It can be completely invisible.

For decades environmentalists have sounded alarms about it and the harm it’s doing to our planet.

But a more dire warning may be that an estimated nine million people each year die prematurely because of the damage it does to the human body, making up a whopping 16% of all deaths worldwide.

Can you guess what it is?

Pollution.

And while we’ve long understood many of the health effects of air pollution — with scientists warning about airborne Alzheimer’s, pollution-induced diabetes and effects worse on the heart than smoking or cholesterol — it seems that the dangers of the toxic metals, pesticides, and micro- and nanoplastics that have leached into our soil and water may have been overlooked.

And it’s now been revealed that the most significant dangers occur in the vessels that keep your blood flowing and heart beating.

Here are the details…

Pollution is hardening our arteries

In the scientific journal, Nature Reviews Cardiology, an International research team is sounding an alarm in regards to the soil that grows our foods and the water we drink every day.

 “Soil contamination is a much less visible danger to human health than dirty air,” warn Dr. Thomas Münzel and Dr. Andreas Daiber, Head of the Molecular Cardiology Research Group at the Department of Cardiology at University Medical Mainz.

“But the evidence is mounting that pollutants in the soil as well as in water may damage cardiovascular health through some central mechanisms that have been identified to play a key role in the atherosclerotic process such as inflammation of the vasculature, increased oxidative stress, but also the disruption of the body’s natural clock causing vascular (endothelial) dysfunction that may lead to the initiation or progression of atherosclerotic disease.”

The formation of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, is an early step in the development of heart disease. The process begins with endothelial dysfunction, mainly in medium- and large-sized arteries.

Normally it’s a slow process, with plaques building over years, but who knows if considerable exposure to pollution speeds up the process.

Additionally, the scientists say that the ever-present health risks that come with air pollution are now being compounded.

That’s because contaminated airborne dust (also known as Sahara or desert dust) is predicted to significantly increase, further deteriorating air quality.

This is especially alarming when you consider that already, 770,000 cardiovascular deaths per year are due to dust pollution.

Finally, the researchers point out that exposure to chemicals in the workplace, through consumer products (such as deodorants) or indirectly via environmental contamination also contributes to endothelial (blood vessel) dysfunction and cardiovascular disease.

Reduce pollution’s threat to your heart

An important reason the researchers brought this information to light was to strongly encourage cardiologists to consider environmental factors that could influence their patients’ risk.

But the prevention necessary to avoid this newly identified risk will fall on our shoulders. There’s not much we can do to avoid the pollution that threatens our cardiovascular health, but there are ways to combat the specific ways it causes harm.

As a doctor who’s spent years reading and writing about these threats and potential solutions, I’m sharing with you advice that I’ve been putting into action for years in hopes of preventing some of the damage…

• Buy organic – To eliminate as much toxins as possible from the food you eat, look for organic fruits and vegetables rather than the conventional variety which is generally sprayed to within an inch of its life with harmful pesticides.
• Use a water filter – Installing a reverse osmosis water filter at home can allow you to filter your family’s drinking water and reduce your use of plastic water bottles that leach micro-particles into your water.
• Take antioxidants – Because oxidative stress is one of the ways researchers know pollution damages the cardiovascular system, it’s vital to up your antioxidant levels. You can get higher levels of antioxidants from foods like berries, leafy greens and green tea. Or, you can take a quality antioxidant supplement, such as resveratrol (the antioxidant found in the skin of grapes).
• Supplement B vitamins – One study found that individuals who took 2.5 mg per day of folic acid, 50 mg per day of vitamin B6 and 1 mg per day of vitamin B12 were able to almost completely reverse the pollution damage caused to their immune and cardiovascular systems.
• Practice chelation – Chelators are organic or inorganic compounds that can bind to different types of toxins found in pollution, like chemicals and toxic heavy metals, and promote their elimination from the body as waste. The less that’s in your body, the less there is to contribute to artery plaque. Resveratrol and EDTA are two that have been widely used and are available in supplement form.
• Supplement vitamin D – Close to half the adult population doesn’t take in adequate levels of the sunshine vitamin and low levels are linked to endothelial dysfunction.

Sources:

Road traffic injuries – World Health Organization

Number of worldwide air traffic fatalities from 2006 to 2021 – Statista

Influenza – Our World In Data

The true death toll of COVID-19 – World Health Organization

Soil and water pollution: An invisible threat to cardiovascular health – EurekAlert!