Best supplements for your heart health

Dietary and lifestyle factors play a huge role in the onset and progression of heart disease. It is already well-known that smoking, chronic stress, sedentary lifestyle and most importantly, poor diet (one loaded with processed foods and refined carbohydrates) increase your risk of heart disease. These factors also increase your chances of developing conditions like insulin resistance, diabetes and weight gain, which are known to damage heart health in several ways.

It seems nutritional deficiencies is another factor, though largely overlooked, that increases your risk of heart disease. Studies shows that certain nutrients such as Coq10, vitamin D, vitamin C and magnesium are exceptionally beneficial when it comes to supporting your heart health and function. And deficiencies in these vitamins and minerals are known to adversely affect your heart health.

Most importantly, these nutrients function as antioxidants and help limit the oxidative damage caused by free radicals. This is an important mechanism because oxidative damage leads to chronic inflammation – the root cause of heart disease and many other conditions such as arthritis, obesity, insulin resistance, auto-immune disorders, cancer and neuro-degenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Chronic inflammation and heart disease

Short term inflammation is necessary. This is how your body fights infections and repairs its damaged tissues. Signs such as redness, pain, heat and swelling around the site of injury are usually the signs that your immune system has initiated reactions that will eventually help the body fight harmful triggers and heal itself. Ideally, these reactions are temporary, and the signs of pain and discomfort are short lived.

But sometimes, you are continuously exposed to triggers, for example a persistent infection, chronic disease, exposure to chemicals and toxins in the environment and more. This stimulates your immune system to keep firing inflammatory responses in a bid to destroy the harmful stimuli. This is when inflammation just stays and becomes ‘chronic’.

Oxidation is one of the biggest contributors of chronic inflammation in the body. It happens when free radicals damage the structure and functions of cellular components such as lipids, DNA and proteins. High sugar levels, high blood pressure, diet rich in refined carbohydrates and vegetable oils, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, chronic stress, long-term infections and chronic lack of sleep are some of the factors that overload the body with excessive free radicals.

The oxidation of LDL particles within the arteries is one of the main steps in the development of atherosclerosis – a process where plaque deposits make arteries thick and hard, reducing the flow of blood to the heart and increasing the risk of heart attack. Oxidation alters the structure of LDL particles. Your immune system sees these modified particles as foreign and launches a response that encourages inflammation and irritation in the endothelium – a thin, delicate layer of cells that line the inside of the blood vessels. This leads to an increased build-up of fatty deposits or plaque in the arteries.

Coming back to the supplements, their function as powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatories is one of the main mechanisms through which they boost your heart health and lower the risk of heart disease. Of course, these supplements work towards supporting your heart health in a lot of other important ways too.

Supplements to boost your heart health

Coq10

If there is one single most important nutrient for your heart, it has to be CoQ10. Studies show that this vitamin like substance, produced by almost every cell in your body, offers extraordinary benefits to your heart health. There is a decline in the natural production of CoQ10 in the body as you grow older and that’s why you need additional support from outside, which comes in the form of supplements.

CoQ10 supplements are believed to be a safe and useful in managing chronic heart failure [1] [2], improving endothelial functions [3] [4], limiting muscle damage caused by a heart attack, reducing blood pressure and improving angina symptoms.

How CoQ10 works?

A critical ingredient to make energy in the body. Your heart is one of the most energy demanding organs and requires constant energy support to do its job day and night.
Prevents the oxidation of LDL particles circulating in the bloodstream, limiting inflammation in the arteries.
Helps the body to regenerate and reuse other antioxidants like vitamin E and C, further improving the antioxidant quotient of the body.

Magnesium

Magnesium is an extremely important mineral for your cardiovascular health, and unfortunately, not many people are aware of this role. Worse yet, most people today have a seriously low magnesium profile due to the prevalence of chronic diseases, unhealthy food choices, overuse of medications, stress and reduced content of magnesium in soil and food crops.

A 2018 review highlighted that magnesium deficiency is associated with many aspects of heart disease such as hypertension, calcification in soft tissues, atherosclerosis, arrhythmias, heart failure, heart attack, sudden cardiac death and increased risk of thrombosis – suggesting that “subclinical magnesium deficiency is a principal, yet under-recognised, driver of cardiovascular disease” [5]

Studies also show that increased intake of magnesium may reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death, coronary heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. It also reduces the levels of C-reactive protein, marker of inflammation in the body. [6] [7]

How magnesium works?

Relaxes blood vessels and reduces blood pressure
Prevents calcium build-up in the blood vessels. Excessive calcification in the arteries, due to magnesium deficiency, increases the risk of plaque formation and heart disease.
Reduces stress, another major risk factor for heart disease.
It helps in energy production in the mitochondria. Magnesium is required for the production as well as activation of ATP, the energy currency.

This article from the Weston A. Price Foundation perfectly sums up the role of magnesium: “Magnesium shines brightest in cardiovascular health. It alone can fulfill the role of many common cardiac medications: magnesium inhibits blood clots (like aspirin), thins the blood (like Coumadin), blocks calcium uptake (like calcium channel-blocking drugs such as Procardia) and relaxes blood vessels (like ACE inhibitors such as Vasotec)” [8]

Vitamin D3 and K2

Vitamin D3 is widely known for its role in calcium absorption and making bones strong and healthy. Studies, however, show that it is an incredibly important vitamin for your heart too. Low vitamin D encourages atherosclerosis by increasing vascular inflammation and reduced endothelial functions [9].

