Thrombosis: Blood Clot Factors that can Save your Life

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Thrombosis: Blood Clot Factors that can Save your Life JoAnn Guest Jan 30,

2005 00:16 PST

 

The surprising fact is that the way your blood clots is probably the

single greatest determinant of whether you suffer a heart attack, a

stroke, or blood vessel damage. Experts now know that thrombotic factors

–how the blood flows, its viscosity, its stickiness, the tendency for

clots to form and enlarge are primary in determining such catastrophes.

And diet can have enormous influence on blood clotting factors.

 

Indeed, evidence suggests that the major influence of diet on heart

disease has more to do with blood clotting " factors " than with blood

cholesterol,. And the benefits of eating to modify blood clot factors

are apt to kick in fairly quickly.

 

Cardiologists once thought the narrowing of arteries from plaque buildup

triggered heart attacks by leading to heart rhythm disturbances. But its

now widely accepted that a blood clot is the immediate cause of 80 to 90

percent of heart

attacks as well as strokes.

 

Several factors, strongly affected by diet, are critical to whether or

not you form clots.

One is how prone your platelets—the smallest of blood cells—are to

aggregate or clump together, enabling them to form clots and better

cling to vessel walls.

Another factor: blood " fibrinogen " , a protein that is a raw material for

clot formation. High circulating levels of fibrinogen are prime

predictors of heart disease and stroke.

 

Also crucial is your ‘fibrinolytic’ system, which breaks up and

dissolves unwanted and dangerous clots. The vigor of this

clot-dissolving activity along with fibrinogen levels is the “number one

determinant of heart disease”, says Harvard cardiologist Dr. Victor

Gurewich.

 

Doctors routinely warn against taking aspirin before surgery. The fear

is that aspirin can ‘thin the blood’, slowing blood clotting. But did

you ever have a surgeon tell you not to eat Chinese food before an

operation? Or to avoid heavy doses of ginger, garlic, black mushrooms,

and fatty fish like sardines and Alaskan salmon?

 

The truth is that all of these foods are also " anticoagulants " that may

dramatically retard blood-clotting tendencies and often by exactly the

same biological mechanism as aspirin, by blocking a substance called

" thromboxane " that clamps down on platelet clumping or aggregation, a

crucial step in clot formation.

 

In contrast, fatty foods like cheese and steak make the blood sluggish

by making platelets stickier and more apt to clot.

 

Additionally, certain foods raise or lower blood clot-essential

fibrinogen and rev up or slow down the clot-dissolving activity.

 

Still other foods influence blood viscosity, and fluidity, setting the

stage for or staving off inappropriate clots that can cause blood vessel

blockages to the heart, brain, legs and lungs. Undeniably, foods in very

small quantities regularly eaten can have powerful pharmacological

effects on the tendency of blood to clot, and thus, can help save you

from cardiovascular tragedies.

 

One of your greatest weapons—if not your primary one—against heart

attack and stroke is good foods. Here’s what to eat and not to eat:

 

Garlic and Onions: Ancient Clot fighters

 

Its an ancient truth: garlic and onions are strong medicines against

unwanted blood clots. An early Egyptian papyrus called onions a tonic

for the blood. Early American doctors prescribed onions as “blood

purifiers”. French farmers feed horses garlic and onions to dissolve

clots in their legs. The Russians claim vodka spiked with garlic

improves circulation. It’s no longer unsubstantiated folklore.

 

Garlic and onions are full of potent clot-fighting compounds and powers.

 

 

Eric Block, Ph. D. head of the chemistry department at the State

University of New York at Albany, isolated a garlic compound named

ajoene (after ajo, the Spanish word for garlic) that has anti-thrombotic

activity, equal to or exceeding that of aspirin, a well-recognized blood

clot inhibitor.

 

Indeed, aspirin performs only one way as an anticoagulant by stifling

production of thromboxane. Ajoene does that, and additionally blocks

platelet clumping seven other ways –

all by pathways known, according to garlic researcher Mahendra K. Jain,

Ph. D, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of

Delaware.

 

“Garlic’s mechanism is unique,” he relates.

 

George Washington University medical researchers have detected three

additional anti-clotting compounds in garlic and onions, including a

major one, " adenosine " .

Garlic’s anti-thrombotic activity in humans is well-documented by

numerous studies. Three raw garlic cloves a day recently improved both

clotting time and clot-dissolving fibrinolytic activity by about twenty

percent in a double-blind study of 50 medical students in India.

 

Recent German research shows that garlic compounds definitely speed up

blood-clot dissolving activity and improve blood fluidity. Such

simultaneous action, researchers at Saarlane University in Homburg/Saar

say, improves circulation and in fact helps ‘purify’ the blood of

unwanted elements.

 

How much garlic? Several garlic cloves or more have a pronounced

beneficial effect on clotting activity, says David Roser, a British

garlic researcher.

 

Dr. Jain’s blood thinning garlic tips

 

One of garlic’s most powerful and well tested anticoagulant compounds is

called " ajoene " . Here are some ways to release the most ajoene from

garlic, according to garlic researcher Mahendra K Jain, Ph D. Professor

of biochemistry at he University of Delaware.

