Heart health should be a priority for everyone. Heart attacks cause more deaths in the U.S. every year than every type of cancer combined, even though coronary artery disease, which causes them, is mostly preventable.
Your heart health is determined by a combination of your family history as well as factors like high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol.
When you know your risk for a heart attack, you can take steps to reduce them. Many of the best things you can do for the health of your heart involve taking the right vitamins and supplements and eight of those options are detailed below.
1. Fiber
Fiber doesn’t necessarily have to be taken in supplement form, but if you’re not getting them from your diet, it can be.
Fiber is naturally found in vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes. When you have fiber, it reduces the amount of cholesterol your body absorbs from food. You should try to get anywhere from 25 to 30 grams of fiber every day. That goes up to 38 grams a day for men younger than 51.
If you’re going to supplement to get adequate fiber, you might want to choose something with blond psyllium husk. Blond psyllium husk can lower your bad LDL cholesterol and raise good cholesterol, which is HDL.
If you’re going to take a fiber supplement, increase the amount you take slowly to prevent cramping and gas.
2. Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids are widely supported by scientific research to help improve your overall wellness and your heart health.
There’s now even a prescription version of omega-3 fatty acids called O3AEE, which is approved by the FDA for the treatment of high triglycerides.
In a trial looking at that medication, people taking it had a cardiovascular death rate that was reduced by 19%.
You can also supplement with omega-3 fatty acids using over-the-counter fish oil supplements, or you can add more fatty fish like salmon and mackerel into your diet.
3. Red Rice Yeast
As has been mentioned, high total cholesterol and high LDL, which is bad cholesterol, are two key risk factors linked to the development of coronary heart disease.
Red rice yeast is an over-the-counter supplement that can help improve your cholesterol profile.
Red rice yeast has something called monacolin K.
Monacolin K has the same chemical structure as lovastatin, a prescription statin used to lower cholesterol.
Red rice yeast is considered a safe and effective supplement if you have mildly or moderately elevated cholesterol.
4. Magnesium
Magnesium is something that our entire bodies need to function properly, yet it’s also something Americans are commonly deficient in. As much as 50% of Americans may have some level of magnesium deficiency.
Low magnesium levels are associated with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and plaque buildup. If you take a magnesium supplement, it can lower your cortisol levels as well. Cortisol is your primary stress hormone. When you have high cortisol levels, it negatively affects your blood sugar levels and raises inflammation.
In one study, magnesium was found to help lower blood pressure by up to 12 points, improve insulin resistance and reduce the risk of a heart attack.
5. Folic Acid
Folic acid, also known as folate, is a B vitamin. It can potentially lower the risk of heart attack and stroke in individuals who have high blood pressure. It’s best to get folate from food sources like citrus fruit and vegetables, but some people may need a supplement. People with inflammatory bowel disease or celiac disease may need a supplement, for example.
If you’re deficient, there aren’t any known risks of taking a folic acid supplement on a daily basis.
6. CoQ10
CoQ10 is something that naturally occurs in your body, and you can get it from your diet. It’s found in foods like salmon and tuna. If you add a CoQ10 supplement when you don’t think you’re getting enough from your diet, it can help lower blood pressure.
In one study, taking CoQ10 helped with high cholesterol as well as lowering blood pressure after using it daily for 12 weeks.
7. Inositol
Inositol is a carbohydrate that naturally occurs in your body, and it’s in some foods and supplements.
Inositol can help control blood sugar levels in your body because it produces molecules involved in the action of insulin in your cells. In a study of women who took four grams of inositol each day, they had improved insulin sensitivity and also better levels of blood pressure and cholesterol. These are all things that can lower your risk of heart disease.
Using inositol as a supplement has a lot of other compelling potential benefits as well.
For example, inositol affects the processes of making neurotransmitters. Serotonin is one of the most important neurotransmitters affected by inositol. Serotonin affects your mood and behavior, and taking inositol supplements may improve symptoms of anxiety disorders like OCD, panic disorder, and PTSD.
There’s also a growing amount of evidence that inositol can help improve fertility in women with PCOS, which is a syndrome that occurs when a woman’s body produces abnormally high levels of some hormones.
8. Vitamin D
A relatively new study released at the start of this year found vitamin D deficiency might increase the risk of heart disease.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, also known as the sunshine vitamin. While we can synthesize it from the sun, many people are deficient.
In the new study, researchers observed that there appeared to be a relationship between vitamin D concentrations and blood pressure levels. Still, more research needs to be done, but vitamin D is important in other ways as well.
Vitamin D can play a role in immune health and reduce the risk of conditions like multiple sclerosis. Low vitamin D levels seem to relate to more severe infections when people get sick, and adequate vitamin D levels help regulate mood and reduce depression.
Vitamin D deficiency can arise from using sunscreen, spending most of your time indoors, living in a very polluted area, and having darker skin. When you have higher levels of melanin, your body absorbs less vitamin D.
