To improve your well-being, resolve to make 2012 The Year of Your Heart. A few easy, natural measures can vastly improve your heart health. And it doesn’t really take much effort to give your cardiovascular system a better chance at optimum functionality.

Primary Prevention

In last week’s report, I filled you in on the Heart Destroyers you need to avoid in the coming year. So this week’s good news is that if you join the elimination of those factors with a few natural heart-boosters, you can drastically cut your heart disease risk.

For some, merely cleaning up their daily lifestyle may be enough. However, depending on your ability to change your habits and if you already have a degree of heart disease, you may want to consider some reputable heart health supplements:

• Nattokinase: A potent fibrin inhibitor that reduces blood thickness and may shrink the chances of atherosclerosis.
• EDTA: (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid): Taken orally or intravenously, this chelator is well known to open up small blood vessels and allow them to be more elastic.
• L-Arginine: At 6,000 milligrams daily, this amino acid has been shown to dramatically lower cholesterol and relax blood vessels by stimulating the production of nitric oxide.
• L-Carnitine: This compound functions in the mitochondria to produce energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), partnering with coenzyme Q10 and D-ribose. Take 1000 milligrams three times a day for heart disease, cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrhythmias and congestive heart failure.
• Vitamin K2: Helps shuttle calcium from your arteries into your bones.
• Vitamin D: Research is confirming this vitamin’s emerging role in defense against a wide range of disease.
• Krill oil: This potent fish oil containing omega-3 fats has been shown to be a more effective tool against cardiovascular problems than statin drugs.
• Green tea (Camellia Sinensis): Possesses antioxidant properties and a proven history among the Chinese to prevent arthrosclerosis and cancer.
• Garlic: Research confirms its role as an antioxidant that reduces arterial plaque development, lowers blood clotting, increases vessel elasticity, lowers fibrinogen levels, drops cholesterol and decreases blood pressure.¹ I recommend it as an ingredient in meals as much as possible or taken as a capsule.
• Coenzyme Q10: Sparks the formation of ATP in the mitochondria for the production of cellular energy. Prevention doses are 100 milligrams daily, while treatment doses are 200-400 milligrams daily.
• Alpha lipoic acid: Boosts the levels of the endogenous antioxidant, glutathione.
• D-Ribose: A sugar-like molecule that works at the mitochondrial membrane as a powerful booster for CoQ10 and L-carnitine activity.
• Quercetin: May help to prevent atherosclerosis by inhibiting oxidation of LDL cholesterol.² The use of quercetin has demonstrated a 73 percent reduction in the risk of stroke in one study.³
• Ginkgo Biloba: An herb that boosts the blood flow capability of the vascular system. Its potent antioxidant properties are responsible for anti-aging effects.
• Magnesium and calcium: Minerals that can mainly be obtained in a high-vegetable diet. Alternatively, take them as supplements in equal amounts at 500 milligrams daily. They work together to support the neuromuscular functions of the heart and reduce blood pressure by dilating blood vessels.
• L-Taurine: An amino acid that has been found to reduce heart arrhythmia (irregular heart beat). Doses of 1000 milligrams three times a day in people with congestive heart failure have improved cardiovascular function.
• L-Lysine: At 1000 milligrams daily, this amino acid can inhibit harmful cholesterol and slow the clotting process.

There are other exciting aspects of heart health I’ll share with you in future issues. So, for now rejoice with me in a new year of opportunities for health and happiness.  

To your continued health and learning,

Michael Cutler, M.D.
Author, Easy Health Options