Clear Plaque From Arteries Naturally with This Protocol

With age, your arteries begin to accumulate atherosclerotic plaque that over time will impede blood flow and can lead to a stroke, heart attack, or myocardial infarction. Calcium accumulation in the arteries is the final stage of atherosclerosis that's thought to be irreversible. However, if you read the literature, you'll find that there are indeed a few natural ways that you can clean out your arteries from the plaque and reduce your calcium. Number one, high-intensity interval training. There's an interesting relationship between intense exercise and calcium accumulation in the arteries over time. Too much exercise appears to be associated with higher amounts of calcium buildup in the arteries. However, a 2022 study on patients with stable coronary heart disease saw that six months of a specific HIT protocol resulted in significant reduction in plaque buildup from 49.5% to 48.3%, whereas it increased by 0.3% in the control group. A 1.2% decrease doesn't sound like a lot, but in the clinical trials, every 1% decrease in plaque size decreases the risk of cardiovascular events by up to 25%. Now that's massive. So what was the workout? What did they do? First, they warmed up for 10 minutes, running on a treadmill at 60-70% of their maximum heart rate. Then, they did 4 minutes of running at 85-95% of maximum heart rate, which is quite intense. After that, they did 3 minutes of running at 60-70%, repeated for 4 rounds. And lastly, they ended the workout with a 5-minute cooldown. They did this workout twice per week. Doing HIT training is otherwise great for your cardiovascular health, is going to increase your VO2 max and maintain good cardiac function, but apparently it can also decrease plaque size in people who already have plaque. Number 2, berberine. Berberine is a plant alkaloid that's been seen to reduce atherosclerotic plaque size and vulnerability in animal studies. In humans, a 2021 study on 21 patients with already existing atherosclerosis showed that berberine supplementation at a dose of 500mg a day for 4 months resulted in a 3.2% average decrease in plaque scores. The caveat is that it wasn't a randomized controlled trial and the method they used to assess this plaque wasn't the most accurate. But there is other evidence from human clinical trials to suggest that berberine might indeed reduce plaque size. Berberine lowers serum lipids like triglycerides, cholesterol and ApoB. It improves endothelial function which is a thin lining in blood vessels. It reduces the formation and migration of macrophages and vascular smooth muscle cells that start the accumulation of plaque. And berberine also reduces platelets that promote clotting as well as modulates the gut microbiome in a way that reduces the formation of TMAO which is a byproduct involved in atherosclerosis. You also have a lot of clinical trials showing that berberine supplementation at doses of 900-1500mg a day lowers total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides compared to placebo or just lifestyle modifications. Having lower lipoproteins in the blood reduces the progression of atherosclerotic plaque accumulation. 3. Natokinase Natokinase is an enzyme in natto that has blood pressure lowering, cholesterol lowering, antiplatelet, anti-clotting and anti-atherosclerotic properties. A 2017 randomness control trial on 82 patients saw that natokinase at a dose of 6000 fibrinolytic units per day for 26 weeks resulted in a 36.6% decrease in carotid plaque size and carotid artery intimal media thickness compared to baseline. There was another group that got 20mg of syndastatin which is a statin and that resulted in an 11.5% reduction. In another 2022 retrospective trial, natokinase supplementation at a dose of 10800 fibrinolytic units per day was seen to result in a 66.5-95.4% reduction in carotid plaque size. A dose of 3600 fibrinolytic units per day was ineffective, so it might be that you need at least 6000 fibrinolytic units per day of natokinase to see a significant decrease in plaque size. In addition to that, natokinase also lowers blood pressure and clotting. A 2023 meta-analysis of 6 randomness control trials found that natokinase supplementation even at low doses significantly lowered blood pressure and decreased blood cholesterol. Blood pressure was seen to decrease already at 2000 fibrinolytic units, but cholesterol and lipids decreased significantly only at over 10,000. Number 4, Vitamin K. Vitamin K2 has anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic properties. High dietary K2 intake is associated with reduced coronary artery calcification. When it comes to supplements, then a 2023 study saw that vitamin K2 supplementation at a dose of 720 micrograms a day combined with 25 micrograms of vitamin D3 resulted in a trend towards plaque regression. The effects were more significant in patients with a calcium score of over 400. This might mean that a high-dose K2 supplement is more effective in people with already high calcium scores. What about vitamin K1? It's often said that vitamin K2 is useful for the arteries and K1 is useful for the bones. However, a 2022 randomness control trial on people with diabetes saw that vitamin K1 supplementation of 10 milligrams a day for 3 months also decreased the likelihood of developing new calcifying lesions in the coronary