What natural blood thinners do you already have in your pantry? Many herbs, spices, and veggies can boost blood flow. The bonus is, they taste great!
The Best Natural Blood Thinners are Free!
This article focuses on familiar natural blood thinners you may already have in your kitchen or on your supplement shelf.
However, after that discussion I’m going to tell you about the most important factor for enhancing your blood flow ever discovered.
Two things about this discovery may shock you:
- It’s nothing you consume
- It’s absolutely free – compliments of Mother Nature
Now let’s take a look at blood thinners and why they’re so danged important to your health.
Why Would You Need Blood Thinners in the First Place?
The need for blood thinners starts with worries about clotting. Clot formation means the coagulation of blood cells into gel-like blobs in veins or arteries when blood changes from liquid to partially solid.
Healthy clotting is normal. It becomes abnormal and dangerous when clots get too big or when they don’t dissolve on their own like they’re supposed to.
A ‘problem clot’ is called a thrombus. When it gets stuck in one place, the result is called thrombosis. When it moves, it’s called an embolism.
One of the more common health challenges with clots is deep vein thrombosis (DVT). DVT occurs when a clot gets stuck in one of your larger veins. By itself it may be harmless. It can often be painful. In the extreme it can be fatal.
However, a DVT’s greatest danger arises when it moves to the lungs. This leads to a pulmonary embolism (PE), which can be life-threatening.
Estimates are that every year up to 100,000 people die from DVTs and PEs in the U.S.
Going even further, arterial clots in the brain cause strokes. In the heart they cause heart attacks.
Factors Increasing the Risk of Blood Clots
Several factors can lead to overdone blood clots, including:
- Long hospital stays
- Surgeries
- Physical injury
- Taking birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy
- Pregnancy
- Having or being treated for cancer
- Have COVID-19
- Overweight/obesity
- Have an inactive lifestyle
- Smoke tobacco
These multiple factors explain why medical researchers search for blood-thinning drugs aimed at different targets in the blood coagulation pathway, as described on Wikipedia here:
Among all that jargon is simply this: Blood coagulation is under tight control.
When it goes wrong, you may need blood thinners.
Thus, a whole slew of research studies have focused on developing clot-preventing drugs.
Prescription Anticoagulants
This is where most doctors step in and prescribe drugs designed to inhibit coagulation.
Anticoagulants or “blood thinners” are medications for preventing your blood from clotting or allowing existing clots to grow. These drugs slow down the blood-clotting process.
The most common examples, with links to details on each one’s Wikipedia page, include:
- Warfarin (e.g., Coumadin)
- Heparin
- Dabigitran (e.g., Pradaxa)
- Apixaban (e.g., Eliquis)
- Rivaroxaban (e.g., Xarelto)
In addition, the most widely used non-prescription anticoagulant drug is aspirin.
Of course, synthetic drugs often come with side effects. That’s a typical consequence of drugs delivering a ‘medical sledgehammer’ effect.
If you want to minimize side effects, certain natural sources may fit the bill for you instead.
Now…What About Natural Blood Thinners?
If you’re curious about what supplements thin blood, herbs are always a good place to start looking.
Before deciding on a supplement, though, you’ll probably find your kitchen already has a variety of natural blood thinners. They could be on the spice shelf, in the pantry, or in the fridge. You might be surprised to find how powerful some of them can be for keeping your blood flow on track.
Exercising Caution
Once you find yourself in position to take a blood thinner, keep these thoughts uppermost in mind:
Before using natural blood thinners to prevent blood clots, speak to your health care provider. Be sure that the whatever herbs, supplements, or foods you choose don’t interfere with any of your current prescription or OTC anticoagulants.
Of course, if your doctor actually has some knowledge about natural blood thinners, you’ve got a rare jewel on your hands.
And if you’re really hot to get some natural treatment advice from a medical professional, think about seeing a naturopathic medical doctor. NMDs are highly trained to know about natural approaches to health and wellness.
