by: Perry Stamide
Vitamins are essential to keep your heart healthy. Of course, you need to eat the right foods with less fat and cholesterol, but you need to supplement your food with
vitamins to keep your body in the best shape and your heart pumping for a long time.
Vitamin E is the first vitamin that pops into the mind of those that are looking to improve their overall heart health. Vitamin E seems to stop cholesterol in the body
from oxidizing and harming the arteries surrounding the heart. When cholesterol oxidizes, it's more able to stick to the sides of the arteries and cause buildup and possible blockage that can lead to heart attacks and other infarctions.
Doctors often recommend additional supplements of vitamin E. Or, they suggest you include more foods rich in vitamin E in your diet. Nuts, like almonds, for example, are a terrific way to get your daily dose of vitamin E. Vitamin E also seems to be showing a lot of promise for those patients that have already suffered a heart attack. The vitamin seems to prevent additional heart attacks by encouraging the arteries to be more 'open' and less conducive to blockage.
Doctors are of the opinion that supplements of Vitamin C can help boost the effect of Vitamin E and make it work even better. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps to prevent the damaging effects of cholesterol, and at the same time it assists Vitamin E in its beneficial effects.
If you take vitamins E and C together, you are on your way to creating a healthier heart and better artery function. This is the easiest way to ensure the health of your heart, especially if you have a history of heart disease or you are concerned about the risk to your heart.
So how much should you take? Well, ideal doses may vary from patient to patient, but 400IU (international units) of vitamin E seems to work well for most people. Vitamin C is tolerable in higher doses without harmful effects. You can safely take 500 miligram of vitamin C twice a day, mornings and evenings, to help keep your heart fighting fit.
And studies are backing up this additional step in your day. Talk with your doctor in case you are on any medications for there are some that will interact or need to be taken at different times to be more effective.
A good, nutritious eating plan is the ideal way to get your daily doses of vitamins. But taking additional supplements is sensible, and recommended and if you're trying to boost your heart health.
About The Author
Perry Stamide runs the web site Fed Vitamins, which is a premier resource for vitamins on the Net. For more details please visit: http://www.fedvitamins.com.
**Get a money-making mall FREE! Click here:
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Showing posts with label heart care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heart care. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Combating Atherosclerosis With Good Nutrition
Hello - here's today's featured article:
By: Aaron Stanlich
Imagine hundreds of cars zooming down an eight-lane highway. One lane disappears, and then another, until the same cars crawl bumper-to-bumper along a one-lane country road. That's sort of what happens when you have atherosclerosis. Your arteries, the highways for your blood, harden and narrow, and the same amount of blood has to make its way through a much tighter space.
This traffic jam in your arteries leads to all sorts of trouble, including heart attack and stroke.Atherosclerosis occurs when cholesterol, fat, and other substances in your blood build up in the walls of your arteries. The process can begin when you're a child, but it may not become a problem until you're in your 50s or 60s. As this muck gathers in your arteries, it forms plaque. Plaque can clog or completely block arteries, cutting off blood flow to your heart or brain. That's when you have a heart attack or stroke.Too much cholesterol and triglycerides - types of fat - in the blood, high blood pressure, and smoking cause the most damage to your arteries. Other risk factors for atherosclerosis include diabetes, a family history of the condition, stress, obesity, and an inactive lifestyle.
Men, in general, are at greater risk, as are people who have an "apple" body shape - with the fat gathering at the belly rather than the hips and thighs.You can fight atherosclerosis by making good food choices. Cut back on saturated fat and cholesterol from meat and whole-milk dairy products, and look for the following foods that lower cholesterol, bring down blood pressure, and keep your blood flowing smoothly.Nutritional blockbusters that fight atherosclerosisFish. Reel in a big, fat fish and wriggle off the hook of atherosclerosis.
Omega-3 fatty acids, the polyunsaturated kinds found in fatty fish like tuna, mackerel, and salmon, protect your arteries from damage.First, omega-3 takes out triglycerides, the fats that build up on your artery walls. It also stops your blood's platelets from clumping together. That way, your blood remains smooth instead of sticky. Sticky blood can clot and block blood flow. Lastly, omega-3 might lower blood pressure.No wonder so many studies show that eating fish can reduce your risk of heart disease.
