The 5 Supplements I Actually Take for My Heart (And How to Take Them Right)

If you have a drawer full of supplements you started because of something you read or watched, this episode is for you. Most people either take too many supplements or none at all, and both approaches miss the point. The real problem is almost never the supplement itself. It's that nobody matches it to the right person, in the right form, at the right dose.

In this episode, I'm going to walk you through the exact 5 supplements I take myself and recommend most often for heart health, including the forms, doses, and interactions you need to know before you start.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 
0:00 The 5 Supplements I Actually Take for My Heart (And How to Take Them Right)
1:24 Omega 3 for triglycerides and plaque 
2:33 Why 44% of people are omega 3 deficient 
3:00 Magnesium, my number one recommendation 
4:44 Vitamin D3 deficiency and heart risk 
6:00 Vitamin K2 and where calcium should go 
7:19 CoQ10 for statins and low energy 
8:23 Putting all 5 supplements together 
9:04 What to actually do before you buy anything

❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED 

What supplements does a cardiologist actually take for heart health? 
Dr. Mona Shah takes omega 3, magnesium, vitamin D3, vitamin K2, and CoQ10 for heart health. She recommends checking blood levels first and choosing the right form of each before adding any supplement. 

Does magnesium help heart rhythm and blood pressure? 
Yes, magnesium supports a steady heart rhythm, calms the nervous system, helps with sleep, and can lower blood pressure. The form matters, with glycinate best for sleep, L-threonate for stress, and citrate for constipation, so magnesium oxide should be avoided due to poor absorption. 

Should vitamin D and vitamin K2 be taken together? 
Vitamin D3 and K2 work as a team because D3 helps you absorb calcium while K2 directs that calcium into bones instead of arteries. Both are fat soluble and absorbed better with a meal containing healthy fat.

📱 RESOURCES
Website: www.drmonashah.com 
IG: https://www.instagram.com/drmonashahmd/ 
Blog: https://drmonashah.wordpress.com/

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ABOUT DR. MONA SHAH: 
Dr. Mona Shah is a triple board certified cardiologist in cardiology, holistic medicine, and coronary CT. After 20 years inside conventional cardiology, she left to build a practice that does what the standard system rarely does: look inside the artery wall before something goes wrong. She uses advanced imaging, including coronary CTA with AI analysis, to give patients a real picture of their cardiac risk. She specializes in patients with a family history of heart disease, elevated ApoB or Lp(a), and anyone who has been told they're fine but still isn't sure.

#HeartDisease #PreventiveCardiology #CoronaryCTA #HeartAttackPrevention #HolisticCardiologist