If you’re fortunate enough to live in an area where there’s a naturopathic college, you’ll find plenty of NMDs (and their medical students) who can help you. (E.g., in my neighborhood, this would be the Sonoran University of Health Sciences [formerly Southwest School of Naturopathic Medicine] in Tempe, AZ.)
It’s All About Balance
Like all things related to health, your coagulation pathway depends on balanced processes.
On one hand, you don’t want poorly controlled clotting. Excessive clotting plugs up your vascular system.
On the other hand, your blood shouldn’t be too ‘thin’ either. When normal clot formation is inadequate your risk of excessive bleeding rises.
Knowing what vitamins or foods to be avoided while on blood thinners is crucial. This depends on what type of blood thinners you use. It can be problematic to combine anticoagulant medications with natural blood thinners like turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, garlic and cayenne peppers.
The underlying issue is thinning the blood too much, so before supplementing with these herbs, speak to your doctor. Consuming them in normal food portions, however, shouldn’t be an issue.
In addition, natural options may not be as powerful as blood-thinning medications. If you’re relying on natural solutions to prevent an existing health concern, consult your doctor first. Make sure you’ve adopted the right treatment method for your needs.
As an herb scientist, I always look first to the plant kingdom for wellness solutions. Most of the well-known natural blood thinners derive from herbs.
Natural blood thinners can also come from other, non-plant sources. (Indeed, I’m a bit chagrined to tab a non-herb natural source as one of the better blood thinner supplements. More on that later.)
Let’s take a look at some of the top herbs for enhancing blood flow. After that I’ll give you some additional recommendations on other choices you can make for benefiting your blood flow.
Heads up: Certain veggies help with blood flow, too. Oh, and one animal that may gross you out – leeches. No worries – you’ll never have to administer leeches to yourself.
Focusing on Familiar Natural Blood Thinners
Blood thinning can be a dicey situation. Whether it be by drugs or natural products, the goal is what I call ‘The Goldilocks Zone’ – i.e., the amount that’s just right (not too much, not too little).
Because of the side-effects of commonly used anticoagulant drugs, research on herbal ingredients with similar actions is on the rise.
Those with the strongest scientific support should be familiar to you. They’re all widely available both as whole herbs and as supplements.
- Turmeric (Curcuma longa, Zingiberaceae). The active ingredient in this long-time folk medicine is curcumin. It has anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant properties. This herb has become a very popular worldwide as a spice for cooking. This means it’s super easy to find in all markets.
- Ginger (Zingiber officinale, Zingiberaceae). This is another herb from the ginger family. It’s an anti-inflammatory spice that also slows down clotting. It produces a natural organic acid, salicylic acid, which is also part of acetylsalicylic acid (aka, aspirin). Both the natural product (salycylic acid) and the semisynthetic substance (aspirin) are potent blood thinners.
- Cayenne pepper (Capsicum annuum, Solanaceae). This is another spice containing high levels of salicylates. The challenge in consuming cayenne pepper is whether you’re sensitive to such ‘hot’ spices (like I am!).
- Garlic (Allium sativum, Amaryllidaceae). To paraphrase Julia Child, you can never have too much garlic. It’s a wonderfully flavorful spice providing a bonus of heart health benefits. One is its ability to help reduce blood pressure AND keep clot formation in check.
- Cassia cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia, Lauraceae). Cinnamon produces coumarin, one of the most powerful natural blood thinners known. It’s discovery led to the development of a derivative of coumarin called warfarin (aka, Coumadin).
- Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba, Ginkgoaceae). This is one of the oldest herbs known to humanity. It’s been so popular among enthusiastic herbalists that it is now rarely found in the wild. All preparations of this herb come from cultivated trees. Several ingredients produced by Ginkgo leaves may block the action of thrombin, an enzyme causing blood clot formation.
- Grape seed extract (Vitis vinifera, Vitaceae). This is one of the few natural blood thinners that aren’t consumed directly as an herb or spice. However, supplements are super easy to find (e.g., here). It’s such a powerful blood thinner that recommendations are to avoid taking it if you’re already taking blood-thinning meds.
