subject: How Can You Prevent Atherosclerosis [print this page] Atherosclerosis is a condition that affects thousands of people world wide. It is characterized by a narrowing of the arteries which makes the heart work harder to pump blood through the body. This narrowing is caused by the buildup of plaque on the arterial walls. The plaque is made up of, among other things, fat and cholesterol. Atherosclerosis is a very serious disease and it often leads to heart-attack and death.
So, what can you do to prevent it? The first thing you should do is make sure you eat a healthy diet and get plenty of exercise. Eating a diet low in red meat and high in fruits and vegetables (especially leafy-greens) will go a long way towards protecting your heart. This diet is helpful in preventing atherosclerosis because it is low in fat and low in cholesterol, the two main components of arterial plaque.
Exercising regularly is also very important in maintaining your heart's health. Exercise will burn off any extra calories you have accumulated throughout the day which means that extra food won't turn into fat and won't have a chance to clog your arteries. Another added bonus of exercise is that it increases the fitness of your heart which allows it to pump blood throughout the body more efficiently. Your choice of exercise should be a mixture of weight training and cardiovascular so as to burn fat and "tone up" your heart, respectively.
There are also a couple of supplements you can take to prevent atherosclerosis. The first one I'll talk about is mangosteen. What I love about mangosteen is the sheer amount of amazing compounds it has in it, specifically xanthones and COX-2 inhibitors. Both xanthones and COX-2 inhibitors are powerful anti-inflammatory compounds which will help to keep the blood in your body running as smoothly as possibly. Xanthones have also been shown to lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and strengthen arteries with their antimicrobial properties. As if that weren't enough, mangosteen will also boost your overall energy making it that much easier to get to the gym after a long day at work.
The second supplement I'm going to recommend to you is acai. This powerhouse of a supplement has essential fatty acids Omega 6 and 9 which have both been shown to help maintain good or HDL cholesterol while lowering the bad, LDL, cholesterol. Acai also has compounds called anthocyanins which protect your body against the harm of oxidative damage. In fact, anthocyanins are so powerful that they even help protect the walls of your blood vessels from damage by helping to maintain the micro-capillary action of the cells present there.
