In the United States alone, there are more than 3 million cases of vascular disease reported each year. Often associated with vascular disease are blood clots. Now let’s be fair – blood clots are healthy and lifesaving when they stop bleeding. But they can also form when they aren’t needed. That’s when things get tricky. Blood clots can also cause a heart attack, stroke or other serious medical problems.
Why do blood clots form? Causes of blood clots may include certain heart conditions, pregnancy, prolonged immobility, smoking, certain medications, surgery and inherited blood clotting disorders.
For some of those causes, there’s not much you can do to prevent a clot from possibly happening. But for others, believe it or not, pineapple can help!
A proactive and very natural approach, consuming pineapples has been proven to reduce the risk of blood clots by thinning the blood. Get ready, because here we go with that bromelain again. (It’s a very, very busy enzyme)!
Bromelain helps to trigger an anti-inflammatory response. Because of their bromelain levels, pineapples can help reduce excessive coagulation of the blood. This makes pineapple a good snack for frequent fliers, pregnant women, long-time “sitters” and others at risk for blood clots.
Actually, this is one reason why you will almost always see flight attendants have a full stock of pineapple juice.
Neat fact, right? The more you know!
Dr. Lloyd