Did you know that 1 out of 4 Americans will die from heart disease this year? But the good news is we can prevent and even reverse it. In our Diabetes UnDone classes, we’ve been discovering that perfect health depends on perfect circulation. So tonight we want to look at the question–“What can we eat to optimize better blood flow?” Plant foods can really help. In fact, there are some super stars that can really do that for us.

One of them is garlic. Garlic has been known for a long time for its beneficial impact on our circulation. Recent studies show that it lowers blood pressure by relaxing our blood vessels. We all like to feel relaxed, don’t we? When this happens in our blood vessels, we call it vasodilation. Here’s what it looks like in our blood vessels.

Lots of red blood vessels are freely flowing through this artery because the vessel is wide open. This happens when smooth muscles relax. But in the middle the muscles are being constricted or squeezed so there’s not so much room for the cells to get through. And that’s how pressure builds up and we have hypertension or high blood pressure. But foods like garlic keep our blood vessels wide open so the blood can flow like a swiftly moving stream.

Foods like kale, spinach and broccoli can also increase better blood flow. That’s because they’re high in nitrates. Your body takes those nitrates and turns it into nitric oxide, a very essential gas for healthy arteries and veins. In fact, it’s vital for preventing plaque buildup and the development of atherosclerosis. How does this work?

Here’s a picture of inside an artery. Along the edges it looks like there’s a wall but it’s actually a thin layer of cells known as the endothelium. This is where nitric oxide is produced.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn has conducted considerable research with nitric oxide and its impact on heart health. He is a leading heart surgeon at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. He is also the author of the life-changing book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. He has helped thousands prevent, recover and reverse heart disease. For many years, he saved people’s lives with emergency surgeries–performing open heart surgery. But he hated to see the suffering and pain that resulted from heart disease. He wanted to get at the root cause of this life-threatening disease. So he conducted global research and discovered heart disease was rarely found in places where people ate more beans, vegetables, whole grains and fruit. He also discovered that foods containing meat, dairy and refined oils deplete our bodies of nitric oxide and damage the endothelium.

“We have to have a safe and adequate amount of nitric oxide because it protects the walls of our arteries”–Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.

One of the foods that Dr. Esselstyn highly recommends is leafy greens. When he has a patient with heart disease, he recommends that they eat a large fistful of greens 3 times a day. Even if we don’t have heart disease, we should eat them once a day. It is one of the easiest ways you can help improve blood flow and increase nitric oxide. Some examples of heart-smart greens include cabbage, broccoli, bok choy, spinach, collards, beet greens, and Swiss chard.

Leafy green herbs also act as Nitric Oxide Boosters. Herbs like cilantro and flat-leaf parsley can help improve blood flow as well.

Tomatoes are another food that we can use for better heart health. Your heart loves tomatoes. That’s because they help reduce the activity of an angiotensin converting enzyme (known as ACE for short). ACE is an enemy for healthy circulation because it constricts or narrows our blood vessels, which often leads to high blood pressure. But research shows that tomatoes will do exactly the opposite: it will open up the vessels so their walls remain flexible and blood can move smoothly to every area of our body.  Eating tomatoes regularly is a natural way you can protect your heart from atherosclerosis.

Another way tomatoes protect your heart is through vitamin C. This powerful antioxidant reduces inflammation in the body. And inflammation is being seen as a major cause behind the heart disease epidemic in this country. Getting more vitamin C can reduce blood pressure and stiffness in the arteries while improving blood flow and nitric oxide production.  So let’s eat those oranges and grapefruit and veggies like tomatoes and bell peppers and give our hearts the vitamin it really loves.

Another food that will improve heart health is berries. Enjoy them for breakfast by adding mixed berries to a bowl of oatmeal or making a thick blueberry sauce to put over your waffles. Regularly eating berries can lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, improve your heart rate, and also open up blood vessels to improve blood flow.

Improving blood flow is my #1 goal for 2019–by eating more plant foods and going for walks every day. Because everything boils down to this–everything you and I do depends on a healthy heart. I think that’s why King Solomon once said, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Tonight we’ve been talking about the heart as a vital organ pumping rich blood to every cell in your body. But you can also look at the heart as your mind–which this wise king once did. When you have better blood flow from your heart, it will mean better blood flow to your brain. This translates into clearer thinking and making wiser decisions when it comes to eating or any other part of your life. So whether you’re talking about your body or a spiritual walk with God, everything depends upon a healthy heart.

And God will help us guard our hearts because He wants to give you total, vibrant health.  So who’d like to join me in making 2019 the year to love and protect your heart?