The Great Cholesterol Myth Post #12

We are at the last chapter of our book: The Great Cholesterol Myth
Chapter 9: Putting it All Together - A Simple and Easy Blue Print for a Healthy Heart and Life.

1. Ask your doctor for the following test. which are more important than the standard test for cholesterol:

• LDL particle size 
• Hs-CRP
• Fibrogen
• Serum Ferritin (Iron) 
• Lp (A) 
• Homocysteine
• Interlevilin - 6
• Coroary Calcium Scan

2. Eat these foods: 

• Wild Salmon
• Berries and cherries
• Vegetables
• Nuts
• Beans
• Dark Chocolate
• Garlic and Turmeric
• Pomegranate Juice, Green Tea, Red Wine
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3. Eliminate these foods: 

• Sugar
• Soda
• Processed Carbs
• Trans Fats
• Processed Meats
• Vegetable Oils

4. Make lifestyle changes to reduce stress: 

• Meditate or practice deep breathing
• Express your emotions
• Play
• Cultivate intimacy and pleasure
• And most of all....ENJOY YOUR LIFE!!

Cholesterol Post #11

Question & Answer

Is cholesterol a good predictor of heart disease?

Researchers in Japan examined all of the studies that claimed a relationship of cholesterol to life expectancy.  They excluded all studies done before 1995 and any that had fewer than 500 subjects.  Nine studies met the criteria, but four had incomplete data.  They analyzed the remaining five studies, which together involved more than 150,000 people followed for about five years.  The researchers placed everyone in one of four groups depending on their cholesterol levels:
Less than 160 mg/dL
160-199 mg/dL
200-239 mg/dL
Higher than 240 mg/dL

The same groups created by the American Heart Association

Which group do you think would have the worst possible outcome?

In scientific terms, the risk from dying from any cause whatsoever was highest in the group with the lowest cholesterol, and get this, the group with the highest cholesterol had the lowest risk of dying.  That is the total opposite of what we've been told.

Cholesterol Myth Post #10

Lets Talk Supplements

Co Enzyme Q10 is a vitamin-like substance found throughout the body and made in every cell.  Among the many important things it does, CoQ10, helps create energy from fuel (food), just as a spark plug creates energy from fuel (gasoline).  The heart is one of the two organs where the most CoQ10 is concentrated (the other being the liver).  The heart never sleeps. It beats more than one hundred thousand times a day, and is one if the most metabolically active tissues of the body.  So it is very dependent on the energy-generating power of CoQ10.

Our body creates CoQ10 but we create less as we age, making it all the more important to supplement.  As mentioned earlier, Statin Drugs significantly deplete CoQ10 levels.  This is very important!  If you are on a statin drug, you must supplement with CoQ10, the recommended amount is at lease 100mg twice a day.

Other important supplements for heart and blood health are:

• L-carnitine helps with angina, 2 grams daily
• D-Ribose, 5 grams daily for strenuous exercisers and 10-15 grams daily for those with heart disease or peripheral vascular disease. 
• Magnesium helps control coronary artery calcium levels which prevents "hardening of arteries" 400-1000mg per day
• Niacin (B3), helps reduce the really bad LDL cholesterol molecules. 100mg a day at lease. 
• Fish Oil Omega 3 - EPA and DHA are best, combined get at lease 1000 mg a day.

Cholesterol Myth Post #9

We are winding down our synopsis of the book, "The Great Cholesterol Myth," only a few posts remain.

Let's take a look at the class of drugs used to lower our blood cholesterol levels, called Statin Drugs.

What you should know:

• The benefit of Statin Drugs have been widely exaggerated. 
• Statin Drugs deplete the co-enzyme Q10, an important nutrient for the heart.  
• Depletion of Co-Q10 can cause muscle pain, weakness and fatigue.  
• The brain depends on cholesterol to function optimally and help stimulate thinking and memory.  
• Statin Drugs lead to a reduction in sex hormones and can cause sexual dysfunction.  
• Statin Drugs may be associated with a higher risk for cancer and diabetes.
• A comprehensive study by the University of California San Diego, School of Medicine, showed that a majority of doctors dismiss complaints of side effects from Statins and do not report them to "MEDWATCH" the FDA's system for reporting any undesirable experiences associated with the use of medical products or drugs.  In other works, side effects are grossly under reported.  

