Keep your blood thin and you will live longer!

Blood clots are clumps of blood that have changed from a liquid to a gel-like or semisolid state and are caused by a variety of things. Your circulation is the life blood to every cell in your body and yet many of us never give it a second thought- we take it for granted.

I am a firm believer in keeping your blood thin, as this improves your circulation to all your body organs. With thinner blood and improved circulation you will have less risk of vascular accidents (such as clots and hemorrhages) affecting your brain, eyes, heart, intestines and limbs.

Your endocrine glands will function better as well, thus producing more youthful amounts of hormones. You will have less chance of dementia and other neuro-degenerative disorders. People with thick sticky blood have a much higher chance of strokes, heart attacks and high blood pressure. These problems may happen when you are still relatively young, say in your forties and fifties. This is a well-known fact and has led to the widespread use of daily aspirin to thin the blood. However, recently this practice has been called into question by the results of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA 2012; 307:2286-94. This extensive study of over 370,000 patients found that those people taking low-dose daily aspirin were 55% more likely to have serious brain or intestinal bleeding (hemorrhages). This was 5 times the risk of bleeding caused by aspirin that was previously estimated. Even more alarming, people aged under 50 were at the highest risk. Thus the benefits of aspirin in keeping your blood thin need to be weighed against the risks of aspirin causing undesirable bleeding.

How can we keep our blood thin naturally?

• Fish Oil – Take a fish oil supplement and eat oily fish (tuna, trout, salmon, herrings, sardines and mackerel). Take 2 capsules twice daily with food. Check with your doctor first if you are taking blood thinning medication.
• Eat garlic, especially locally grown garlic – if you do not like garlic use onions, shallots or leeks instead.
• Vitamin C – Take a vitamin C supplement and consume foods high in vitamin C, such as citrus fruits, capsicums (peppers), kiwi fruits and berries. Take 1,000 mg of vitamin C daily.
• Serrapeptase – Take 1 or 2 capsules twice daily half an hour before food. Serrapeptase is a natural anti-inflammatory enzyme that helps to thin the blood and eat away deadly plaque that forms inside arteries. If you are taking blood thinning medication, check with your doctor whether serrapeptase is appropriate for you.
• Try some spicy food – like curries (which contain turmeric), chilli, pepper, cayenne and ginger – they are natural blood thinners.
• Keep your liver healthy because it will then make the good cholesterol instead of the bad cholesterol and your triglyceride levels will be lower; this is vital for healthy non-sticky blood. Livatone Plus is the world’s leading liver formula.
• Avoid eating too much sugar, as it makes your blood sticky and viscous. Diabetics have the highest risk of strokes and heart disease.
• Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily – you can substitute herbal teas for water.
• Try to throw in some regular exercise and you will keep your blood naturally thinner and add many good quality years to your life!