In "Bonnie and Clyde," when the dashingly handsome but sociopathic Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) confessed to Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) that "I'm not much of a loverboy," he didn't have a clue that erectile dysfunction was an indicator of future heart disease.

A new study from Johns Hopkins' Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease reveals that if you and your doctor think you're heart-healthy (you've got no symptoms of heart disease) but you've got occasional ED, well ... take it as an early warning sign that you're building up plaque in your cardiovascular system, and that's why sometimes your arteries are all that's stiffening.

Trouble in your circulatory system that precedes heart disease - increased levels of calcified plaque in the coronary arteries and in the lining of your carotid artery - can increase the risk of ED by 53 percent.

But you don't have to be a Clyde Barrow fugitive from a happy heart, physically or emotionally!

If you're "healthy" yet still find that you're dealing with ED, make a pledge to get on a heart- and romance-saving regimen.

That means you'll say "so long" to the Five Food Felons (trans and sat fats, added sugars and syrups, and grains that aren't 100 percent whole), get at least 30 minutes of additional physical activity a day (heading for 10,000 steps daily) and KO stress with meditation and enough sleep (seven to eight hours nightly).

Your reward (it was $1,500 for Clyde, dead or alive) will be a healthier heart and a much improved love life.

© 2014 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.