All news
Part 2...How to reduce your rish of heart failure...or a stroke!
4/17/2002 12:00:00 AM
PART 2... HOW TO REDUCE YOUR RISK of HEART FAILURE... or a STROKE!
In the first part of this series, published in the 3rd April issue of XTEND-YOUR-LIFE we examined four of the most relevant markers used for predicting your risk of heart disease. They were:
- Cholesterol. Both LDL and HDL.
- Triglycerides.
- Homocysteine.
- C-Reactive Protein.
If you have not read a copy of the 3rd April issue yet please do so as it explains what each of these markers mean and the levels of each you should aim for.
Today we are going to examine briefly some natural protocols that have a proven record of safely normalizing the above markers thus reducing your risk of a heart attack or stroke.
CHOLESTEROL
This is by far the most commonly known marker and one of the most important so therefore it warrants the highest amount of emphasis. In fact it is so important that I will devote the entire issue after next showing you how easy it is to normalize your cholesterol level through totally naturally means.
But as mentioned in the previous issue some people are genetically predisposed to higher than normal cholesterol levels, and this often does not cause a problem PROVIDED there are no abnormalities with the other markers.
Nonetheless if your cholesterol levels are high you should make every effort to bring them within the 'normal' range.
If your cholesterol levels are too high, the majority of physician's will recommend one or both of the following:
Either have you try to reduce your levels by modifying your diet, OR Modify your diet PLUS prescribe you one of the FDA approved statin drugs.
The first thing that is important to understand about cholesterol is that around 80% of it is manufactured by your liver. In other words only about 20% of it comes from dietary sources.
Diet
When recommendations are given to modify your diet the 'official line' is to emphasis the importance of reducing dietary fats and foods high in cholesterol. This has been the approach for the last couple of decades and as recent research clearly shows... it is totally the wrong approach. In fact, for as long as this has been the official stance heart disease has steadily increased. It is possible to reduce your cholesterol levels by diet, but just eliminating fats and cholesterol will not do it!
I will deal with this issue in more depth within the newsletter devoted entirely to cholesterol. However, I can tell you now it is not necessary to stop eating your eggs or butter. What is important is that you stop eating margarine, and reduce your intake of refined and processed foods which are full of hydrogenated fats and oils as well as transfats. These are MUCH more dangerous than the saturated fats in butter and eggs which your body can handle and indeed needs.
In fact, studies have clearly established that the low fat low cholesterol approach is a very dangerous one because it can lower HDL, the good cholesterol but only have minimal impact on LDL, the 'bad' cholesterol. As a result low fat diets do not help to correct cholesterol imbalances and in fact can make the situation worst. More on that in the special cholesterol issue.
In the meantime though start adding Omega 3 essential fatty acids to your diet. The lack of these essential oils is a major factor in heart problems. Supplement your diet with either oily fish such as mackerel or sardines, or do what Grandma used to do and take a spoonful of cod liver oil every day. I personally combine fish in my diet along with a couple of tablespoons of organic flax seed oil every day which is an excellent source of Omega 3 fatty acids. Note: These essential fatty acids will NOT make you fat, but rather will help you lose weight.
Diet and Statin Drugs
I have already touched briefly on diet and the relatively minimal impact it can have on cholesterol levels.. Now lets examine what is rapidly becoming the treatment of choice in mainstream medicine for lowering cholesterol levels... the statin drugs... a multibillion dollar industry.
These drugs work by blocking an enzyme which the liver needs for the manufacture of cholesterol. They are produced by quite a number of pharmaceutical companies under a wide range of trade names all of which include 'statin' in their description.
Here is a list of the statin drugs names with their 'commercial' names. atorvastatin (Lipitor), lovastatin (Mevacor), pravastatin (Pravachol), and simvastatin (Zocor). One other product which was on the list has been removed as that product was withdrawn due to 'unacceptable' levels of deaths of patients using it.
These drugs do without doubt help reduce your cholesterol levels... but with the price of considerable side effects. I will go into these side effects in more depth in the special cholesterol issue...they are not nice. What is interesting is that none of the eighty odd studies of these drugs have demonstrated any significant extension of life span amongst patients. In fact one study showed that although the number of heart attacks were significantly lower amongst patients taking the drug, those people that were unfortunate enough to have a heart attack had three times the chance of dying.
What is even more interesting is that these statin drugs are not necessary because there are other natural substances which have recently been proven in clinical trials to outperform the statin drugs, and have NO side effects and cost a lot less. The problem is that many physicians do not get to learn of these alternatives as most of their information is supplied by the pharmaceutical industry and most physicians do simply not have the time to research the alternatives.
What to Do?
As with any form of treatment there are some 'experts' who will propose one thing whilst other 'experts' will say another. At the end of the day the only information that can be relied on is that extracted from well conducted studies and/or clinical trials. Unfortunately clinical trials are somewhat 'thin on the ground' when it comes to natural products. This is understandable given that natural products cannot be patented and clinical trials are VERY expensive. However, there is generally a natural substance available which will out perform a pharmaceutical drug for a fraction of the price... but you will rarely hear of them.
One natural example which relates to cholesterol is red rice extract. This was available as a dietary supplement and it reduced LDL cholesterol with a similar action to the statin drugs. The big plus was that it had no side effects and cost a lot less. However, it was argued (by whom, I am sure you can guess) that because one of the natural ingredients was almost identical to the synthetic ingredients in the statin drugs that it should be classified as a drug. The FDA then ruled to have it removed as a dietary supplement... so red yeast extract is now difficult to get in the USA.
