Your heart's muscular contractions help circulate blood throughout your body, and a healthy heart is crucial to your overall health. However, your diet plays a key role in your heart's health, and an unhealthy diet can lead to heart disease. Consuming a diet rich in vitamins can help preserve the good health of your heart especially when combined with regular exercise.
Vitamin B6
Deficiencies in vitamin B6, or pyridoxine, can lead to an increased risk of developing heart disease, reports the University of Maryland Medical Center. Vitamin B6 helps regulate the levels of homocysteine in your blood. High levels of blood homocysteine can lead to heart disease, and the consumption of vitamin B6 is beneficial in controlling homocysteine levels. Consuming vitamin B6 relieves a vitamin deficiency that may place you at risk for cardiovascular disorders. Consume foods containing pyridoxine, such as poultry, fish, spinach and dairy products to help prevent vitamin B6 deficiency and support a healthy heart.
Vitamin C
Another vitamin important for heart health is vitamin C, or ascorbic acid. Vitamin C has an antioxidant function within the body, preventing the activity of disease-causing chemicals known as free radicals. Free radical damage to your cells can diminish tissue functioning, and have been linked to heart disease. Vitamin C deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, while increasing vitamin C intake can decrease your risk of develop coronary heart disease, according to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Consuming foods containing ascorbic acid, such as citrus fruits, can correct a vitamin C deficiency, and help decrease your risk of heart disease.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E may also help maintain the health of your heart and cardiovascular system. Like vitamin C, vitamin E acts as an antioxidant within your body, neutralizing free radicals. Consuming adequate levels of vitamin E may also help prevent or treat the development of atherosclerosis, a type of cardiovascular and heart disease characterized by fatty deposits within your blood vessels. Vitamin E can help prevent the deposition of plague on blood vessel walls, as well as remove plaque deposits already present. While the specific link between vitamin E and heart disease has not yet been fully established, preventing vitamin E deficiency by consuming olive or soybean oils may help maintain and improve the health of your heart and cardiovascular system.
