Arteriosclerosis & Atherosclerosis
Updated Dec. 01st, 2017
Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in North America. Arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis occur when deposits build up on the inside of the arteries. This leads to a decrease in the flexibility and elasticity of the walls.
Deposits can be made of calcium (arteriosclerosis) or fatty substances like cholesterol (atherosclerosis).
Pieces of these deposits cause problems in several ways. They narrow the paths that blood takes around your heart and surrounding vessels causing the body to exert more effort to maintain circulation and adequate blood flow to tissues, this common and dangerous condition is called high blood pressure. If pieces break off, they will disrupt blood flow potentially leading to clots or lodge into smaller blood vessels blocking them entirely and causing a heart attack or stroke. Clots are also culprits of heart attacks and stroke.
The most important factor in keeping your vascular system healthy is a healthy lifestyle. It plays a bigger role in heart health than family history, which is encouraging. Reduce heart disease risk through a proper diet, fighting obesity, quitting smoking and incorporating exercise into your life.
Conventional treatment of high cholesterol with lipid-lowering drugs makes only small improvements to your chance of developing heart disease. Plus these drugs have many side effects. The most troublesome is the increased risk of depression and suicide amongst medicated individuals.
The drugs also deplete vital nutrients for heart health such as coenzyme Q10. Aspirin or other blood thinning medication may also be prescribed to decrease the risk of developing blood clots.
Stomach ulcers and abnormal bleeding are side effects of some of these medications. These medications can interact with many natural products. Consult a health professional before starting any new therapy.
Dietary changes for heart health include maintaining adequate fiber intake and lowering the fat and cholesterol content of your foods. Drink lots of clear fluids and eat raw fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Include green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, vegetable protein like soybeans and unrefined oils like olive, flax, and sunflower in your daily diet. Foods to avoid are any junk foods, fried foods, processed foods, fast foods, white flour products, white sugar products, red meat, egg yolks, ice cream, salt, coffee, colas and other caffeine sources. Eliminate alcohol, tobacco and highly spiced foods.
Use diet, exercise, and supplements to maintain a healthy weight. Stress reduction techniques such as deep breathing, yoga or biofeedback will help to maintain a healthy stress level.
I really enjoy reading these articles from National Nutrition. They're always so informative and I love that they give real advice of how to help our health with both lifestyle changes and supplements that can help.
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Thank you for an excellent article. I really like the table of nutritional information but I thought it was weird that you didn't mention serrapeptase or lumbrokinase as I understand that they break-down fibrin which is what arterial plaque is made of. I also would have liked some comment on the relationship between artherosclerosis and cholesterol is not as clear as mainstream medicine would have us think, if I understand correctly. That being said, a great article.
Hello, Susan,
Glad you enjoyed this article and thank you for your suggestions. We are always looking for new ways to discuss natural health and health concerns as well as delve deeper in some topics.
Stay healthy & well.