Circulation refers to the continuous movement of blood throughout the body. When your body has good circulation, you reap all sorts of health benefits, including a healthier heart and a sharper brain.
In contrast, poor circulation can cause uncomfortable symptoms, such as:
— Lack of feeling in your feet and hands.
— Fingers and toes that feel cold.
— Muscle cramps.
— Numbness and tingling in the feet and hands.
— Pain.
— Poor wound healing.
Left untreated, poor circulation also may lead to serious health problems like a blood clots, heart attack or stroke.
If you have more than one of these symptoms without a known cause, talk to a health care provider.
Causes of Poor Circulation
Poor circulation can have several causes, including:
— Atherosclerosis, or a hardening of the blood vessels due to plaque building in them. This makes it harder for blood to pass through these vessels.
— Diabetes.
— Obesity.
— Peripheral artery disease, which leads to a narrowing of the blood vessels. It’s caused by atherosclerosis.
— Raynaud’s disease, which is a condition that leads the blood vessels in the fingers or toes to become smaller, limiting blood flow.
— Smoking.
[READ: Understanding Blood Flow Restriction]
Improving Circulation
A health care provider can evaluate your circulation through a physical exam and a variety of diagnostic tests, including:
— Angiography to show blood flow in the heart.
— Bloodwork, which may not directly indicate poor circulation but could show if you have some of the risk factors, such as high cholesterol or antibodies that indicate Raynaud’s disease.
— A Doppler ultrasound, which uses sound waves to take images of blood flow in the body.
— Computed tomography scan.
A health care provider may not do all of these tests but will decide which tests to use based on your individual health. Based on the results, your doctor may prescribe medications, such as statins, to help treat your condition.
“Statins help lower cholesterol, heal blood vessels and, more importantly, prolong lives by decreasing the risk of heart attack and stroke,” says Dr. Marlos Fernandes, an interventional cardiologist with Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston.
How you can improve your circulation:
— Use medications as prescribed by a health care provider. In addition to statins, other medications, such as vasodilators and drugs that lower blood pressure, may be part of your treatment.
— Get regular physical activity. The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association both recommend 150 minutes of moderate activity every week, which could be broken down to 30 minutes a day, five days a week. If you’re new to physical activity, speak with a health care provider on how to get started.
— Manage any chronic conditions you have that may contribute to poor circulation, such as diabetes.
— Quit smoking. You can find resources to help you quit at the following CDC page, or by texting “QUITNOW” to 333888.
— Eat a healthy, balanced diet. Healthy food choices can help prevent and manage circulation problems and chronic diseases.
“Exercise and eating a healthy, balanced diet will play a huge role in improving your circulation,” says Ashley Bannister, a registered dietitian and coach with the weight loss app Noom in New York City.
[READ Foods to Help Lower Your Cholesterol.]
Foods That Help Improve Circulation
In addition to a healthy diet, some foods work particularly well with helping to naturally improve your circulation. Add these seven foods to your diet for better blood flow:
— Beans.
— Beets.
— Blueberries.
— Nuts and seeds.
— Onions.
— Pomegranate.
— Salmon.
Beans
Beans have lots of health benefits as they’re high in fiber. On average, a half-cup serving has seven grams of fiber. Soluble fiber, a type of fiber that dissolves in water, reduces inflammation in the body and helps lower cholesterol levels, says Dana Ellis Hunnes, a senior clinical dietitian with UCLA Medical Center and an assistant professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in Los Angeles. Lowering your cholesterol is one way to minimize your risk for or manage poor circulation.
Some ideas to add more beans to your daily diet include:
— Making chili with beans instead of meat.
— Adding kidney beans or chickpeas to a beet salad.
— Preparing a bean soup.
Beets
This brightly-hued vegetable can improve circulation because of its high level of dietary nitrate, says Roxana Ehsani, a Miami-based registered dietitian nutritionist and a board-certified specialist in sports dietetics.
