Healthy Heart

Heart health is so important especially in the society we live in today and the American diet. Many of the things below can be used to help increase heart health, but they are also good to take cyclically or as often as you’d like to help protect your heart. This does not mean that as long as you take your fish oil everyday, you can go and eat as many greasy burgers as you want and it not have any impact on your heart health. If you are on any prescription heart medications, you should ask your doctor or a pharmacist before taking any of these supplements.

Personally, I do not have any heart health concerns, but with being a Type 1 Diabetic, I want to prevent any possible issues in the future. I do not take all these products listed on a daily basis, but I do cycle through a few of them at least once a year

Natural Supplements:

Ubiquinol - Also known as the more bioavailable form of CoQ10 and is good for overall heart health and can assist medication or statins in lowering cholesterol.

Red Yeast Rice - A known natural statin. Statins are what doctors typically prescribe for high cholesterol. I’ve learned that Nature’s Way Brand has a variety of red yeast rice products with different doses and added heart health components. They have a good quality product with logical complexes.

Fish Oils or Omega 3’s - Help to raise the good cholesterol which can ultimately lower the bad cholesterol.

Nattokinase - An enzyme that goes in the bloodstream and breaks down extra “junk” lying around that your body has nowhere else to store except in the bloodstream. I like taking Nattokinase Complex by Solgar because it has a decent amount of natto and it also has a little bit of pycnogenol which both work well together.

Pycnogenol - A powerful antioxidant that dilates the blood vessels to help with blood flow. This can be an expensive product to take on a regular basis which is why I like the Nattokinase Complex by Solgar. It is more cost effective than getting nattokinase and a separate bottle of pycnogenol to get the max benefits.

Vitamin E - Helps make the lining of the blood vessels slippery so the extra “junk” can't build up in your bloodstream to create a clot. I would not recommend taking more than 800IUs per day. Vitamin E thins the blood and if too much is taken, you may bruise easily or you could even cause internal bleeding if you get into some kind of accident. The 100% daily value is 400IUs. Any brand would probably be fine as long as the “other ingredients” label doesn’t take up half the label. I personally would go for Unique E because it is very high quality, but it is a little on the expensive side, so I use either the Vitamin Shoppe Brand or Solgar.

L-Arginine - An amino acid that helps overall blood flow. It is a precursor to nitric oxide which helps dilate the blood vessels. This helps with blood flow throughout the body and especially to the muscles. For example, your heart. You may find this product in the sports nutrition side of a supplement store. I would follow the instructions on the bottle for the dosage or your doctor.

Aged Garlic - Garlic is good for many things including the immune system, and it has benefits for overall heart health as well. I would recommend getting Kyolic Garlic and following the directions on the bottle.

Basic Information:

I also want to provide some basic information for you, so you better understand when you are looking at your test results with your doctor. Everyone knows these numbers are important, but you may not know where you should be when your doctor tells you what your numbers are.

Your blood pressure should be 120/80

Total blood cholesterol should be 200 or less

Total LDL (Bad Cholesterol) should be 130 or less

Total HDL (Good Cholesterol) should be 150 or less

 

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