The Cholesterol Myth Post #8

The case against Canola Oil:
The success of canola oil and its reputation as the healthiest of oils is a triumph of marketing over science.  Canola Oil is typically extracted and refined using very high heat and petroleum solvents (such as Hexane). Then it undergoes a process of refining, degumming, bleaching and because it stinks, deodorization using even more chemicals.  The only kind of canola oil that could be ok is organic, cold pressed, unrefined, which hardly anyone uses.
Dr. Fred Pescatore, M.D., a best selling author and former director of the Atkins Health Center, and somewhat of a cooking expert, had this to say about Canola Oil, "I would never use that stuff."  If you would like to read more about the dark side of canola oil, check out the report by lipid biochemist Mary Enig and Sally Fallon.  Widely available on-line, its called, "The Great Con-ola."

Cholesterol Post #7

Chapter 5: The Truth About Fat: It's not what you think

You can't talk about cholesterol without also talking about fat.  Lets clear up some misconceptions about fat- What is it? What it does? What it doesn't Do? and Why it matters in the first place?

What exactly is fat anyway?
Fat is the collective shorthand name given to any big collection of smaller units called fatty acids.  You can think of "Fat" and "Fatty Acids" as analogous to paper money and a bunch of coins.  The dollar bill is the "Fat" and the coins are the "Fatty Acids".  Just as the dollar bill can comprise different combinations of coins - one hundred pennies, four quarters, ten dimes, twenty nickles and so forth - a "Fat" comprises different combinations of fatty acids.  There are more fatty acids in a big fat blob of butter than in just a spoonful, just as there are more coins in $5 than there are in $1.  All fat on Earth is composed of fatty acids, whether a spoonful of butter, a tub of lard, or a tablespoon of fish oil.  The only difference is they are a different mix of fatty acids (i.e. nickels, dimes quarters, etc.)

There are three families of fatty acids: Saturated, Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated.  Then there is the "Trans Fats", a kind of "Franken Fat."  Suffice to say, the overall mix of fats and the breakdown of the various fatty acid combinations is very complex.  Lets skip to the less boring information.  Saturated Fats are primarily found in animal foods, such as eggs, butter, cheese and meats.  A few saturated fats are from plant oils such at coconut and palm oil.  These fats are not the big contributors of heart disease.  Ok, there is no shortage of studies pointing to an association between increased saturated fat intake and cardiovascular risk, but there are a few things you should know about these studies.  It is true that saturated fat intake can raise cholesterol levels, but it raises the good cholesterol, not the bad.  Next week we will look at Vegetable Oils and Canola Oils.

Cholesterol Myth Post #6

Hello All!  Sorry for the gap in postings, my office manager was on vacation for the last three weeks, and she is the one who actually types up my posts.

We are continuing our investigation of the harmful effects of sugar in our diet.

The way in which sugar damages the heart can be directly related to insulin resistance.  Ordinary table sugar, known technically as sucrose, is actually composed of equal parts glucose and fructose, two sugars that are anything but metabolically equal.  Glucose can be used by any cell in the body.  Fructose, on the other hand, is metabolic poison.  Moreover, high-fructose corn syrup, that's used in virtually every processed food, is 55% fructose and 45% glucose, even worse, but not much.  Whether you get fructose from regular sugar or from high fructose corn syrup it makes little difference, they are both bad.  Fructose is the major cause of fat accumulation in the liver which in turn causes insulin resistance.  Remember, insulin resistance causes high blood pressure and moves you towards diabetes and heart disease.  Oh it also makes it easier for your body to store fat and harder to burn fat, what a vicious cycle.