Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) Alternative Treatments

Alternative therapy, sometimes called "complementary" or "integrative" medicine, for coronary artery disease consists primarily of making lifestyle changes that improve your heart health. Becoming or staying physically active and making conscious decisions about what foods you eat are choices that give you a great deal of control over whether you develop CAD or whether existing CAD leads to a heart attack. Likewise, physical activity keeps stress in check and helps your heart work more efficiently so that it takes less cardiac effort to circulate blood through your body. Remember, the heart is a muscle. Like any other muscle, it responds favorably to physical conditioning.

Learn more about lifestyle changes you can make to improve your heart health.

There are two nutritional supplements that can impact the risk of CAD.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids, derived from fatty fish, at doses of 2 to 4 grams per day have been shown to reduce triglyceride levels in people with high triglycerides and to favorably remodel atherosclerotic plaques in the vessels.

Phytosterols

A dose of 2 to 3 grams per day of phytosterols, derived from plant materials, has been shown to reduce LDL by 10 to 15 percent.

Many other alternative therapies may claim to have an impact on heart health, but there often is little to no data to support their use and buying these supplements is often a waste of money.