Why should we strengthen our veins and arteries and what is the best way to do it? The reason is that our arteries and veins have an important function in our body because transport blood back and forth from the heart to the tissues of the body. This gets more clear when we realize that our circulatory system consists of a complex network of veins and arteries that would stretch almost 100,000 miles if removed from the body. Therefore the health of our veins and arteries is essential for our health and well-being.
Table of contents
- Why We Need To Strengthen Our Veins And Arteries
- What To Avoid – When You are Trying To Strengthen Veins and Arteries
- How To Strengthen Veins And Arteries
- A Word From Healthylifestyleflorida.com
Why We Need To Strengthen Our Veins And Arteries
Poor blood circulation can lead to a lack of oxygen in our vital organs, including the brain and the heart. Therefore, weak veins and arteries increase our risk of cardiovascular failure and stroke. In addition, poor blood circulation can lead to complications such as infected skin ulcers or blood clots.
To emphasize the importance to strengthen our veins and arteries we have selected three examples to show how poor blood circulation affects our daily lives.
“A man is as old as his arteries.” Thomas Sydenham
Blood Vessel Strength and Brain Health
Inadequate blood flow can damage and eventually destroy cells anywhere in our body. Unfortunately, our brain is especially vulnerable. Therefore, reduced blood flow to various regions of the brain can cause a deprivation of oxygen and nutrients of the cells. As a consequence our brain can start developing vascular dementia. This is a decline in thinking.
Thus is it helpful to focus on boosting brain blood flow. Some of our lifestyle changes discussed below have proven to be highly effective.
Arteries and Erections
According to webmd.com “Vascular diseases affect blood vessels. They lower blood flow to organs such as the heart, brain, and kidneys. If they cut blood flow to the penis, they can cause erectile dysfunction. These diseases may be the cause of ED in as many as 50% to 70% of men who have it.” As a consequence weak veins and arteries can lower the quality of life tremendously.
Poor Circulation in Hands and Feet
The body transports blood, oxygen, and nutrients to cells around the body through the circulatory system. But if blood vessels in an area close, harden, or narrow, a person can start suffering of poor circulation. As a result, our feet and hands can become cold, discolored, or numb. This affects our daily life quality negatively.
What To Avoid – When You are Trying To Strengthen Veins and Arteries
There are some typical habits and issues that are bad when you try to strengthen your veins and arteries. Here is a list of some of them:
- Standing or sitting for log periods
- Smoking
- High blood pressure
- High levels of stress
- Drinking large amounts of alcohol
How To Strengthen Veins And Arteries
A healthy blood circulation is essential to live a long and healthy life.
Thus, we should try to ensure optimal vein health. Here are some healthy lifestyle habits that have proven to boost our blood circulation.
HEALTHY EATING TO BOOST BLOOD VESSEL HEALTH
Rainbow and Mediterranean Diet
A “Rainbow Diet” includes foods of different colors by adding different kinds of fruits and vegetables into our diet. The reason is that those foods can boost our body with heart-healthy bioflavonoids. The antioxidants in flavonoids may protect our heart and lower our risk of death. Even small amounts of dietary flavonoids may lower the risk of coronary heart disease death. In addition, there is other research that shows that bioflavonoids may lower our risk for both coronary artery disease and stroke. Besides the rainbow diet a study on the effects of the Mediterranean diet on artery health suggest this diet may be associated with a reduced burden of carotid atherosclerotic plaque, an important risk factor for stroke.
Go Slow On Meat
“Compared to people eating diets rich in white meat or plant-based protein, those who ate a diet rich in red meat had triple the levels of a chemical linked to heart disease. The findings suggest that measuring and targeting the chemical, called TMAO, may be a promising strategy for individualizing diets and helping to prevent heart disease.”
Try Spices
Spices have been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. Turmeric, a spice commonly used in India, can be a powerful anti-inflammatory, which helps prevent the arteries from hardening. Cayenne pepper is thought to stimulate circulation, helping to keep your blood flowing and aid in healthy circulation.
Watch Your Sugar Intake To Strengthen Veins and Arteries
The overconsumption of added sugars (sucrose or table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup) has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality from cardiovascular causes.
Eat more fiber
A diet that is high in fiber can improve cholesterol. As a result, our vein and artery health automatically improves. Thus, we should eat more raw veggies as snacks for example.
Reducing salt
According to the CDC guidelines “Sodium intake from processed and restaurant foods contributes to high rates of high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. Because nearly 500,000 deaths each year are related to high blood pressure, reducing sodium intake could prevent thousands of deaths annually.” Therefore keeping our sodium levels low is essential in order to maintain vein health. One of the easiest ways to reduce our sodium consumption is to cook fresh and healthy food at home instead of consuming processed or pre-packaged meals. The reason is that especially canned and preserved food is usually very high in sodium.
