Herbs for heart health: herbalist Mimi Middleton explores herbs to lower C-reactive Protein.

If you've had a checkup lately, chances are more and more likely that your physician screened you for C-reactive Protein (CRP). This new buzzword in medical diagnosis has changed the way that scientists look at heart disease.

CRP is an ancient protein that plays a role in the body's defense by binding to the surface of infective organisms such as bacteria, making them sticky, and rendering them inactive. CRP helps the body clear itself of infection, and one way it does this is by inducing inflammation. When CRP is in its bound state, it activates a process known as complement. Complement refers to the body's army of twenty to thirty proteins that "gang up" on an infection. The result is inflammation. The battle is designed to be quick, and during an inflammatory episode, CRP levels blast off, but they return to normal soon after the flare up subsides. This is why until recently CRP has been used mainly as a diagnostic marker of acute inflammatory flare-ups.

However, recently it has come to the attention of the medical community that very slight elevations in CRP, only detectable with the modern most sensitive screenings, seem to be clearly associated with cardiovascular disease. So clear is this association that according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, elevated CRP is now considered more of a risk factor for heart disease than are elevated total cholesterol or low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (NEJM, 3/23/00). And further investigation reveals that CRP is not only a marker for heart disease, it is actually a mediator in its process--a major player, along with LDL, in the formation of plaque in the arteries. To make matters worse, CRP loves to reside in the lesions of damaged arteries where it likes to invite its army of inflammatory complement proteins and its partner in crime LDL. The result is a pyrogenic party in your arteries that results in an atherosclerotic mess.

The implications are now obvious: inflammation plays a major role in heart disease. With this in mind, herbalists can now strategize new ways to cool down cardiovascular disease using herbs. Perhaps one the most important herbs we can rely on arc the antioxidants. Found in colorful foods and herbs like berries and turmeric, antioxidants put a stop to free radicals. The free radicals feed inflammation because they drive the production of CRP's precursor, Interleukin-6 (IL-6). Some of the most common sources of free radical stress in the body come from smoking, chronic stress, and obesity. Smoking has been clearly associated with elevated CRP levels in many" studies. This comes as no surprise since most people know by now that smoking is a clear risk factor for heart disease.

Stress, too, is a major contributor of free radicals. It is estimated that inflammatory events, caused by stress, may account for the approximately forty percent of atherosclerotic patients with no other known risk factors (J Psychosom Res 01/02). This supports the use of herbal adaptogens, herbs known to cushion the body's response to stress. Rhodiola rosea, a famous herbal adaptogen from Russia, has already been shown to decrease CRP levels in a human clinical trial (Bull Exp Biol Med, 07/04). Other herbal adaptogens are listed in the sidebar.

Unfortunately, obesity has also been shown to go hand in hand with elevated CRP levels. Researchers believe that this is because the CRP precursor, IL-6 is produced in fat cells. Therefore the more fat cells, the more IL-6, hence more CRP. A closer look has shown that those with metabolic syndrome X (a pre-diabetic condition characterized by abdominal fat, insulin resistance, and high levels of glucose in the body) have higher levels of CRP and thus a greater risk for cardiovascular disease. It's nice that some herbs can support the body's ability to process sugars. Recently, it has been discovered in a human clinical trial that simply eating cinnamon powder (Cinnamomum verum) after each meal aids the body significantly in its ability to use glucose (Diabetes Care, 12/03). That means that more glucose gets used for energy and less glucose is left to circulate and end up as fat. Other herbs that aide in glucose utilization are Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia), American ginseng, eleuthero, gymnema (Gymnema sylvestre), fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum), and even garlic and onions. These herbs have all been found to reduce blood sugar levels (therefore caution is advised in those with a tendency towards low blood sugar or hypoglycemia).

It is also crucial to incorporate a sound approach to eating and nutrition. For example, adherence to the Mediterranean-style diet, rich in essential fatty acids, olive oil, fresh produce, and grains, resulted in lowering CRP in patients by up to twenty percent in one study (J Am Coll Cardiol, 7/7/04). And simply increasing the frequency of fruit and vegetable intake in one elder population was associated with significantly lower levels of CRP in another study Or Nutr, 4/04). Many researchers attribute this to the high antioxidant content of olive oil and of fruits and vegetables.

Some of the most powerful antioxidants come from herbs such as green tea (Camellia sinensis), turmeric (Curcuma longa), and grape skins. Extracts of these herbs have all' been shown to inhibit an upstream mechanism that leads to CRP production in the body. Long used for its heart-supportive qualities, hawthorne (Crataegus oxyacantha) and its flavonoid extract have also shown impressive results inhibiting a process that could lead to elevated CRP.

It's important to say that these strategies aren't really new in the eyes of herbalists and traditional healers. All of the above mentioned herbs have been used for centuries to nourish the heart and strengthen the vitality. Science sometimes just gives us a new way to look at things. And more and more these days, science seems to be verifying what tradition has always known. Herbs work.

antioxidant herbs for the heart

Green Tea and its extract epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), Turmeric and its extract curcumin, Hawthorne and its flavonoid extract Grape skins and its extract resveratrol 

food for the heart

Olive oil, foods rich in essential fatty acids, fruits and vegetables of all colors, berries, red wine (A rich source of resveratrol)

herbs for the heart

Eleuthero, Adaptogenic, American ginseng, schisandra, rhodiola rose ashwaganda

spices for the heart

Cinnamon, fenugreek, onions, garlic, turmeric

Michelle "Mimi" Middleton, MS, is the Director of the Southeast Center for Herbal Healing at the North Carolina School of Natural Healing, where upcoming courses include Advanced Herbal Science and Family Herbalism. She is also a clinical a proud wife, and a supermom, and can be contacted at [e-mail], and information about her courses can be found at www.ncsnh.com.