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10 Natural Ways to Clear Out Your Arteries
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If you want to improve your cardiovascular health, one of the best ways to do this is to remove plaque buildup from your arteries. This is one of the best ways to greatly lower your risk of stroke or heart disease. There are plenty of pharmaceuticals, even surgery, to do this, but why risk the side effects of drugs, not to mention the dangers of surgery, when all you need is a little natural help?
If you’re like most people, you want to use natural alternatives to improve your cardiovascular health. Keep reading for our top 10 ways you can help out your heart by cleaning out your arteries naturally.
1. Avoid Unhealthy Fats
First, we need to stop contributing to the problem. To do this, we need to stop eating fats that are not good for us. Somewhere along the line, we got things reversed. Americans seem to think that those fat substitutes and super refined vegetable oils are somehow better for us than Mother Nature’s natural fats such as butter and coconut oil. Almost all of those “heart healthy” oils such as canola, corn (hello, can you say GMO?), soybean, and margarine are simply loaded with trans-fats. Not only do these types of oils increase your bad (LDL) cholesterol, they often cause other bodily organs to malfunction, mess with your hormone production, cause weight gain, inflammation, and even certain types of cancer. So first things first, stop eating these kinds of unhealthy fats.
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2. Eat Healthy Fats
Now that we have eliminated unhealthy fats, let’s focus on the good fats we should be eating. The healthiest fat you are probably most familiar with are the omega-3 fatty acids that are commonly found in many cold water fish. Cod liver oil is perhaps the best of these, due to their high levels of vitamin D3. Other oils that are rich in vitamins are olive oil, almond, flaxseed, avocado, and palm oil.
However, coconut oil is perhaps the super star when it comes to healthy fats. Yes, it does contain saturated fats, but the saturated fats in coconut oil are made up mainly of lauric acid. This is what is called a medium chain triglyceride that actually helps to lubricate the arteries. If you still can’t go with the “butter is not bad” routine, eat coconut oil instead.
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3. Eat More Garlic
Even if you don’t want to do anything else, eat garlic. This really works when it comes to cleaning out your arteries. You will need to eat about 1 to 4 cloves per day, but you can eat it raw, or use it in cooking, or even take supplements. Garlic makes just about any dish more flavorful.
Garlic has been used for thousands of years for treating all type of heart related issues, along with high blood pressure. Many studies show that high doses of garlic can vastly lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Studies also show that eating garlic on a regular basis can lower harmful cholesterol by 10 percent or more while preventing blood clots from forming inside the body.
4. Eat More Grapes
Lutein is a carotenoid that’s been shown to help reduce early atherosclerosis and red seedless grapes are simply loaded with lutein. Studies show that eating lutein can help stop the thickening of the carotid artery in your neck, which is a sign of atherosclerosis. It can also lower inflammation levels.
You can also drink more Concord grape juice. Grape juice made from whole concord grapes is a powerful artery cleaning substance that actually protects the walls of your arteries from cholesterol. A flavonoid on the skin of the grape, called quercetin, is a powerful antioxidant that stops bad cholesterol from sticking to your artery wall. Another compound found on the skin of grapes is called resveratrol, and it removes blood clots and reduces inflammation.
So be a grape hound and eat grapes as snacks and drink grape juice for breakfast for a great start on cleaning out those arteries.
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5. Get Your Rest
You might not think that the amount of sleep you get has anything to do with your heart, but it does!
If you are skimping on sleep, chances are good that you have high blood pressure or you are overweight…..or both. Your body and brain do most of their repair and maintenance work while you are asleep.
If you don’t get enough sleep, they can’t do their job of cleaning out your arteries. Get your Z’s friends; it’s more important than you think!
6. Cut Back on the Booze
If you drink more than one or two alcoholic drinks per day, you are seriously impeding your body’s ability to clear out plaque and heal itself.
Try to limit your consumption of beer and hard liquor.
Drink a glass of red wine with dinner, or after diner, as it contains antioxidants that are good for your heart and can protect you from damage to your arterial walls.
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7. Eat More Sweet Potatoes
You can’t beat sweet potatoes for nutrition.
These wonderfully sweet veggies are full of fiber, which lowers cholesterol, beta carotene, folate, vitamin C, and potassium.
Eating more sweet potatoes can naturally lower your blood pressure while keeping your arteries clear of plaque.
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8. Don’t Forget Your Vitamins
Better cardiovascular health has been linked to vitamins B12, B6, and C. These vitamins seem to keep the walls of your arteries flexible while preventing damage that can lead to blood clots or a buildup of plaque.
You can get B6 from a variety of meats, nuts, and fruits. B12 if found in dairy, eggs, and many meats. Find out how to fight with vitamin B 12 deficiency.
You can get vitamin C from a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, but if you find that you can’t eat enough to get your vitamin requirements met, take a high quality supplement.
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9. Get Regular Exercise
You hear this one all the time, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
Try your best to get 30 minutes of exercise every day. If you can’t get 30 minutes in at one time, even 3 ten minute sessions will work.
Do some jumping jacks at your desk, dance in your kitchen while waiting for your coffee, just run in place for five minutes, anything that gets you up and moving is a good thing, especially for clearing plaque out of your arteries.
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10. Drink Hawthorn Tea
What can calm heart palpitation, restore elasticity to blood vessels, stop fatty degeneration of the heart, and lessen the fluid buildup around the heart while lowering blood pressure? Hawthorn tea! An extract from the berries of the hawthorn plant can even be used by those who are already taking heart medication. Regular consumption of hawthorn tea just might help you decrease the amount of medication you need to take. As always, check with your doctor before you start any herbal treatment and before you make any changes to your medication.
Read about more secrets doctor know about cleaning our arteries.
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