 

*Crush garlic instead of chopping it. crushing releases enzymes and the

" allicin " that converts to ajoene.

*Saute’ garlic lightly; cooking releases ajoene

*Cook garlic with organic tomatoes or other acidic foods. even a little

acid releases more ajoene.

*Add just enough vodka to cover crushed garlic, and let steep for

several days uncovered. This releases ajoene.

 

Yes, the old Russian folk recipe for blood thinning really works, Dr

Jain’s tests revealed. he also found that mixing crushed garlic with

feta cheese and extra virgin olive oil, which is a reputed Greek remedy

for heart disease produced lots of ajoene.

 

How about a little fish pate’?

 

For a clot blocker and buster, you can’t beat fish, high in marvelous

omega-3 fatty acids. Most scientists attribute fish’s heart protecting

powers primarily to the oil’s remarkable effects on blood coagulation.

 

Studies consistently show that fatty fish " regulate " how the blood flows

and clots.

Paul Nestel, chief of Human Nutrition at the Commonwealth Scientific &

Industrial Research Organization in Australia, and his colleagues have

found that eating about five ounces of Alaskan salmon or sardines a day

lowered hazardous fibrinogen an average 16 percent.

 

Interestingly in the same study, fish oil capsules did not affect blood

clotting factors. One explanation says Dr Nestel, is that fish have

other compounds besides fat that benefit anti-clotting factors.

 

Eating fatty fish literally changes the " shape " of blood platelets so

they can’t lock together to form unwanted blood clots.

 

That’s what researchers at the Department of Agriculture discovered.

When you eat fish oil, your platelets release much less of the substance

called thromboxane that instructs platelets to stick together, according

to USDA’s Norgerta Schoene, Ph.D.

 

More fascinating, thromboxane creates sticky platelets by stimulating

them to swell up into little round balloons and then to grow " spikes " so

that they can interlock with other platelets. In this state they are

called ‘activated’ or ‘sticky’, ready and able to clump together to form

blood clots.

 

Thus, fatty fish, by suppressing thromboxane, preserves the healthy

normal disc shape of platelets so they can’t cling together and form

clots to plug up your arteries.

 

Red Wines’ Wondrous Anti-Coagulant

 

A little red wine can thin your blood, retarding clots. The reason is

not just the alcohol but other complex constituents in the red wine. In

a classic study, the French scientists Martine Seigneur and Jacques

Bonnet, M.D. at the Hospital Cardiologique in Pessac, tested the effects

of three alcoholic beverages on blood clotting in 15 healthy men.

For two weeks every day they drank a half liter of either a red Bordeaux

wine, a white Bordeaux wine or a synthetic wine made with water, alcohol

and flavoring.

The results: The synthetic wine increased platelet clumping.

 

White wine did not change platelets and slightly boosted LDL (bad)

cholesterol. Red wine was the clear winner!

It both depressed platelet clumping and boosted HDL (good) cholesterol.

 

Thus the researchers pronounced red wine’s " anti-coagulant " powers

unique in protecting the heart.

 

Cornell university scientists believe that wine’s main anti clotting

agent is reservatrol, a chemical in grape skins.

If you drink red grape juice or red wine you may get some " reservatrol " ,

which is concentrated in grape skins, says Leroy Creasy, Ph.D., a

professor at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture.

The compound, say Japanese researchers, is the main active ingredient in

an ancient Chinese and Japanese medicine used to treat blood disorders.

 

Drink Tea for Healthy Arteries.

 

Curious as it may seem, drinking tea gives your arteries an

anti-thrombotic infusion.

Research presented at the first international scientific conference on

the physiological and pharmacological effects of tea, held in New York

City in 1991, reveals that the tea protects arteries by influencing good

clotting factors.

 

Tea chemicals can reduce blood coagulability, prevent platelet

activation and clumping, increase clot dissolving activity and decrease

deposits of cholesterol in artery walls all of which fend off artery

damage.

 

A pioneer in tea and atherosclerosis, Lou Fu-quing, M.D. professor and

chairman of the department of Internal medicine at Zhejiang Medical

university in China, has studied the effect of tea chemicals on heart

attack victims.

 

Dr. Lou told the conference that pigment from common black tea or Asian

style green tea thwarted patient’s platelet clumping (also thromboxane

production) and improved their clot-dissolving functioning.

Surprisingly, he said both ordinary black tea that Americans commonly

drink and Asian green tea worked equally well.

 

Scientists at Japan’s Central Research Institute also noted that a

particular type of tannin in green tea, called " catechin " , blocked the

clumping of platelets just as strongly as aspirin did.

 

Tea also appears to help block LDL cholesterol stimulation of the

proliferation of smooth muscle cells on the walls of arteries, such cell

growth fosters the buildup of arterial plaque.