- Dong quai (Angelica sinensis, Apiaceae). Like cinnamon, dong quai also produces coumarin. This ingredient is believed to be the active component of the herb’s ability to reduce blood clotting. The whole or ground herb is popular as a tea and in soups. Otherwise, supplements can provide the blood thinning activity of interest (E.g., here).
- Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis, Onagraceae). The ingredients of note for preventing thrombosis are in the oil fraction of evening primrose seeds. Since it’s a seed oil, the best sources will be in supplement form (e.g., here).
- Bromelain (Ananas comosus, Bromeliaceae). This isn’t really an herb – it’s a specific enzyme extracted from pineapples. Its best effects are known from in vitro work, meaning in a test tube. Bromelain provides general anti-inflammatory properties for cardiovascular health, including delaying clot formation. It’s commonly available in supplement form (e.g., here).
- Aloe (Aloe vera, Asphodelaceae). Like ginger and cayenne pepper, aloe also contains salicylates responsible for this herb’s blood-thinning action. Studies show it to work similarly to aspirin. Since aloe leaves also contain some ingredients you don’t want to consume, it’s best to take it as a concentrate in softgel form (e.g., here).
What About Other Blood Thinner Supplements?
It’s natural to wonder about which vitamins thin the blood. How many blood thinner vitamins can there be?
Really, there’s only one – vitamin E.
It’s so powerful that modern medicine has developed a phobia about it. Part of this view comes from not understanding the differences between natural and synthetic sources of vitamin E.
Natural vitamin E is actually a mixture of similar chemical structures. Together they provide the best balance of health benefits from this vitamin. Only natural sources yield the right mixture, such as this supplement here.
Protein-Digesting Enzymes
One of the benefits of bromelain, mentioned earlier, is due to its ability to digest proteins.
However, there’s one enzyme that’s far better. Its primary activity is to digest particular proteins, called fibrins.
These are the proteins responsible for ‘gluing’ blood platelets together into clumps. They act like little worker bees to form blood clots for healing injuries.
Sometimes fibrins get out of hand and ‘overglue’ platelets, or they don’t get cleared out soon enough after doing their coagulation job. The result is unwanted clotting in veins and arteries.
Enter the enzyme nattokinase.
This is the non-plant-based blood thinner I mentioned earlier. It’s ‘non-plant-based’ because it comes from bacteria.
Discoveries about the heart-healthy activities of nattokinase arose in Japan. Benefits were first noted where a fermented soy dish, called natto, has been popular for centuries. Nattokinase is the fibrinolytic (fibrin-digesting) enzyme found to be responsible for good heart health from consuming natto.
Natto will probably never become popular in the U.S., since it’s an acquired taste. However, the enzyme is simple and inexpensive to harvest from culture vats and manufactured into supplement form.
The better nattokinase supplements provide ‘FU’ dosages – meaning fibrinolytic units. A good dose would be 2,000 FU daily, as provided in the example here.
Nattokinase leads the entire field of research on the health benefits of fibrinolytic enzymes. Scientifically it’s the best anti-thrombotic enzyme yet discovered.
Now for my personal admission: If I had one choice for supplementing with natural blood thinners, it would be nattokinase.
Yup, a recommendation for a bacterial ingredient from a guy who would rather take herbs for just about everything else.
In other words, nattokinase is so good that I’ve set aside my bias for plants.
A Blood Flow Diet
Many of the herbs mentioned earlier can add to a ‘blood flow diet’.
It’s important to add these natural blood thinners to your meals.
It’s equally important to consume foods that boost your overall health. You probably already know about some of the health benefits of certain foods in the following list. Now you can add blood flow control to those benefits.
- Dark leafy greens
- Colorful vegetables
- Colorful fruits (keep to a minimum to reduce sugar intake)
- Healthy fats (a good start on what that means is my earlier post here: Vegetable Oils That Cause Inflammation.
- Omega-3 foods (the best ones are seafoods; plants are a distant second; see what I mean in this article: Fish Oils – Industry BS Just Plain Fishy
A Bonus Blood Flow Food
Whole plant-based foods generally provide health benefits of many kinds. One that surprises a lot of folks involves a chemical reaction converting nitrates in the plants into nitric oxide in your body.
