Cupid's Cocktail For a Healthy Heart

By Natasha Ryan, ND, Regional Wellness Manager

Knowles Apothecary Wellness

. http://www.knowleswellness.com/

More Complementary & Integrative Healthcare Articles

Cupid's Cocktail For a Healthy Heart

Love can have an effect on all parts of your body, but especially your heart. Just seeing your loved one can increase your heart rate and cause flushing of the cheeks. These are telltale signs that you are physically attracted to someone, which is often one of the first steps of falling in love.

Because the heart is such a vital part of the love process, it's important to take care of it as best as possible. Here are just a few vitamins and other supplements that will help keep you and your loved one's heart healthy for as long as possible.

Coenzyme Q10 is an important component in energy production in the body. It is classified as a ubiquinone, which is like a vitamin but unique to the mitochondria of the cells. CoQ10 helps your cells function better by protecting them from free radicals. It is important to note that CoQ10 diminishes with age and is depleted by taking statin or cholesterol lowering drugs.

Magnesium is essential to heart health because together with calcium it helps to regulate and maintain normal blood pressure. It also has been shown to promote normal cholesterol levels and decrease platelet stickiness. B6 and folic acid work together with magnesium to reduce homocysteine, an inflammatory marker associated with heart disease.

Garlic not only adds delicious flavoring to your food, it is also helpful in lowering cholesterol. The active ingredient called allicin has been shown to be antihypertensive, anticoagulative, antimicrobial and much more. So, enjoy adding garlic to your food or taking a garlic supplement where the smell has been reduced or removed but the positive effects are still present.

Hawthorne is an herb that comes from a berry rich in bioflavonoids. It has been used for hundreds of years to help maintain a healthy heart. Specifically, hawthorne has been shown to improve blood pressure and blood lipid levels. This is mainly due to its anti-inflammatory effect.

Red Yeast Rice is a natural statin that reduces the levels of cholesterol in the body. It is important to make sure that you are being monitored when using this supplement as a blood test may be required to assess your HDL (good) and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels to make sure that it is working effectively.

Niacin is a B vitamin that can be helpful for decreasing blood pressure and LDL cholesterol levels while increasing HDL cholesterol, which is cardioprotective. Taking niacin at higher doses may cause a flushing effect in the face or an overall sense of warmness. Consult your medical professional about specific dosages.

Fish oils have been studied for quite some time and have been clinically shown to improve cardiovascular health. They do this by reducing inflammation and helping to maintain healthy blood pressure. Where in the past cholesterol was thought to be the main “bad guy” in heart disease, more and more studies are pointing to inflammation as and even bigger cause of cardiovascular disease.

So, when thinking about what you will give that special someone this Valentine's Day and beyond, in addition to chocolate and flowers, give the gift of wellness as it will help increase the amount of time you have with the one you love.