This month we honor both World Heart Day and National Cholesterol Education month, so it is a proper time to focus on the health of your arteries. One of the hallmarks of arteries throughout the body, compromising an estimated 50,000 miles of conduit, is their ability to be flexible with each heart beat to accept the wave of blood ejected from the heart 100,000 times a day with slight dilation and then constriction to baseline. One of the hallmarks of age, but not inevitable, is the loss of this vascular flexibility and the development of “arterial stiffness” and reduced blood flow. Can we work to preserve youthful arteries and arterial flexibility for optimal blood flow from head to toe?
What healthy arteries do
The aorta normally acts as an elastic reservoir:
During systole, it expands to accommodate part of the blood ejected by the heart.
During diastole, it recoils, helping sustain pressure and forward blood flow while the heart relaxes.
This cushioning action converts the heart’s intermittent pumping into smoother downstream flow. When the aorta stiffens, it absorbs less of each pulse, so pressure becomes more pulsatile.
Why stiffness matters
Stiffening changes the pressure load on both the heart and downstream organs:
Systolic pressure tends to rise because the artery cannot expand as easily.
Diastolic pressure may fall because elastic recoil and diastolic pressure support are reduced.
Pulse pressure—the difference between systolic and diastolic pressure—often widens.
Pressure waves travel faster and their reflections return earlier, adding to pressure during systole rather than supporting diastole. This increases the workload on the left ventricle.
Is it the same as atherosclerosis?
No. The distinction is:
Condition
Main problem
Arterial stiffness
The vessel wall does not expand and recoil normally.
Atherosclerosis
Plaque develops within the arterial wall and may narrow the lumen or cause thrombotic complications.
One of the frustrating aspects I have experienced in the last 4 decades of cardiology practice is the imprecision of measure arterial stiffness and blood flow in the clinic. Even measuring nitric oxide production, the molecule that can preserve arterial flexibility over time awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1998 (to 3 researchers), is a challenge. Nonetheless, focusing on arterial stiffness, arterial health, and optimal blood flow is important this month and every month.
Fortunately, there are natural substances that are known to support healthy nitric oxide production and arterial flexibility resulting in optimal blood flow to vital organs. For example, red spinach is a powerful source of dietary nitrates that can be converted in nitric oxide after chewing and swallowing. Red spinach has an advantage over green spinach in the very low or absent content of dietary oxalates. Black garlic, rich in sulfur, is another nutrient that supports healthy arteries working with optimal flexibility. Grapeseed extract and quercetin are 2 additional nutrients that favor healthy arteries, healthy endothelium, and support health blood flow.
Fortunately, Xtendlife has combined these ingredients and 9 more nutrients into a single formulation, VasQFlow, to support optimal nitric oxide production, support circulation to prevent cold hands or feet, support healthy blood pressure, and support oxygen delivery to cells and organs. If you are looking for assistance in maintaining flexible arteries and optimal blood flow, VasQFlow is my recommendation.