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If you have a drawer full of supplements you started because of something you read or something you watched, and you're honestly not sure if any of them are doing anything, this video is for you. I'm Dr. Mona Shah, a preventative cardiologist and board certified in holistic medicine. So people expect me to do one of two things. Either push a cabinet full of pills or tell you supplements are a waste of money. Neither one is true, right? I'm passionate about early detection, whole heart care, longevity, and changing outcomes. And after thousands of patients, here's what I've learned about supplements. The problem is almost never the supplement itself, it's that nobody mashed it to the right person in the right form at the right dose. So today I'm gonna give you the five I actually take myself and that I put most of my patients on. Obviously, there's a lot more supplements that people can take, but I'm gonna focus on these five for today. One rule supplements are the seasoning, not the meal. The meal is your food, your movement, your sleep, your stress management. You cannot outsupplement a poor diet. And one more thing, some of these gently thin your blood or interact with medications. So whatever you decide to take, you need to run your list by your doctor. Alright, let's get into it. Number one is omega-3. The EPA and DHA you get from fish or krill oil. Here's why I love it for the heart. It brings your triglycerides down and it calms inflammation. It also makes your platelets a little less sticky, which matters because sticky platelets are part of how a clot forms on top of the plaque. It's one of the few supplements with real data behind it for actually working on plaque stabilization. Now, food first always. People who eat fatty fish a few times a week have meaningfully lower cardiovascular risk, wild salmon, mackerel, sardines. And if you're plant-based, walnuts are your friend. But here's the thing about 44% of Americans are low in omega-3s. And it's actually higher in people eating a vegan diet, closer to 66%. So a lot of people aren't getting enough from food alone. And the way I do it is I actually check omega-3 levels. Because if your levels are good, I really don't feel the need to add more and supplement you. But if they're low, then we know, and that's precision medicine instead of guessing. One caution, omega-3 does gently thin the blood. So if you're on a blood thinner, you really need to have a conversation with your doctor to make sure it's safe for you. Don't just add it on your own. Number two is one of my favorites, magnesium. And I'll be honest, it's definitely my number one. I put almost everyone on it. About half of us don't get enough. Partly because of farming and processing have stripped it out of our foods. Magnesium calms the nervous system, it supports a steady heart rhythm, it helps with sleep, it can help bring down your blood pressure. There's a lot of good from one mineral. But here's the part the label won't teach you. The form matters a lot. Glycinate is my calming, get some sleep form. Torate is the one I reach for for blood pressure and the heart. L-3Onate is the one that actually crosses into the blood-brain barrier, so it's really good for stress and calming. And citrate is one that's really good for constipation. So just really figure out with your doctor what might be the best form of magnesium for you to take. And oftentimes I'll actually cycle them from magnesium L-3-inate, then a few months of magnesium glycinate. Oftentimes I'll also combine them. So really, again, that's where precision medicine takes place. But one thing, don't buy magnesium oxide. It's really the cheap one filling most of the shelves, but the bioavailability is so poor, you basically just waste it. Same word on the bottle on the front says magnesium, but turn it around and look at what kind of magnesium is actually on the back. Most people do well, starting around 200 milligrams to 400 milligrams at night. If you have kidney disease or you're on dialysis, still please talk to your doctor first. If this is the kind of specific no-hype information you've been looking for, subscribe. Every week I put out videos on what the conventional system misses when it comes to your heart and what you can actually do about it. Number three, vitamin D. So many people are deficient and have no idea. Normally we think we're getting vitamin D from the sun, but a lot of people don't absorb it as well as they think. Low vitamin D is tied to higher blood pressure, more heart disease, and even heart failure. And that bone-tired fatigue people can't explain. And here's a mechanism I love. Vitamin D helps your arteries release nitric oxide, which keeps them flexible instead of stiff. Studies show that when your level is really low, your cardiovascular risk goes up significantly. But again, here's how I want you to do this. Don't just start swallowing a random high dose. Get your level checked first. It's a simple blood test, 25 hydroxyvitamin D. Then you and your doctor can pick a target and dose for you. Because vitamin D is fat soluble, which means more is not better, it can build up. So you always want to follow your lab along when you do start taking vitamin D. Take it in the morning with a meal that has some healthy fat in it, like olive oil, avocado, or nuts. That's how it's better absorbed. Now, vitamin D has a partner it really likes to travel with. That's number four. Number four is vitamin K2. And this one is really underrated. Here's the simplest way I can explain it. K2 helps keep calcium in your bones where you want it and out of your arteries where you don't want it. Think about that. You've heard me talked about calcified plaque before, the hard rock in the artery. K2 helps direct that calcium to the right address, your bones. There's even research showing K2 improves the stiffness of your arteries. That's why D3 and K2 are a team. D3 helps you absorb calcium, K2 helps you put it in the right place. It is also fat soluble. For the form, you want K2 as MK-7. That's the one used in most studies. And take it with a meal with some fat in it, just like the D3. A lot of companies now are combining D3 and K2 because they know that you need both for your bone health and heart health. A common range of K2 is about 90 to 100 micrograms. If you're on a blood thinner like cumidin or warfarin, K2 can interfere with it. So for you, K2 is maybe off the table unless your doctor says otherwise. This is exactly why I keep saying run your list by your doctor. And number five is coenzyme Q10, CoQ10. CoQ10 is an antioxidant your body actually makes on its own in every cell. The catch is you make less of it as you get older, if you're diabetic, or if you're on statins. It supports energy at the cellular level. It can help lower blood pressure and inflammation. And it's also concentrated in the hardest working organs like your heart. Here's a person I especially think about for CoQ10. If you're on a statin, if you're diabetic, if you're older, if you have low energy, those are the people who I really feel like CoQ10 is good for. So if that's you, this is a great one to ask your doctor about. On the form, there are two. Ubiquinone is a less expensive one, and it's a fine place to start. And then there's ubiquinol. It's a pricier one. And I think about it if someone's levels are staying low despite a good dose. Again, this is something else you can check your levels of. Take it in the morning, just like with the D3 and K2 with a meal that has some fat. Now let's put this all together. So here are your five primary ones. Again, there are other ones to discuss in future talks, but the main five ones I like to make sure patients are on, or at least discussed, are omega-3, magnesium, vitamin D3, vitamin K2, and CoQ10. Notice what I didn't do. I didn't hand you a list of 20 things. I didn't tell you to run out and buy all five today. Remember, supplements are the seasoning, not the meal. Get your food, get your movement, your sleep, handle your stress. Because no pill undoes a poor diet. So here's what to actually do. Before you buy anything, get your levels checked where it makes sense, especially your omega-3 and your vitamin D. So you're treating it correctly instead of guessing. Choose the right form because magnesium oxide and the wrong K2 will just waste your money. And write down everything you take and bring it to your doctor. So someone is actually watching for interactions, especially if you're on a blood thinner. That's how you affect change on purpose instead of collecting bottles. Supplements are just one lever. If you want the one that might do even more for your heart than anything in that drawer, watch my video on the exercise that actually protects your heart and stabilizes plaque. It's on your screen right now.