We informed you of Lumbar Artery Disease in my last blog and now we will look at how this occurs. Your blood vessels are lined with cells called endothelial cells. These cells are very busy little bees working hard at keeping things running smoothly. They are responsible for dilating your blood vessels ( this is the opposite of constricting or narrowing) and keeping your blood flow optimal for providing oxygen and nutrition to all your cells as well as removing toxins and all the yucky stuff you don’t want sticking around.
So, if these cells are so important, don’t you think you need to keep them protected from damage? I hear you saying “Yes, but how do I do that?!” The answer is simple. A whole food, plant-based diet will protect those little buggers from damage. Limiting (or eliminating) saturated fats will help to keep your endothelial cells producing lots of nitric oxide which keeps your blood vessels open and working without any problems. We’ll talk about how this relates to back pain in the next blog
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Eileen Kopsaftis, PT, CHE, NE