How to Protect Your Heart and Arteries Against Cardiovascular Diseases

By Kyle J. Norton

Scientists may have found a fruit or vegetable in the nightshade family consumed in many cultures with a potential in reducing the risk and protected against CVD.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a group of conditions associated with the heart and blood vessels.

The causes of cardiovascular diseases are associated with the accumulation of plaques in the arteries, impeding the blood flow which carries the nutrients and oxygen to the heart, causing damage to the heart tissue and reduced function of the arteries.

In other words, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, weight, depression and family history associated with the early onset of plaques accumulated and impeding function of the arteries are the prevalent risk factors of cardiovascular diseases.

According to the statistic cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women in the US with 90% of women having one risk factor.

Believe or not, women are 4 times more likely to die from heart disease than breast cancer and 2/3 of women are not aware heart disease is such a risk for them, according to the Jean Hailes for the Women Health in the article cardiovascular health.

Many people know that tobacco use is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer, but most of them do not know that smoking is one of the leading cause of cardiovascular diseases.

Dr. Jaana Keto, the lead author in the concern of the widespread smoking habits in Southeast Asia due to 30 years of economic prosperity launched a population-based cohort study to examine the cardiovascular disease risk factors in relation to smoking behavior and history.

Data were collected at the 31-year and 46-year follow-ups when a total of 5038 and 5974 individuals participated in clinical examinations and questionnaires.

The results astonishingly suggested “the effect of past or present smoking on individual CVD risk parameters such as blood pressure and cholesterol seems to be of clinically minor significance in people aged 46 years” and  ”smoking seems to be above all an independent risk factor for CVD in the working-age population” and ”quitting smoking in working age may thus reduce calculated CVD risk nearly to the same level with people who have never smoked”.

In other words, smokers are associated with high risk of cardiovascular diseases in the working-age population and risk of CVD in smokers are reduced to the same level of nonsmokers, if they quit smoke.

Beet is best known as the beetroot or garden beet, belonging to the amaranth family.

The perennial plant with leafy stems can grow to 2 m tall.

Besides the major chemical constituents betalains and phenolics, beet also contains a lesser amount of isobetanin, probetanin, neobetanin, indicaxanthin, vulgaxanthins, etc.

In the finding, a fruit or vegetable which process a function in reducing blood pressure (BP) and the risk of adverse cardiovascular events, researchers at the Queen Mary University of London conducted an experiment to examine the effect of beet juice in risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Participants of healthy volunteers approximately 3 hours after ingestion of a dietary nitrate load (beetroot juice 500 mL) showed a statistically clinical evidence of BP at-10.4/8 mm Hg, an effect that correlated with peak increases in plasma nitrite concentration.

Injection of the beet juice prevented endothelial dysfunction induced by an acute ischemic insult in the human forearm induced by the injection of adenosine diphosphate (ADP).

Beet juice in vivo also significantly attenuated platelet aggregation in response to collagen and adenosine diphosphate (ADP).

The results of these vasoprotective effects were attributed to the activity of nitrate converted from the ingested nitrate in the beet juice.

Dr.Webb AJ, the lead author said, “the beneficial effects of a vegetable-rich (beet juice) diet and highlights the potential of a “natural” low-cost approach for the treatment of cardiovascular disease”.

Furthermore, in the study to reaffirm the effect of dietary nitrate wide range beneficial vascular effects, including reducing blood pressure, inhibiting platelet aggregation, preserving or improving endothelial dysfunction, enhancing exercise performance in healthy individuals and patients with the peripheral arterial disease, researchers found that pre-clinical studies with nitrate or nitrite also show the potential to protect against ischemia-reperfusion injury and reduce arterial stiffness, inflammation, and intimal thickness.

However, in the concerns of the injection of nitrate-rich vegetables (such as a Mediterranean diet) may have a possible small positive and negative associations with cancer and interactions with other nutrients such as vitamin C, polyphenols and fatty acids, researchers developed the Nitrate ‘Veg-Table’ with ‘Nitrate Units’ [each unit is 1 mmol of nitrate (62 mg)] to achieve a nitrate intake that is likely to be sufficient to derive benefit, but also to minimize the risk of potential side effects from excessive ingestion

These guidelines not only provide maximum benefits for the use of beet juice in reducing risk and treatment of cardiovascular diseases but also decrease the concerns of other scientists that high intake of nitrate may increase the risk of cancer and nutrients interaction.

Taken altogether, adding a cup of beet juice into your daily diet may have significant effects in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it’s news, the karate GB daily, etc.,
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada – Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(1) Acute blood pressure lowering, vasoprotective, and antiplatelet properties of dietary nitrate via bioconversion to nitrite By Webb AJ, Patel N, Loukogeorgakis S, Okorie M, Aboud Z, Misra S, Rashid R, Miall P, Deanfield J, Benjamin N, MacAllister R, Hobbs AJ, Ahluwalia A.(PubMed)
(2) Vascular effects of dietary nitrate (as found in green leafy vegetables and beetroot) via the nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide pathway by Lidder S, Webb AJ. (PubMed)
(3) Cardiovascular disease risk factors in relation to smoking behaviour and history: a population-based cohort study by Jaana Keto,1,2 Hanna Ventola,2,3 Jari Jokelainen,1,4 Kari Linden,5Sirkka Keinänen-Kiukaanniemi,1 Markku Timonen,1 Tero Ylisaukko-oja,1,2 and Juha Auvinen. (PMC)