Can eating onions, fungus, and drinking vinegar "soften blood vessels"? These cognitive misunderstandings need to be understood

We often hear people say that eating certain foods can soften blood vessels. These people have deep-rooted misunderstandings about vascular sclerosis. Let's talk about this topic today.

What is vascular sclerosis?

Vascular sclerosis refers to a series of pathological changes caused by diffuse atherosclerosis, stenosis of the lumen and occlusion of small blood vessels, which lead to reduced blood supply to the brain. In layman's terms, blood vessels lose elasticity, their walls thicken and their texture hardens.

The main reasons for this situation are related to age, high blood lipids, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, long-term smoking, drinking, staying up late, and high stress in life.

Many people believe that certain foods can soften blood vessels and make them young again, but in fact, atherosclerosis of blood vessels is formed slowly over a long period of time and is difficult to reverse. Therefore, diseases such as coronary heart disease and cerebral infarction require long-term treatment. All secret recipes that claim to be a cure are deceptive, and everyone should have a clear understanding of this.

Three Misconceptions about Softening Blood Vessels

Myth 1: Drinking vinegar can soften blood vessels

Some people mistakenly believe that arteriosclerosis is caused by vascular calcification, and that drinking vinegar can make the blood acidic, thereby dissolving the calcium in the blood vessels and "softening" the blood vessels.

There are two errors in this statement. First, atherosclerosis is not a calcification problem. The main substance causing atherosclerosis is the "bad blood lipids" in the blood, especially low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Second, the blood has a powerful stabilization system that can keep the pH of the blood between 7.35-7.45 at all times. No matter what food you eat, the pH will not change much.

Shanxi people often drink vinegar, but the incidence of cardiovascular disease among Shanxi people is not low, which shows that drinking vinegar has no effect on softening blood vessels.

Myth 2: Eating onions can soften blood vessels

Onions contain prostaglandin A, which is an unsaturated fatty acid that has the effect of dilating and softening blood vessels and reducing blood viscosity. However, the content of this substance in onions is very small, and even if you eat a few kilograms of onions every day, it will not have much effect.

Myth 3: Black fungus can soften blood vessels

Research has found that black fungus is rich in fungus polysaccharides, and animal experiments have found that this substance has the effect of lowering blood lipids. However, a large amount of purified fungus is needed to obtain a certain dose of fungus polysaccharides.

Eating foods such as onions and black fungus is indeed good for health and is indeed suitable for people with three highs, but if it is said that they can soften blood vessels, that is pure nonsense.

Currently, there is no official report in the world that eating a certain food can have a therapeutic effect, let alone directly unclog blood vessels, soften blood vessels, or prevent thrombosis.

Methods to delay vascular sclerosis

Scientific exercise. Life depends on exercise, and so do blood vessels. It is recommended that adults should do moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (such as brisk walking, jogging, cycling or other aerobic metabolic exercise, etc.) at least 3-4 times a week, for at least 40 minutes each time.

Control your diet. Eat low salt, low fat, low cholesterol, less sweets and carbohydrates, eat more fruits and vegetables, eat more whole grains, and eat more foods rich in potassium and iodine.

Change bad habits. Quit smoking and limit alcohol consumption, don't stay up late, get enough sleep, adjust bad mood, keep a happy mood, actively control chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and pay attention to physical examinations. Although many things are old sayings, they must be mentioned.

References:

[1] “What you need to know about vascular sclerosis!” Public Health and Preventive Medicine. 2017-08-29

[2] "What to do with vascular sclerosis? Here are the secrets to "softening blood vessels"!" Jiangxi Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 2016-06-26

[3] Lü Ruoqi. Is eating black fungus really effective in lowering blood pressure? [J]. Chinese Health Food, 2017: 84.