| Answer: | The nutritional approach to preventing blood clots involves thinning the blood with essential fats and vitamin E. Essential fats are found in oily fish such as wild salmon and mackerel, and seeds and their oils. Try having either 1,000mg of an omega-3 fish oil or a tablespoon of flax seed oil, or the equivalent in capsules every day, as well as supplementing 300mg vitamin E (400iu) a day. However, note that any food supplements that thin the blood must not be taken in conjunction with blood-thinning medications. So if you are on these drugs, just make sure you have an adequate dietary intake of E and the essential fats by eating avocados, wheatgerm, cashews, beans, oily fish and seeds (pumpkin, sunflower and flax). If you' d like to supplement anyway, only do so under professional guidance.
Garlic may also help. Eric Block, a professor of chemistry at the State University of New York, thinks it' s all down to the chemical ajoene, found in the bulb. And vitamin C and vitamin B, or niacin, have been shown to be beneficial. Maintaining physical activity keeps the blood flowing and so less likely to clot, so exercise, in moderation, is important.
Another common cause of blood clots is excessively high levels of fibrinogen, a substance in blood plasma that causes coagulation. This is strongly linked to having high homocysteine, which is something I recommend anyone with cardiovascular symptoms having checked (see Resources, page 483). If your homocysteine is high there are specific supplements that help normalize it. |
