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Top Recommended Dietary Supplements
For Optimal Heart Health
Optimal heart health requires good nutrition. It is ideal to get everything we need in the foods we eat. When that is not enough we should take dietary supplements that are derived from whole foods.
Just as quality medications are based on science so are quality dietary supplements. If you want to get the best nutrition through supplements make sure you buy from a trusted company.
The list below recommends top quality supplements that target at least one area of heart health. There are links provided so you can pursue further study. Each link will open in a new page. Simply close the new page and you will be back here.
Omega-3
If you were to take one supplement for heart health make it Omega-3. Omega-3 has been implicated and studied in relation to many health issues… especially heart health issues. For example, Omega-3 supplementation has been shown effective in…
The American Heart Association recommends 2-4 grams of Omega-3 per day for anyone with high triglycerides and at least 1 gram per day for anyone with documented coronary heart disease.
Many people without any known heart issues supplement with Omega-3 as a matter of prevention. How much more important is it for someone with known heart or cardiovascular problems?
There are many Omega-3 formulas. The most potent ones are derived from fish and have close to a 2:1 ratio of EPA to DHA. You don’t want a product that boasts high levels of fish oil while containing lower amounts of EPA and DHA. Read the labels. Unless you simply can’t consume fish products, marine sourced Omega-3 is your best choice.
Of course marine pollutants are a concern when consuming fish products. It is important to use a product sourced from waters with the lowest potential for pollutants. The product I recommend comes from wild fish living in cold Nordic waters.
Why wild? Because farm raised fish are much lower in Omega-3. Typically farm raised fish (such as salmon) is much cheaper at the grocery store than wild fish. Many people are willing to pay the difference in price because of the higher levels of Omega-3.
A good quality, high potency, wild fish based Omega-3 can be rather expensive. But it doesn’t have to be. The product listed below contains 700 mgs of EPA plus DHA per capsule at a very moderate price. In fact you can get 700 mg of Omega-3 per day for less than 7 cents. A little heart health assurance is worth a lot more than that.
To learn more or to purchase Ultimate Omega Fish Oil supplement online please click here.
Omega-3 For Vegetarians
If you are a vegetarian or you don’t want to consume fish products then ALA is a very good alternative. Research has shown that ALA is effective in lowering triglycerides and reducing risk of heart disease.
In fact, like EPA and DHA, ALA has also been shown useful in…
- Reducing atherosclerosis build-up
- Reducing risk from sudden cardiac death
- Lowering blood pressure
- Reducing risk of fatal heart attacks
- Preventing congestive heart failure
For further study you can use the links in the previous section entitled Omega-3.
Flaxseed is the richest source of ALA available. But flaxseed also provides other benefits. Flaxseed oil is a rich source of lignans, a special type of fiber. Lignans have been shown helpful in fighting…
- Colon cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Breast cancer
- Skin cancers
Though these conditions are not related to heart health they do pose some very serious health concerns. Supplementing with flaxseed oil is one way to help safeguard your health.
You can learn more about the health benefits of flaxseed oil by using the link below.
To learn more or to purchase Flaxseed Oil supplement online please click here.
CoEnzymeQ10
CoQ10 may not be as familiar to you as Omega-3 but it should be.
CoQ10 is also known as ubiqinone because it is found in every cell of our bodies. CoQ10 is a coenzyme which is necessary for the production of cellular energy. Large organs like the heart have high metabolic (energy) demands. When we are young our bodies produce enough CoQ10. However this changes as we age.
CoQ10 research has connected CoQ10 with a number of chronic heart conditions. For example CoQ10 has been shown useful in…
In addition to being an essential substance in cellular energy production, CoQ10 is a very powerful antioxidant. That is why CoQ10 has been shown useful in reducing LDL oxidation (a leading factor in coronary heart disease).
Many of us take vitamin-E for our heart health. Vitamin-E can reduce oxidation of LDL cholesterol. However, research has shown that under certain circumstances vitamin-E can actually promote LDL oxidation. CoQ10 never promotes LDL oxidation. In fact CoQ10 has been shown to revitalized spent vitamin-E making it once more vital as an antioxidant.
