20 foods that can help unclog your arteries

The reason cardiologists seem obsessed with taking your blood pressure? When it’s elevated, it can eventually wear out the lining of your blood vessels, leaving them less elastic and able to function normally.

That can increase your risk for a heart attack or stroke. This juicy melon can help.

“Watermelon is the number one source of citrulline,” says Ansel.

Citrulline is an amino acid the body uses to produce nitric oxide, which helps keep your blood vessels relaxed and pliable.

You’ve been told for years that carbs are bad. But whole grains – even in bread and pasta – can be part of a heart-healthy diet.

According to an analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, for every ten grams of whole grains people eat each day, their risk of heart disease dropped 14 percent; even better, their odds of dying from a heart attack fell 25 percent.

This may be because whole grains are loaded with fiber, says Angela Lemond, RD, a Plano, Texas-based nutritionist and national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

“Fibre helps pull cholesterol out of the body. It is also known to help promote the growth of good bacteria in the gut, which can have an indirect benefit on heart health.”

Try swapping refined grains for unprocessed ones to reap the benefits.

As aging arteries stiffen up, says Lemond, they can begin to restrict your blood flow.

Omega-3 fatty acids help maintain vessel elasticity – especially one known as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

It’s most commonly found in seafood, but if you’re not a fish fan, try DHA-fortified milk and eggs.

Yes, you can have potatoes – just not all the time.

Spuds are full of potassium: They give you more than double the amount in an average banana.

That’s key because only 3 percent of Americans are getting their RDA of potassium, and it’s helpful in regulating your blood pressure.

Potatoes also have a decent amount of fibre, so as long as you don’t deep-fry them or slather them in butter and sour cream, they can be a surprisingly healthy choice.

Cocoa beans are rich in flavanols – plant compounds that have antioxidant properties and may benefit your heart.

A 2017 analysis of the research done on chocolate published in the journal Nutrients found that people who regularly ate chocolate (in moderation) had a lower risk of heart failure.

Nutritionists recommend dark chocolate over other types – that high cacao percentage (above 70 percent) means the bar has more beneficial compounds.

While most nutritional guidelines acknowledge that a little wine (and other types of alcohol) in moderation may be good for your heart, they do so with a strong caution, says Dr. Rader.

He points out that there’s no direct cause and effect – researchers haven’t established that drinking wine lowers your risk; they only know that people with a lower risk of heart disease tend to drink wine.

That’s why no one is handing out free passes to drink as much as you want: Limit yourself to no more than one four-ounce glass of wine a day if you’re a woman – two for men.

Although you might get similar benefits with any type of alcohol, you may want to stick with the red wine: It has an anti-aging compound called resveratrol, which also helps lower inflammation.

Yep, science really messed up this one: Heart specialists used to warn people to stay away from eggs because they have a lot of cholesterol.

But the research is now pretty clear that the cholesterol in your food has very little impact on the levels in your blood, says Taub-Dix.

In fact, fats in eggs seem to boost the good HDL cholesterol in your blood (it helps prevent the buildup of plaque in vessel walls).

A study published in the journal Heart found that eating eggs daily was associated with an 11 percent drop in the risk for heart disease.

They’re fibre and antioxidant rich and one study, published in Circulation: The Journal of the American Heart Association, found that eating three servings a week may slash the risk of a heart attack by a third in women.

Researchers credit anthocyanins, compounds in berries that may help dilate blood vessels, making it easier for blood to pass through.

Benefits abound in this brew—and British researchers recently found an exciting new bonus: They were focusing on a compound known as EGCG, which has shown promise in treating Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers found that the same molecule could shrink fatty deposits on artery walls. In previous research, scientists demonstrated that green tea could lower bad LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, too.

Probiotics get a lot of attention because they support the populations of healthy bacteria in your gut.

But did you know that you can repopulate your intestines with the good healthy bacteria found in foods like kimchi, yoghurt, and kombucha?

Emerging research indicates that the foods (and the bacteria they contain) may help lower your blood pressure and bad LDL cholesterol levels.

This article first appeared on RD.com.