Almost anyone can get rid of plaques in their arteries, even if they have already had a heart attack or already have severe narrowing in the arteries leading to your heart. However, you have to do far more than just take drugs. The formation of plaques in arteries that eventually leads to heart attacks and strokes comes from chemical processes that start in the liver. Plaques can be reversed by changes in diet, exercise, weight, environmental exposures and medications.
• do not know that plaques are reversible, • do not believe that they can be saved by lifestyle changes, • do not know how to change their lifestyle, or • are not capable of making the extreme changes necessary to prevent a heart attack.
Statins save fewer lives than do exercising and eating sensibly. Stents and bypass surgery do absolutely nothing to stop the formation of new plaques in arteries, so if you do not change the behaviors that caused the plaques, you will soon have the same blockage that you had before the procedure was done.
Reversing Plaques Requires Major Lifestyle Changes
Diet: You cannot reverse plaques in your arteries with a half-hearted change in diet. You should eat lots of vegetables, fruits and seeds, even if you are trying to lose weight. You need to avoid or severely restrict sugared drinks, sugar-added foods, fried foods, red meat and processed meats. Earlier studies have shown that changing the foods you eat and getting rid of excess fat stored in your body are major factors in reversing plaques in your arteries. We do not have good data to show that eating red meat less often than once a week is harmful, but it is my opinion that people who want to reverse their plaques should try to avoid meat from mammals and all processed meats.How to Lose Excess Weight
A major part of dissolving plaques is to lose excess weight. Your liver helps to control high blood sugar and cholesterol levels that lead to heart attacks. Having extra fat in your liver raises blood sugar and cholesterol. Many people will not be able to control their blood sugar and cholesterol levels effectively until they get the fat out of their liver. Unfortunately, when a person stores fat primarily in the belly, the liver will stay full of fat until they get the excess fat out of the rest of their body.Fasting every other day for 12 weeks caused 32 people to lose an average of 12 pounds more than those who followed a daily program of calorie restriction. The intermittent-fasting group also markedly lowered several heart attack risk factors: • They lost an average of eight pounds of fat. • Their triglycerides dropped 20 mg/dL. (High triglycerides signify increased risk for diabetes). • Their bad LDL particle size increased. (The larger the particle size, the less likely you are to become diabetic). • CRP decreased 13 percent. (CRP measures inflammation that causes heart attacks. The lower your CRP, the less likely you are to develop a heart attack). • Blood adiponectin increased six percent. (Adiponectin is released from your fat cells. The higher your levels, the less likely you are to become diabetic). • Blood leptin decreased 40 percent. (Leptin predicts weight gain. Lowered leptin levels indicate fat loss).
A major part of dissolving plaques is to lose excess weight. Your liver helps to control high blood sugar and cholesterol levels that lead to heart attacks. Having extra fat in your liver raises blood sugar and cholesterol. Many people will not be able to control their blood sugar and cholesterol levels effectively until they get the fat out of their liver. Unfortunately, when a person stores fat primarily in the belly, the liver will stay full of fat until they get the excess fat out of the rest of their body.
Fasting every other day for 12 weeks caused 32 people to lose an average of 12 pounds more than those who followed a daily program of calorie restriction. The intermittent-fasting group also markedly lowered several heart attack risk factors: • They lost an average of eight pounds of fat. • Their triglycerides dropped 20 mg/dL. (High triglycerides signify increased risk for diabetes). • Their bad LDL particle size increased. (The larger the particle size, the less likely you are to become diabetic). • CRP decreased 13 percent. (CRP measures inflammation that causes heart attacks. The lower your CRP, the less likely you are to develop a heart attack). • Blood adiponectin increased six percent. (Adiponectin is released from your fat cells. The higher your levels, the less likely you are to become diabetic). • Blood leptin decreased 40 percent. (Leptin predicts weight gain. Lowered leptin levels indicate fat loss).