Top 10 Best Vegetables To Unclog Arteries Naturally & Prevent Heart Attack

Hello, Health Champions. If you stay with me in  this video, you will finally understand the real  

reason you want to eat vegetables, besides,  of course, that Mom and Grandma told you so.  

We're going to jump right in, and category  number one is leafy greens. This includes  

things like spinach, kale, Swiss chard, and  arugula, and all other forms of lettuce. So,  

anything that's leafy green is pretty much the  same; they're all very low in carbohydrate,  

as you see the kale being a little bit higher,  but it's going to be really difficult to eat  

enough kale to get too many carbs. And we're  going to talk about why low carbs is important.

Also, category number two is cruciferous  vegetables. This includes things like broccoli,  

cauliflower, Brussels sprouts,  cabbage, and bok choy. Again,  

they're very low in carbohydrates, and  these are reported as net carbohydrates,  

meaning you subtract the fiber because that's  not available to you, you can't digest it,  

but it still becomes important, and  we're going to talk more about that.

And I'm a huge fan of vegetables, but we  have to understand why they're good for us,  

and there's so many confusing claims out there.  I found a video that claimed things like this:  

the green superheroes that can pave the way  to clear and healthy arteries. They said  

vegetables are packed with nutrients that can  help keep our arteries squeaky clean. And then  

they said that vegetables are well known for  their ability to lower blood pressure. Well,  

it doesn't work like this. There are no nutrients  that can clean your arteries. Vegetables do not  

have the ability to lower blood pressure. Because  when they state it like this, people think, 'Oh,  

it's just like a medication.' And over 50  times in 10 minutes, they used very colorful,  

descriptive, leading phrases such as superhero  veggies, Caped Crusader swooping in to defend,  

vigilant guard, and they said that vegetables  are infusing heart-loving nutrients. So,  

these are just a few examples of what this  whole video is about, and it's kind of cute,  

it's kind of poetic, but it doesn't tell  us anything about what they actually do.  

And they actually take us away; they exaggerate  and they confuse, and it can even be dangerous.

And why is that? Because even if veggies are  great, if we do something for the wrong reason, it  

keeps us from doing things for the right reason.  And now, we have a superficial and incomplete  

model. So, the whole problem is that we're stuck  in a sick care system, in a viewpoint where the  

only problem is symptoms, and then we treat the  symptoms. And then some holistic people come, and  

they say, 'Well, that's why you want to use food  as medicine. You don't have to take medication,  

but use the food.' Well, it's the same kind  of thinking. And instead of using a medication  

to treat a symptom, now you think that food is a  treatment for disease and symptom, and you haven't  

changed anything in the way you're thinking  about it. You're still in the way of thinking,  

the model that says, 'Take this for that,'  whether it's a medication or whether it's an  

herb or a vitamin or food. It doesn't change the  thinking, and therefore, we will forever ignore  

the root causes, and we won't really understand  how the body works and how to get healthy.

So, if we want vegetables to clean  arteries, now we first have to  

understand what causes the artery to clog  up, what causes cardiovascular disease and  

heart disease. And, just to keep it simple,  it's basically three things: it's genetics,  

it is chronic low-grade inflammation,  and it's oxidative stress. So then,  

if vegetables are capable of cleaning arteries  and helping cardiovascular disease, then there  

should be something about these nutrients  in vegetables that are related to that. So,  

we need to ask, 'Do vegetables have nutrients that  cause these issues here?' And the answer is no,  

but we're going to put a little question mark  on that and come back to it. 'Do nutrients  

undo these issues?' And again, the answer is no,  but we're going to put a little question mark.

So, what really causes heart disease, besides  genetics, is processed foods and excess amounts  

of sugar, carbs, and seed oils. And, of course,  the processed foods mostly contain the sugar,  

carbs, and seed oil, and these lead to  insulin resistance. They lead to overeating,  

they're nutrient-poor, they are triggering  a lot of blood sugar, and a lot of insulin,  

leading to a chronically high level of insulin,  promoting type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome,  

and obesity, and so forth. And that is the true  cause of heart disease and cardiovascular disease.  