Vitamin D deficiency also increases the risk of conditions that are associated with heart disease, such as high blood pressure, insulin resistance and calcium deposits in arteries. Poor vitamin D status in the body, therefore, puts one at an increased risk of developing heart failure, heart attack, stroke and peripheral arterial disease. [10]

How it works?

Reduces inflammation
Improves endothelial functions
Reduces blood pressure
Improves insulin sensitivity

While you need vitamin D3 to absorb calcium from foods and supplements, you still need some help to mobilize and use this calcium more effectively. You want calcium to move to your bones and stay away from arteries and other soft tissues. This is where vitamin K2 helps.

Vitamin K2 works in two primary ways to prevent calcification of arteries. One, it activates an enzyme called Matrix Gla-protein (MGP), one of the most potent inhibitor of calcification in the arteries known to us [11]. MGP binds to the calcium in the blood vessels and gets it out of there.

Vitamin K2 also activates another protein called osteocalcin, that binds to the circulating calcium and moves it towards the bones. Studies have found that people with healthy levels of vitamin K2 have reduced risk of arterial calcification and death from coronary heart disease. [12] [13]

Vitamin C

Known for its role in boosting the immune health, vitamin C is also a very heart healthy nutrient. As a powerful anti-oxidant, vitamin C inhibits LDL oxidation, thus lowering the risk of atherosclerosis. Vitamin C also increases the levels of nitric oxide (NO) in the endothelium. NO is a vasodilator that relaxes blood vessels and improves the health and function of endothelium. This NO-related benefit is important as endothelium dysfunction plays a crucial role in the progression of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

Vitamin C also helps in the synthesis of collagen – a protein present in most connective tissues, including the arteries. Vitamin C deficiency makes the arteries weak and highly prone to injury by free radicals, and to the resulting inflammation and plaque formation.

L-Carnitine

L-carnitine is a nutrient with a very interesting (and equally important) task. It transports fatty acids into the mitochondria, the energy factories of the cells. The mitochondria then will process, or burn, these fats to produce energy.

This 2018 review highlights how L-carnitine offers cardioprotective effects through various mechanisms. For example, it reduces oxidative stress and inflammation. In addition, L-carnitine regulates calcium influx and maintains the integrity of the endothelium. The review states that exogenous carnitine administration protects against “ventricular dysfunction, ischemia-reperfusion injury, cardiac arrhythmia and toxic myocardial injury that prominently mark CVD.” It also lowers risk factors that increase your cardiovascular disease risk such as high blood pressure, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance and obesity. [14]

A randomized, placebo-controlled trial found that taking a L-carnitine supplement at a dose of 1,000 mg/d lowers oxidative stress and increases the activities of antioxidant enzymes in patients with coronary artery disease. [15]

Lifestyle modification is by far the best strategy to lower the risk of inflammation and heart disease. Exercise, reducing stress, getting enough sleep and including a healthy meal comprising of fruits, vegetables, nuts and omega 3 fatty acids are some proven ways to keep your heart in shape. Supplements like CoQ10, magnesium, vitamin C and vitamin D also contribute towards mitigating a lot of risk factors associated with poor heart health.

References:

A Sharma et al. Coenzyme Q10 and Heart Failure. A State-of-the-Art Review. Circulation. Heart Failure. 2016.
Mortensen SA et al. The effect of coenzyme Q10 on morbidity and mortality in chronic heart failure: results from Q-SYMBIO: a randomized double-blind trial. JACC Heart Fail. 2014
Hamilton et al. Coenzyme Q10 improves endothelial dysfunction in statin-treated type 2 diabetic patients. Diabetes Care. 2009
Dai et al. Reversal of mitochondrial dysfunction by coenzyme Q10 supplement improves endothelial function in patients with ischaemic left ventricular systolic dysfunction: a randomized controlled trial. Atherosclerosis. 2011
DiNicolantonio et al. Subclinical magnesium deficiency: a principal driver of cardiovascular disease and a public health crisis. Open Heart. 2018
Xuexian Fang et al. Dietary magnesium intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and all-cause mortality: a dose–response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. BMC Medicine. 2016.
Dibaba DT, Xun P, He K. Dietary magnesium intake is inversely associated with serum C-reactive protein levels: meta-analysis and systematic review. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2014
Sylvia Onusic. Your Body on Drugs. The Weston A. Price Foundation. 2012
Mozos et al. Links between Vitamin D Deficiency and Cardiovascular Diseases. BioMed Research International. 2015
Erin Michos. Vitamin D and the Heart. Heart and Vascular Institute. Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Theuwissen et al. The Role of Vitamin K in Soft-Tissue Calcification. Advances in Nutrition. 2012.
Johanna M. Geleijnse et al. Dietary Intake of Menaquinone Is Associated with a Reduced Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: The Rotterdam Study. The Journal of Nutrition. 2004.
G.C. Gast et al. A High Menaquinone Intake Reduces the Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease. Nutr. Metab. Cardiovasc. Dis. 2009.
Wang et al. l-Carnitine and heart disease. Life Sciences. Volume 194, 1 February 2018, Pages 88-97
Lee et al. Effects of L-carnitine supplementation on oxidative stress and antioxidant enzymes activities in patients with coronary artery disease: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Nutrition Journal 2014