 

Vegetables are Clot Busters

 

To discourage unwanted blood clots, eat fruits and vegetables high in

vitamin C and fiber. The most prodigious eaters of fruits and vegetables

have the most energetic clot dissolving systems, according to a recent

Swedish study of 280 middle aged adults.

 

Further, the lowest levels of clot promoting fibrinogen, belong to

vegetarians, especially vegans who eat no animal products at all.

including Dairy. The probably reason is that compounds in fruits and

vegetables lower fibrinogen, while animal fat and cholesterol push it

up. vegetarians also have lower blood viscosity than meat eaters: lower

viscosity is linked to lower blood pressure.

 

The Hot Chili Pepper Effect

 

Hot Chili Peppers are clot busters. Evidence for this comes from

Thailand, where citizens eat capsaicum chili peppers as a seasoning and

as an appetizer, infuisng their blood with chili pepper conpounds

several times a day.

Thai reearchers reason that this may be the primary reason

thromboembolisms –life threatening blood clots- are rare among Thais.

 

To prove the theory, hematologist, Sukon Visudhiphan, M.D. and

colleagues at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok did a test. They fortified

homemade rice noodles with hot pepper, using two teaspoons of fresh

ground capsium jalapeno pepper in every 200 grms of noodles (about one

and one third cups). Then they fed the peppery noodles to sixteen

healthy medical students.

Four other control subjects ate plain noodles. Almost immediately, the

clot dissolving activity of the blood of those who had eaten the pepper

laced noodles rose.

 

Nothing happened in the blood of the plain noodle eaters.

Dr Visudhiphan believes the frequent stimulation from hot chilies

continually clears the blood of clots, leaving Thaïs generally less

vulnerable to arterial blockages.

 

Spicy Clot Busters

 

Eat common spices to keep your blood free of dangerous clots.

Krishna Srivatava, of Odense University in Denmark, screened eleven

spices and found that seven discouraged blood platelet clumping. Most

potent are cloves, ginger, cumin and turmeric.

 

“Cloves are stronger than aspirin in this respect,” says Dr. Srivastava.

The primary active agent in cloves is probably " eugenol " , which also

helps protect the structure of platelets even after they have been

‘aggregated”. Dr. Srivastava says the spices work through the

" prostaglandin " system, somewhat the way aspirin, garlic and onions do.

 

Ginger compounds are a stronger inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis

than the drug indomethacin, known for its potency , says Dr. Srivastava.

Ginger is indeed a proven anti coagulant in humans.

Dr Dorso of the Cornell University Medical college confirms the active

agent is gingerol, a constituent of ginger that strongly resembles

aspirin.

 

Black Mushroom

 

To ward off clots, infuse your blood with the medicine of the Asian

black fungus mushroom known as mo-er or “tree ear”. It has a formidable

reputation in Chinese traditional medicine for its beneficial effects on

blood. Some call it a ‘longevity tonic’. with good reason, according to

Dale Hammerschmidt, M.D., a hematologist at he University of Minnesota

medical school.

 

It turns out that the black mushroom contains several blood thinning

compounds, including " adenosine " , also present in garlic and onions. Dr.

Hammerschmidt surmises that the combination of so many anti-clotting

foods in the Chinese diet such as garlic, onions, black mushrooms and

ginger, may help account for their low rates of coronary artery disease.

 

 

Olive oil fights clots

 

In addition to everything else it does, olive oil even retards the

stickiness of blood platelets, which may help account for olive oil’s

artery protecting powers.

 

British researchers at the Royal free Hospital and school of medicine in

London had volunteers take three fourths of a table spoon of olive oil

twice a day for eight weeks in addition to their regular diet. Their

platelet clumping scores took a dive. The scientists found that platelet

membranes contained more oleic acid (the dominant essential fatty acid

in olive oil) and less arachidonic fatty acids that encourage

stickiness.

 

The olive oil fed blood platelets also released less " thromboxane A2 " , a

substance that commands platelets to cling together. All told, olive oil

benefits platelet function, the researchers concluded, saying it is yet

one more explanation of why population that depend heavily on olive oil-

in the Mediterranean area have less heart disease.

 

 

Fats—Blood Clot Villain

 

Go easy on fat if you want to keep your blood clear of clots.

Unquestionably, a high fat diet does bad things for your blood, beyond

boosting your blood cholesterol. Too much fat can also buck up the

bloods tendency to coagulate and form dangerous clots.

 

A recent study at south Jutland University in Denmark found that high

amounts of both saturated and omega-6 type vegetable fats such as

polyunsaturated refined corn and soybean oil, promoted clot forming

fibrinogen.

 

In their study a group of healthy adults who ordinarily ate diets high

in trans (hydrogenated) fats and saturated fats switched to various

lower fat diets for two weeks at a time. All of the lower fat diets

suppressed blood clotting tendencies by 10 to 15 percent.

 

Much research also shows that fat, particularly hydrogenated transfat

and saturated fat, slows down clot dissolving activity.

 

One recent study found that the fat from a fatty meal lingers in the

bloodstream fomenting trouble, for up to four hours.

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

DietaryTi-

 

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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