Poor blood circulation can lead to numerous problems, including hypertension, varicose veins and hardening of the arteries. On a less dire level, it can leave you feeling cold in your extremities, even on a warm day, and delay the healing of cuts and bruises. Poor circulation can be caused by a number of things, including obesity, lack of exercise, inadequate hydration or repeated urinary infections. If you have poor circulation, you should speak to a doctor about the problem, but you can also adapt a number of simple remedies on your own.
Exercise helps improve circulation.
Diet
Good circulation starts with proper hydration. People who drink eight glasses of water a day and stay away from alcohol or caffeine (they promote dehydration) clear detritus out of their blood supply and improve blood flow. A healthy diet does much the same thing: green, leafy vegetables, citrus fruits and lean meats with a lot of protein. Fatty foods, on the other hand, tend to clog the arteries with a lot of gunk and make circulation worse.
Exercise
Increased heart rate improves circulation, and there's no better way to get the heart beating than by regular exercise. It's especially important for people who work at desk jobs and don't move around a lot during the day. Cardio-intensive exercises such as running, swimming or bike riding are very good for improving the heart rate and expanding the smaller blood vessels.
Hot and Cold Treatments
Exposure to heat brings the blood closer to the surface of the skin. Exposure to cold causes the blood to move toward the internal organs. By alternating heat and cold very rapidly--such as in a shower--the blood is forced around the body more quickly, improving circulation. Hot and cold treatments should be undertaken carefully so as not to scald the skin, but alternating between hot water and cold five or six times in succession on a particular body part can alleviate poor blood flow.
Cayenne
Cayenne pepper helps strengthen the blood vessels and improve the heart rate, both of which are good for circulation. It can cause problems in sensitive areas like the eyes, but taking it in small doses or as part of a recipe is an excellent way to improve circulation.
Ginkgo Biloba
Gingko has been taken for thousands of years and is often used to improve memory, primarily by increasing blood flow to the brain. It can also be used to treat varicose veins, and it improves circulation in the lungs, making it helpful for asthma. As a general treatment for circulation, it's considered very effective and can be taken without a prescription in capsule form.
Tags: blood flow, heart rate, blood vessels, improve circulation, improves circulation