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Arterial Stiffness and Vitamin D

author avatar Dr. Eric Berg 10/03/2021

Find out why vitamin D deficiency can increase arterial stiffness. .

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction: Arterial stiffness and vitamin D

0:28 How vitamin D affects arterial stiffness

1:49 The importance of vitamin K2

2:28 Other ways to decrease arterial inflammation

3:24 Causes of vitamin D deficiency

4:26 Share your success story!

In this video, we’re going to talk about arterial stiffness and vitamin D.

In a healthy person, arteries and blood vessels will be highly elastic, allowing the tissue to expand and contract. This keeps your blood pressure in check, supports your heart health, and lowers your risk of stroke.

When your arteries are stiff, your heart has to work harder—this leads to high blood pressure.

A randomized control trial found that young overweight or obese African Americans had decreased arterial stiffness after just four months of taking 4000 IUs of vitamin D.

The question is, why does vitamin D have this effect? A major cause of arterial stiffness is inflammation.

The best ways to lower your inflammation are:

1. Vitamin D + K2

Vitamin D acts as a natural anti-inflammatory. So if you have low vitamin D, replenishing this vitamin may help restore healthy elasticity to your arteries.

When you take vitamin D, it’s important to also take vitamin K2. Vitamin K2 helps keep calcium out of the arteries to avoid arterial plaque build-up. For every 10000 IUs of vitamin D, you want to take 100mcg of vitamin K2.

2. Fasting

Fasting can naturally support arterial elasticity. Research suggests that fasting can help combat hypertension too!

3. Keto

Studies show that keto can support arterial elasticity due to its ability to normalize high insulin levels. Consuming high-carb foods can increase blood sugar levels and insulin, which is known to cause inflammation in the body. Carbs are one of the biggest contributors to inflammation.

Additionally, when you have insulin resistance, your body’s ability to absorb vitamin D3 is decreased.

The most common causes of vitamin D deficiency are:

• Low exposure to sunlight (especially in cooler climates)

• Poor gallbladder or liver health (this decreases fat-soluble nutrient absorption)

• Insulin resistance

• Age

• Weight

• An unhealthy diet

In summary, vitamin D can help reduce inflammation in the arteries, improving arterial elasticity. Fasting and Healthy Keto are also important for reducing arterial stiffness.

DATA:

https://cardiab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2840-11-114

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0188424

Fasting and Arterial Stiffness:

https://youtu.be/91p0PVir2Jk

https://youtu.be/u7By5qxQ6M4

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