But if that's the case, then why should we  eat vegetables? How do they help us? Well,  

first of all, if you eat fresh vegetables and  healthy foods, then they will replace worse  

food. They'll replace the processed foods.  If you eat a ton of healthy vegetables,  

you're much less likely to eat anything junky.  And these vegetables that we're going to go over  

are generally very low in carbohydrates, so  you stimulate less blood sugar, less insulin,  

and you can actually start reversing  the mechanism behind heart disease.

Vegetables also have nutrients, and there  are two kinds: the first is micronutrients,  

and those are basically vitamins and minerals.  And their vegetables are very often promoted  

as being supercharged, but that's not  really true. They do have a good amount,  

but they're not unique in that way. Meat and fish  and nuts and seeds have plenty of micronutrients,  

so that's not why vegetables are unique in  any way. The other type is macronutrients,  

and I put a question mark there because that's  the fat and the protein and the carbohydrate,  

and vegetables generally have much, much  less macronutrients than rich foods like  

meat and eggs and cheese and nuts and  seeds, so that's not also why they help.

But here's the key to understand that nobody  really talks about, in a positive way,  

that vegetables are unique compared to animal  products in that they have non-nutrients. So  

why on Earth would we want non-nutrients?  We talk all the time about nutrients,  

that we need more nutrients. Why would we need  non-nutrients? Because they help modulate gut  

bacteria. We have somewhere around 40 trillion  bacteria living in our gut, and they're spread  

out over a surface area that's about the same  as your average house, it's about 3,000 square  

ft or 300 square m, where these bacteria live and  do their thing. They're interacting with us. So,  

they have the ability, these non-nutrients,  can inhibit the growth of the pathogens. So,  

there's some bacteria that are beneficial and some  that are potentially harmful and disease-causing,  

and we need to inhibit the bad ones that can cause  disease, and we need to promote the beneficial  

ones, called symbion. And that's what these  non-nutrients contribute to doing. And symbion and  

symbiosis means that both sides benefit. So, these  bugs, they benefit from living inside us, but we  

benefit tremendously from having them inside us.  And it's only in the last few years that we really  

have started to understand how important this  collection of bacteria is, so important, in fact,  

that they now consider it a separate organ in its  own right, just like you have organs like liver  

and heart and lungs. This collection of microbes  is no less important; it is a separate organ.

So, these non-nutrients, they include things  like fiber, which is what we subtract from our  

carbohydrates. So, there are carbohydrates that we  can break down that have a certain configuration,  

but then if that configuration, if a molecule  just twists a little bit, then we don't have the  

enzymes to break it down, and that's what fiber  is. But some of these bacteria can break it down,  

and now that becomes their food. So, the purpose  of fiber is to provide a little bit of bulk to  

move things forward in the gut, but also, and  primarily, to feed the microbes. But it doesn't  

stop there because, besides fiber, there's also  something called phytochemicals, and these are  

unique to plants. And there's over 10,000 of them  that we have identified so far, and who knows how  

many we'll find in the years to come. And these  are actually a form of plant defenses. Just like  

a cactus has thorns, and snakes have poison, every  species has some way of defending themselves. So,  

these phytochemicals are like a mild toxin that  keeps away pests and mold and fungus and things  

like that. And that's why we often talk about  certain herbs and certain vegetables as being  

antibacterial and antifungal; it's because they  have these phytochemicals that keep unwanted  

things away. And you may have heard of some of  these names, but don't worry if you don't because  

they're not important. I just want to give  you some examples. One of the largest classes  

is called polyphenols, including phenolic acid,  which also includes stilbenes, and one of the ones  

you may have heard is Resveratrol, which is one  type of stilbene, and also, of course, curcumin.

Now, the thing to understand about these is that  they're not nutrients. We often think of them as  

nutrients. We go to the nutrition store to buy  curcumin, but it's not a nutrient in the sense  

that we absorb it. Because these are, generally,  for the most part, very low bioavailability,  

meaning they do not enter the body. We put them  in the tube that is the GI tract, but they stay  

there. And that's okay, because you're not  supposed to absorb them. Even if a small,  

small, small fraction gets through and actually  has some benefits inside the body, which there's  

some signs of, but we're not really sure, the vast  majority of what these things do is they interact  

and balance our microflora. But I also said that  these plant chemicals are a form of defense, and  

it's a form of a mild toxin to keep things away.  So, in some people, this can cause reactions.  

