subject: Maintaining Healthy Blood Flow [print this page] A healthy blood flow depends on healthy blood vessels. The cells in the walls of your blood vessels are responsible for maintaining a healthy tone that helps your blood to flow and reduces the amount of work your heart has to do to pump it along. If your blood vessels are tight, your blood pressure increases and your heart works harder; if they are relaxed, your blood pressure drops, easing your heart's workload.
Maintaining healthy blood flow depends on activity of the endothelial cells in the lining of your blood vessels. These cells use essential omega 3 and omega 6 fats to make chemicals that help regulate muscle activity, inflammation and the clotting process. Inflammation can damage blood vessels and make blood cells more sticky and impede blood flow. As we age, blood vessels stiffen up and become less flexible, putting more strain on your heart.
Support For Your Blood Vessels
Avoid high-fat fast foods because they have been shown to reduce blood flow in the arteries of healthy people for several hours afterwards.
Boost your intake of vitamin C and E for antioxidant activity in blood vessels. Antioxidants help protect against free radical damage in the body.
Fish oil supplements provide the omega 3 fats that help keep clotting under control and blood vessels relaxed, improving blood flow around the body.
Ginkgo is a circulatory herb has been shown to help blood flow in healthy older people. It also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity and helps maintain tone of blood vessels.
Garlic is rich in antioxidants and has a relaxing effect on blood vessels. In a study of healthy older people, long-term use of garlic powder kept the aorta (the main artery leaving the heart) more flexible.
Grapeseed is a rich source of powerful antioxidants that help maintain the health of your heart and circulation and keep the connective tissue in your blood vessel walls strong and healthy. Grapeseed extract has been shown to dilate blood vessels and help maintain blood flow.
Alpha lipoic acid is a universal, 'super antioxidant' that can regenerate other antioxidants, such as vitamin C, vitamin E and coenzyme Q10, when they become inactive. Alpha lipoic acid supplementation may help reduce inflammation and enhance arterial function.
