Unclog Arteries With This Powerful Mineral

Dear Reader,

I talk to my patients until I’m blue in the face about changing their diet (and environment) to stay healthy and prevent disease—especially heart disease.

Diets high in bad fats (think fried foods, baked goods, and processed snacks) are some of the worst offenders when it comes to heart disease.

But despite my best efforts (and their best intentions), some people are just too set in their ways to make these kinds of changes.

If you fall into that category, I have good news for you.

Researchers have uncovered a mineral that can help protect against heart disease…even if you’re eating some foods that are bad for you.

A recent mouse study looked at the impact of the mineral potassium on something called “vascular calcification.”

Think of vascular calcification like a clogged drain. These blockages are bad enough when they’re in your bathroom, but they’re downright deadly when they’re in your body.

Gunk (in the form of substances like fat and calcium) builds up on the walls of your arteries over time. Just like a clogged drain inhibits the flow of water, hardened, clogged arteries restrict the flow of blood to your heart.

This is called atherosclerosis, and it is one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease. Once blood flow is completely blocked, it causes a heart attack.

But just like your clogged bathroom drain can be cleaned out…so can your arteries.

Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that potassium essentially acts like Drano for your arteries… cleaning out the gunk, and reducing the risk of heart disease at the same time.

What they found was that when mice with low potassium were fed a high-fat diet, the mice experienced increases in vascular calcification and arterial stiffness.

But when the mice with high levels of potassium were fed a high-fat diet, they actually experienced a reduction in vascular calcification and arterial stiffness.

This doesn’t just show the dangers of not getting enough potassium—it shows that getting plenty of it can reverse these risk factors for heart disease!

The best thing you can do for your heart is to cut out the fried, processed, and sugary foods. But if you can’t (or won’t) do that, be sure to add more potassium-rich foods for some much-needed protection.

And since some of the best sources of potassium include leafy greens, potatoes, carrots, and oranges, that’s one change that shouldn’t be that difficult.

To a brighter day,

Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D.