This issue of Dialogues in Cardiovascular Medicine is devoted to Lifestyle, Diet, and the Heart, a subject that has received considerable impetus from the World Health Organization MONItoring trends and determinants in CArdiovascular diseases (MONICA) project, a 10-year study of trends in disease and risk factors in 100 000 people in 21 countries. This, the largest ever study of cardiovascular disease confirmed smoking, high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high blood pressure, lack of exercise, and obesity as major risk factors for the heart disease that kills millions of people annually...