Arteries and veins comprise your vascular system -- the system responsible for transporting nutrients, blood and oxygen throughout the body. Conditions like high cholesterol and high blood pressure can damage these vital structures, increasing your risk for deadly problems like heart attacks and strokes. Since the foods you eat have such a strong impact on these conditions, you can make a lot of headway in improving the situation by making smarter dietary choices.
Fat and Cholesterol Intake
The amount of fat and cholesterol in your diet greatly influence the amount of cholesterol circulating in your blood. Excess cholesterol hardens in the arteries, leading to a dangerous condition called atherosclerosis. The American Heart Association recommends limiting your intake of saturated fat to no more than 10 percent of your daily caloric intake and cholesterol to under 300 mg if you do not presently have any risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol. If you do have risk factors, the recommendations change to 7 percent and 200 mg respectively. Foods particularly rich in saturated fat and cholesterol include full-fat dairy, egg yolks, red meat and organ meats like liver.
Not all fats are created equal however. Healthy fats like those found in olive oil, canola oil, nuts, seeds and fatty fish can actually help reduce cholesterol levels. Generally, overall fat intake should equal about 25 to 35 percent of daily calories. If you have diabetes or another condition where you need to limit carbohydrate intake, your daily intake can lean more towards the 35 percent.
Considerations
Poorly managed diabetes can lead to blood vessel damage, which explains the increased risk for problems like heart disease and kidney disease. If you have diabetes, you must exercise diligence in managing blood sugar to promote vascular health. This means cutting back on simple sugars like those found in soda, candy, cookies and cakes as well as watching your intake of high-carbohydrate foods like potatoes, yams and corn. The latter foods do offer health benefits so you do not need to completely eliminate them but should keep serving sizes small.
Expert Insight
A study conducted at the University of Western Ontario, led by Kunihiko Aizawa, looked at the effects of the Mediterranean diet and exercise on vascular structure. The team presented its findings at a 2005 American Heart Association Conference. The study found that a Mediterranean diet improved vascular structure after only eight weeks of following the diet; the regimen also included exercise -- vital for vascular health. This diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats like nuts, seeds and olive oil and potatoes and low to moderate in fish, poultry and dairy. While weight loss was not an intended goal of the study, it naturally resulted from following this type of diet.
Warning
While high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets have been touted to lose weight--a great way to reduce cardiovascular disease risk--they might have a negative impact on cardiovascular health. A 2009 study conducted at Harvard, authored by Anthony Rosenzweig, found that mice fed this type of diet experienced increased atherosclerosis and impaired blood vessel growth. Interestingly, these problems were not reflected in the common serum markers doctors use to determine the presence of these types of cardiovascular issues. While people following this type of diet might receive normal readings, it could be causing damage not easily visible by standard testing.
Sodium Significance
Controlling blood pressure also ranks high for promoting vascular health. The Cleveland Clinic recommends consuming less than 2,000 mg daily. The best way to control sodium involves eating as much fresh food as possible and reducing intake of packaged, prepared and processed foods---the biggest high-sodium culprits. Salt adds to flavor and acts as a preservative. Read food labels carefully---anything with 140 mg of sodium or less per serving falls into the low-sodium category.
