Your body works as a system, and in order to keep it working smoothly and efficiently, you must make sure that the individual parts are in perfect working condition also. The blood plays a very important role because it carries with it vital nutrients as well as the much-needed oxygen to keep cells, tissues and organs alive. With the absence of blood, vital organs will be deprived of their “food”, and this will eventually cause them to die. In order for blood to reach these organs, they travel through a long network of cables, known as blood vessels. Think of blood vessels as a conduit, or a passageway. A smooth, unobstructed vessel would cause no problems. In fact, it will ensure that blood flows smoothly. But what if there is an obstruction?

What Happens if there is Vessel Obstruction?

Blood vessels are classified as arteries, veins and capillaries. There are three things that you should keep in mind when you are thinking about your blood vessels: 1) your arteries carry blood away from your heart, 2) your veins carry blood back to your heart, and 3) the capillaries are responsible for gas exchange. Because these blood vessels have varying functions, a blockage, depending on which vessel is affected, could also have varying health implications. However, since capillaries are very minute structures, we will focus our attention on the arteries and veins.

Arteries are the most common sites of blockages, and blockages found in the veins also come from here. Arterial obstructions are most often caused by high blood pressure and poor dietary habits, especially when one is very fond of eating high cholesterol foods. Now there are two types of cholesterol: the HDL and the LDL. The HDL (high density lipoprotein) is the good kind of cholesterol, and the LDL (low density lipoprotein) is considered as the bad one. So what you would want to do is to keep the HDL high and the LDL low. Easy to remember, right? High for high, and low for low.

High LDL levels could cause a buildup of fatty plaques in your arterial walls. This condition is called atherosclerosis. Over time, this buildup could reach to alarming levels, where it begins to impede blood circulation. As a result, blood could no longer reach the organs, tissues and cells distal to the blockage and these structures will die in the long run. Furthermore, high blood pressure could cause the wall of the arteries to expand and it cause damage by injuring the arterial walls. The healing process could actually cause plaque formation too.

An obstruction in the brain’s circulation could cause a stroke; an obstruction in the heart could lead to cardiovascular disease such as myocardial infarction or a heart attack; an obstruction in the kidneys could lead to kidney failure. We could go on and on regarding the ill-effects of arterial obstruction but the bottom line to all these is that the end result is never good.

Some arterial blockages could dislodge. It could free itself from its grip on the arterial walls and then it could travel through the bloodstream in the form of a blood clot. Now you may think that this could actually be good because it could no longer block the arteries but you have it wrong. Of course, the clot has to go somewhere and it could end up lodged between the walls of smaller arteries such as in the brain or the lungs. This is a medical, life-threatening condition called embolism – and this is a medical emergency. Sometimes, these blood clots could also go to the veins and then wreak havoc there, this time causing venous obstruction.

What to do to Keep the Vessels Healthy

Fortunately for everyone, we could all eat our way to good health. The wrong kinds of food could cause our blood vessels to become obstructed but the right ones could keep these important structures healthy.

• Fish

  Researchers from the University of Maryland have conducted as study which shows that eating fish such as tuna and salmon is actually helpful in promoting better functioning of the blood vessels. Fish are packed with nutrients such as proline, lysine and methionine which can significantly improve the compliance and elasticity of the blood vessels as well as help get rid of excessive salt in the body. Aside from this, the oil in fish has a protective effect on blood vessels and cells. This oil contains polyunsaturated fatty acids which also decreases fatty deposits and promote the breakdown of fibrins. Fibrins actually promote blood clotting.

• Arginine-rich foods

  Arginine is an amino acid that has been shown to help improve blood vessel functions as it is a precursor to nitric oxide, an agent that causes widening of the blood vessel thereby promoting smoother blood flow. Nitric oxide prevents the platelet from clumping together to prevent blood clots. Conditions that may benefit from blood vessel widening include chest pain (or angina pectoris), clogged arteries (or atherosclerosis), heart failure, and many more. Foods that are packed with arginine include sunflower seeds, bean curd shin, ginkgo, Chinese yam, sesame, eel, loach and sea cucumber.

• Natural Fat-lowering foods

  Because the most common culprit behind blood vessel blockage is a high LDL levels, it is only proper that you eat foods that naturally help lower lipid levels. Eating these kinds of foods help reduce your risk of stroke, myocardial infarction and the like. Pyrazine-containing foods such as pineapples, strawberries, mushrooms, onions and garlic help stop platelet aggregation thereby preventing the formation of clots (or thrombus). Anticoagulants such as salicylic acid are also found in fruits like oranges, red grapes and tomatoes. Other foods that naturally lower lipid levels include sesame oil, olive oil, walnuts, sea weed, hawthorn, carrots, celery and spirulina.

• Folic Acid-rich foods

  A person whose diet lacks folic acid may experience an increase in their homocysteine levels. Because of these, the cells of endothelium, or the inner lining of the blood vessels, are more predisposed to damage which can stimulate the growth of plaques. In order to reduce your risk of plaque-related conditions, it is important that you incorporate folic acid-rich foods in your everyday diet. Foods rich in folic acid include oranges, apples, beans, asparagus and spinach.

• Dark Chocolate

  During a convention of the American Heart Association, a group of researchers presented the results of their study which showed that eating dark chocolate could actually help improve the function of the blood vessels. An important fact to remember when eating dark chocolates for good health is that the darker the chocolate is, the better it is for you.

Sources
lookchem.com
ehow.com
health.ezinemark.com
mayoclinic.com