Quick Answer: And while there is no drink that serves as a “pipe cleaner,” able to dissolve plaque once you have it, certain beverages can stop the progression of artery stiffening, subside inflammation and improve blood flow. The greatest scientifically proven method utilizes three pathways, enlarged blood vessels due to Nitric Oxide (Beetroot Juice), no oxidation of LDL (Pomegranate juice) and de-calsifies soft tissues of the body (Fermented Kefir). The efficacy of these drinks relies entirely on process — like no mouthwash when drinking beet juice, in order to maintain crucial bacteria.
For The ”Diagnosed Worried”: Nitric Oxide Protocol
Visitors: Middle-aged people newly diagnosed with high blood pressure or cholesterol.
If your most recent physical or conversation with your health care provider had some caution signals, your fast goal isn’t to simply “clean” the arteries, but to relax them. Arteries are hard; they’re supposed to be soft.
The Answer: Fresh Beetroot Juice (The Vasodilator)
When it comes to arteries most people believe cholesterol is the only foe, but equally hazardous is arterial stiffness. Dietary nitrates can be rich in beetroot. When you eat them, your body changes these nitrates into Nitric Oxide (NO). Now, imagine NO as a signal that passes along your blood vessels saying, “Relax and open up so water can flow faster-freeing pressure away from the wall of my hose.”
The Protocol:
- Selection: Buy raw beets, not the pickled ones from jars (which contain lots of sodium).
- Preparation: Juicing raw beets is more effective than cooking them because heat degrades the nitrates.
- The Mix Beet juice is strong and earthy. Throw in 1 medium beet plus 1 apple and a stalk of celery and you hardly taste the torture.
- Frequency: Consume 250ml of juice per day.
The Counter-Intuitive Critical Step:
Do not use antiseptic mouthwash.
This is where the majority of people fall down. The process of transforming nitrates (from the beet) to nitrites, and then finally to Nitric Oxide occurs in your mouth, produced by bacteria located on your tongue! If you swish with a strong antibacterial mouthwash (like Listerine) or if you are taking any antibiotics that pseudomonas has resistance to and follow immediately with juice, stopping the process of aluminum chemistry in your saliva! You will drink the juice, but get hardly any heart benefits at all.
For The Home Remedy Hunter: The Anti-Inflammatory Booster
Intended Audience: People who do not trust medicines and like the printed herbal/ancient-hark back.
That’s probably because you see the body as a self-repairing machine. The medical industry tends to treat the symptom (cholesterol), but what you want is for it to address the cause: Inflammation. Cholesterol frequently patches and fills in arteries that are inflamed or otherwise damaged, meaning if you reduce the inflammation, your body will stop putting down the “patch.”
The Answer: The Liposomal Golden Milk (Turmeric 2.0)
Drinking plain turmeric tea or throwing powder into water is in large part useless as Curcumin (the active ingredient) has abysmal bioavailability—your liver makes sure to nearly immediately purge it out. You have to hack your digestion in order for it to be absorbed.
The Protocol:
- The Base: Substitute 1 cup unsweetened almond or oat milk. Water is not enough, because Curcumin is fat-soluble.
- The Activators:
- 1 teaspoon of good quality Turmeric powder.
- Critical Add: 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
- Important Add: 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil or ghee.
- The Process: Heat the milk (not boiling hot) and whisk in the ingredients. Simmer for 5 minutes.
The Logic:
The black pepper contains piperine. Studies indicate piperine can enhance the bio- availability of curcumin by up to 2000%. The fat (oil/ghee) enables the curcumin to escape the liver’s first pass metabolism and get absorbed into the blood. Without the pepper and the fat, you’re just drinking expensive yellow water.” This drink addresses the underlying systemic inflammation that makes arterial walls sticky in the first place.
For the “Quick Fix” Balancer: The Oxidation Shield
Intendedd Use: Daredevils who run out of healthy food.
You may be stress-eating greasy food, and you need something heavy to neutralize the damage. Because it’s not just loose LDL cholesterol floating around that’s the problem — it’s when that cholesterol “rusts” (oxidizes) and adheres to your artery walls.
The Remedy: 100% Pure Punica Extract
Pomegranate is special because it not only help to preserve Nitric Oxide from oxidative stress, but it also protect it from degradation. It acts as a shield. It Is 3X the Antioxidant as Red Wine or Green Tea.
The Protocol:
- Sourcing: Do not attempt with “Pomegranate Cocktail” or blends. For “100% Juice, Not from Concentrate.”
- Dosage: You don’t need a lot in your glass. 2 to 3 ounces (60-90 ml) is all you need.
- Timing: Have this with your biggest meal of the day.
