Vein problems are something no one wants to deal with.
They happen when the veins become weak, resulting in many unpleasant symptoms.
Chronic Venous Insufficiency
This weakness can create a condition called chronic venous insufficiency. It occurs “When your leg veins don’t allow blood to flow back up to your heart. Normally, the valves in your veins make sure that blood flows toward your heart. But when these valves don’t work well, blood can also flow backward. This can cause blood to collect (pool) in your legs. If this condition is not treated, you may have pain, swelling, cramps, varicose veins, and leg ulcers.” It can be extremely painful and significantly reduce a person's quality of life. If you have bad varicose veins, you should see a doctor to ensure you are not at risk for blood clots.
Hemorrhoids
What Can you do to support healthy veins?
Thankfully, there are many things you can do to help keep your veins healthy.
Most people are not aware that stress can cause vein problems. As stress increases blood pressure, it creates tension on the walls and valves of your veins, making it harder for blood to flow. Over time this weakens the veins. Therefore, keeping your stress low is very important for healthy veins. Check out our article, Stress 101, for ways to keep your stress under control.
Sleeping with your legs elevated can help to prevent venous pooling in the legs. You can get pillows made especially for this, such as this one. This allows your veins to relax and heal at night rather than have constant pressure while you sleep.
Get a squatty potty. Straining to poop is a big cause of many hemorrhoids. A squatty potty makes it easier to go to the bathroom. If constipation is the cause of your potty problems, check out our Gut Health Center to help get your constipation under control.
Vein symptoms can worsen much faster by standing in one place and sitting for long periods. Take time during the day to move around as much as possible.
Here are some good exercises to keep your veins healthy.
Walking for at least thirty minutes daily, split up throughout the day.
Calf raises
Going up and down the stairs.
Toe flexes
Yoga
Stretching
Doing these exercises daily can help to prevent and improve vein problems.
Hydration and Vein health
Drinking plenty of water is vital for healthy veins. Being dehydrated makes it harder for your blood to flow through the veins, can increase blood pressure, and make blood thicker, increasing the risk of blood clots. It’s easier to get dehydrated than most people think. Clean electrolytes are great to add to water in the summer if you are outside sweating a lot or having a bit too much alcohol. Avoid electrolyte mixes with flavorings and sweeteners.
Ditch the junk filled water flavoring products and use whole foods!
Foods for vein health
What you eat can make the difference between healthy, strong veins and weak ones. The right whole foods nourish and support your veins; the wrong ones make them weak.
Avoid these foods if you want to keep your veins happy.
By far, no other “foods” will cause as negative effect an effect as vegetable and seed oils. These “foods” cause massive amounts of inflammation and oxidative stress, two of the worst things for veins. Avoid them like the plague, including all those fake butter products, even “healthy” ones sold at the health food store. You can read more about them and see a list of them here. If you can only make one change in your diet, eliminating these toxic foods will make the most significant difference. These oils make platelets stickier, increasing the risk of vein problems and blood clots.
Consuming lots of excess sugar increases inflammation, so reduce your consumption as much as possible. However, this does not mean you should switch to zero-calorie or fake sweeteners (including “natural” ones like stevia, xylitol, agave, and monk fruit). These are pretty bad for your gut microbiome. Instead, focus on using smaller amounts of natural sweeteners like local raw honey and maple syrup and, over time, gradually reducing the quantities of all sweeteners in your diet.
Alcohol thickens the blood and reduces circulation. This creates increased pressure on your veins, which weakens them over time. So, there is never a better time than today to cut back on alcohol.
No one wants to hear this, but caffeine worsens vein problems. It constricts the veins, increases blood pressure, and reduces blood flow. Cutting back on caffeine is a big help to your veins. Try a rescue cacao latte instead for a morning pick-me-up that supports healthy veins, instead of vein problems causing caffeine.
These nourishing whole foods can help you keep your veins healthy. Make sure to eat these foods daily; you cannot just eat them occasionally and expect to get the benefits.