And if you have a reaction, that's called a  hypersensitivity. You're sensitive to something,  

and then that can cause inflammation. But  here's where it gets interesting. Now,  

some people are going to have a reaction, and  others don't. What's the difference? And it  

again has to do with the balance of bacteria.  So, if you have something called dysbiosis,  

which means an imbalance in the biology in your  gut, then you're not able to tolerate the same  

types of foods. You're going to have different  reactions, and a lot of food allergies are going  

to depend on if you have the right bacteria or  not. And then, this kind of becomes a vicious  

cycle, as the dysbiosis creates a reaction, and  the reaction creates inflammation. And then the  

inflammation contributes to an unhealthy gut  and to more dysbiosis. And the solution to break  

this cycle now is, first of all, to reduce  the inflammation, however we do that. So,  

we have to start avoiding certain foods and things  that we're sensitive to. And for some people,  

they start eliminating grain, and some people  start eliminating sugar and certain things.  

But then, if you're really, really sensitive,  you eliminate more and more and more and more,  

and you still have some issues. And that's where  some people go to the carnivore diet because meat  

is about the safest thing that you can eat. It's  the thing that you're the least likely to have a  

reaction to. And this is where a lot of people now  are finding the carnivore diet finally makes them  

feel better because they can reduce or eliminate  that inflammation, they can stop the reactions.

But here is where I believe that  there's a lack of understanding,  

that these carnivore people feel like this is the  diet that finally made them feel good; therefore,  

that is the perfect food for the rest of their  lives. And then maybe okay, but I don't think  

it's optimal because I think we need a healthy  gut flora. We need a gut flora with a wide  

diversity to have optimal health. So, in addition  to that, I think you could try carnivore for 30,  

60, 90 days, but then I think we need to start  trying to figure out how to restore that balance  

and that thriving gut flora. So once we have  that inflammation under control, probably what  

we want to do is to start restoring the biome.  So now you start putting in some good bacteria,  

and this is going to be different for different  people. And again, this science is in its infancy,  

but they are developing good gut tests, some  stool tests, and you want something where they  

do a DNA analysis of all the strains in the gut.  And then when you start working on this to restore  

the biome, there are good probiotics, there is  yogurt, you can make your own, you can cultivate  

certain strains, and for some people, it's going  to be a relatively straightforward process,  

and for others, it might be a very long process  of trial and error because we're all different.  

But I believe that some of the toughest  cases that just don't resolve anywhere else,  

that we need to start looking this way. And then  when you have, hopefully, restored the biome,  

you have some better health and function. Now,  of course, you need to maintain it, and you need  

to keep feeding the biome. And now the goal is to  create variety and diversity. So, the more variety  

of fiber, the more variety of vegetables, the  greater variety of phytochemicals, the greater the  

chances that you're going to create diversity in  your microbiome. And now that you understand that,  

you understand it is rather foolish to try to make  a list, to try to put some vegetables ahead of  

others and call them superfoods, and others  are just regular foods. Instead, we want to  

get that variety, we want to get several cups of  vegetables, and we want to eat as many different  

kinds as possible. But there's some things you  want to know and watch for, and that's why I do  

the videos like this, so you start recognizing  and creating some patterns and a bigger picture.

So, there's something called nightshades, that  again is great for some people and not so great  

for others, because they contain lectins, which  can be irritating. It's one of these proteins,  

one of these chemicals that create a problem.  And tomatoes can have lectins in them. It's a  

delicious, fantastic food for a lot of people,  but others might react. Bell peppers, eggplant,  

and white potatoes are also nightshades. And most  of these would be great, they're very low carbs  

for anybody who's not sensitive to lectin.  But even if you're not sensitive to lectin,  

if you are insulin resistance, or if you're  overweight, or you're trying to reverse diabetes,  

then you don't want to eat something with so many  carbs. So anything that's double digits on carbs,  

I would say to watch for. It doesn't mean  it's a bad food, or you can't never have it;  

it just means you got to watch the numbers  if you're trying to keep your carbs low.

