By Dr. Faisal
Your heart is the powerhouse of your body. Putting stress on your heart puts your entire body in jeopardy. The blue/purple coloring of blueberries is from anthocyanin which have shown to severely decrease the risk for heart disease.
Anthocyanin aids lipids in the blood and help ward off plaque formed in artery walls. This plaque is from bad, fatty cholesterol reaching dangerous levels. In the typical American diet, it is not uncommon for high cholesterol to mount overtime from an overly processed, high sodium, nutrient-lacking diet.
Unfortunately, the stereotyped American diet composes of foods made for instant satisfaction as well as instant production. When these two concepts of consumption are combined, you rob yourself of whole foods derived from natural sources.
There are patterned dangers in plaque-ridden arteries:
1. Typically you don’t know it’s occurring. Build-up, just like reversing it, takes time. Your body, without you knowing it, will start to struggle circulating blood.
2. When this gradual circulation struggle occurs, your body’s muted warning cries can turn into a full blown scream when something like a stroke or heart attack occurs.
3. A heart attack occurs when the blood flow is so restricted it can no longer be pumped through the heart thus causing a sudden stop in the flow.
Being overweight, not exercising daily, and continuing to eat foods that not only don’t provide any sustainable nutritional value but also assist in the deterioration of your health can be the makings of a future sufferer of heart disease.
Now, blueberries’ anthocyanin (a subgroup of flavonoids) works to breakdown preexisting plaque-lined arteries. Additionally, coupled with diets already abundant in whole foods, the antioxidants and anthocyanin work together to prevent plaque buildup thus greatly reducing the threat of future heart disease.
No, you cannot ward off heart disease while simultaneously eating blueberries and McDonald’s. You can, however, star reversing the damage brought on by Big Macs with blueberries in a daily, whole food-style diet.