The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two fish meals a week.You can find a form of omega-3 called alpha-linolenic acid in walnuts, which lower cholesterol. Other sources of omega-3 include flaxseed, wheat germ, and some green, leafy vegetables, like kale, spinach, and arugula.Garlic. Anything fish can do garlic does, too. The sulfur compounds in this amazing herb not only lower cholesterol and triglycerides, but they also go after only the LDL or "bad" cholesterol and leave the HDL or "good" cholesterol alone.Garlic can also lower blood pressure so your arteries don't take as much of a pounding.
Thanks to a substance called ajoene, garlic keeps your blood from clumping and clotting. One study even showed garlic helps your aorta, the body's main artery, remain elastic as you age.Experts recommend getting 4 grams of garlic - about one clove - into your diet each day.Fiber. During the course of a day, you should eat about 25 to 35 grams of fiber. If you do, you'll boost your general health and give atherosclerosis quite a battle.Certain types of soluble fiber, such as the kind in oats, barley, apples, and other fruits, shrink your cholesterol levels. It works by slowing down your food as it passes through your stomach and small intestine so your "good" cholesterol has more time to take cholesterol to your liver and out of your body. Eating more than 25 grams of fiber every day might also cut your risk of developing high blood pressure by 25 percent.Fiber comes with an added bonus - it fills you up.
After a fiber-rich meal, you feel full, so you're less likely to overeat and put on unwanted pounds. Because being overweight increases your risk of atherosclerosis and other heart problems, eating fiber could be part of an effective strategy to guard your arteries.You'll find fiber in fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain breads and cereals.Antioxidants. An unarmed intruder poses less of a threat than one with a weapon. By stopping free radicals from oxidizing LDL cholesterol, antioxidants remove much of the danger. Once oxidized, LDL cholesterol makes a beeline for your artery walls much faster. In fact, some scientists believe LDL cholesterol only harms you once it has been oxidized.Vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta carotene are antioxidants. Peppers, oranges, strawberries, cantaloupe, and broccoli give you vitamin C, while carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, mangoes, and collard greens are full of beta carotene.
Sources of vitamin E include wheat germ, nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils.While you munch on those fruits and vegetables, you'll get the added benefit of antioxidant substances called flavonoids. Resveratrol in grapes, anthocyanins in cranberry juice, and quercetin in onions, apples, and tea are some of the flavonoids that help your heart and arteries.Monounsaturated fat. To keep your blood running smoothly, maybe you need an oil change. Olive oil, the main source of fat in the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet, has mostly monounsaturated fat. This type of fat slashes the "bad" cholesterol without harming the "good" cholesterol. It also prevents clotting, giving your arteries even more protection.Like fiber, monounsaturated fat also fills you up so you're less likely to overeat.
Think about switching from soybean or corn oil to olive oil. After all, the Greeks - even while enjoying a rather high-fat diet - rarely develop atherosclerosis. Besides olive oil, sources of monounsaturated fat include avocados, nuts, and canola oil.
Ginger. Make your dinner a little bit tastier and your arteries a little bit healthier with this ancient spice. Ginger contains phytochemicals called gingerol and shogaol, which give it its antioxidant power.Animal studies show ginger not only lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, it also prevents LDL oxidation. On top of that, ginger also keeps your blood from clotting by reducing the stickiness of your platelets.
Article Source: http://health-articles.org
Aaron Stanlich is an accomplished freelance writer and authors on a variety of subjects. To learn more about Atherosclerosis by reading some Heart and Circulation Articles. There is a great selection of various articles at www.upublish.info
By: Aaron Stanlich
Imagine hundreds of cars zooming down an eight-lane highway. One lane disappears, and then another, until the same cars crawl bumper-to-bumper along a one-lane country road. That's sort of what happens when you have atherosclerosis. Your arteries, the highways for your blood, harden and narrow, and the same amount of blood has to make its way through a much tighter space.
This traffic jam in your arteries leads to all sorts of trouble, including heart attack and stroke.Atherosclerosis occurs when cholesterol, fat, and other substances in your blood build up in the walls of your arteries. The process can begin when you're a child, but it may not become a problem until you're in your 50s or 60s. As this muck gathers in your arteries, it forms plaque. Plaque can clog or completely block arteries, cutting off blood flow to your heart or brain. That's when you have a heart attack or stroke.Too much cholesterol and triglycerides - types of fat - in the blood, high blood pressure, and smoking cause the most damage to your arteries. Other risk factors for atherosclerosis include diabetes, a family history of the condition, stress, obesity, and an inactive lifestyle.
