Vitamins for Circulation & Vein Health | Vein Specialists of the South (2024)

Reviewed by Dr. Kenneth Harper, MD

Did you know that your diet can have a significant impact on your circulatory health? Poor circulation can lead to all sorts of problems, including venous disease and blood clots. Fortunately, there are a number of vitamins and foods that can help improve blood flow* and keep your veins healthy.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss the top nutrients for improved circulation and how you can get them into your diet, whether through over-the-counter supplements or changes in what and how you eat.

*Important Note: If you have blood clots or a history of blood clots, discuss your diet with our vein specialists or your primary care physician. Some vitamins and foods listed below are not recommended if you have blood clots. It’s important to consult your physician before changing your diet or taking any over-the-counter remedies.

Top Vitamins for Healthy Circulation

While vitamins should most often be consumed through food whenever possible, you may benefit from over-the-counter supplements with the guidance of a physician. Either way, make sure your diet is rich in the following vitamins to improve circulation.

B-Complex Vitamins

Vitamin B deficiency can harm your health in many ways, including circulation. For example, Riboflavin (B2) assists in the production of red blood cells, and Cobalamin (B12) helps prevent anemia (low red blood cell count). You need all of the B vitamins for healthy circulation and can find them in enjoyable staples like steak, brown rice, and broccoli. Did you need another reason to enjoy steak?

Potassium (Vitamin K)

Potassium is an essential mineral for many important bodily functions, including blood circulation. It keeps the blood vessel walls strong and can even help prevent bulging veins. Potassium can be found in a variety of healthy and tasty foods like bananas and avocados. So get yourself a banana on the run and tell the waiter you’ll take extra guacamole with your burrito.

Vitamin C

Famous for its role in immune support, Vitamin C offers more health benefits than we give it credit for. This includes crucial healing functions for vein membranes and the strengthening of vein walls. If you’re tired of oranges, consider other vitamin C-rich foods like brussels sprouts, kiwi, and strawberries.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is infamous for its moisturizing benefits, but it also affects your blood platelets and prevents them from clumping together or sticking to the vein walls to form blood clots. Vitamin E is found in a lot of amazing snacks, like almonds and sunflower seeds, but it’s also found in large quantities in mangos, salmon, and trout.

Snack Time! Add These Foods for Improved Circulation

While the vitamin-rich foods listed above are delicious and healthy, helping you improve your overall health and circulation, there are foods that pack a more powerful punch. If you’re looking for foods that do the most good for your veins and circulation, here are our top picks for you.

• Beets: Expand and reduce inflammation of your blood vessels, widen arteries, enhance oxygen flow to muscles, and lower blood pressure with nitrates.
• Berries: Improve circulation, lower blood pressure, widen arteries, and reduce inflammation with antioxidants in blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries.
• Citrus: Decrease inflammation, enhance blood flow, and help varicose veins with flavonoids and antioxidants in oranges and lemons. They’re also a rich source of Vitamin C.
• Fatty Fish: Those trendy Omega-3 fatty acids are actually good for something, stimulating nitric oxide production, opening up your blood vessels, and enhancing blood flow. They also help prevent blood clots and arterial plaque while lowering blood pressure and increasing the HDL cholesterol your doctor has begged you to improve.
• Nuts: Reduce inflammation and lower blood pressure with Vitamin E and potassium-rich nuts like walnuts. Sprinkle it on a salad or eat it instead of chips during your next snack attack.
• Onions: Put it on a salad or chop it up for a healthy soup or savory stew. Either way, onions are packed with flavonoid antioxidants which help dilate your arteries and veins for enhanced circulation. They also reduce inflammation, which improves overall health.

Spice Things Up With These Circulation-Friendly Seasonings

• Cayenne Pepper: If you love spicy dishes, add a little cayenne pepper to dilate your blood vessels, prevent arterial plaque buildup, and lower blood pressure.
• Garlic: This tasty seasoning goes in almost any savory dish and offers a wide range of health benefits, including lowering blood pressure, triggering dilation of the blood vessels, and enhancing blood flow. If you’re worried about bad breath, mints are your friend.
• Ginger: In addition to settling an upset stomach, ginger also helps keep your circulation and blood pressure healthy. It’s a great excuse to make pumpkin pie anytime, not just in the fall.
• Turmeric: This trendy anti-inflammatory spice adds a little unique flavor to your favorite spicy dishes. It’s customarily used in Indian food, but with increased popularity, people use it in all kinds of dishes to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. It also dilates those blood vessels and enhances healthy blood flow.

Need Help With Vein Healthy Supplements?

At Vein Specialist of the South, we understand that it can be hard to get these ‘supplements’ in your regular diet. We offer scientifically proven supplements designed to meet your needs if you have painful varicose veins, skin changes, or leg swelling. Ask our team how we can help you.

Other Healthy Habits to Adopt for Circulation and Vein Health

It’s all well and good to stuff your face with healthy, circulation-friendly foods and vitamins, but you need to incorporate other lifestyle changes as well.

To prevent and treat venous disease, enhance circulation, and protect yourself against blood clots, make sure you also adopt our conservative care lifestyle changes. Part of our Better Veins for Life® principles, these lifestyle changes are proven to improve vein health, enhance circulation, and reduce leg discomfort.

1. Regular exercise, like walking, cycling, and swimming, increases blood flow, works your calf muscles, and reduces blood pooling in the leg veins.
2. Weight loss and weight management, as being overweight puts added strain on your veins, increasing the likelihood of bulging varicose veins and blood clots.
3. Changing your shoes, because high heels are not your friend and put a strain on your legs and veins.
4. Wearing graduate compression stockings encourages blood to flow from the feet back up to the heart, reducing pooling that leads to bulging varicose veins.
5. Leg elevation also helps blood flow from the feet to the heart while reducing swelling in the ankles and feet and minimizing heaviness and other aches associated with venous disease.

Schedule an Evaluation at Vein Specialists of the South for Help With Venous Disease

If your legs have unexplained symptoms, like aches and heaviness, or you notice visible spider veins and varicose veins, schedule an evaluation with our team of vein specialists in Georgia. We’ll work with you to develop a personalized care plan, combining lifestyle changes and, when needed, minimally invasive procedures to treat diseased veins.

We offer both virtual and in-person consultations and three convenient locations in Macon, Warner Robins, and Locust Grove, GA. Contact us to find out more and get started.

• Understand the underlying cause of varicose veins.
• Determine if your unsightly varicose veins could be more than a cosmetic concern.
• Learn what to expect at your vein evaluation.
• Choose the best treatment options to meet your needs.