Best Way to Test For Blood Clots and Fight Them Naturally
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There is one simple blood test that will tell you if you’ve been breaking down clots inside of your body.
I’m going to go over that test, as well as some others that you might want to take.
I’m also going to show you exactly how you can naturally support the fight against blood clots.
Testing
There are multiple blood work tests you can take to find out if you are having blood clotting issues.
If you suspect you have a blood clot, or are concerned about a family history of clotting issues, I recommend taking some of these, especially D-dimer.
D-dimer Test
This is a test that measures D-dimer, which is a protein fragment that your body makes when a blood clot dissolves in your body.
D-dimer is normally undetectable or at a very low level unless your body is forming and breaking down significant blood clots.
D-dimer is also viral-related.
There was a study that I covered in my immune masterclass and mini-course that showed that when lymphocytes, C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, and abdominal fat numbers were off, getting the virus resulted in an increased risk of being put into the hospital, or worse.
When it comes to viral health, these are huge numbers to look at.
D-dimer will tell you if you have that issue going on, and if you have blood clotting.
CRP is a good secondary test because that’s going to tell you if you have damage to your heart, which is even more important than cholesterol numbers or a calcification score.
If you suspect that you’re clotting or have a family history of blood clotting, you should be testing D-dimer.
Types of Coagulation Tests
For testing, you also have your prothrombin time (PT), your international normalized ratio, and your partial thromboplastin time (PTT).
A PT test evaluates your blood’s ability to clot, and the INR ensures that the results from a PT test are the same from one lab to another.
A PTT test determines if blood-thinning therapy is effective.
Ferritin is another really good one to test.
It basically measures the weight of your blood. If your blood is too heavy, you could be at risk for a stroke or a blood clot.
If your ferritin is above 100, you can help some people out by donating blood.
You can also test your fibrinogen concentration and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR).
That’ll essentially measure, along with platelets, how much inflammation is in your blood.
The more inflamed you are, the stickier your blood is, and the more clotting occurs.
If you have these numbers, you can understand how your condition is doing.
Signs of Blood Clots
Blood clots also have some symptoms you can detect on your own to know that you need medical attention.
One kind of blood clot is deep vein thrombosis, when a clot forms in a deep vein. These are usually seen in the calf, but could be in the leg or arm as well.
Some of the warning signs for deep vein thrombosis include:
- Very warm skin
- Swelling, redness or discoloration of the skin
- Pain and tenderness
Pulmonary embolisms are clots that form in the lungs. Some signs of those are:
- Difficulty breathing
- Coughing up blood
- Faster than normal/irregular heartbeat
- Chest pain
If you believe you have either of these, you should contact emergency care, because they’re nothing to mess around with.
If you have a blood clot, you may be put on a blood thinner, or you may already be on one now.
That’s why D-dimer and these other tests are so important.
It lets you monitor your condition, and if your results get better over time, you can talk to your doctor about lessening or getting off of the blood thinner medications.
It also means that if you start adding in foods or lifestyle changes that could potentially help with blood clots, you can see whether or not those are effective.
Foods To Eat
If you suspect you have a blood clot, you should get medical attention and talk with your doctor about ways to handle it.
However, there are some foods and herbs you can put in to help fight them naturally.
I’m not saying that you have to take these if you’re on a blood thinner. If you understand your numbers, work with your doctor, not me.
Ask your doctor if you can add in some of these foods to clean up your lifestyle. That way you might be able to get off of blood thinner drugs.
These include:
- Fish Oil
- Turmeric
- Ginger
- Pineapple (Bromelain)
- Cassia Cinnamon
- Grape Seed Extract
- Garlic
- Veggies (Vitamin E)
First, I would be taking 750 milligrams of omega-3 fish oil a day.
That has an equivalent effect as taking baby aspirin, without the stomach dysfunction that aspirin causes.
Aspirin creates stomach ulcers and is hard on the kidneys, so that’s one you can talk to your doctor about replacing.
