Blood Thinning Diet
Many foods contain natural blood thinners and therefore can be used as part of a Blood Thinning Diet. A Blood Thinning Diet can be beneficial in reducing the risk of blood clots as well as preventing other health problems like heart attack and stroke. However, if you are already taking a prescription blood thinning medication, these foods, found in a Blood Thinning Diet, should be avoided. Foods and spices containing aspirin-like compounds (salicylates) can be an important part of a Blood Thinning Diet and can have many beneficial effects on the body. Some salicylate-containing foods to include in your Blood Thinning Diet are:
- cayenne pepper
- hot peppers
- orange juice
Vitamin E is another natural blood thinner that should be considered as part of a Blood Thinning Diet. However, many foods rich in vitamin E (like leafy green vegetables) are also rich in vitamin K, which encourages blood clotting. Therefore, vitamin E supplements may be more effective as an addition to a Blood Thinning Diet, rather than dietary vitamin E. Omega-3 fatty acids are another important component of a Blood Thinning Diet. Omega-3 fatty acids have also been implicated in other aspects of health, including lowering high blood pressure and cholesterol.1 Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids that can be included in a Blood Thinning Diet are:
- fish oil and cold-water fish such as mackerel, herring, salmon, and sardine
- flaxseed and walnuts
- soy beans and soy products such as tofu
- kidney beans, squash
- olive oil
Other natural blood thinners that may be used as part of a Blood Thinning Diet are onions and garlic, which contain blood thinning and blood pressure lowering effects. Alcohol, in low to moderate amounts, can also help to thin the blood and lower blood pressure. Prefer a clear head? A Blood Thinning Diet may also include herbal teas and grape juice, which have similar blood thinning effects. Together with an enzyme supplement like Neprinol, a Blood Thinning Diet rich in natural blood thinners may prevent you from needing a potentially dangerous blood thinning medication in the future.
Lavie CJ et al. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and cardiovascular diseases. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2009; 583-594.
Dietary supplementation with Nattokinase was shown to suppress Intimal Thickening (thickening of the blood vessel wall) following induced injury of the rat femoral artery and appeared to enhance tissue type plasminogen activator (t-PA) while not tending to increase bleeding versus the control group. Thus, orally administered nattokinase could be considered as a cardiovascular disease (CVD) nutraceutical by decreasing plasma levels of these blood clotting factors associated with an increased CVD risk. Fibrinolytic activity, the amounts of t-PA, and fibrin degradation by-product in the plasma are doubled when nattokinase is given to human subjects by oral administration.
Nattokinase has clot-dissolving capabilities like that of our own fibrin-degrading enzyme plasmin. Plasmin is a natural human enzyme found in the blood and serves as a defense system to get rid of superfluous blood clots. Nattokinase increases the human body's ability to battle blood clots through multiple methods, because of its ability to up-regulate plasmin levels. In tests with 45 human subjects taking 2 capsules/day nattokinase orally, systemic levels of fibrinogen, Factor VII and Factor VIII (coagulation factors) were all found to decrease with no notable adverse events.
Anti-coagulants, or blood thinners, are used to stop platelets in the blood's plasma from forming clots. People who are at risk of a heart attack, stroke or an aneurysm are most often prescribed blood thinning medications. Some blood thinners are comprised of many different chemicals, while others like aspirin are one drug. Although they are called blood thinners, blood thinning medications do not actually thin the blood. Instead, they decrease the blood's ability to clot.
Blood coagulation or blood clotting is the transformation of blood into a solid gel called a clot or thrombus. The clot consists of a lattice of a protein polymer known as fibrin in combination with activated platelets. Clotting occurs in response to injury in the blood vessel.