While consuming less fattening foods and following an alkaline diet of fruits and vegetables may help decrease artery blockage, a study has found that exercise may help patients with peripheral artery disease.

There are more than 5 million patients who suffer from the disease, which deals with the plaque build-up in arteries that can limit blood circulation to the limbs, which can ultimately cause an amputation.

According to a study found in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, it was revealed that exercises help with the creation of a protein known as PGC-1alpha, which helps with the generation of new blood vessels in leg muscles. The protein senses poor circulation in the body and works to fix the problem. Researchers noticed that exercise helps boost this process, known as angiogenesis, faster.

“Our data strongly suggest a new paradigm for the process of angiogenesis in response to exercise, demonstrating that upstream beta-adrenergic signaling, likely stemming from increased nerve activity, triggers angiogenesis,” the authors wrote.