What Causes Arterial Stiffness & How To Reverse It Naturally?

Associated with an increased exposure to cardiovascular troubles like myocardial infarction and stroke, arterial stiffness is a lurking demon, which leads an individual into extreme health troubles. Arterial stiffness in other words is the rigidness in the blood vessels around the heart. To understand why such rigidness takes place in the arteries and how to reverse it naturally, we have to first evaluate the causes of arterial stiffness.

Arterial Stiffness Caused by Changes in Structural Proteins that alter the properties of vascular walls causing them to become rigid: The most common cause of experiencing rigidness in the arterial walls is the change in the structural proteins. Though this change can further be attributed to a number of other reasons, it is mainly through this reason that the arteries also change their properties and allow an accumulation on its walls. When the properties of these vascular walls are changed, the person faces the problem of arterial stiffness.

Aging is one of the natural processes of the body, and as it ages there is an increased lethargy in its working. It is due to this laziness that arterial stiffness can be attributed to growing age. It is only in a case where the person has maintained an exceptionally healthy regimen, that he/she dodge arterial stiffness caused by aging.

Any deposition in the walls of an artery can cause calcification and increased fibriosity of the artery, which in turn makes the artery stiff. This process of calcification happens on the arterial walls and this thickening of the arterial walls is the main cause of arterial stiffness.

Other than the above causes of arterial stiffness, there are a variety of other causes such as bad lifestyle and unhealthy body conditions, which can also cause such stiffness in the arteries. A few of such causes have been listed below to help you understand the underlying cause of experiencing arterial stiffness in early age:

• Smoking.
• Type 2 diabetes.
• Hypertension.
• Atherosclerosis.
• Obesity.
• Stress.
• Sedentary lifestyle.
• Lack of physical exercise.
• Too much alcohol.
• Inflammation due to certain diseases, such as arthritis.
• High amount of LDL cholesterol in the blood.

Though arterial stiffness is one of the alarming conditions, which is almost inevitable with growing age, yet it can be controlled or reversed naturally through practicing a healthy lifestyle and making the necessary changes in daily regimen. Some of the basic natural remedies for reversing arterial stiffness include the following:

Exercise or daily workout is your heart’s best friend. A racing heartbeat can cure quite a few of the human body ailments and among them is reversing of arterial stiffness. Exercise makes the blood vessels more elastic and in turn helps them stay healthy. A simple 30 minutes of physical workout of the body can result in miraculous changes for your body and your heart health. Walking, cycling, dancing, swimming, jogging, all come under this purview and can be counted as exercising and should be done to naturally reverse arterial stiffness.

If in case the person experiencing an arterial stiffness is a smoker, the best remedy to reverse this condition is through quitting smoking. When it is a problem as bad as this, it is best to attack it right at its origin and since smoking is the cause of arterial stiffness, quitting it should be the primary remedial action to reverse it naturally.

Fish, particularly salmon, is a food item that contains maximum amount of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. These good fats are helpful in decreasing the levels of harmful fats and increasing the levels of good cholesterol, which is the ideal solution to reversing arterial stiffness naturally. It is also recommended that the food of the patient with arterial stiffness be prepared in fish oil to help reverse it naturally.

Flax seeds are another rich source of omega 3 fats and help in reversing the stiffness of the arteries. Not only does the omega-3 fatty acid in flax seeds help cope with the arterial stiffness, but these seeds have also been found to be beneficial in reducing atherosclerosis, which is another cause of arterial stiffness.

Stress is a silent killer and is one of the major causes of arterial stiffness. Stress causes increase in the cholesterol level and blood pressure. Since rising cholesterol is a cause of arterial stiffness, reduction in the stress helps in managing the cholesterol and combat arterial stiffness naturally. Yoga, meditation and art of living are some common means of controlling stress as well as arterial stiffness.

One of the basic solutions to the problem of arterial stiffness is improving one’s lifestyle. Since it is the bad lifestyle that leads to arterial stiffness in the first place, a change in lifestyle can lead to a change in the functioning of the body. Exceptionally helpful for diabetes patients, a healthy lifestyle is sure to reverse the problem of arterial stiffness.