In category number four is alliums, which  are things like onion and garlic and leek and  

shallots, and onion is what you're probably  going to eat the most of, like if you do a  

stir fry. So the carb count, the net carbs are  quite low, the others are considerably higher,  

but you're probably not going to eat as  much of those. And here we want to keep  

in mind that these are generally quite high in  something called FOS, fructooligosaccharide,  

which is a very good, very potent prebiotic  to feed gut bacteria. It's even sold as a  

supplement because it's really beneficial.  However, if you have something called SIBO,  

small intestinal bacterial overgrowth,  now FOS is something you trying to avoid,  

because you have bacteria in the wrong place in  the small intestine, and now you get super gassy  

if you feed them. So then you're on a diet  where you're trying to avoid these things.

So again, understand the difference. Number five  is root vegetables, things that grow underground,  

and of course, potato was one of those. But  here are some others, and this includes carrots,  

turnip, celery root, parsnip, rutabaga, and  sweet potato. And as you see, some of these  

are actually very low in carbohydrates, like the  turnips and the rutabaga especially. But if you  

are a diabetic, if you're trying to reverse  insulin resistance, or if you're periodically  

doing the ketogenic diet, then you definitely  want to stay with the ones that are single  

digits. If you get up to sweet potato, that's  going to kick you out of ketosis pretty quick.

Then there is the squash group, and here we  have things like zucchini and butternut squash,  

acorn squash, and pumpkin. And again, some are  quite low, like zucchini is very low in net carbs,  

whereas some of these tend to go up a little bit.  Number seven is legumes; these are things that  

grow in pods, and sometimes you eat the whole  pod, and sometimes you open up the pod and just  

eat what's inside. And here we have things  like peas and green beans, lentils, edamame,  

and black beans, and of course, all the bean  varieties as well, but I just picked black beans  

because the others are going to be fairly similar.  And a lot of these are going to be low in carb,  

relatively low, especially the green beans, which  would be a vegetable that is okay on a ketogenic  

diet, because you eat the whole thing, so it's  more like just a water-rich vegetable, whereas  

lentils and black beans would be an occasional  thing if you're trying to keep carbs down.

Number eight is mushrooms, which of course  are fungi and not really a vegetable at all,  

but we refer to them in that context, and we  sort of eat them together. And here we have  

white button mushrooms, portabella mushrooms,  and shiitake mushrooms, and there's many,  

many others, and they're generally very low in  carbohydrates. Number nine is stalk vegetables,  

and here we have celery, asparagus, and  rhubarb, all very, very low in carbohydrates,  

so these be perfect even on a ketogenic  diet. And number 10 are fruits and berries,  

so these are things that we often refer to as a  vegetable, but they are actually more of a fruit,  

and these would also be totally okay. So, we have  avocado, which is kind of medium in carbohydrate,  

but it has so much fiber that it's very, very  low in net carbs, which is what we're looking  

for. Then we have olives, also a fruit. We have  pumpkin, blackberries, and raspberries, which  

are berries, and then strawberries, of course.  Coconut is also a fruit; if you eat the meat,  

you probably want to avoid the coconut water,  especially separately. If you get it with the  

coconut, then you could sip on it, but don't drink  all at once. But this number refers to the coconut  

meat. And then we have cucumbers, which are also  technically a fruit, even though we think about  

a lot of these as vegetables. And the thing to  keep in mind, though, is that the cucumber has  

lectin in it. So, if you're going on a carnivore  diet, and then you want to try to reintroduce some  

other foods, then the safest ones would generally  be fruit because they don't have as much of these  

protective chemicals in them as a lot of the  other vegetables. CU fruits don't need to defend  

themselves as much; they would prefer to be eaten  and then have animals spread the seeds around.

So, remember that we want to eat a  wide variety of both animal-based  

and plant-based foods to make sure that you  feed both yourself and your separate organ,  

the microbiome. If you enjoyed this video, you're  going to love that one. And if you truly want to  

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