These foods help to make platelets less sticky, which makes it easier for blood to flow.
Ginger
Turmeric
Cayenne
Ceylon Cinnamon
Rosemary
These foods act as vasodilators, which help to relax the muscles and open blood vessels.
Lacto-fermented beets
Beets are rich in nitrates, which are converted to nitric oxide, which is a vasodilator.
Pomegranates
Citrus Fruits
Citrus fruits contain flavonoids that help to strengthen and repair veins. Load up on them.
Avoid grapefruit if you take prescription medications, as it has a lot of drug interactions.
Berries
Pineapples have a dual benefit for vein health. They are rich in potassium, which can help to reduce blood pressure, and they help to reduce the production of fibrin, which impedes blood flow.
Pastured eggs are an excellent vein-supporting food. They are packed with protein, healthy fats, and nutrients. They are associated with a reduced risk of developing chronic vein diseases.
Red grapes, with their seeds (yes, eat the seeds), contain potent antioxidants (OPCs) that help protect and strengthen veins.
Wild-caught fish is rich in omega-three fatty acids that help to reduce platelet stickiness and improve blood flow. They can also help to regulate vasodilation and constriction. So, working to increase the amount of omega-three in your diet and reduce the amount of omega-six is one of the best things you can do to improve your health.
Last but certainly not least is our favorite vein health food, rescue cacao. Cacao is rich in flavonols that help to support healthy veins. In addition, it is rich in magnesium, which helps to support the heart and healthy blood flow. Always get ethically produced cacao that is low in heavy metals.
Just one serving per day of high flavonol cacao helps to keep your veins healthy.
Supplements for vein health
The right supplements can help to support healthy veins. However, taking them daily at the full dosage is essential because it can take several months to start to feel the full benefits. Taking too low a dose, taking them inconsistently, or taking them for too short a time will not get you the results you are looking for.
First up is Rosita cod liver oil, a true whole-food omega-three supplement. Over ninety-five percent of the population does not get enough omega-three fatty acids. This can profoundly affect vein health. The body's ratio of omega-six to omega-three should be less than four to one. Unfortunately, most people's ratio is around thirty or fifty-to-one. This imbalance causes a tremendous amount of health issues. You can read more about this here. The solution to this is to dramatically decrease the amount of omega-six in the diet and increase the amount of omega-three. You need to do both, not just take an omega-three supplement.
Unrefined cod liver oil is rich in omega-three fatty acids, vitamins A, D, and other beneficial compounds. The fatty acids and vitamins are in their naturally occurring forms. Nearly all cod liver oils are heavily processed, which changes the structure of the fatty acids into one not found in fish or food, and the natural vitamins are stripped out. True, whole-food cod liver oil offers incredible benefits. However, refined, heavily processed fish oils (such as those made with molecular distillation) are not a substitute, any more than heavily processed foods are a substitute for whole foods.
Dulac Pharma Diosmin with hesperidin is one of the best supplements for vein health. There are many diosmin products on the market; however, most of them are not made correctly, for example, not micronized properly, and use dosages that are much lower than what is used in clinical trials. You should not use diosmin when taking aspirin, blood-thinning, or antiplatelet medications.
Dosage: Take two tablets twice daily with meals. To see the full results, take it for twelve weeks.
For intensive support, take three tablets twice daily with meals for four days, then decrease to two tablets twice daily with meals.
Sometimes, you need symptom relief now. In that case, a vein health and soothing relief cream can be helpful until the pills start to work. Dulac Pharma Diosmin Cream has botanicals to support the veins and has a cooling effect for fast relief.
It’s never too late to start working on your vein health; the best time is now! You don’t have to be perfect; going slow and gradually implementing positive changes is great. The most important thing is to get started.
Do You have questions about vein health?
We know this is a lot of information, so if you have questions about vein health, email us at info@rooted-nutrition.com, or schedule a free call. We will be happy to answer any questions you have!
Nettles are a wonderful herb that can help support healthy veins!