People who have poor artery health are at a greatly increased risk for developing heart problems as well as increasing their stroke risk factors.  Unfortunately many people underestimate the importance of maintaining healthy arteries because they don’t realize the implications of atherosclerosis.

When your arteries are in deterioration they have the tendency to clog with arterial plaques which cause the arteries to stiffen and become less flexible.  The artery plaques that buildup then have the potential to continue growing until full artery blockages occur or they can simply break apart causing free floating plaques to circulate in the arteries until they find a place to lodge.  If this happens it is very possible to have a stroke because the arteries in the brain can get very small and can easily become blocked.

To minimize the risk of artery blockages causing strokes or heart attacks you have to manage your artery health better.  It’s not very difficult to do either however many people never muster the will to make the changes necessary in their life to improve their health even when they know the consequences.

To improve artery health all you really need to do is the following three things.  You need to improve your cholesterol makeup to include more HDL cholesterol and less LDL cholesterol.  This is accomplished by eating a different mix of foods and exercising more often.  Second, you need to lower your blood pressure by losing weight and eating healthier and typically unprocessed foods.  Exercise is also an excellent way to help lower blood pressure.  Lastly you can greatly increase artery health by managing your systemic levels of inflammation by eating a diet low in inflammatory causing foods.

Basically to improve artery health and lower your risks for stroke and heart disease you have to start exercising more and eat a different mix of foods.  Everyone knows this however so the problem is not a lak of knowledge; it is a lack of will.  I would encourage anyone to spend some time with a person who is going through recovery for one of these conditions if the will to make changes is weak in your life.  Sometimes we need to see the consequences before the will to change grows strong enough.