arteries as well as the aorta compared to placebo. Now that's not plaque regression, but it's still slower progression, which is a good thing. So both vitamin K1 and K2 can improve atherosclerosis. Number 5, Garlic Extract. Garlic is a herbal food that's got antihypertensive, antiplatelet, anti-diabetic, anti-atherosclerotic, and anti-dyslipidemic effects as shown by mechanistic studies as well as human clinical trials. It's also been seen to help with atherosclerotic plaque. A few randomness control trials saw that aged garlic extract supplementation lowered coronary artery progression even when controlling for other variables. In a 2020 randomness control trial, aged garlic extract at a dose of 2400 milligrams a day for one year stopped coronary artery calcification progression, lowered inflammation, blood glucose, and blood pressure in patients at increased risk of cardiovascular events. But there's also another thing that garlic might actually help with healing the blood vessels. A 2019 double-blind placebo-controlled study on patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease showed that 2400 milligrams of aged garlic extract increased microcirculation and triggered wound healing in the blood vessels, which protected against atherosclerosis and resulted in increased blood flow. Another 2018 randomness trial demonstrated that 250 milligrams of aged garlic extract for 12 months slowed down atherosclerosis progression by reducing fat around the heart. So aged garlic extract is good for blood pressure, blood lipids, blood sugar, visceral fat, and plaque progression. Number 5, low LDL cholesterol. Now there's a lot of conflicting opinions about LDL cholesterol, whether or not it causes heart disease or not, but that's not the topic of this video. What we're talking about is can low LDL lead to plaque regression and slower progression? And the answer to that is yes. It has been demonstrated that if you have extremely low LDL levels, you effectively halt atherosclerotic plaque progression and even lead to its regression. At physiological levels of LDL, such as at 40 milligrams per deciliter, there aren't enough lipoproteins in the blood to get stuck in the endothelial wall. Keeping LDL at 40 milligrams per deciliter probably isn't needed to prevent heart disease if you don't have other risk factors, you're not overweight, you don't smoke, you don't have diabetes, etc., and you also don't have family history of heart disease. In that scenario, an LDL around 70 milligrams per deciliter appears to be kind of safe, but the 40 milligrams appears to be lower risk. But if you already have atherosclerotic plaque buildup and a higher calcium score, then keeping the LDL lower is a safer option in terms of slowing down the progression and leading to regression. There are many ways to achieve lower LDL. Some of the supplements I've mentioned already lower LDL, such as berberine, aged garlic extract, as well as high-dose nalokinase. From a dietary standpoint, you can reduce saturated fat and increase fiber intake, which are the two biggest levers for affecting blood cholesterol. Dietary cholesterol from eggs or other foods has no significant effect on blood cholesterol, with the exception of some individuals due to genetics. Eat vegetables, fruit, fish, nuts, seeds, whole grains, olive oil, olives, avocados, berries, and leaner meats. Dairy and eggs are also fine in moderation, but at the end of the day, you have to monitor your blood cholesterol and ApoB levels. Magnesium deficiency is quite bad for your cardiovascular health. Low magnesium status is independently associated with coronary artery calcification and carotid atherosclerosis. But I'm not talking about just getting enough magnesium. Excess phosphorus and calcium in relation to low magnesium will increase the odds of The optimal ratio for phosphorus and magnesium is around 1.5 or 2 to 1, 1.5 to 2 times more phosphorus than magnesium. But since the early 1900s, this ratio has increased 7-fold. People are eating 7 times more phosphorus than magnesium, which is too high. The recommended ratio of calcium to magnesium is around 2 to 1, both for daily dietary intake and supplementation. That's 2 times more calcium than magnesium. But in most countries, this ratio is more towards 3 times more calcium than magnesium, which is problematic. One obvious way to fix magnesium deficiency is to supplement it. And supplemental magnesium has also been seen to regress calcium buildup. In a 2019 randomness control trial, giving 507 mg of magnesium oxide a day for 2 years resulted in a significant regression in coronary artery calcification progression compared to the control group. The effects were greater in those with a calcium score of over 400. The caveat is that these were patients with chronic kidney disease and already existing calcification. In this 2019 study, they found an inverse relationship between magnesium status and carotid intima media thickness. The lower the magnesium levels, the higher the carotid plaque score. Like I said earlier, there's an interesting relationship between exercise and heart disease and calcium buildup in the arteries. Too much exercise can be pro-atherosclerotic, whereas not enough exercise will also increase the risk of heart disease. Check out this video next to see how much exercise is optimal for minimizing the risk of heart disease.