We know that the heart is one of the most essential organs in our body. The heart sends blood around our body, providing it with oxygen and nutrients it needs to survive.
According to the CDC, almost half of adults in the US have high blood pressure and approximately 38% have high cholesterol. Both put people at risk for heart disease and stroke. Medications are commonly prescribed by physicians. While this may deal with the medical condition, they don’t target their underlying causes. As well, many medications may deplete the body of essential vitamins and supplements which can play an important role in heart health.
In this blog post, I’ll refer again to the book “Reverse Heart Disease Now” by Drs. Stephen Sinatra and James C. Roberts as they discuss a number of vitamins and supplements they prescribe to their cardiac patients. Because the supplement regime can be quite extensive, I’ll focus on what they call The Bare-Bones Supplement Program.
Disclaimer – if you aren’t working with a medical provider, please be proactive about your health. Information from blood tests is the best starting point to know what’s going on inside of you. Remember that CVD in its early stage does not have symptoms. The information provided in this blog is of a general nature. It is vital to work with a medical provider to determine the medications and supplements that are needed by you.
This blog does not constitute medical advice.
Multivitamins/minerals with B vitamins and antioxidants
A good multivitamin would have a combination of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutritional factors. According to the authors, an effective multivitamin regime would consist of up to eight multivitamin pills twice a day. Look for a multivitamin that gives ample amounts of B vitamins, magnesium, bioflavonoids, lycopene, lutein and a variety of vitamin E compounds.
Fish oil
Fish oil obtained directly from eating fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel) or from taking supplements decreases your risk of developing cardiovascular disease and plaque build-up in your arteries. Some of the additional benefits include decreasing triglycerides and blood pressure; increasing HDL (good cholesterol) and making the blood less sticky and less likely to form clots.
Magnesium
Magnesium deficiencies have been found to cause minor things like muscle cramps and spasms and more serious things like arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death. Many people are deficient in magnesium because of poor diets, alcohol and soft drink consumption and well as too much stress. Magnesium is important to heart health because it improves the metabolic efficiency of the heart muscle cells, easing chest pain and symptoms of angina.
CoQ10
This supplement provides a wide range of benefits to the heart from slowing down the aging process to reducing high blood pressure. It also helps to protect against gum disease. In our May 2022 blog, we mentioned how gum disease can increase your risk for cardiovascular disease by releasing toxins into your system. CoQ10 in addition to good oral hygiene is a good way to protect your heart from the spreading of inflammation starting in the mouth. CoQ10 depletion can stem from the use of statin medications taken to lower cholesterol, so it’s an essential supplement for those taking this type of drug.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C improves the dilation of blood vessels which is beneficial for people who have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or angina by helping with blood flow.
I recently had a conversation with Dr. Dean Silver, an integrative medicinal physician. He works with people dealing with cardiac illness and cancer. He also stresses the importance of a regime of supplements along with pharmaceuticals. However, people are often surprised on the quantities of pills needed to re-build their health. If you are considering starting on any of the supplements discussed above, please refer to a medical specialist, preferably someone who is also trained in integrative medicine.