Juicing For Heart Health

Keeping your arteries healthy is important for preventing heart disease as well as Alzheimer's. Healthy blood flow throughout your body can prevent the buildup of memory-robbing plaque.

Every doctor will tell you that fruits and vegetables are crucial to improving heart health. And “Juicing” is becoming a new trend to strengthen your heart.

Some people even reverse serious diseases such as heart disease by consuming fruits and vegetables and juicing for heart health!

There are loads of heart-healthy fruits and vegetables to combat risk factors created by processed junk foods and a poor diet. A recipe for juices can regularly change depending on personal preference, some like lemon while others like ginger.

Thankfully adding in foods like pomegranate or red grapes can combat the bitter taste of vegetable selections like celery or garlic.

Juicing for heart health isn't an uncommon practice to improve medical issues, and juices like beet juice are commonly used as a minor form of treatment intended as nutrition specified treatment to counteract issues such as inflammation or poor diet choices that have lead to clogged arteries and high blood pressure.

The benefits of beets and plant-based foods have been published and researched more than once, shown to have increasing health benefits.

Food choices are essential in determining health, so choosing organic, plant-based foods to juice and regularly consume to reverse issues such as heart disease is a powerful and qualified move in fighting to prevent diseases.

Here are some of the best things to include in your juicing to improve heart health:

HOW JUICING IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEART

Consult with your doctor before attempting a juicing routine to clarify the benefits for your health issues or concerns.

Nutrition, the foods you eat, are essential in your daily life and in combating diseases. There are quite a few pluses of juicing to improve heart health, and all of them include the ingredients.

Beets- 

  • The power of beets has been recently popularized to the world---to athletes and those struggling with heart issues especially. Many studies have been done on the value of beets, one even showing a lower in blood pressure as quickly as six hours after drinking beet juice (1). 

Cranberries-

  • The juice of such containing polyphenols, a plant compound that offers many health benefits, cranberry juice has shown to reduce the risk of heart disease while also benefiting in reducing stiffness in arteries (2). 

 

Preventing a clogged artery or other medical issues can depend on your nutrition and life choices (lack of exercise or stress management). According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in all ethnic groups, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Though issues with such don’t always come down to lifestyle choices, improving what you eat can help reduce the risk of heart disease. 

GRAPE JUICE OR WINE

Daily fruit intake is recommended for its nutritional value, but be cautious of fruit juices as the drink normally contains added sugar (which it doesn't need).

Juicing, just like cooking, is recommended to be done at home to prevent any unnecessary ingredients that can affect your health. Grape juice contains Resveratrol, which has been shown to massively improve heart health, thus decreasing heart disease.

This accounts for the amazingly low instances of heart disease in some European countries where the consumption of red wine has been traditionally high.

TOMATO JUICE

A glass of tomato juice contains the equivalent of two servings of nutrient-rich vegetables. This is enough to keep your arteries elastic and keep healthy blood flow. When arteries become less elastic, it can raise your systolic blood pressure, which increases your risk of strokes, cardiovascular disease, and heart attacks.

BEET JUICE

Diets rich in beets have helped reduce total cholesterol levels by 30% while increasing HDL (good cholesterol) levels.

Furthermore, beets help lower the amount of homocysteine in the blood, a natural amino acid found in meat and one of the main factors of heart diseases. There has been quite a bit of research on beets and their benefits to heart health. Adding this vegetable to your juice recipe is recommended!

ACAI BERRY JUICE

Acai Berry is full of nutrients that have proven to be good for your cardiovascular system. Its benefits include the following:

✔ High in Omega 6 & Omega 9 fatty acids. These have a protective effect on your cardiovascular system and are believed to lower cholesterol levels.

✔ Antioxidants remove free radicals to reduce the oxidation of your cells. This helps reduce ischemia, which is a lack of oxygen to your organs.

✔ It’s also high in fiber which helps clean bad cholesterol.

HAWTHORN BERRY JUICE

Hawthorn berries have been used for circulatory and heart disorders for centuries.

They protect the heart because they contain flavone glycosides, amygdalin, proanthocyanidins, saponins, catechins, and vitamin C.

Hawthorn contains flavonoids that reduce the effect of some elements that cause the blockage of blood vessels. And they also increase heart energy levels.

CITRUS FRUITS

Citrus fruits provide nutrients, like potassium, B vitamins, folate, etc.) that are essential in supporting a healthy heart. They can also improve cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure. High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease; consuming citrus fruits can aid against developing that. Adding fruit to your juice recipe can combat the bitter flavor of kale or celery juice. Simply add to your juice recipes to obtain the health benefits!

KALE

Kale is loaded with antioxidants, beta-carotene and vitamin C (3). Antioxidants are shown to counteract oxidative damage inflicted by free radicals in the body, which can be among the leading drivers of aging and other diseases (4,5). Kale also contains quercetin and kaempferol, known to multiple benefits, including heart protection, lowering of blood pressure, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer effects (6,7,8).

Kale doesn't provide much juice, so it might take a few handfuls to obtain enough out of it to add to your juice but adding it to your recipes are extremely beneficial with all the nutrients it provides!

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU JUICE FOR HEART HEALTH?

Regular consumption is recommended for improvement in heart health! Fruits and vegetables are recommended as a daily part of your diet due to the positive benefits of the nutrients they provide. Make sure you’re listening to your body. It can be hard adjusting to eating and drinking healthier foods, but your body and tastebuds will adjust. 

CAN JUICE FASTS REVERSE HEART DISEASE?

Yes. In fact, a plant-based diet can reverse heart disease that is characterized by clogged arteries, according to experts on the subject, Dr Dean Ornish and Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., MD (9). Diseases linked to inflammation and a high-fat diet were reversed through juicing and consuming nutritious foods. Concerning heart disease specifically, it is recommended to juice vegetables and limit fruit juice intake (as they are inflammatories like refined sugars). Start a daily routine of juicing fresh, organic vegetables and drinking them. Combine with exercise and stress reduction and for further results, focus on eating a plant-based diet to get even more benefits. 

DARK CHOCOLATE ALSO HELPS!

Chocolate is starting to be seen as heart-healthy as red wine and green tea. It contains flavanols, which eliminate the free radicals in the bloodstream. These free radicals are the cause of high cholesterol levels.

In a study, 45 borderline obese but healthy adults were given either cocoa or a placebo. After measuring their blood pressure both before and after, it was found that those who ate the dark chocolate had better blood pressure. The benefits of dark chocolate for heart health are immediate.

 

 

Sources- 

  1. https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-11-106
  2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21411615/
  3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22744944/
  4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24587990/
  5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0009898114002629
  6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24470791/
  7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22332099/
  8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21428901/
  9. https://reversingatherosclerosis.com/juicing-for-heart-disease-the-heart-healthy-effects-of-juicing/#:~:text=Juicing%20is%20an%20extremely%20good%20way%20to%20prevent,can%20reverse%20heart%20disease%20characterized%20by%20clogged%20arteries.