The Heart And Oxidative Stress

Our heart is made up mostly of muscle cells that help our heart to beat two billion, nine hundred and twenty million times in an average lifetime.

Our heart is made up mostly of muscle cells that help our heart to beat non-stop for our entire lifetime. Over 5 liters of blood gets pumped through our heart every minute. That requires our heart to beat around 100 000 times each day to supply freshly oxygenated blood to every cell in our body. By the time we die at an average age of 80, our heart has beaten two billion, nine hundred and twenty million times. That’s not bad for an organ that is about the size of our clenched fist and made almost entirely of muscle.

How does the heart work?

Our heart is divided into four chambers: two on the left and two on the right which are separated by a wall called the septum. The left side of the heart receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it to the rest of the body. The right side of the heart receives oxygen-depleted blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs for re-oxygenation. Each pump represents a heart-beat and all this pumping is coordinated by a specialized bundle of nerve cells called the sino atrial (SA) node.

Although the SA node self-generates its electrical pulse, changes in our body state, such as those due to stress, anxiety, or exercise; medical conditions such as hypo- or hyperthyroidism; and changes to the concentration of salts in our blood, all influence its rate of firing.

Oxygen also regulates our heart beat and is vital for cellular function. Without it, mitochondria are unable to convert the food we eat into energy for the cell called adenosine triphosphate (ATP).  Mitochondria are abundant in heart cells and require a constant supply of oxygen and energy. Any disruption to this supply is always detrimental.

The trouble is, it's not hard for things to go wrong.

In today’s busy world, it’s often impossible to slow things down and catch your breath, so you need your heart and cardiovascular system to be powered up and performing at its best.

The problem

Most disorders of heart function start with damage to the coronary arteries.

These small arteries twist and wind across the surface of the heart and supply the cells of the heart with blood. Smoking; infections that inflame the blood vessels; kidney damage that increases blood pressure; and consumption of foods high in trans fats, cholesterol, or sugar all damage the inner lining of these arteries. Damage attracts fats, calcium, cells and cell debris, which build up, narrowing the width of the artery, reducing its capacity to constrict or dilate and restricting blood flow.

Our cardiovascular system is the major player in the energy production supply chain and to do this effectively, it must consume large amounts of this energy.

What happens when blood flow is restricted?

The heart goes into a state of oxidative stress

Any blood flow restriction starves the cells of oxygen, effecting crucial cellular reactions and increasing free radical production. Free radicals steal electrons off cellular components made of protein, fats or DNA, causing the cell to malfunction and die.

If blood supply is severely restricted or completely obstructed, damage to the heart muscles reaches a critical level and a heart attack occurs. Timely intervention that restores blood flow is crucial if recovery of normal function is to occur. If blood flow is not promptly restored, free radicals are left to cascade out of control compounding the area of heart muscle damage.

Normally, free radical damage is counteracted by our bodies own natural supply of antioxidants, such as CoQ10. The trouble is, without oxygen, we cannot make antioxidants either. This puts our heart in a state of oxidative stress.


Given that 90% of cardiovascular health problems are considered preventable, helping to limit free radical damage is a great place to start.

THE SOLUTION

Target the mitochondria to help reduce oxidative stress

Our cardiovascular system is the major player in the energy production supply chain and to do this effectively, it must consume large amounts of this energy. So it stands to reason that our heart and blood vessels rely heavily on large numbers of high-performing, energy-generating mitochondria.