It turns out the most ‘active’ provider of nitrates for this reaction is: BEETS.
Yup, ordinary beets.
I provided some details about this veggie and its heart health benefits in this earlier post: Eat Your Veggies – Get Your Nitric Oxide.
Although beets don’t impact the coagulation pathway directly, they influence blood vessel health by fueling the formation of nitric oxide.
The story of nitric oxide and cardiovascular health was so surprising that it was the basis for a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1998.
Of course, eating beets might be a little challenging after a few meals. Supplement manufacturers have caught onto the need for substitutes in the form of lozenges, capsules, powders, and juices. Many of them are available in health food stores. You can see a sampling of different kinds of supplements here.
Bottom line: Nitric acid is crucial for blood flow and heart health. And beets are one of the best sources of foods or supplements for raising your nitric acid levels.
Dietary Avoidances
In addition to adding those heart-healthy foods to your diet, also make sure to minimize foods that can harm you. The top ones include sugar and refined carbs, baked foods made with hydrogenated oils (aka, trans fats), artificial sweeteners, and too much alcohol.
A HUGE Surprise About Natural Blood Thinners
Capillaries are the tiniest blood vessels. They are the transition vessels between veins and arteries. This transition depends completely on the free flow of red blood cells through the capillaries.
Now here’s a kicker: red blood cells are bigger than the diameter of the smallest capillaries.
‘Conventional wisdom’ would explain the force for pushing red blood cells through too-small capillaries to come from our big blood pump – i.e., the heart.
That concept is so simplistic as to be almost completely wrong.
The actual ‘force’ driving red blood cells through capillaries is an electronic one.
Specifically, it involves the energy-dependent separation of water molecules to form what’s called an ‘exclusion zone’ (EZ).
Separating the plus- and minus-charged components of water makes the EZ super slippery. You can read the details about how all this works in one of the most fascinating books I’ve ever read about the structure of water.
It’s The Fourth Phase of Water: Beyond Solid, Liquid, and Vapor by Prof. Gerald H. Pollack at the University of Washington.
The subject material is a bit complicated scientifically, partially relying on quantum physics to explain it.
Without going into all that science-y stuff (you’re welcome), I’ll just point out the ONLY source of energy for forming EZ water that drives red blood cells through capillaries is:
What this means to you is this: IR light is the simplest source of blood flow energy in the world. The bonus is that it makes up about 42% of the spectrum of sunlight, all day long.
In other words, before you even think about natural blood thinners in foods or supplements, the absolutely BEST THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH IS GET OUT INTO THE SUNSHINE.
There you have it. Regulating the coagulation pathway and blood flow in general depends on many, many factors.
The right foods can help. The right supplements can help. Sunshine can help (more than anything else).
Comments or Questions?
I’d love to hear from you. This and every other post here provides a comment section at the end of the post, exactly for that purpose.
So, by all means, leave me your thoughts.
I would be especially grateful if you point out any flaws in my logic, factual errors, or ordinary typos. (I’ll give you a little ‘huzzah’ in my heart.)
Then I’ll respond as soon as I can.
