Medical treatment, regular exercise, and dietary changes can be used to keep atherosclerosis from getting worse and stabilize the plaque, but they aren't able to reverse the disease.
You can “unclog” your arteries with natural methods, including diet, exercise, and stress management. Quitting smoking, if you smoke, can also help reverse plaque.
The key is lowering LDL and making lifestyle changes.
"Making plaque disappear is not possible, but we can shrink and stabilize it," says cardiologist Dr. Christopher Cannon, a Harvard Medical School professor. Plaque forms when cholesterol (above, in yellow) lodges in the wall of the artery.
A. Yes, lifestyle changes, including diet, smoking cessation, stress management and exercise, can decrease the size of atherosclerotic plaques. They can also help to stabilize them so that they are less likely to break off and block blood flow, decreasing your risk of a heart attack.
There are no quick fixes for melting away plaque, but people can make key lifestyle changes to stop more of it accumulating and to improve their heart health. In serious cases, medical procedures or surgery can help to remove blockages from within the arteries.
In vitro (15–19) and animal (19–23) studies suggest biological mechanisms through which magnesium may prevent or reverse plaque formation and calcification.
A healthy diet rich in nutrient-dense foods may help reduce your risk of developing clogged arteries. Research has shown that adding foods like cruciferous vegetables, fish, berries, olive oil, oats, onions, greens, and beans to your diet may be an effective way to prevent atherosclerosis.
Such studies showed that conduit arteries increase in size as a result of exercise training (Dinenno et al.
Living healthy with atherosclerosis is possible, though, and it's important. Plaque, which is made up of fat, cholesterol and other substances, narrows the arteries and makes blood clots more likely to form. It can lead to a partial or complete blockage of an artery.
The overall evidence suggests that supplementation with long-chain omega-3s reduces, and can positively remodel, atherosclerotic plaque formation.
Through angioplasty, our cardiologists are able to treat patients with blocked or clogged coronary arteries quickly without surgery. During the procedure, a cardiologist threads a balloon-tipped catheter to the site of the narrowed or blocked artery and then inflates the balloon to open the vessel.
If the arteries become completely blocked this can cause a heart attack. Most people with coronary artery disease can play competitive or amateur sports. “People with long-standing coronary artery disease who wish to take up exercise for the first time should see their doctor first,” said Professor Pelliccia.
In fact, vinegar should not be substituted for standard treatment. Few studies conducted in 2009 indicated apple cider vinegar could reduce bad cholesterol in animal test subjects; however, it did not completely remove plaque in blocked arteries.
Eating specific foods cannot cleanse plaques out of the arteries, but a healthful diet can help manage and prevent heart disease. Over time, plaque buildup can lead to thickened or hardened arteries. This is a condition known as atherosclerosis.
Plaques begin in artery walls and grow over years. The growth of cholesterol plaques slowly blocks blood flow in the arteries. Worse, a cholesterol plaque can rupture. The sudden blood clot that forms over the rupture then causes a heart attack or stroke.
Nitrate-rich foods like spinach may improve your circulation. These compounds help enlarge your blood vessels and create more room for blood to move through. Also, a study found that a diet rich in spinach helped keep arteries flexible and helped lower blood pressure.
Saturated fat is one of the worst offenders when it comes to plaque buildup in the arteries. Most experts suggest limiting saturated fats to under 7% of your daily calories.
Turmeric
Turmeric is one of nature's most potent anti-inflammatories, due to a compound called curcumin. This not only reduces arterial inflammation, but also fatty deposits known as plaque, by as much as 26%! That's pretty impressive for a pinch of spice.
By increasing your intake of the following vitamins and minerals, you'll hopefully be able to help keep your arteries clear and your blood flowing: Potassium. Folic acid. Vitamin D.
Vitamin K-2 acts to prevent calcification of arteries, and it can reverse calcification after it happens. Secondly, Vitamin K-2 also uniquely activates a hormone in our bones named osteocalcin. This activation step is necessary and essential for the transfer of circulating calcium out of plasma into the bone matrix.