Heart Smart Vitamins & Minerals


Heart Smart Vitamins & Minerals

Coupled with exercise and diet, research shows that certain vitamins and minerals can help enhance the health of your heart. We have chosen five of the most important dietary supplements to assist you in selecting which vitamins and minerals may best benefit you in your quest for cardiovascular strength and vitality.

Vitamin C Vitamin E Potassium Beta Carotene Selenium

Vitamin C
Of all the vitamins essential for your body, Vitamin C is the most misunderstood. While important for boosting a weak immune system, Vitamin C also acts as an antioxidant and works to prevent a host of illnesses and diseases. Acting as an antioxidant, one of vitamin C's most important functions is to protect LDL cholesterol from oxidative damage. (Only when LDL is damaged does cholesterol appear to lead to heart disease, and vitamin C may be one of the most important antioxidant protectors of LDL.) Vitamin C may also protect against heart disease by reducing the stiffness of arteries and the tendency of platelets to clump together. Read more...

Vitamin E
Vitamin E is the heart smart vitamin. A potent and well-researched antioxidant necessary in human nutrition, Vitamin E acts to prevent "bad" cholesterol and, subsequently, heart disease. By protecting cell membranes and other fat-soluble parts of the body from damage, Vitamin E helps regulate the health of your entire cardiovascular system. Read more...

Potassium
If monkeys eat as many bananas in the wild as they do on television, there is no way that any of them will ever suffer from high blood pressure. That's because potassium--in humans, anyway--is a key factor in keeping blood pressure at the right level for maximum cardiovascular health. Aside from its miraculous effect on blood pressure, potassium is also necessary for good muscle contraction, healthy electrical activity in the heart and rapid transmission of nerve impulses throughout the body. This is why heartbeat irregularities are considered a classic sign of potassium deficiency. Read more...

Beta Carotene
Although sometimes overshadowed in the lab by vitamin E, beta-carotene, the nutrient that gives carrots their color, is a champion on the dinner plate when it comes to fighting heart disease. One study after another touts the heart-healthy benefits of beta-carotene, beginning with the Physicians' Health Study at Harvard Medical School. In this study, a group of 333 men between the ages of 40 and 84 who had severe heart disease were given 50 milligrams (83,000 international units) of beta-carotene every other day. Beta-carotene had no effect on the men's conditions during the first year. But from the second year on, the men's risk of heart attack was literally cut in half. Read more...

Selenium
Although its effect on viruses is probably selenium's most dramatic achievement, the mineral has other important roles in the body as well. Mainly, it activates substances that protect the heart from muscle damage. The secret of selenium is that it provides antioxidant protection by destroying free radicals while fortifying heart energy cells and aiding in the production of antibodies. Read more...

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