What are the best ingredients for heart health?
Cardiovascular health is vital for longevity. Lifestyle factors, including regular exercise and a heart-healthy diet, are crucial for maintaining cardiovascular well-being. Omega-3 fatty acids, soluble fibers, vitamins, and polyphenols in the diet play key roles in regulating blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Find out more about keeping your heart healthy.
The cardiovascular system
Maintaining cardiovascular health is essential for a long and active life (1). The cardiovascular system consists of the heart, arteries and veins in the human body.
There are two important blood transportation systems: the pulmonary circulation and the systemic circulation. The pulmonary circulation transports deoxygenated blood to the lungs, to allow the exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen by the lungs. The second system is the systemic circulation, which transports nutrient- and oxygen rich blood to all organs and cells (2). Therefore, both systems contribute to delivery of oxygen blood to tissues from head to toe. This is essential because every single cell in the human body needs oxygen and nutrients to maintain energy production.
How can nutrition impact cardiovascular health?
There are several factors that can influence the well-being of cardiovascular health. Stress is a major player in changing blood flow. It can temporarily increase blood pressure and heart rate. Over time, chronic stress can lead to persistent high blood pressure, inflammation, and the buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries, a condition known as atherosclerosis. (3)
On the other hand, regular exercise and physical activity help improve heart and blood vessel function, lower blood pressure, reduce cholesterol levels, and maintain a healthy weight.
Another factor that impacts cardiovascular health, is diet. A “heart-healthy” diet is low in saturated fats, cholesterol, salt, and added sugars, and high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Food directly impacts the health condition of your heart. If you choose the right foods, you can help to keep your heart in good shape. (4).
These heart-healthy foods help to reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure, and maintain healthy blood vessels. Here are a few great options:
• Healthy fats, found in olive oil, avocados, and fatty fish like salmon, are integral to cardiovascular health. They promote optimal cholesterol profiles and reduce the risk of blood clots.
• Legumes like beans, chickpeas and lentils, aid in lowering cholesterol levels and blood pressure. The health effects of this food are typically attributed to the high content of fiber, nutrients, and active plant compounds (5).
• Fruits that contain high levels of polyphenols – a complex group of secondary plant metabolites. There is growing evidence that suggests that polyphenols could be relevant compounds for improving heart health. Notably, certain varieties of citrus fruit are known for their high levels of antioxidants, which play a role against oxidative stress (6, 7).
Key ingredients for heart health
Some people are limited in choosing their food, because of limited availability, so they may not be able to consume a diet rich in abovementioned foods. Supplementation could be a feasible alternative to consume the crucial compounds from those foods for supporting cardiovascular health. Therefore, we will now have a deeper look into the effective compounds, which can be easily supplemented:
• Omega-3 fatty acids are an example of healthy fats. They can be found in a lot of retail channels, pharmacies or online, predominantly in soft gels. They reduce the amount of triglycerides and improve cholesterol levels by lowering LDL cholesterol and increase the good HDL cholesterol. Moreover, omega-3 regulate blood pressure and have anti-inflammatory properties.
• Soluble fibers, normally found in fruits, legumes, vegetables and grains. They bind to cholesterol and remove it from the body. In this way, cholesterol levels can be reduced (8). Examples of soluble fibers to look for in terms of supplementation are psyllium, pectin and wheat dextrin.
• Vitamins can help to improve heart health. For example, there is high-quality research showing that Vitamin B9 supplementation can reduce the risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease (9). Moreover, Vitamin K2 serves an important role in cardiovascular health through regulation of calcium homeostasis. It can lead to a reduction in arterial stiffness (10).
• Citrus flavonoids are a group of polyphenols that are, unsurprisingly, found in citrus fruits. Flavonones are a subclass of flavonoids that are linked to an improvement in heart health. Specifically, hesperidin (hesperitin-7-O-rutinoside), offers several health advantages due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, potentially playing a role in cardiovascular health (11). Some studies suggest that hesperidin may help lowering blood pressure and improving blood vessel function, which can be beneficial for heart health (12).
Solabia Nutrition has developed Cordiart®, a proprietary sweet orange extract that is high in the rutinoside hesperidin. Cordiart® has the potential to support heart health by improving blood vessel function, reducing inflammation, and helping to manage high blood pressure. It can also assist in lowering LDL cholesterol levels. The beneficial effects of Cordiart® on endothelial function are clinically proven (13, 14).