Are you taking vitamin-E for your heart health? If so, great. But don’t forget the CoQ10. In addition to fighting the effects of congestive heart failure it reduces LDL oxidation and revitalizes vitamin-E. Use the links above for further research.
This CoQ10 supplement is an oil-based formulation. Research has shown that oil-based formulations of CoQ10 increase blood levels more effectively than powered versions.
Next to Omega-3, CoQ10 is extremely important for heart health. Both substances help reduce coronary heart disease by different means. CoQ10 has been studied more rigorously in connection to congestive heart failure. (Use links above).
CoQ10 can be a rather expensive supplement. However I have found a very reasonably priced high quality oil based CoQ10 supplement in two different strengths. You can use either of the two links below for further research or to purchase CoQ10 supplements.
To learn more or to purchase 30 mg CoQ10 supplement online please click here.
To learn more or to purchase 120 mg CoQ10 supplement online please click here.
Cholesterol Care
Many of us are concerned with our cholesterol levels. High total cholesterol is connected with a number of heart health issues such as coronary heart disease, the number one killer of men and women in the USA.
Click here for more on cholesterol and heart health risk
We know that diet can help reduce our cholesterol levels and therefore our risk of heart disease. But sometimes diet alone can not supply enough of certain substances that can also help. Natural substances like…
- Beta-Sitosterol
- Guggul Lipids
- Red Rice Extract
- Beta Glucan
- Soy Isoflavones
… And others.
Supplementing your diet with some of these natural substances can help you get your cholesterol down. For more research on these natural cholesterol reducing agents please use the link below:
Click here for more information or to purchase Cholesterol Care online .
Blood Pressure Formula
High blood pressure is a way of life for many of us. Unfortunately long-term hypertension is a major factor in the development of…
- Stroke
- Kidney Failure
- Heart Attack
- Heart Failure
- Vascular Damage
In fact the risk of death from heart disease begins to increase when blood pressure reaches about 115/75. The risk doubles with each increased increment of 20 mmHg in systolic blood pressure or 10 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure.
For more information on Blood Pressure please click here
There are natural substances which can help keep your blood pressure in check. A list of these substances might include vitamins and minerals such as…
- Calcium
- Potassium
- Magnesium
- Niacin
It might also include…
- Hawthorn Berry
- Garlic
- Hibiscus Flower
- Other Herbs
Consider some of these natural elements as you seek to get your blood pressure down. You can use the link below for further research on a Blood Pressure Formula containing these natural substances and others.
Click here to research or purchase this natural Blood Pressure Formula online.
Antioxidants
Everybody knows about antioxidants. But few of us are serious about getting enough from the foods we eat and from dietary supplements. Antioxidants are substances consumed in foods and dietary supplements which help to reduce and even prevent the formation of destructive chemicals in the body called free radicals. Free radicals attack the systems of the body even to the DNA level leaving us less able to fight off the effects of disease and aging.
Antioxidants protect the body by ending the free radical chain reaction before vital molecules are harmed.
Free radicals are rogue atoms that interact with healthy cells causing oxidative damage. Free radicals are toxic to the body because they oxidize vital compounds damaging the body's cells and DNA. Many of the effects we associate with aging are caused by oxidation. The effects we see in the mirror and feel in our joints are just the tip of the iceberg. The damage caused by free radicals is far reaching including heart disease and cancer.
You can use the link below to learn more about antioxidants and free radicals.
Click here for more on free radicals and antioxidants
We have already discussed two groups of antioxidants above: CoQ10 and extracts from green tea. But antioxidants should be consumed in a complex. One reason for this is that no one antioxidant can cover all the bases. One disease might respond to a particular antioxidant but be unresponsive to another. Additionally studies have shown that antioxidants and other compounds seem to work better together than they often do alone. In many cases antioxidants revitalize each other as they fight against free radicals.
For these reasons we have listed several antioxidant products. Two of them are mentioned above: CoQ10 and extracts from green tea. Below are a few more options to consider.
Acai Berry Extract: A natural antioxidant source delivering 33 times the antioxidant power of both red grapes and red wine.
Click here to learn more about Acai Berry Extract.