Healthy Drinking And Blood Circulation
We should reduce your alcohol intake as much as possible. Water, green tea or alcohol-free beverages beers or wines are healthier alternatives. For example, green tea shows to have beneficial effects on cardiovascular health. This is caused by polyphenolic compounds in green tea. In addition, catechins may be primarily components in green tea that exert vascular protective effects. In order to see the benefits of green tea in better circulation, try to drink 2-3 cups per day.
EXERCISE TO STRENGTHEN VEINS AND ARTERIES
Regular exercise has a major effect on the health of our arteries. The reason is that exercising muscles require more blood. As a reaction to regular exercise, our muscles can grow more blood vessels by expanding the network of capillaries. Furthermore, regular exercise also helps arteries by boosting the endothelial cells’ nitric oxide production.
Harvard Health reports that “Scientists from the University of Colorado enrolled 20 sedentary men with an average age of 53 in an exercise program that consisted primarily of walking. At the end of three months, the men had improved their endothelial function so much that they achieved results similar to those of middle-aged and older men who had exercised for years. True, the Colorado volunteers were all healthy, but similar studies of patients with coronary artery disease have demonstrated that exercise can produce important gains in endothelial function, even in people who already have atherosclerosis.”
Guideline for exercising
30–40 minutes or 2-3 miles of walking or a similar activity daily are ideal. Alternatively, try other low-impact exercise options for example biking or using the elliptical, swimming, or even yoga. Regular exercise also helps to prevent osteoporosis and other lifestyle diseases.
Recommended For you: Getting better with age – A guide to staying fit.
HOW SAUNA CAN IMPROVE ARTERIES AND VEINS HEALTH
According to the Mayo Clinic sauna bathing leads to positive alterations in measures of arterial stiffness such as pulse wave velocity. But regular sauna bathing has many more health benefits. A Study in Finland has shown that increased frequency of sauna bathing is associated with a reduced risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD), fatal coronary heart disease (CHD), fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD), and all-cause mortality. This requires sauna bathing 4 to 7 times per week and sauna sessions lasting more than 19 minutes.
COMPRESSION SOCKS TO INCREASE BLOOD CIRCULATION
Compression stockings are good for vein health. The reason is these stockings of various length are designed to gently squeeze legs a bit more than typical socks to promote better blood circulation in the legs.
If blood pools in the veins of the legs it can cause a variety of problems. Some of them are skin changes, damage to vein walls and valves, inflammation of the vein varicose veins and even blood clots. Another common reason for wearing compression stockings is sitting for long periods like long distance flights. All German National Soccer Team players had to wear them during the World Championships 2006 even on short distance flights.
HYDROTHERAPY TO STRENGTHEN VEINS AND ARTERIES
“With brief applications of cold water (one second to one minute), temperature stimuli are conveyed via the skin which trigger positive reactions in the body: The temporary narrowing of the blood vessels with subsequent vascular expansion promotes circulation throughout the body. This strengthens immune defenses, stimulates the circulatory and nervous system as well as metabolism and invigorates the body.” This therapy is very famous in Germany. Many towns all over the country built little public baths in parks. People would pull up their pants and walk through the water. It was the Bavarian priest and naturopathic doctor Sebastian Kneipp who made this therapy widely known.
VITAMINS AND SUPPLEMENTS STRENGTHEN VEINS AND ARTERIES
There are a few vitamins known to improve the blood flow in our bodies.
Vitamin B3
According to Medicalnewstoday “Vitamin B-3, or niacin, can help improve blood flow in several ways. For example, it can:
- increase blood vessel function
- reduce blood levels of bad cholesterol
- reduce inflammation within blood vessels
Inflammation in the blood vessels can lead to the development of conditions such as atherosclerosis, which can damage them or cause them to narrow.
As the National Institutes of Health (NIH) point out, vitamin B-3 may help lower cholesterol levels and triglycerides. However, it does not directly reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.
It is essential not to take too much vitamin B-3, as it can cause adverse effects. The upper limit for adults is 35 milligrams (mg) per day.
Supplement Vitamin C
Taking a vitamin C supplement also improves blood circulation. Furthermore, ascorbic acid can even lead to a buildup of plaque on the arterial walls, which can hinder blood flow. Foods such as citrus fruits, berries, spinach, brussels sprouts or broccoli are great sources of vitamin c.
Vitamin D to strengthen your veins and arteries
This supplement improves blood flow by relaxing the blood vessels and lowering blood pressure. In addition, “a lack of vitamin D, even in generally healthy people, is linked with stiffer arteries and an inability of blood vessels to relax, research from the Emory/Georgia Tech Predictive Health Institute has found.The results add to evidence that lack of vitamin D can lead to impaired vascular health, contributing to high blood pressure and the risk of cardiovascular disease. Study participants who increased their vitamin D levels were able to improve vascular health and lower their blood pressure.”
A Word From Healthylifestyleflorida.com
Start making the health of your blood vessels a priority. It is an act of self-care. A healthier lifestyle starts small steps. But these steps will make a huge difference in building healthy arteries and veins over time.
Start today – you will love what you can be.
