Vitamins: Extra Help for Your Heart

Eating heart-friendly foods and getting adequate exercise may be all you need to prevent heart disease, but what about people who already have one or more risk factors?

Depending on individual circumstances and test scores, the new cardiologists will devise a course of supplements and nutrients to address specific problems. (Note that many of these substances do double or even triple duty on the front lines of heart health.)

To help manage cholesterol, the new cardiology turns to one or more of the flowing:

Niacin, a B3 vitamin, lowers total cholesterol and LDL while raising HDL.
Pantethine, a form of vitamin B5, reduces cholesterol production in the liver.
Policosanol, a mix of essential alcohols derived from sugar cane, damps down the body’s cholesterol production.
Garlic bulb and soy isoflavones reduce bad cholesterol and raise the good.
Grape-seed extract blocks the enzymes that help process dietary cholesterol.
Plant sterols, a form of fat found in nuts, vegetable oils, corn, and rice, also block the absorption of dietary cholesterol because they look like cholesterol to receptor sites in the intestines.

High amounts of inflammation and oxidative stress—detected by tests that measure CRP, Lp(PLA-2), and ferritin levels-call for one or more of the following:

Vitamin C reduces arterial stiffness and raises HDL levels.
Vitamin E protects against the formation of plaque and reduces total cholesterol.
Fish oil reduces inflammation and may reduce plaque, but it also promotes heart health in general.
N Acetyl-L-Cystein (NAC) boosts levels of glutathione, a powerful cellular antioxidant.
Alpha lipoic acid (ALA), an antioxidant in its own right, also helps recycle the antioxidant vitamins C and E and glutathione.

More Paths to a Healthy Heart

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Natural Solutions: Vibrant Health, Balanced Living (formerly Alternative Medicine) magazine has been the trusted voice in the natural health field for more than 14 years. Natural Solutions guides and inspires its readers to make informed decisions about their health and well-being in every facet of their lives. In each issue we offer the latest news on health conditions, herbs and supplements, natural beauty products, healing foods, and conscious living. Our editorial content, backed by the strength and credibility of the research in our peer-reviewed practitioner journals, emphasizes practical solutions and gives its readers the information they need to better care for themselves.

Read more: Health, Diet & Nutrition

Adapted from A Change of Heart, by James Keough (Natural Solutions, February 2008).

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Rosie L.

10:03AM PST on Jan 25, 2012

thanks for sharing!

January 25
send a green star

Jamie L.

7:38PM PDT on Jun 19, 2009

Thanks Annie! :)

June 19
send a green star

Past Member .

5:10AM PDT on Jun 15, 2009

thanks...
Kabin
Konteyner

June 15
send a green star

7:50PM PDT on Jun 9, 2009

...........or just eat healthy? WOW! isn't that a concept! just sayin'. so many people rely on vitamins and eat like crud. why not get these vitamins from the source??? not from a pill or drink or some supplement.

June 9
send a green star

Aletta K.

6:29PM PDT on Jun 9, 2009

Thanks for the good advise , !!!

Linda B.

2:39PM PDT on Jun 9, 2009

Add to the list a good quality Coenzyme Q10. Very important to heart function. Magnesium is also important to regulate the heart rate.

Rebecca D.

3:19AM PDT on Jun 9, 2009

ty for the great info.....:)

Jessica M.

1:44AM PDT on Jun 9, 2009

Thank you for the article.

Subash Chandra G.

9:17AM PDT on Jun 25, 2008

IT'S REALLY VERY VERY GOOD INFO

SUBASH CHANDRA

June 25
send a green star

Jim W.

12:25PM PDT on Jun 10, 2008

Sorry for not being able to reply to this a long time ago but they seemingly can't get my care2 back up and running it was just by chance that i got this.
Cloudy S thank you for this information it's mt Trigylersides that are to high I can't figure out the American way of working it out.
Thanks to every one for the good information.
I 'am going to read the article again.

Jim W