Nitrate, a compound made of nitrogen and oxygen found in some plant foods, is converted to nitric oxide in the body, which then expands vessels and increases blood flow, she explains. The end result? Better circulation.
Beets also help fight inflammation and offer a good source of fiber and potassium, all of which support better heart health and improved blood flow and circulation.
Here are a few ways you can add beets to your diet:
— Experiment with different ways to prepare them, including raw, cooked, steamed, roasted, pickled and air-fried.
— Make a beet salad.
— Prepare a beet hummus by adding beets to the usual hummus recipe of chickpeas and tahini.
[See: Heart-Healthy Snacks.]
Blueberries
Blueberries boost circulation by protecting blood vessels and because they are rich in vitamin C, which helps protect cells from damage, Ehsani says.
You can use blueberries in foods, such as:
— Oatmeal.
— Smoothies.
— Snacks or desserts.
Nuts and seeds
Nuts and seeds are often high in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help to reduce blood pressure and lower inflammation, Hunnes says.
For the best circulation-boosting benefits, make sure to add the following nuts and seeds to your diet:
— Chia seeds.
— Flaxseeds.
— Walnuts.
One dish Hunnes likes to make for breakfast is to combine oats with plant-based milk, as well as berries, flaxseeds, chia seeds and walnuts. You can also incorporate nuts and seeds along with fruits into a milk-based smoothie for an effortless breakfast or snack.
Onions
Onions help your circulation because they’re full of flavonoid antioxidants. These types of antioxidants help your arteries and blood vessels become larger to support increased blood flow. If you’re not already using onions, experiment with different types from your local market. Try adding onions to:
— Salads.
— Soups.
Pomegranate
Like beets, pomegranates are also rich in nitrates. Whether you eat pomegranate in its whole-fruit form or in a juice, the nitrates in pomegranate help your circulation by widening your blood vessels. Among other health benefits, pomegranates fight inflammation and help support digestive health.
Some easy ways to add pomegranate to your diet include:
— Snacking on the arils, also known as pomegranate seeds. Some stores will sell these ready to eat in a container, saving you the work of plucking them out.
— Drinking a cup of pomegranate juice with a meal or as a snack.
— Adding the arils to salads.
Salmon
If you need another reason to eat salmon, here you go. Salmon is a fatty fish that’s rich in brain- and heart-healthy omega-3 fats. Omega-3 fats can also raise the amount of good cholesterol, also called HDL cholesterol, in the body.
“They can work to keep your arteries clear, reduce buildup of plaque around the arteries and help prevent blood clotting,” Ehsani says.
The American Heart Association recommends a three-ounce serving of salmon or a similar fatty fish, such as mackerel or anchovies, twice a week for maximum benefits.
Balancing What You Eat
Eating just one type of food won’t transform your circulation overnight. It takes a combination of healthy, balanced food choices over time to make a difference.
“An emphasis on a well-rounded, balanced diet rich in nutrients, fiber and protein and low in saturated fat is the best approach,” Bannister says. She recommends incorporating as many circulation-boosting foods as possible throughout your regular diet.
Fernandes also recommends following a Mediterranean diet for better cardiovascular health, which will also help boost your circulation. The Mediterranean diet focuses on:
— Fruits and vegetables.
— Nuts and legumes (like beans).
— Lean fish and poultry.
— Olive oil.
If you don’t currently have circulation problems, Fernandes still strongly advises healthy lifestyle choices so you can help prevent them. “The best bang for your buck is prevention,” he says.
How to Tell If Your Circulation Is Improving
The best way to find out if your circulation has improved is to check in with a health care provider. They can also advise healthy habits for your specific health needs, Fernandes says.
There also are some things you can do at home to help assess if your circulation is improving as you change your diet, get more physical activity and use any medications as prescribed. These include:
— You feel less numbness and tingling.
— You have less pain.
— There’s less swelling in your extremities, including your hands and feet.
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Update 08/31/23: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
