Many people are seeking natural varicose vein treatment and ways to relieve varicose vein symptoms like leg pain and swelling. Increasing the bioflavonoids in your diet, a particular class of powerful antioxidants, in one natural treatment that is gaining broader attention and acceptance.
Below, we discuss four types of bioflavonoids that can help improve your vein health and symptoms. We also give you information on the best foods to eat to get these bioflavonoids naturally. However, and this is a BIG however, you should never try to heal varicose veins on your own. Always go into a varicose vein treatment clinic like Metro Vein Centers and get your veins checked out by a specialist. Natural treatments work best as a deterrent to getting more varicose veins, rather than healing the ones you already have.
Anthocyanins and Proanthocyanidins
Anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins are known to strengthen blood vessel walls so they are good for deterring the formation of varicose veins, damaged reticulate veins, and spider veins. They are also known to prevent blood clots by dilating blood vessels. However, never assume you don’t have a blood clot if you’re eating foods high in anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins. Go to a varicose vein treatment center like Metro Vein Centers and get tested to make sure!
Anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins are bioflavonoids that give foods their pretty colors like blue and red. This is why the best foods to eat to get a high dose of anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins tend to be these colors. Berries, especially blueberries, blackberries, and bilberries, a close relative of blueberries, are especially high in anthocyanins. You’ll also get a high does of these bioflavonoids from raspberries, elderberries, thimbleberries, salmonberries, and cranberries. Other vegetarian foods that have a good amount of anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins include highly pigmented choices like red cabbage, eggplant, black rice, muscadine grapes, wine, and black tea. Deeply colored edible flower petals like violent petals are loaded with these colorful bioflavonoids and make a beautiful addition to a salad.
Rutin
Rutin is so well known for treating chronic venous insufficiencies that health companies sell it as supplements for vein health. It strengthens vein walls and is particularly good at restoring veins and delicate capillaries that hemorrhage. It also helps these vessels be more flexible so they don’t break but also strong enough to withstand heavy pressure.
Citrus fruit is very high in rutin but it is concentrated mostly in the membranes and peel. Therefore, drinking orange juice, especially filtered orange juice, or squeezing lemon juice on your food is not the best way to get rutin from citrus. A better way is to eat a whole orange or other citrus or grate some zest into your salad, soup, or other dishes. Buckwheat bran is another good source for rutin as is Amaranth leaves, rooibos tea, black tea, figs, onions, and apples if you leave the peel on!
Hesperidin
Hesperidin can help with one of the telltale symptoms of varicose veins: edema (swelling due to the accumulation of fluid and lymph). In fact, research has show that if you don’t get enough hesperidin, your vein walls can become weak and you’ll not only get edema but also leg cramps and restless leg syndrome in the middle of the night.
Hesperidin is found in the highest concentration in the peel of citrus fruits like oranges, satsumas, tangerines, grapefruit, lemons, etc. If you don’t already have one, it might be a good idea to invest in a zester which makes zesting a citrus fruit much easier than trying to grate a peel. Denude those lemons and oranges to save your veins! Hesperidin is also found in good quantities in stone fruits like apricots, nectarines, and plums. Another good source is sweet bell peppers, especially the red ones.
Quercetin
Quercetin will help make your blood vessels stronger too. Plus, quercetin is quite good at regulating blood sugar. This is particularly important in diabetics and pre-diabetics since high blood sugar has been shown to be closely correlated with the presence of varicose veins and the need for more extensive varicose vein treatment.
Quercetin is very high in onions, and in fact, tablet forms of quercetin are usually derived from onions. Apples, buckwheat, parsley, berries, capers, and peppers are also good sources for quercetin.
Final Thoughts
If you already need varicose vein treatment, these bioflavonoids are not going to magically cure those damaged vein valves or repair your deformed veins. They’re not going to make your venous reflux or blood clots magically disappear either. However, what they may do, if you eat a lot of them on a consistent basis, is help prevent more varicose veins from forming and help improve the symptoms that you have such as leg swelling.
If you don’t currently need varicose vein treatment but you know varicose veins run in your family, increasing the bioflavonoids in your diet will help you delay needing treatment or avoid varicose vein treatment altogether.
If you’re not sure if you have varicose veins, make an appointment with Metro Vein Centers. The first consultation is free so what do you have to lose? Nothing… except your varicose veins!
