I’m researching supplements that actually improve heart health. There’s not a lot of good research and a lot of results contradict each other. To make it more complicated, some doctors seem to say they don’t do anything (I suspect the may be biased to push drugs) and some say some work. It seems some try to sell supplements and some want you to take drugs.
I have a family history of cardiovascular issues. Stroke is common on one side, even though my grandfather was a very active person and ate really healthy and is fit with low body fat. He still had 3 strokes.
Cholesterol and high BP is also common.
I’m wondering what actually works?
I’m very active and usually low body fat but I have let myself go here and there before getting back into a routine. But occasionally I do get slightly higher BP like 140/90. Which is just below high. But considering my age and that I’m active. Plus none smoker or drinker. It should be lower.
Some people say garlic supplements or Magnesium is good. But hard to find good studies.
CoQ10, magnesium, zinc and fiber are going to come up again and again for suggestions but I haven’t dug into studies in recent years to know enough to recommend.
You may want to look at your ‘very active’ lifestyle. If you’re spending a lot of time on higher intensity activities, including some slower, aerobic sessions could probably be beneficial. My HRV and rhr numbers improve when I do such sessions on a regular basis and decline if I spend a lot of time in higher intensity activities and both numbers appear to correlate with improved bp readings (for me).
I’m not sure that there’s one particular supplement that’s really gonna make the difference. It’s very much a lifestyle thing. You need more fruit, more veggies, more cardio, unsaturated fats in lieu of trans/saturated, and limited junk food.
Sometimes you cannot outrun genetics especially on the cholesterol front.
Sugary foods and drinks have been known to be bad for heart health and putting more fats into the blood stream, but sounds like you wouldn’t be doing that.
Also as you get older best to curb eating high volumes of ‘red meats’.
If your blood pressure is normally fine, and you get a single spike, make sure it is not due to something you did right before getting that blood pressure taken, like eating, drinking a coke or coffee. Even just ‘walking’ ten minutes from the MRT to the doctor’s office could be a cause of high blood pressure for that single test.
I did ‘hear’ that raw garlic can help with high cholesterol. if your stomach and gf could handle that
I would probably say my lifestyle is healthier than most people. I walk a hour a day up and day hills at least. I go to the gym 4 times a week. I eat well. Don’t smoke or drink. So I’m looking for additional supplementation.
Like I said. My grandfather was the same way. Extremely healthy and active. Very low fat and eats a lot fruits and vegetables. 3 strokes.
But mine has always been in the normal range. But then again, by BP has always been in the normal range as well. But it’s strange is always on the upper limits of normal. I asked my doctor about it and they don’t seem to take it very seriously. Idk if it’s a bad thing for good thing. But considering I’m a young active person who doesn’t smoke, drink, or eat extremely unhealthy. I would think my BP would not be around 140/90 normally.
I wonder how much my personal weight fluctuations have to do with it. I’ve been know to go from 195lb to 220 throughout the year and back. Depending on my own fitness goals. I never get a clear answer from doctors. They always give me ambiguous answers of maybe it’s this, maybe it’s that.
This one is interesting. Some studies show yes. Some studies show it doesn’t. Some even show it’s bad.
It seems like everything that is supposedly good for your heart or health is like this. You would think heart and general health is basic knowledge. But even within the medical community a lot of things are not agreed on. It’s kind of insane. Beside eat fruits and vegetables. It seems even meat consumption is not agreed on. It’s like no one really knows what’s actually good for your heart health besides exercise and not being overweight.
I see. If I were you, and if you’re really worried, then I’d try to learn more from your mother’s and father’s people about their own health history, including that of their parents and their aunts/uncles.
But in any case, don’t skip your physicals. If your doc wants to put you on BP medication, I’d listen to him if you trust him.
I really don’t think there are any supplements you can take that will help much. Hopefully I’m wrong about that, but I don’t know of any. I think you’re already subject to two pretty healthy diet schemes, Asian and Mediterranean.
Most nutrition research isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. It’s a very, very difficult thing to design experiments (or even observational studies) for the effects of different diets, but most nutritionists are drawn from that bunch of people who would ordinarily have done Media Studies but wanted to get a “science” degree.
After trawling through reams of this bullshit - and finding the occasional well-conducted experiment - my takeaway is that humans are omnivores and will do just fine on pretty much anything. Heart health is mostly a function of activity rather than diet (ie., use it or lose it), although the picture is complicated by the fact that certain things in your diet - a very specific combination of things - can make you very ill.
The nutritionists are chasing a mythical perfect diet that doesn’t exist.
There’s also this: a heart attack is a pretty good way to go. Your other choices are cancer or a road accident (those three, together, figure in the top-five causes of death in over 50s in most countries). What the nutritionists fret over is that slow, chronic form of cardiovascular degradation that afflicts the West. This is simply down to too much Coke and fries and too little moving around - fix those two problems, and most people can look forward to a healthy life. The underlying cause of this kind of heart disease seems to be inflammation, and it’s accompanied by wide range of other signs and symptoms. It almost never occurs by itself, in isolation.
Genetics does play a part, but “high cholesterol” is another massive pile of elephant bollocks that should have been thrown in a landfill long ago. It only stays in the public consciousness because journalists and a few vested interests keep it there. There are sources of raw data online regarding total circulating cholesterol and mortality (or disease) - the correlation between the two is essentially zero, and there’s no reason to believe it should be anything else.
TL;DR: if you exercise and eat normal food, your heart is probably just fine.
My Dad had a CABG in his late 40s and rattles when he walks because of all the pills he’s taking, so in theory I have “bad genetics”. But because I don’t have his lifestyle or eating habits, my heart seems to be in pretty good shape.
I’ve been extremely frustrated with doctors. They don’t know anything about nutrition. You’d think they study this, but they really do not. And completely lack basic nutritional knowledge in some cases. They will sent me to nutritionist. The nutritionist don’t know anything about practical nutrition either. They literally want me to eat the same way they would tell a woman half my weight. They don’t know what to do with my lifestyle, they can’t comprehend how I can gain and lose 20 lbs through the year by diet and training.
The more I look into heart health. The more I realize no body know what they’re talking about or know what’s actually good. There’s not even a consensus on eggs and cholesterol, and like you said. We don’t really understand cholesterol that well. And simplified it to good and bad cholesterol.
We know being over weight is not good. That seems to be for sure and makes sense. More weight, more the heart has to work. But I wonder if being 220lbs of muscle is as bad as 220lbs of fat? Snoring also seems to be very bad, I’ve seeing some studies on that. Exercise is generally good. But surprisingly, there are controversies on exercise. For example, weight lifting and even some athletes develop a larger heart. It’s common. We’re not sure if it’s good or bad either.
if your stomach and gf could handle that 