Soft plaque is unstable and can rupture, causing a heart attack; there are natural ways to unclog coronary arteries or kick back the soft plaque.
But why not just take a pill?
A pill (statin) may result in an improved cholesterol test result, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that your arteries have been unclogged by the drug.
Imagine you see a bunch of fire trucks and firefighters in action. This means a burning building is nearby.
Now imagine an evil alien approaches with a vaporizing gun and aims it at all the fire trucks and firefighters, making them instantly vanish.
But the alien leaves the burning building alone.
You no longer have the fire trucks and firefighters; they are GONE. However, does this mean that the burning building, too, is gone?
Likewise, think of bad cholesterol numbers as the fire trucks and firefighters, and clogged arteries (coronary heart disease) as the burning building.
A drug lower the bad cholesterol numbers, making them “vanish.” But wait a minute – what about the actual problem—the burning building? You get the picture.
In short, there is a disease process that’s causing a symptom, and that symptom is blocked arteries.
One of the biggest causes of this disease process is a pro-inflammatory diet, one that promotes inflammation all throughout the body, including the insides of coronary arteries.
“The best way to unclog arteries is to eat healthy,” says Susan L. Besser, MD, with Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore, and Diplomate American Board of Obesity Medicine and board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
“A low cholesterol diet will help, as will foods with omega 3 fatty acids (they stabilize the plaque that is already there),” continues Dr. Besser.
“A good diet is the Mediterranean diet; it’s lower in red meats, uses fish as a primary protein source and uses olive oil rather than a canola oil or lard for the fat.”
WARNING WARNING
Make sure you have not convinced yourself that you eat a Mediterranean diet just because you cook with olive oil!
It doesn’t matter if you have two-liter bottles of olive oil in your pantry.
If you’re eating a lot of processed foods (foods in boxes and cans), you are NOT on the Mediterranean diet.
The premise of this diet is foods in whole form. This means fish fresh from a butcher and broccoli from the produce section, not in a microwavable dinner box.
Can a vegan diet unclog arteries?
“A vegan diet will help also, of course, as there is less bad cholesterol in that type of diet, but if you are genetically predisposed to higher cholesterol, diet by itself won’t be enough,” says Dr. Besser.
Before you conclude that you’ve been dealt the genetic bad hand for clogged arteries, give all natural options a good chance.
This includes, ALONG with a plant-based, mostly natural diet, the supplements of aged garlic extract, green tea extract and turmeric.
Can exercise reduce soft plaque?
Shutterstock/MilanMarkovic78
Dr. Besser says, “It won’t reduce the plaque, but will certainly stabilize it so it’s less likely to be a problem.”
In addition to the above, if you’re overweight, lose the weight. If you smoke, stop.
If you’ve seemingly tried everything but your doctor still tells you that you have coronary heart disease or blocked arteries, there is a very intriguing explanation for why this condition might be so resistant to natural remedies: untreated sleep apnea.
Untreated sleep apnea has been strongly implicated in the development of coronary artery disease.
Logically, if it goes untreated for a long time, this may make it challenging to kick back the soft plaque with natural methods.
Dr. Besser provides comprehensive family care, treating common and acute primary conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Her ongoing approach allows her the opportunity to provide accurate and critical diagnoses of more complex conditions and disorders.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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