use your health insurance.

Increase your chances of beating heart disease, colon cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis now. It’s as easy as buying apples, beets and carrots. I’ll see you in the produce section.