8 Foods That Clean Your Arteries and Can Prevent a Heart Attack

A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle.[1] The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck or jaw.[1] Often it occurs in the center or left side of the chest and lasts for more than a few minutes.[1] The discomfort may occasionally feel like heartburn.[1] Other symptoms may include shortness of breath, nausea, feeling faint, a cold sweat or feeling tired.[1] About 30% of people have atypical symptoms.[8] Women more often present without chest pain and instead have neck pain, arm pain or feel tired.[11] Among those over 75 years old, about 5% have had an MI with little or no history of symptoms.[12] An MI may cause heart failure, an irregular heartbeat, cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest.[3][4]

Most MIs occur due to coronary artery disease.[3] Risk factors include high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, lack of exercise, obesity, high blood cholesterol, poor diet and excessive alcohol intake.[5][6] The complete blockage of a coronary artery caused by a rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque is usually the underlying mechanism of an MI.[3] MIs are less commonly caused by coronary artery spasms, which may be due to cocaine, significant emotional stress (commonly known as Takotsubo syndrome or broken heart syndrome) and extreme cold, among others.[13][14] A number of tests are useful to help with diagnosis, including electrocardiograms (ECGs), blood tests and coronary angiography.[7] An ECG, which is a recording of the heart's electrical activity, may confirm an ST elevation MI (STEMI), if ST elevation is present.[8][15] Commonly used blood tests include troponin and less often creatine kinase MB.[7]

Treatment of an MI is time-critical.[16] Aspirin is an appropriate immediate treatment for a suspected MI.[9] Nitroglycerin or opioids may be used to help with chest pain; however, they do not improve overall outcomes.[8][9] Supplemental oxygen is recommended in those with low oxygen levels or shortness of breath.[9] In a STEMI, treatments attempt to restore blood flow to the heart and include percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), where the arteries are pushed open and may be stented, or thrombolysis, where the blockage is removed using medications.[8] People who have a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) are often managed with the blood thinner heparin, with the additional use of PCI in those at high risk.[9] In people with blockages of multiple coronary arteries and diabetes, coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) may be recommended rather than angioplasty.[17] After an MI, lifestyle modifications, along with long-term treatment with aspirin, beta blockers and statins, are typically recommended.[8]

Worldwide, about 15.9 million myocardial infarctions occurred in 2015.[10] More than 3 million people had an ST elevation MI, and more than 4 million had an NSTEMI.[18] STEMIs occur about twice as often in men as women.[19] About one million people have an MI each year in the United States.[3] In the developed world, the risk of death in those who have had an STEMI is about 10%.[8] Rates of MI for a given age have decreased globally between 1990 and 2010.[20] In 2011, an MI was one of the top five most expensive conditions during inpatient hospitalizations in the US, with a cost of about $11.5 billion for 612,000 hospital stays.[21]

[hibiscus]

1. walnuts
2. fish
3. citrus fruits
4. flaxseeds
5. turmeric
6. cinnamon
7. pomegranates
8. green tea

[edwardp]

I'm glad to know that I am eating a majority of the food mentioned daily. I appreciate this video, because it's not filled with a bunch of babbling and wordsmithing to make the video longer, as is the case with so many medical videos on YouTube. Thank you for the valuable information without wasting everybody's time! I look forward to watching other videos you generate!

[revivingmind]

This video is very useful as it gives older adults knowledge on food and can help them change their diet to a healthy and balanced one. Just like in reviving mind, we encourage people our age to take note and be cautious of the food that they intake. They should be able to balance their diet in order to maintain healthy nutrition and wellbeing.

[labyrinth]

You havn't mentioned about the goodness of garlic as such ... thank you.

[Lue_Jonin]

I eat all of these except I don't remember ever eating a pomegranate .... Maybe I did back when I lived on Hawaii
Turmeric is awesome on baked chicken and I eat cinnamon for breakfast on wheat toast and honey.... or in my oatmeal with honey and black berries.
Never bought flaxseed but I'm pretty sure it's in some of the multigrain breads I eat.... For citrus I like lemons.... Great added to my tea.... Love fish and I prefer canned salmon to fillets, great for salon patties 😊 👍 Walnuts I mix with other super nuts like almonds and pistachios.
Walnuts are perfect to add to baked treats like brownies or oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. 🍪

[melvinlee]

All of this is good to know. You should also consider eating in moderation and only eating twice daily and sometimes once daily. If you can skip an occasional day, even better. This will help clean your arteries and also help you to lose weight!

[mariposa]

Very informative tnx) actually thiese are exactly the products I feel phisically really nessecary to take from time to time..
) - apparently the body feels what it needs💜

[johnludlam]

I think grapefruit is contra indicated for my meds .

[coronadaking]

Thank you for the great information ❤👍

[hubdormans]

Thanks for uploading, but the voice over sounds smoked damaged?
To everyone:don’t smoke whatever it is!

[LauraB.]

Sugar and carbs, especially processed ones, are what cause arteries to get gummy, so instead of focusing on eating these things, which does no good if you’re still eating an overall crappy diet and eating too often, which spikes insulin and keeps inflammation high, focus on eliminating sugar and processed carbs.

[waltergreen]

The only time I eat cinnamon is when it's on a doughnut

[celestesand]

What about coconut oils? Good or bad? Or avocados? Or oats??

[phylliscaporino]

Can these foods unclog arteries if u have any clogged arteries

[Sharperthanu]

Tuna contains sixty percent Mercury.All fish that are originally large and cut up are high in mercury.

[BCSTS]

Compared to fish, flaxseed is not that high in omega 3....& it has to be converted

[adrianvasile]

Why berries and garlic are not on this list?

[rbrown]

Thank you. This is quite helpful. However, you have used the word “ton” lots of times, when actually I think you mean, “quite a lot”.
A ton is an extremely heavy measurement of weight (like a bus might weigh a ton!) and it’s a huge exaggeration to say that flaxseeds have a ton of something to help the heart. We don’t need a ton - we need two tablespoons daily.
Whenever I hear someone saying a ton, I just think it sounds like a way of trying to convince others. It would sound more realistic if you used words like, “lots” or “quite a lot” .

[michaelangelo]

But some say flaxseed are not great for men for other reasons.

[digitallifeline]

Oh cinnamon, where you gonna run to???