Blueberries, olive oil and dark chocolate: never miss them, they are the three winning foods to protect blood vessels, heart and circulation.
Oil, chocolate and blueberries: a winning mix!
Chocolate, blueberries and olive oil: here are the three foods that, according to the latest research, would be able to give long life to the veins and arteries of the human body. They are good for the heart and circulation, yes, but be careful to maintain a varied, balanced diet and not to overeat!
The discovery comes from the homeland of chocolate, Switzerland, where the cardiologist doctor Andreas Flammer of the University Hospital of Zurich drew interesting conclusions about three nutrients: dark chocolate, olive oil and American cranberry juice.
All of these foods have indeed shown a regenerative effect on blood vessels. The three foods have something in common: they all contain large amounts of flavonoli: plant substances found mainly in cocoa, but also in fruit, berries, olives or tea.
Blueberries
According to the research, those who regularly consumed American cranberry juice had an improvement in the repair mechanisms of damaged blood vessels.
According to common sense therefore, assume four or five servings of blueberries a week, in the form of fresh fruit or concentrated juice, would help the cardiovascular system to do his job well.
Olive oil
In patients with vascular insufficiency, a improvement of the function of blood vessels after enriching the diet with olive oil.
El country is the homeland of extra virgin olive oil: check that it is cold pressed, to get the best benefits, and use it without exaggerating, daily to season your dishes, even better if uncooked.
Dark chocolate
This food is a panacea for vascular functions: eating a simple bar of dark chocolate or taking bitter cocoa can improve the function of blood vessels with damaged internal walls; the researcher in question has shown that in patients with heart transplant or heart failure there have been improvements in the coronary vessels.
But be careful here too: it is not a pass for chocolate gluttons! A dark chocolate a day, not milk and as pure as possible, e no more than 50 grams per week.
Bingeing on these three products?
Attention doctors say! Flavonols are of little use if the diet is generally not very varied and too abundant. THE
n substance, enriching the already good Mediterranean diet with berries and chocolate from time to time can be the optimal solution.
I flavonoids are natural chemical compounds, present in plants, there are more than 500 types. They have antioxidant characteristics, in addition to being good for the heart and blood vessels, they guarantee the proper functioning of the liver and defend the body from various pathologies, blocking the harmful action of free radicals.
In addition to the three substances mentioned above, we also find them in milk thistle, green tea, red wine, horse chestnut, for instance. Protecting vessels and capillaries also reduces water retention and edema, as well as cellulite, hemorrhoids and varicose veins.
