By Dr. Mercola
Your diet is an important, if not crucial, factor for the maintenance of a healthy heart well into old age. Healthy dietary fats top the list of heart-healthy foods, of course, but aside from that, a nitrate-rich diet can go a long way toward protecting your heart.
Nitrates should not be confused with nitrites, found in bacon, hot dogs, ham and other less-than-healthy cured meats. Nitrites can convert into potentially dangerous nitrosamines, especially if heated, which is why processed meats are best avoided. In fact, after examining over 7,000 clinical studies, the World Cancer Research Fund concluded there’s no safe lower limit for processed meats.1They should be avoided altogether.
On the other hand, many vegetables contain naturally occurring nitrates. When consumed, the bacteria in your mouth convert these nitrates to nitrites, but since vegetables are also rich in antioxidants, these nitrites do not pose a health hazard. More importantly, your body transforms the nitrates in vegetables into nitric oxide (NO),2 a soluble gas continually produced from the amino acid L-arginine inside your cells.
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Nitrate-Rich Foods Boost Nitric Oxide Production
NO is a gas and free radical that is an important biological signaling molecule that supports normal endothelial function and protects the little powerhouses inside your cells, your mitochondria. Acting as a potent vasodilator, NO also helps relax and widen the diameter of your blood vessels, allowing a greater volume of blood to flow through.
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