Turmeric also has anti-inflammatory properties. I take my fish oil with the turmeric because when they’re emulsified together, you’ll get even more absorption and anti-inflammatory benefits.
Some people have sensitivities to turmeric, but the emulsified version allows you to take less of it and still get it into your blood to be used.
Ginger is fantastic for lowering inflammation, soothing the gut, and very good for the blood.
Pineapple, specifically the bromelain enzymes it contains, can help reduce the inflammation in the blood vessels.
Cinnamon in general is fantastic, but cassia cinnamon is going to have more of a naturally-occurring Warfarin effect in it to actually thin the blood out.
If you’re in a life-threatening situation, there needs to be a balance of this with medications, but maybe you should have a conversation with your doctor to see if you can try cassia cinnamon to see what it does to your numbers.
I like to add cinnamon to my coffee every morning to help give the extra blood pressure-lowering impact.
Grape seed extract is another good one for plaquing and cholesterol.
Garlic is similar in that it’s good for the blood and very heart-healthy.
Vegetables will help give you a boost of vitamin E, which is the mother of all antioxidants and can help with oxidation that’s happening in the blood.
From a cholesterol-supporting perspective, garlic, grape seed extract, and vitamin E are fantastic.
Plant sterols are also good for your cholesterol.
I avoid red yeast rice now, because statin drugs are actually created off of red yeast rice, and a study has shown that it can actually cause side effects.
But there is research behind plant sterols that shows that they’re linked to lowering LDL cholesterol.
You can also supplement for garlic, grape seed extract, vitamin E, and plant sterols as well as eating foods containing them.
Lifestyle
There are also some lifestyle changes and activities that you can try to help with blood clotting.
Rebounding
One thing you can focus on is rebounding. This is jumping on a mini trampoline, which improves your blood flow within a couple of minutes.
If you want to know more about the art of rebounding on a mini trampoline, you can check out my video on it, which covers everything you need to know.
If you’re in the middle of a blood clot and you have a swollen, hot leg, I wouldn’t be rebounding.
Some of these tips are not for use in the middle of a blood clot; they’re for after so you don’t necessarily spend the rest of your life on a blood thinner, or for if you’re just generally worried about blood clots..
10-Minute Workouts
Something else that can help with blood flow is 10-minute workouts.
These are high-intensity, short-duration workouts, and very good for blood flow.
Less Leg-Crossing
Try elevating your legs, especially while you’re sleeping or while you’re watching TV.
This will help get some blood flow back to the heart and help your pumps out a little bit, especially if you’re not crossing them while they’re elevated.
Dry Brushing
This is the act of taking a big brush that you’d normally use on your hair and brushing your legs with its bristles.
You want to brush from the ankle up toward the heart.
This is good to do right after you get out of a shower.
It’s going to scratch your skin a little bit and leave a mark, but it helps stimulate blood flow to your heart, which helps out the lymph system as well.
Bioflavonoids
Another thing you can add in is bioflavonoids.
Bioflavonoids are found in plants, and include rutin, hesperidin, and quercetin. You can also get them in my Energyze powder,
Rutin and hesperidin are especially good for blood vessel and blood flow support.
My electrolyte powder has vitamin C, which is also good for blood vessel support.
There are some citrus fruits that are high in vitamin C that you can include in your diet to support your blood vessels, such as acerola cherries.
You can also put lemons and limes in your water, which is good for your liver, and very good for your blood vessels.
I take in anywhere from 20-100 milligrams of bioflavonoids per day through my Vitamin C or Energyze.
I just take them in a supplement form, but if you want to know more about lemon water, I have a video that covers how you can help your liver out.
Summary
Those are some foods and lifestyle changes that you can focus on if you want to reduce your blood clots and get off of blood thinner drugs.
It is important to take those tests as well so that you can know what’s going on in your body.
Now, maybe you have calcified arteries, which is when plaque builds up in them, and you have a high calcium score when you test it.
What do you do when this starts to happen? Because clotting can happen here, too.
I made a whole video covering how to reverse the clogging of arteries, so you can check that out if you’re struggling with that issue.
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