Just like keeping the oil changed in your car to keep engine parts properly lubed or taking the right steps at home to make sure your drains don't get clogged, it's important to live a healthy life aimed at keeping your arteries cleaned. That latter point is a life-and-death proposition, not to be trifled with. If your arteries get clogged, or even if they are just headed in that direction, there are costly medical procedures you can undergo or prescription medicines (with accompanying side effects) you can take to help spare your health. For the purpose of this article, though, we'd like to focus on some natural ways to help keep your arteries scrubbed and operating cleanly and efficiently.
Keeping Arteries Clean is Crucial, Even Lifesaving
Any blockage in your arteries, such as that caused by a buildup of bad cholesterol or blood clots, can pose serious health consequences such as angina pectoris, stroke, and heart attack. The consumption of polyunsaturated fats and a sedentary lifestyle, per steptohealth.com, are two of the leading unhealthy habits that can lead to clogged arteries. Such clogging of arteries is a slow, progressive process that left untreated keeps increasing your chances of a major cardiovascular event like those mentioned above. Unclogged arteries are needed to keep your blood flowing freely throughout your body so that nutrients, antioxidants, and oxygen can be efficiently transported to where they are needed. Natural treatments are cheaper and easier than surgery and/or prescriptions, and they can help detoxify your body, safely, while helping you to maintain a robust quality of life. Note, though, that if you are on medications prescribed by your doctor aimed at protecting your heart – such as cholesterol and/or blood pressure medicine(s) – you are advised to discuss things with your physician before getting off medications and going all-natural.10 Natural Treatments for Artery Cleaning
Here is a top-10 list of foods or supplements that have shown the potential to help you keep your arteries clean, in no particular order:- Garlic. It has two properties that help in this regard. As a potent antioxidant, it can reduce bad cholesterol (LDL) at the same it boosts good cholesterol (HDL). Also, garlic's abundance of B vitamins can help decrease the hardening of arteries, per steptohealth.com.
- Fish. Salmon, mackerel, sardines, and herring are among the fish types that have omega-3 fatty acids that can help lower cholesterol.
- Turmeric. This seasoning stimulates the production of bile, a substance that aids in the absorption and metabolizing of fats. It also has been shown to lower bad cholesterol, lowering the likelihood of stroke and arteriosclerosis.
- Ginger. This seasoning that is extracted from ginger roots has long been used in Asian traditional medicine practices largely because of its antioxidants that can help eliminate toxins from arteries, per steptohealth.com.
- Grapes. The red (or purple) ones, especially. They contain quercitin and, resveratrol, a pair of flavonoids that can thwart the oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol that contributes to the formation of plaque in arteries, per getahead.rediff.com.
- Apples. An apple a day . . . ? Why not? It contains a fiber (pectin) that can reduce bad cholesterol, and it contains flavonoids that can reportedly lower the risk of heart attack by 50 percent, per steptohealth.com.
- Tomatoes. They have an abundance of carotenoid lycopene, an antioxidant that, per getahead.rediff.com, can reduce your risk of arteriosclerosis by half.
- Pomegranate. This tasty fruit is rising in the ranks of heart-healthy foods, thanks to its renown as a food with numerous antioxidant properties and polyphenols, which when ingested get right to work cleaning artery walls.
- Olive oil. Go for the extra-virgin variety – it is rich in polyphenols and monounsaturated (healthy) fats that can reduce LDL cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol, helping to decrease plaque buildup in your arteries.
- Broccoli. When you're talking foods to put on a health-related list, broccoli often makes the cut. For good reason. As far as your arteries, broccoli's inclusion of sulforaphane helps the body use its protein to help prevent clogging of arteries. Also, because it is rich in fiber, broccoli can assist in lowering blood pressure and bad cholesterol levels, per top10homeremedies.com.