Ashitaba and the Heart

Why do the Chinese rarely have heart attacks? Traditional Chinese Medicine has used herbs with several key ingredients to maintain blood pressure and to strengthen arteries and the heart thus preventing devastating heart attacks and avoiding the side effects and damage to organs associated with blood pressure medicines. 

The French Paradox. The French eat a diet much higher in saturated fats than Americans. Yet the French are less likely than Americans to die of coronary heart disease. This has been termed the "French Paradox." Initial research into this phenomenon has shown the antioxidants (flavonoids) contained in red wine inhibits the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, interrupting the first step of atherogenesis. More recent studies have shown ashitaba antioxidant (chalcone) to be more potent than those in red wine and green tea. 

Ashitaba is beneficial to the heart due to the antioxidants(chalcones) it contains. Ashitaba purifies the blood which lowers blood pressure. This is aided by its diuretic qualities. As we get older the blood gets sticky and dirty due to the toxins. Purifying the blood lets the blood flow more easily thus lowering the blood pressure. The B 12 found in ashitaba helps build new hemoglobin (red blood cells) allowing more oxygen in the blood and better cell functioning in all organs and muscles including the heart - keeping it strong. Other compounds in ashitaba can stimulate Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) which is essential in the development and survival of certain neurons in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. These compounds also aid in increasing the nerve's message conductivity. See also blood purification and preventing disease.

Research on Ashitaba and the Heart:

Artery Relaxation by Chalcones Isolated from the Roots of Angelica keiskei Pharmacology Planta Med 2001; 67: 230-235 DOI: 10.1055/s-2001-12011

Four papers on Reduction of blood pressure and LDL cholesterol.

"Flavonoids are scavengers of free radicals...It is possible that quercetin and other flavonoids reduce the rate of formation of oxidised LDL and thus inhibit the growth of atherosclerotic plaques." Hertog and Feskins wrote in Lancet (Oct. 23,1993;342:1007-11).

Effects of angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitor from Ashitaba (Angelica keiskei) on blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats. Shimizu E, Hayashi A, et al., J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 1999 Jun;45(3):375-83.




Reference:

• Ashitaba Green