Chronic heart failure is a clinical syndrome that involves, among other things, reduced heart pumping function. The condition is often life-threatening. A new study that is published in Journal of the American Heart Association looks closer at how supplementation with magnesium can help the heart muscle contract with greater force and perhaps be a useful adjuvant in the treatment of heart failure. The study supports another study that is published in Diabetes Care. In this study, it is demonstrated that lack of magnesium is linked to heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and other complications from type 2 diabetes.

It is essential that your heart is able to pump optimally throughout life. A study from Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, the United States, has just shown that a diet with low levels of vitamin K1 from dark, leafy greens increases your risk of an unhealthy enlargement of the heart’s left ventricle that pumps the oxygenated blood to the aorta (the body’s largest artery). The scientists even observed this enlargement in teenagers. Vitamin K1 is primarily known for its role in the blood coagulation process, but it is also converted to vitamin K2 in our gut flora. In fact, it is vitamin K2 that is important for the heart and cardiovascular system.

Omega-3 fatty acids belong to a group of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Their "omega-3" name indicates that they have a double bond at the third carbon atom in the middle carbon chain. Omega-3 fatty acids provide energy and constitute an important element in all cell membranes and various biochemical processes. The type known as ALA (alpha-linoleic acid) is essential, as the human body is unable to produce it. We depend on a dietary supply of this fatty acid. By means of enzymes, ALA is converted to EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and finally into some hormone-like substances named prostaglandins (E3).

Vitamin B1 is water-soluble and because it does not get stored in the body we depend on regular intake of the nutrient. In the 1920s, the Japanese scientist Umetaro Suzuki discovered vitamin B1 in rice shells and observed that this nutrient counteracted the classic deficiency symptom beriberi. Vitamin B1 is destroyed by alkaline substances and heating but not by freezing

- and provide other benefits

Zinc is a trace element that is necessary for around 300 enzymes that control the thyroid gland, fertility, the nervous system, the immune system, and a number of other functions. A team of scientists from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has found a close link between the body’s zinc status and cardiac function. Although clinical zinc deficiencies are rare, short-term subclinical zinc deficiencies are more widespread than previously thought. Even a minor zinc deficiency may affect cardiac health and the countless enzyme processes that depend on the presence of zinc. Besides, zinc is a powerful antioxidant that protects cells against oxidative stress. There are many reasons why it is important to get enough of this nutrient.