' Mere consumption of tomatoes and drinking tomato juice is also known to have similar effects of preventing the formation of blood clots.
All the fruits in the berry-family, including strawberries, cranberries, and blueberries are significant blood thinners. Oranges, tangerines, cherries, raisins, prunes, pineapples, and tomatoes work in the same manner.
Tomato Extracts Protect Against Unwanted Blood Clots
Tomato juice inhibited clotting of human blood, as measured by the aggregation of platelets, by 70% compared with 44% for pink grapefruit, 42% for honeydew melon and 33% for strawberry juice.
Eating tomatoes and tomato-based foods is associated with a lower risk of stroke, according to new research published in the October 9, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Tomatoes are high in the antioxidant lycopene.
Tomatoes are a particularly good source of two all-star antioxidants: lycopene and beta-carotene. These are essential to protect brain cells and prevent damage. Tomatoes prove to be one of the most economical ways to increase your brainpower.
Foods high in potassium, such as sweet and white potatoes, bananas, tomatoes, prunes, melon and soybeans, can help you maintain a healthy blood pressure — the leading risk factor of stroke. Magnesium-rich foods, such as spinach, are also linked to a lower risk of stroke.
Anticoagulants. Anticoagulants, such as heparin, warfarin, dabigatran, apixaban, and rivaroxaban, are medications that thin the blood and help to dissolve blood clots.
Moderate amounts of red wine or purple grape juice daily helps keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots, thanks to powerful antioxidants called polyphenols in purple grapes, according to a review of previous studies published in the Journal of Nutrition.
Thrombolytics. Thrombolytics are drugs that dissolve blood clots. A doctor may give a thrombolytic intravenously, or they may use a catheter in the vein, which will allow them to deliver the drug directly to the site of the clot.
Natural Ways to Treat Blood Clots
Eat natural pineapple or take a nutritional supplement with bromelain. Increase your intake of other foods and drinks that may help dissolve blood clots such as garlic, kiwi, kale, spinach, red wine, and grape juice. Drink more water. Increase your exercise.
"Some of the alkaloids found in common nightshades can cause GI distress and even be poisonous to people, but only when consumed in excess or when eating these foods in unusual ways — such as eating a tomato's leaves or a potato after it's turned green," says Beaver.
A substance found in tomatoes relieves impairment of blood vessels, which may explain why people who eat a Mediterranean diet have a notably reduced incidence of cardiovascular disease, according to a study.
Minimizes Blood Clot
Bromelain present in pineapple influences blood coagulation. It reduces the formation of blood clots, dissolves existing blood clots and helps prevent serious diseases relating to sudden seizures or strokes.
Eating 2 to 3 kiwis a day has been shown to reduce the potential of blood clotting by 18 percent and reduce triglycerides by 15 percent. Many individuals take aspirin to reduce blood clotting, but this causes many side effects including inflammation and intestinal bleeding.
Citrus fruit such as oranges, grapefruit, and lemons contain many antioxidants that can lower inflammation, prevent blood clots, and improve blood circulation.
Heparin thins the blood, but newer drugs that actively break up the clots (thrombolytics) may act more quickly and may be more effective. These newer drugs include streptokinase, urokinase, and recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator. The major complication of this treatment is bleeding.
Ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke, is treated with the 'clot-busting' drug known as tPA. The drug must be given to patients within three- to four-and-a-half hours after the onset of stroke symptoms, and preferably sooner.
Consider red wine as your first choice, which some studies suggest might help prevent heart disease and stroke. Watch your portion sizes. A standard-sized drink is a 5-ounce glass of wine, 12-ounce beer, or 1.5-ounce glass of hard liquor.
Avocados. The addition of avocados in daily meals is another good way to help with stroke recovery. The fatty acids in avocados help reduce the risk of inflammation in the body, improve fine motor skills and mental wellbeing.
Tomatoes and tomato products are among the richest dietary sources of lycopene, a carotenoid antioxidant that has been associated with improved lung health. Consuming tomato products has been shown to reduce airway inflammation in people with asthma and improve lung function in people with COPD ( 11 ).
Consumption of tomatoes will provide anti-inflammatory properties and thus, can be really beneficial for overall heart and brain health. Tomato is a good source of potassium and is linked with lowering the elevated blood pressure in the body. Thus, preventing cardiovascular diseases.