It’s heart health month

Natural approaches to cardiovascular care

By Jonathan Evans
Herbal Information Specialist for The Herbarium

    February is heart month. Usually, I wait a month or so  to outline heart helpful herbs and supplements but this year will be different.

Your natural heart health toolbox

    Let’s start by taking a look at the big guns in heart health.

• Coenzyme Q-10 – or CoQ-10 - is an essential component in cellular energy production. Every cell in your body needs CoQ-10 to function and your heart is no exception.

    CoQ-10 is especially important for heart health according to Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C., and author of several books on CoQ-10. Sinatra outlines this nutrient’s uses for the heart to include angina, congestive heart failure, hypertension, arrhythmia, and mitral valve prolapse to name a few. Sinatra calls CoQ-10, a powerful antioxidant, and “the ideal antioxidant”.

    My mother had congestive heart failure and used CoQ-10 and hawthorn for many years. At the age of 84 she underwent triple bypass surgery. The doctors told us they never do this kind of surgery on an 84-year-old, “but you aren’t our typical 84-year-old.” They were amazed at how strong her heart was, and the new blood vessels that surrounded her blockages. The cardiologists even took some of our information on these supplements.

• Hawthorn berry, leaf and flower – (Crataegus oxyacantha). Hawthorn is a pure cardio tonic. It is used for regulating heartbeats, Raynaud’s Syndrome, high and low blood pressure (how ‘bout that?), vascular insufficiency, angina and hypertension. It has a normalizing effect on the heart, increasing blood flow to the heart, improving cellular metabolism in the heart, strengthening heart contractions and strengthening venal and arterial walls.
• Cayenne – (Capsicum annuum). Cayenne is very high in vitamin A, C, E, bioflavonoids and several essential minerals. Cayenne is a very powerful circulatory stimulant and has been shown to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis.
• Magnesium – Regular readers already know how important magnesium is in so many ways, but pertaining to heart health, researchers from UC Irvine, the Center for Disease Control, and Cornell Medical Center, have shown it very effective in helping with arrhythmia, blocked arteries and blood pressure.
• Ginkgo biloba – Ginkgo is loaded with compounds exhibiting anti-inflammatory activity, antioxidant and free radical properties, and inhibiting Platelet Activating Factor (PAF). PAF has been implicated in a variety of diseases, including heart arrhythmias, myocardial infarction and atherosclerosis.

More heart helpers

    Here are a few more readily available alternative medicine aids to heart health:

* Vitamin C – This vitamin has been shown to support healthy blood pressure and promoting the excretion of lead, which is linked to hypertension.

• Garlic – (Allium sativum) Garlic helps reduce cholesterol and blood pressure along with just about every condition found under the heavens.
• Onion – Just like garlic, it helps a wide variety of conditions.
• Natto – A cheese-like food made by fermenting steamed soybeans. Nattokinase is an enzyme extracted from natto and is used as a natural blood thinner and anticoagulant, without the negative side effects associated with pharmaceuticals.

Kudzu – (Pueraria lobata) lowers blood pressure and helps cut alcohol cravings.

     My space is running short, but let me point you to other natural products for a healthy heart including valerian root and potassium, as well as saffron, fennel, oregano, black pepper, basil and tarragon, which all can all be added to your cooking, adding flavor and health benefits

A vitamin series update

Going over old and new articles always turns up information that gets overlooked as more recent articles come out. Case in point; add this information to our previous series on vitamins.

• Vitamin D and K - Both bone and cardiovascular health is dictated by how the body utilizes calcium. Ideally the body will bind calcium to the bone matrix, making stronger bones. But if left unattended calcium will deposit in the arteries, blood vessels and soft tissues, increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Vitamin D3 synthesizes the proteins that help your body utilize calcium (osteocalcin for bone, MGP for heart). Vitamin K2 activates those proteins to perform their functions. K2 also can help reverse arterial calcification.
• Vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid help process homocysteine. Homocysteine is an amino acid that we need for normal human growth processes, but if levels are too high it can put you at high risk of atherosclerosis.

    Be smart and do all you can to keep your heart healthy!

 

    Masks: On an unrelated subject, we require face masks at the Herbarium. Between COVID-19 it’s subvariants, RSV, regular flu and colds there is just too much going on.  We have a new granddaughter and want to be able to see her often. I have elderly friends and immuno-compromised friends and family members. I do not want to infect them. Thank you all for complying with our requirement. P.S. You need to put the mask over your nose and mouth. You may not be spreading a virus through your mouth, but it is entering your body through your nasal passage. That is why you swab your nose and not your mouth in testing. Just thought I would remind you.

    Send questions on botanical remedies to: Nature’s RX: Jonathan Evans at Herbarium258@gmail.com or by regular mail to: The Herbarium, 254 Exchange St., Chicopee, MA 01013. If requesting info., please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.