References
Abebe W. Review of herbal medications with the potential to cause bleeding: dental implications, and risk prediction and prevention avenues. EPMA J. 2019 Jan 8;10(1):51-64. doi: 10.1007/s13167-018-0158-2. PMID: 30984314; PMCID: PMC6459456. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6459456/
Abdul Rahim P, Rengaswamy D. Fibrinolytic Enzyme – An Overview. Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2022;23(11):1336-1345. doi: 10.2174/1389201023666220104143113. PMID: 34983344. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34983344/
Alenzi KA, Alharbi FH, Tawhari FM, Fradees GS. Alteration of Coagulation Test Results and Vaginal Bleeding Associated With the Use of Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium). J Med Cases. 2021 Jan;12(1):9-12. doi: 10.14740/jmc3601. Epub 2020 Nov 18. PMID: 34434419; PMCID: PMC8383641. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8383641/
Bijak M, Sut A, Kosiorek A, Saluk-Bijak J, Golanski J. Dual Anticoagulant/Antiplatelet Activity of Polyphenolic Grape Seeds Extract. Nutrients. 2019 Jan 5;11(1):93. doi: 10.3390/nu11010093. PMID: 30621248; PMCID: PMC6356405. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6356405/
Chen H, McGowan EM, Ren N, Lal S, Nassif N, Shad-Kaneez F, Qu X, Lin Y. Nattokinase: A Promising Alternative in Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases. Biomark Insights. 2018 Jul 5;13:1177271918785130. doi: 10.1177/1177271918785130. PMID: 30013308; PMCID: PMC6043915. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6043915/
Chen H, Chen J, Zhang F, Li Y, Wang R, Zheng Q, Zhang X, Zeng J, Xu F, Lin Y. Effective management of atherosclerosis progress and hyperlipidemia with nattokinase: A clinical study with 1,062 participants. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022 Aug 22;9:964977. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.964977. PMID: 36072877; PMCID: PMC9441630. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9441630/
Chen TR, Wei LH, Guan XQ, Huang C, Liu ZY, Wang FJ, Hou J, Jin Q, Liu YF, Wen PH, Zhang SJ, Ge GB, Guo WZ. Biflavones from Ginkgo biloba as inhibitors of human thrombin. Bioorg Chem. 2019 Nov;92:103199. doi: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2019.103199. Epub 2019 Aug 16. PMID: 31446241. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31446241/
Dowd P, Zheng ZB. On the mechanism of the anticlotting action of vitamin E quinone. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995 Aug 29;92(18):8171-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.18.8171. PMID: 7667263; PMCID: PMC41118. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC41118/
Dowd P, Zheng ZB. On the mechanism of the anticlotting action of vitamin E quinone. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995 Aug 29;92(18):8171-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.18.8171. PMID: 7667263; PMCID: PMC41118. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC41118/
Fung FY, Wong WH, Ang SK, Koh HL, Kun MC, Lee LH, Li X, Ng HJ, Tan CW, Zhao Y, Linn YC. A randomized, double-blind, placebo- controlled study on the anti-haemostatic effects of Curcuma longa, Angelica sinensis and Panax ginseng. Phytomedicine. 2017 Aug 15;32:88-96. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2017.04.004. Epub 2017 Apr 10. PMID: 28732813. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28732813/
Kaur H, Corscadden K, Lott C, Elbatarny HS, Othman M. Bromelain has paradoxical effects on blood coagulability: a study using thromboelastography. Blood Coagul Fibrinolysis. 2016 Oct;27(7):745-752. doi: 10.1097/MBC.0000000000000244. PMID: 25517253. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25517253/
Kim DC, Ku SK, Bae JS. Anticoagulant activities of curcumin and its derivative. BMB Rep. 2012 Apr;45(4):221-6. doi: 10.5483/bmbrep.2012.45.4.221. PMID: 22531131. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22531131/
Kim L, Lim Y, Park SY, Kim YJ, Kwon O, Lee JH, Shin JH, Yang YK, Kim JY. A comparative study of the antithrombotic effect through activated endothelium of garlic powder and tomato extracts using a rodent model of collagen and epinephrine induced thrombosis. Food Sci Biotechnol. 2018 Sep 18;27(5):1513-1518. doi: 10.1007/s10068-018-0469-z. PMID: 30319862; PMCID: PMC6170286. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6170286/
