Studies have shown that healthy people with the stiffest blood vessels were three times more apt to develop high blood pressure over a five year span than those with supple, pliable vessels.
In a large scale study involving 3,075 healthy older people, those who had the highest pulse wave velocity (PWV) a measure of arterial stiffness, were three times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those who had the lowest PWV.
The well being of your arteries depends on a healthy endothelium, the inner lining of your blood vessels. Endothelial cells control almost every activity that occurs in the blood vessels.
Healthy endothelial cells produce nitric oxide, an important signaling molecule that helps keep arteries supple. When nitric oxide enters a cell it stimulates a biochemical process that relaxes and dilates blood vessels. Nitric oxide also helps keep arteries flowing freely by preventing platelets and white blood cells from sticking to the blood vessel wall.
Smoking 1 cigarette causes a significant impairment in endothelial function.
Red wine's antioxidant substances enhance production of nitric oxide.
"People who maintain a healthy endothelium as they get older and those who make an effort to do things that promote the repair of injured endothelium can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes caused by atherosclerosis or hypertension" (Edward Lakatta MD, National Institute on Aging USA).
Sources:
Aging Hearts & Arteries
National Institutes of Health USA 2005
J Am Coll Cardiology.
Red wine increases the expression of human endothelial nitric oxide synthase:
a mechanism that may contribute to its beneficial cardiovascular effects.
Wallerath T, Poleo D, Li H, Förstermann U. 2003 Feb 5;41(3):479-81.
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