Life Factors Anti-aging formula contains the Omega-3 ALA (listed above), several fruit and vegetable extracts, berry extracts, amino acids, pine bark, blue green algae and more. It is a natural supplement designed to reduce the effects of aging including free radical damage.
Click here to learn more about Life Factors supplement.
Vitamin-C is perhaps the best known of the antioxidants. Vitamin-C has been shown to aid in…
- Reducing the risk of various types of cancer
- Improving the immune system
- Reducing the risk of heart disease.
Like CoQ10, Vitamin-C can also work to regenerate the antioxidant power of vitamin-E after it has already functioned as an antioxidant in the body.
Vitamin-C is water soluble. Therefore it is quickly excreted by the body. The product listed below is not only a high potency product. It is also sustained release. It delivers an immediate dosage of 500 mg and another 1,000 mg throughout the day.
To learn more about Ultra-C Sustained Release please click here.
Vitamin-E, unlike vitamin-C, is fat soluble. It is the main antioxidant found in the lipid containing tissues of the body such as cell membranes.
Vitamin-E has been shown to have far reaching antioxidant powers counteracting the effects of nervous system disorders and heart disease. It has even shown promise for protecting against the progression of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Most particular to the subject of the current site, vitamin-E promotes heart health by protecting against atherosclerosis.
Most store brands of vitamin-E are made synthetically, because it’s less than half the cost to produce. The product below is natural vitamin-E (d-tocopherol) because it’s much preferable to the synthetic form (dl-tocopherol). Natural Vitamin-E is better utilized by the body. In some of its metabolic actions and in the promotion of normal growth and fertility natural Vitamin-E is absorbed by the body twice as well as synthetic Vitamin-E.
To learn more about all natural Vitamin-E please click here.
Green Tea Extracts
We have known for a long time that drinking green tea is good for heart health. Science bears that out.
Catechins and theaflavins contained in green and black teas have been shown to have powerful antioxidant properties that particularly suppress LDL oxidation. We know that LDL cholesterol is the bad kind. But many scientists believe it is not merely the amount of LDL in your system that promotes atherosclerosis and therefore coronary heart disease (CHD).
Rather it is the oxidation of LDL that promotes CHD.
By reducing the amount of LDL cholesterol that is oxidized your risk of developing coronary heart disease may also be reduced.
Click here to learn more about green tea extracts and LDL oxidation.
Of course catechins and theaflavins reduce LDL oxidation precisely because they are antioxidants. Therefore the antioxidant properties of these substances provide benefits beyond LDL oxidation. In fact there are indications that the antioxidant properties of these substances are many more times as powerful as vitamin-C and vitamin-E in protecting cells and DNA from oxidative damage. This, of course, has implications in the development of cancer cells.
Scientific research also suggests that the combination of catechins prevents the cholesterol in the foods that we eat from being absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and encourages the liver to extract more cholesterol from the bloodstream to make bile.
There are a number of other important health benefits of catechins and theaflavins that go beyond the topic of heart health. You can learn more about these by using the link below.
For more research on Green Tea Extract or to purchase online please click here.
B-Complex
B-vitamins are well attested to reduce heart disease especially by the reduction of homocysteine levels in the blood. Homocysteine has been dubbed by some as the new cholesterol and has been implicated in many thousands of death related cardiovascular events. Perhaps the most essential of the B-vitamins is folic acid which has far reaching health benefits beyond those related to the heart.
To learn more about B-vitamins and homcysteine please click here.
B-vitamins also have health implications extending beyond heart health. The short list includes…
- Relieving anxiety
- Fighting fatigue
- Growing thicker hair
- Improved vision
- Proper liver function
It is worth your time to read more about the health benefits of B-vitamins using the link below.
The supplement listed below contains a complete B-complex including…
- Thiamine (B-1)
- Riboflavin (B-2)
- Niacin (B-3)
- Pyridoxine (B-6)
- Cyanocobalamin (B-12)
- Folic acid
- Pantothenic acid
- Biotin
It also includes 600 mg of Calcium and 300 mg of Magnesium per three tablets.
Click here to learn more about the benefits of each B-vitamin and purchase online.
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