Kubatka P, Mazurakova A, Koklesova L, Samec M, Sokol J, Samuel SM, Kudela E, Biringer K, Bugos O, Pec M, Link B, Adamkov M, Smejkal K, Büsselberg D, Golubnitschaja O. Antithrombotic and antiplatelet effects of plant-derived compounds: a great utility potential for primary, secondary, and tertiary care in the framework of 3P medicine. EPMA J. 2022 Aug 15;13(3):407-431. doi: 10.1007/s13167-022-00293-2. PMID: 35990779; PMCID: PMC9376584. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9376584/
Lee LH, Tan CW, Wong WH, Fung FY, Koh HL, Zhao Y, Kun MC, Li XM, Ng HJ, Ang SK, Linn YC. A Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Cross-over Study to Evaluate the Haemostatic Effects of Three Commonly Used Traditional Herbal Medicines, (Curcuma Longa, Angelicae Sinensis and Panax Ginseng)and Their Interactions with Aspirin. Blood. 2015;126(23):2323. doi: 0.1182/blood.V126.23.2323.2323. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006497118493020
Macan H, Uykimpang R, Alconcel M, Takasu J, Razon R, Amagase H, Niihara Y. Aged garlic extract may be safe for patients on warfarin therapy. J Nutr. 2006 Mar;136(3 Suppl):793S-795S. doi: 10.1093/jn/136.3.793S. PMID: 16484565. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16484565/
Marx W, McKavanagh D, McCarthy AL, Bird R, Ried K, Chan A, Isenring L. The Effect of Ginger (Zingiber officinale) on Platelet Aggregation: A Systematic Literature Review. PLoS One. 2015 Oct 21;10(10):e0141119. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141119. Erratum in: PLoS One. 2015;10(11):e0143675. PMID: 26488162; PMCID: PMC4619316. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4619316/
Montinari MR, Minelli S. From ancient leech to direct thrombin inhibitors and beyond: New from old. Biomed Pharmacother. 2022 May;149:112878. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.112878. Epub 2022 Mar 29. PMID: 35364378. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332222002670?via%3Dihub
Mosaad SM, Zaitone SA, Ahmed AA, Abo-Elmatty DM, El-Baz AA, Moustafa YM. Evening primrose oil or forskolin ameliorates celecoxib-enhanced upregulation of tissue factor expression in mice subjected to lipopolysaccharide-induced endotoxemia. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2017 May;390(5):483-492. doi: 10.1007/s00210-017-1342-y. Epub 2017 Jan 26. PMID: 28124089. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28124089/
Musabayane CT, Kamadyaapa DR, Gondwe M, Moodley K, Ojewole JA. Cardiovascular effects of Helichrysum ceres S Moore [Asteraceae] ethanolic leaf extract in some experimental animal paradigms. Cardiovasc J Afr. 2008 Sep-Oct;19(5):246-53. PMID: 18997985; PMCID: PMC3971623. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3971623/
Mushtaq S, Mushtaq Z, Arif J, Fatima M, Bahawal S, Ain Q, Chiragh S. Comparison of effect of aloe Vera gel with aspirin and celecoxib on platelet aggregation. The Professional Medical Journal. 2020;27:973-978. doi: 10.29309/TPMJ/2020.27.05.4007. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341280507_Comparison_of_effect_of_aloe_Vera_gel_with_aspirin_and_celecoxib_on_platelet_aggregation
Nystoriak MA, Bhatnagar A. Cardiovascular Effects and Benefits of Exercise. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2018 Sep 28;5:135. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2018.00135. PMID: 30324108; PMCID: PMC6172294. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6172294/
Palta S, Saroa R, Palta A. Overview of the coagulation system. Indian J Anaesth. 2014 Sep;58(5):515-23. doi: 10.4103/0019-5049.144643. PMID: 25535411; PMCID: PMC4260295. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4260295/
Ranasinghe P, Perera S, Gunatilake M, Abeywardene E, Gunapala N, Premakumara S, Perera K, Lokuhetty D, Katulanda P. Effects of Cinnamomum zeylanicum (Ceylon cinnamon) on blood glucose and lipids in a diabetic and healthy rat model. Pharmacognosy Res. 2012 Apr;4(2):73-9. doi: 10.4103/0974-8490.94719. PMID: 22518078; PMCID: PMC3326760. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3326760/
Ranasinghe P, Pigera S, Premakumara GA, Galappaththy P, Constantine GR, Katulanda P. Medicinal properties of ‘true’ cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum): a systematic review. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013 Oct 22;13:275. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-13-275. PMID: 24148965; PMCID: PMC3854496. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3854496/
