People with vein health issues Vitamin D helps to keep your arteries and blood vessels loose enough and relaxed enough to support proper blood flow. Thus, when vitamin D levels are low, your veins will struggle to do their job properly, and vein issues may arise.
A recent study found that vitamin D restores the balance between protective nitric oxide, which is vessel-dilating, and peroxynitrite, a destructive free radical. This improves endothelial function, resulting in healthy blood flow and a healthy cardiovascular system.
Also known as “the sunshine vitamin,” vitamin D has many benefits. These include keeping the cells that line the blood vessels (endothelial cells) healthy. L-arginine. L-arginine is an amino acid that helps expand blood vessels and amplify blood flow.
Vitamin D improves blood flow by relaxing the blood vessels and lowering blood pressure. Vitamin D improves the functioning of your immune system, and that helps fight cancer.
Vitamin D also can suppress vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation, activation of garbage-eating macrophages and calcification formation, all of which can thicken blood vessel walls and hinder flexibility.
Vitamin D has been shown to have an anticoagulant effect. A decrease in 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration has also been associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism.
Although you can't reverse atherosclerosis once it starts, you can prevent it with some easy lifestyle changes. Eat a balanced diet that's high in heart-healthy fruits, vegetables, and fish. Exercise for at least 30 to 60 minutes a day. Stop smoking, cause that's really bad news for your arteries.
Experimental studies suggest that optimal levels of vitamin D have beneficial effects on the heart and blood vessels; however, high vitamin D concentrations have been implicated in promoting vascular calcification and arterial stiffness.
Vitamin D conspires with immune cells called macrophages either to keep arteries clear or to clog them.
Vitamin B. This family of vitamins is among the most important to strengthen your blood vessels and thus, prevent vein issues or at least keep them at bay if they're already surfaced. For those who have a history of vein issues and blood clots in their family, vitamins B6 and B12 are particularly important.
Vitamin D helps to keep your arteries and blood vessels loose enough and relaxed enough to support proper blood flow. Thus, when vitamin D levels are low, your veins will struggle to do their job properly, and vein issues may arise. As you can see, when your body is low on vitamin D, far more than your tan suffers.
High doses of vitamin D can raise blood levels of calcium (hypercalcemia), which can damage the heart, kidneys, and blood vessels.
Healthier blood vessels
The study showed that vitamin D3 can repair damage to the heart and blood vessels caused by high blood pressure.
Leafy greens like spinach and collard greens are high in nitrates, which your body converts into nitric oxide, a potent vasodilator ( 33 ). Eating nitrate-rich foods may help improve circulation by dilating blood vessels, allowing your blood to flow more easily.
In vitro (15–19) and animal (19–23) studies suggest biological mechanisms through which magnesium may prevent or reverse plaque formation and calcification.
Understanding vitamin D and heart health
The idea that higher vitamin D intake could improve heart health emerged years ago when observational studies found people with higher blood levels of vitamin D had lower rates of cardiovascular disease.
Overall, it looks like adopting a healthy dietary pattern may either slow or possibly reverse the narrowing of arteries due to atherosclerosis, particularly in early stages of plaque formation, and these effects are enhanced alongside lifestyle changes like exercising, stress management, and quitting smoking.
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.
Adding cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower to your diet may help reduce your chances of developing clogged arteries. Studies show that eating cruciferous vegetables is associated with a decreased risk of atherosclerosis.
Vitamin B3 (niacin) may also reduce thrombosis risk by inhibiting platelet aggregation and supporting blood clot breakdown. Other natural interventions that may help prevent blood clots and improve cardiovascular health include green tea extract, pomegranate, saffron, quercetin, ginger, and guavirova.
Bleeding disorders: Magnesium seem to slow blood clotting. In theory, taking magnesium might increase the risk of bleeding or bruising in people with bleeding disorders.