Men, in general, are at greater risk, as are people who have an "apple" body shape - with the fat gathering at the belly rather than the hips and thighs.You can fight atherosclerosis by making good food choices. Cut back on saturated fat and cholesterol from meat and whole-milk dairy products, and look for the following foods that lower cholesterol, bring down blood pressure, and keep your blood flowing smoothly.Nutritional blockbusters that fight atherosclerosisFish. Reel in a big, fat fish and wriggle off the hook of atherosclerosis.
Omega-3 fatty acids, the polyunsaturated kinds found in fatty fish like tuna, mackerel, and salmon, protect your arteries from damage.First, omega-3 takes out triglycerides, the fats that build up on your artery walls. It also stops your blood's platelets from clumping together. That way, your blood remains smooth instead of sticky. Sticky blood can clot and block blood flow. Lastly, omega-3 might lower blood pressure.No wonder so many studies show that eating fish can reduce your risk of heart disease.
The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two fish meals a week.You can find a form of omega-3 called alpha-linolenic acid in walnuts, which lower cholesterol. Other sources of omega-3 include flaxseed, wheat germ, and some green, leafy vegetables, like kale, spinach, and arugula.Garlic. Anything fish can do garlic does, too. The sulfur compounds in this amazing herb not only lower cholesterol and triglycerides, but they also go after only the LDL or "bad" cholesterol and leave the HDL or "good" cholesterol alone.Garlic can also lower blood pressure so your arteries don't take as much of a pounding.
Thanks to a substance called ajoene, garlic keeps your blood from clumping and clotting. One study even showed garlic helps your aorta, the body's main artery, remain elastic as you age.Experts recommend getting 4 grams of garlic - about one clove - into your diet each day.Fiber. During the course of a day, you should eat about 25 to 35 grams of fiber. If you do, you'll boost your general health and give atherosclerosis quite a battle.Certain types of soluble fiber, such as the kind in oats, barley, apples, and other fruits, shrink your cholesterol levels. It works by slowing down your food as it passes through your stomach and small intestine so your "good" cholesterol has more time to take cholesterol to your liver and out of your body. Eating more than 25 grams of fiber every day might also cut your risk of developing high blood pressure by 25 percent.Fiber comes with an added bonus - it fills you up.
After a fiber-rich meal, you feel full, so you're less likely to overeat and put on unwanted pounds. Because being overweight increases your risk of atherosclerosis and other heart problems, eating fiber could be part of an effective strategy to guard your arteries.You'll find fiber in fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain breads and cereals.Antioxidants. An unarmed intruder poses less of a threat than one with a weapon. By stopping free radicals from oxidizing LDL cholesterol, antioxidants remove much of the danger. Once oxidized, LDL cholesterol makes a beeline for your artery walls much faster. In fact, some scientists believe LDL cholesterol only harms you once it has been oxidized.Vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta carotene are antioxidants. Peppers, oranges, strawberries, cantaloupe, and broccoli give you vitamin C, while carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, mangoes, and collard greens are full of beta carotene.
Sources of vitamin E include wheat germ, nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils.While you munch on those fruits and vegetables, you'll get the added benefit of antioxidant substances called flavonoids. Resveratrol in grapes, anthocyanins in cranberry juice, and quercetin in onions, apples, and tea are some of the flavonoids that help your heart and arteries.Monounsaturated fat. To keep your blood running smoothly, maybe you need an oil change. Olive oil, the main source of fat in the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet, has mostly monounsaturated fat. This type of fat slashes the "bad" cholesterol without harming the "good" cholesterol. It also prevents clotting, giving your arteries even more protection.Like fiber, monounsaturated fat also fills you up so you're less likely to overeat.
Think about switching from soybean or corn oil to olive oil. After all, the Greeks - even while enjoying a rather high-fat diet - rarely develop atherosclerosis. Besides olive oil, sources of monounsaturated fat include avocados, nuts, and canola oil.
Ginger. Make your dinner a little bit tastier and your arteries a little bit healthier with this ancient spice. Ginger contains phytochemicals called gingerol and shogaol, which give it its antioxidant power.Animal studies show ginger not only lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, it also prevents LDL oxidation. On top of that, ginger also keeps your blood from clotting by reducing the stickiness of your platelets.
Article Source: http://health-articles.org
Aaron Stanlich is an accomplished freelance writer and authors on a variety of subjects. To learn more about Atherosclerosis by reading some Heart and Circulation Articles. There is a great selection of various articles at www.upublish.info
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