How to keep your blood vessels healthy
- Sport Science
- Hit3236
- 2017-11-15
How to keep your blood vessels healthy
Blood vessels are the passageways through which blood delivers oxygen and nutrients all over the body and transport waste products. The total length of the blood vessels is about 120,000km, which is three times the circumference of the earth. If the blood vessels are clean without body wastes, there is no problem in circulation. In fact, cardiovascular disease, which is the second leading cause of death in Korea, is thought to be caused by deterioration of vascular health. Let's learn how to keep your blood vessels resilient and clean.
It is important to manage your regular diet to keep your blood vessels healthy. You should avoid high-calorie foods such as meat and instant food. These foods are high in fat, so they increase fat in blood and make blood turbid. Body wastes accumulate and become thicker on the wall of blood vessels, so blood vessels are more likely to lose elasticity. When you eat meat, it is better to boil it by removing the grease than to roast it. If you eat too much animal oils and fats for food such as butter, cheese, it will raise your blood cholesterol concentration, so you should eat carefully. It is also helpful to have plenty of omega-3 fatty acid rich nuts and external blue colored fish. Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of unsaturated fat that increases HDL cholesterol in blood, and releases blood wastes in blood.
People who are standing or sitting for a long time are susceptible to loss of blood vessel elasticity. At this time, it is possible to keep the elasticity of the blood vessels just by stepping on your place from the seat. According to the study by Sungkyunkwan University's Department of Sports Science, the viscosity of blood flowing through the legs increases after you are sitting for more than 2 hours. It is also effective to exercise constantly. Walking, bicycling, swimming and aerobic exercise for 30 minutes or more three times a week can prevent blood fats from accumulating on the blood vessel wall.
If you think about vascular health, you should not smoke or drink too much. Drinking too much alcohol promotes the synthesis of fat in the liver and accumulates neutral fats in the body. This builds up in the blood vessels and it makes the blood vessel wall narrowed. You'd better drink alcohol less than three times a week. It is safe for men to drink half a soju and for women to drink less than a quarter of the soju. Smoking reduces the blood flow, increases the platelet aggregation ability that congeals blood and causes blood to cling to the blood vessel walls so, you should avoid smoking.
This article is a translation of Chosun Media's Korean article. (Source: http://health.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2017/11/07/2017110701511.html)
College of Sport Science