The Logic:
Consider LDL cholesterol the butter. New made butter is a soft mass of greasy matter in form like the brains, which it will resemble that has any brain. Rancid (oxidized) butter is stiff and tacky. Pomegranate juice keeps the LDL cholesterol in your blood from oxidizing. According to studies, regular consumption can even decrease the thickness of arterial media (the wall of the artery) over a year, effectively scrubbing the “rust” off your pipes.
V Created For The Worried Caretaker: The Calcium Redirector
Target Audience: Individuals who have Elderly Parents at risk of calcification.
For older people, the problem is often calcification — calcium deposits in the arteries rather than in the bones. That is why many old people have brittle bones (Osteoporosis)and hard arteries. We’re in need of a drink that can assist us in relocating calcium to the right address.
The Fix: Make Your Own Kefir (For Vitamin K2)
Most heart-health related articles recommend keeping away from those as well but fermented full-fat dairy aka Kefir is loaded with Vitamin K2 (Menaquinone).
The Logic:
Vitamin K1 (in greens) clots blood, but Vitamin K2 is the traffic cop for calcium. It’s an enabler of the protein Matrix Gla Protein (MGP), which actually removes calcium from soft tissues – such as arteries – and relocates it to where it should be, in the skeletal system.
The Protocol:
- Kind: Most Kefir you buy from the store is full of sugar and pasteurized after fermentation (killing all the good stuff). Homemade is ideal, or search for “plain, full fat.”
- Serving: Small, daily servings (100ml is recommended by Direct Line) are better than huge one-off ones.
- Synergy: Make sure the patient is also taking Vitamin D (with vitamin K2, as they work together).
Why it’s good for the elderly:
Unlike acid juices which can be irritating to sensitive stomachs or interfere with blood thinners (as grapefruit juice will do), plain Kefir is very soothing to the gut and promotes the immune system, providing help for arterial calcification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it recommended not to use mouthwash when you drink beetroot juice for the heart?
For the nitrates in beetroot juice to be changed into blood flow boosting Nitric Oxide, certain bacteria on your tongue are required. Antiseptic mouthwash is then used to kill the bacteria, effectively preventing the chemical reaction and rendering void the cardiovascular effects of the juice.
Does drinking plain turmeric tea help to alleviate inflammation?
No, drinking just plain turmeric doesn’t help much because Curcumin is not well absorbed by the body. Black pepper and a fat (coconut oil, ghee etc) while taking will increase the absorption by 2000%.
What is way of pomegranate juice lowering cholesterol in the arteries?
Pomegranate juice doesn’t merely reduce cholesterol, it has been shown to prevent LDL cholesterol from oxidizing (or rusting) and then becoming sticky. This prevents plaque from sticking to artery walls, and maintains Nitric Oxide levels in order to keep blood vessels soft and flexible.
Why is fermented drink Kefir good for hardening of arteries?
Full-fat Kefir is a high source of Vitamin K2, which activates proteins that take calcium out of the soft tissues and add it to our bones. This contributes to the prevention of clogging arteries and even healthy bones.
Is it beets, or cooked beets? Or raw? What’s best for blood pressure support?
Beets should be juiced raw. Cooking destroys the beneficial dietary nitrates for Nitric Oxide production, therefore fresh raw juice is more powerful in promoting relaxation of blood vessels than cooked preparations.
References
Nitric Oxide & Beetroot:
- Organization: The William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London.
- Study: Kapil, V., et al. (2015). “Long-term blood pressure-lowering effects of nitrate can be induced with a high-nitrate supplement while taste perception is suppressed.”
- Key Finding: Daily intake of dietary nitrate (beetroot juice) was associated with decreased blood pressure versus placebo that was associated with increased plasma nitrite concentration.
- = Factor Mouthwash: Govoni, M., et al. (2008). Hypertension. Demonstrated that antibacterial mouthwash suppresses the nitrate-to-nitrite reduction, removing the protection on cardiovascular events.
Turmeric & Bioavailability:
- Organization: St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore.
- Study: Shoba, G., et al. (1998). Effects of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers.
- Important Note: Piperine (black pepper) added to cause 2000% increase in bioavailability of curcumin.
Pomegranate & Atherosclerosis:
- Corresponding Author: Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.
- Study: Aviram, M., et al. (2004). “Pomegranate juice consumption for 3 years by patients with carotid artery stenosis reduces common carotid intima-media thickness, blood pressure and LDL oxidation.”.
- The Bottom Line: Patients who drank pomegranate juice experienced a 30% decrease in artery wall thickness after a year.
Vitamin K2 & Calcification:
- Organism: The Rotterdam Study (Erasmus Medical Center).
- Study: Geleijnse, J.M., and others. (2004). “Dietary menaquinone intake is associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease: the Rotterdam Study.”
- Key Findings: High intakes of Vitamin K2 were associated with less coronary calcification and a 50% lower death rate from CHD.
