Your heart is the most vital organ in your body. To maintain efficient function, it requires optimal concentrations of minerals in the blood. Calcium and potassium are important minerals that affect heart function. Vitamins are also crucial to the function of the heart; they provide antioxidant properties that protect your blood vessels and prevent the buildup of plaque on the walls. Vitamin C and E are two important vitamins that affect the function of your heart.
Calcium
Most of the calcium in your body resides in bones; only a small fraction is found in the blood. Blood calcium is replenished via the diet and also from the bony reservoir. When your blood calcium is low, the parathyroid gland releases parathyroid hormone, which causes the release of calcium from your bones into the blood. When your blood calcium is high, the thyroid gland releases calcitonin, which reduces blood calcium levels by increasing the deposition of calcium into your bones. Calcium is required for the generation of impulse, or an electrical charge, by the pacemakers of your heart. The spread of current through your heart leads to heart muscle contraction.
Potassium
Potassium is the most abundant positively charged mineral in the cell, and is chiefly obtained from dietary sources. This mineral is excreted but not reabsorbed by your kidneys, so adequate intake of dietary potassium is important in the maintenance of blood potassium levels. Potassium is needed by both the pacemakers and the heart muscles. It helps in the relaxation of your heart muscle, thereby allowing the heart chambers to fill up with blood before contraction.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is synthesized in the skin under sunlight, but vitamin D is not biologically active until it passes through your liver and kidneys. Vitamin D is also obtained from dietary sources. This vital nutrient also aids in the absorption of intestinal calcium, which also helps in the maintenance of normal blood calcium levels. According to the Linus Pauling Institute of Oregon State University, the lack of functional vitamin D receptors may result in abnormal activity of the renin-angiontensin system, which is involved in the regulation of blood pressure. Adequate amounts of active vitamin D are therefore beneficial in preventing hypertension. Hypertension reduces the effectiveness of heart contractions, and over time, it results in enlargement of your heart muscle, which compromises your heart's ability to fill up with blood.
Vitamin C and Vitamin E
The antioxidant effects of vitamins C and E are protective to heart function. According to a 2003 American Heart Association study, supplementation of vitamin C in combination with vitamin E slows the progression of atherosclerosis in blood vessels. Atherosclerosis narrows blood vessels, thereby resulting in hypertension and increased resistance to blood flow. The high blood cholesterol that accompanies increased atherosclerosis is associated with increased levels of LDL cholesterol, a protein that carries cholesterol from the liver to the rest of your body. For atherosclerosis to occur, LDL cholesterol must be oxidized. According to a 2010 "Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine" study, the supplementation of vitamin E resulted in reduction of oxidized LDL, which reduces the risk for atherosclerosis and heart disease.
References
- Linus Pauling Institute: Vitamin D
- "Circulation"; Six-Year Effect of Combined Vitamin C and E Supplementation on Atherosclerotic Progression: The Antioxidant Supplementation in Atherosclerosis Prevention Study; Salonenm R.M, et al.; 2003
- "Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine"; Chemical and Molecular Mechanisms of Antioxidants; Jian-Ming Lü, et al.; 2010
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