Rabelink AJ. Nobelprijs Geneeskunde en Fysiologie 1998 vanwege de betekenis van stikstofmonoxide als signaalmolecuul [Nobel prize in Medicine and Physiology 1998 for the discovery of the role of nitric oxide as a signalling molecule]. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 1998 Dec 26;142(52):2828-30. Dutch. PMID: 10065255. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10065255/
Ried K. Garlic lowers blood pressure in hypertensive subjects, improves arterial stiffness and gut microbiota: A review and meta-analysis. Exp Ther Med. 2020 Feb;19(2):1472-1478. doi: 10.3892/etm.2019.8374. Epub 2019 Dec 27. PMID: 32010325; PMCID: PMC6966103. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6966103/
Roncaglioni MC, Reyers I, Cerletti C, Donati MB, de Gaetano G. Moderate anticoagulation by salicylate prevents thrombosis without bleeding complications. An experimental study in rats. Biochem Pharmacol. 1988 Dec 15;37(24):4743-5. doi: 10.1016/0006-2952(88)90346-2. PMID: 3202906. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3202906/
Rubin D, Patel V, Dietrich E. Effects of Oral Ginger Supplementation on the INR. Case Rep Med. 2019 Jun 11;2019:8784029. doi: 10.1155/2019/8784029. PMID: 31281366; PMCID: PMC6594244. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6594244/
Sai Sri Lakshmi G, Naga Varalakshmi T, Sai Kiran A, Vindhya G, Sundar Raj I, Kavya K. A scientific review on clot dissolving activity of cayenne pepper. Int. J. Curr. Adv. Res. 2018 Mar;7(3B):10572-10574. doi: 10.24327//ijcar.2018.10574.1796. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325597241_A_Scientific_review_on_clot_dissolving_activity_of_cayenne_pepper
Sanati S, Razavi BM, Hosseinzadeh H. A review of the effects of Capsicum annuum L. and its constituent, capsaicin, in metabolic syndrome. Iran J Basic Med Sci. 2018 May;21(5):439-448. doi: 10.22038/IJBMS.2018.25200.6238. PMID: 29922422; PMCID: PMC6000222. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6000222/
Smith SA, Travers RJ, Morrissey JH. How it all starts: Initiation of the clotting cascade. Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol. 2015;50(4):326-36. doi: 10.3109/10409238.2015.1050550. Epub 2015 May 28. PMID: 26018600; PMCID: PMC4826570. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4826570/
Wang X, Jiang A, Batra V. Severe Thrombocytopenia Associated With Black Seed Oil and Evening Primrose Oil. Cureus. 2020 Jun 1;12(6):e8390. doi: 10.7759/cureus.8390. PMID: 32637272; PMCID: PMC7331904. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7331904/
All the best in natural health,
Statements on this page have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
K says
This article is so interesting and informative!
Thank you for putting so much info in one place!
I would like to know how much of these herbs to include and how often. Is cooking with them enough? Is using them from mars enough vs buying pill forms?
I am an ND from a smaller college. Not started in practice yet.
Dr. Dennis Clark says
Hi, K:
You seem to be on the right track in your thinking. If anything, just consuming a variety of the foods and spices, cooked or not, is helpful in many ways. Indeed, if you can treat with foods (a la Hippocrates), so much the better. Then supplement them with – well, supplements, when you need more change.
Quick question: are you in one of the few states that licenses NDs? Arizona, where I am, is one of the 14 with an ND Medical Board (there may be more now).
Cheers,
Dennis
Rebecca says
Hello Dr. Clark,
Found your article very informative! Was wondering if you, or anyone you know, has followed some of the “protocols” for AFib. I would like to stop taking Xarelto.
Respectfully,
Rebecca
Dr. Dennis Clark says
Hi, Rebecca:
Sadly, my friends with Afib follow mainstream medical advice to a ‘T’ – meaning meds and ablation surgery.
That’s too bad, since there are plenty of things to do before getting into that position. One of my go-to sources for information about natural treatments is Dr. Josh Axe. His wabsite has two articles of potential interest to you: https://draxe.com/health/atrial-fibrillation/ and https://draxe.com/health/irregular-heartbeat/. Those are good places to start.
Best wishes,
Dennis