5 ways to fight peripheral artery disease with food

When you suffer from peripheral artery disease (PAD), the blood flow to your limbs is reduced by narrowed arteries. To combat the effects of this common circulatory problem, try making these five dietary changes/choices.

The body uses saturated fats to build cholesterol particles. Most saturated fats in our diets come from milk, cheese, ice cream, and yogurt.

• Fight clogged arteries by getting rid of the building material for gunky plaque: low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol
• Choose only dairy products labelled "skim" or "fat-free"
• Look for margarines that contain neither saturated fats nor artery-blocking trans fats

• The good fats in a small handful of walnuts have a unique ability (rare among foods) to raise your HDL cholesterol
• You could see a two- to three-point rise in high density lipoprotein (HDL) that will cut your risk of heart attacks and strokes by up to 18 percent

The next time you're at the supermarket, grab a carton of 100 percent orange juice and a bag of prewashed spinach leaves.

• Both are rich sources of folate, a B vitamin that helps lower high levels of heart-threatening homocysteine in people with PAD
• Both supply vitamin C — an inflammation-fighting antioxidant that seems to be depleted swiftly in the bodies of people with more severe PAD, say researchers from University Hospital in Ghent, Belgium

• Compounds found in fruits and veggies can help prevent the artery clogging that causes PAD and worsens it
• Antioxidants shield particles of "bad" LDL cholesterol from oxidation by rogue oxygen molecules called free radicals
• Oxidized LDL starts the chain of biochemical events that leads to the formation of gunky, blood vessel–narrowing plaque in artery walls

• It's far easier to trim away globs of fat clinging to pork chops, chicken breasts, and steaks with scissors than with a knife
• Kitchen shears needn't be expensive; just be sure they're sharp so the job's fast and easy
• Cutting fat off meat (and removing skin from poultry) will subtract another substantial source of saturated fat from your diet — a move your arteries will love

Making these few simple dietary choices can go a long way towards raising your "good" cholesterol and preventing the artery clogging that causes and worsens PAD.