Good news!
The good news is that there is now an even better alternative available and is backed up by published clinical trials. These trials have established very clearly that this substance is much better than the statin drugs in that not only will it reduce LDL levels more effectively, it will also increase HDL levels which many of the statin drugs fail to do.
This substance is so good that we have had our formulator researching its use for the last couple of months for inclusion in a totally new natural XTEND-LIFE formula for lowering cholesterol with NO side effects. We will release the results of clinical trials at the same time we announce the product. We are so confident of how good this product will be that we will be giving an unprecedented money back guarantee if it does not lower your cholesterol by the stated amount after two months.
Suggestions
In the meantime, if you have a cholesterol problem talk to your health professional about taking Niacin or Inositol hexanicotinate, chromium polyniconate, and vitamin C. These substances are thought to be beneficial in helping stabilize cholesterol levels. We have sufficient levels of Chromium in our Total Balance formula but you really need to take extra Niacin and Vitamin C. They are both cheap and readily available.
It is also desirable to take a powerful antioxidant as this will help reduce the oxidation of LDL which is what precipitates cholesterol problems. In this regard I can guarantee that you will not find a better antioxidant anywhere than our own 'Total Balance'.
One final suggestion as an added precaution. Do what I do first thing each morning... cut up one or two cloves of fresh garlic into small pieces and put them in a glass of pure warm water. Stir them up and drink them with the water. This is much more effective than garlic supplements which claim to help reduce cholesterol. There are also other benefits that you will get from this practice which I will tell you about later. Don't worry... people will only avoid you for about twenty minutes and then there is no trace of any odors... OK... maybe an hour!
Don't forget to add your Omega 3 fatty acids.
TRIGLYCERIDES
As I mentioned in the last issue, if you have high Cholesterol AND high triglycerides your risk of a heart event goes up exponentially. You MUST deal with both substances.
Much of the accepted protocol for lowering cholesterol also applies to triglycerides, so use the same suggestions as set out above if your triglycerides are out of whack... in addition to the dietary suggestions.
HOWEVER, you must also be aware that levels of triglycerides are heavily influenced by your diet. What you should eat to reduce your TG levels has been well known since the publication of a paper on the subject by P.K. Reissell's group at Harvard in 1966. Their study established clearly that TG levels can be dramatically reduced simply by the supplementation of omega 3 fatty acids, plus vitamin C, COMBINED with a low carbohydrate diet.
For some reason this and other studies which clearly establish that high TG levels are caused through the over consumption of refined, processed carbohydrates seem to be largely ignored. Fat is still viewed as being the 'bogey man' but it is simply not true, certainly in the case of 'natural animal' fats. Trans fats are of course something else again. I will do a separate newsletter on that subject.
Is it true?
Why, you may then ask..."if this is true why is it not the 'official' recommendation?" I don't have a conclusive answer to that...but I do know that one of the most powerful lobby groups in the world is the food manufacturing group. Just think what the impact would be on this sector if everyone woke up to the damage that refined carbohydrates are doing to themselves?
Next time you go to the supermarket just do a mental assessment of what would happen if all the products made from refined carbohydrates were pulled off the shelves? The supermarkets would look like they do after a few hours of panic buying prior to a major hurricane hitting the South Florida cost...almost empty. I've experienced that...but it wasn't too bad as there was plenty of the good stuff left!
There is a real incentive amongst the food industry to prevent the public from being enlightened about what they are really eating. At a later time I'll tell you about the Delaney Act which was designed to prevent known carcinogenic substances being included in manufactured foods, and how the FDA never enforced this act and how it was ultimately repealed with the help of the American Cancer Society.
HOMOCYSTEINE
This is another 'baddie'. You will recollect that I told you that this problem results not from what you eat but rather from what you don't eat which can lead to a deficiency in your B vitamins. If you don't have enough of the B vitamins, especially B6, B12 and folic acid in your body you can not manufacture the enzymes needed to remove Homocysteine.
Excessive levels of Homocysteine will damage your arteries. Ironically it is one of the easiest abnormalities to correct. Like Triglycerides it has been 'swept under the carpet' for decades. Back in the late 1960's Dr Kilmer McCully determined as a result of well conducted research that Homocysteine could be normalized by taking adequate amounts of folic acid, plus the vitamins B6 and B12.
However, powerful forces worked against Dr McCully and he was 'let go' from his position as a pathologist, denied tenure and his work was branded as 'insignificant'. It took a further 15 years and approx 1.5 million deaths related to elevated homocysteine before it was acknowledged that he was right.
Deficiencies
A deficiency of these B vitamins is rampant even today as the overwhelming majority of people do not get adequate levels in their diets. In spite of this the American Heart Foundation who publicly acknowledge the importance of maintaining an adequate intake of these vitamins still insist that it should come from your diet. To help compensate diet deficiencies the FDA ordered that an infinitesimal amount of folic acid should be added to white flour by the manufacturers to help overcome that deficiency... white flour... the very substance that people should avoid eating at all costs!
Even more amazing is that the FDA refuses to lift a restriction of a maximum of 800mcg (0.8mgs) for folic acid supplements.
If your Homocysteine levels are elevated talk to your physician about accessing prescription strength Folic acid (5 - 10 mgs) plus high strength B6 and B12. You may even need to get an injection of B12 which your physician can give you. If your levels are OK then just supplementing with 'Total Balance' will help keep them that way.
C-REACTIVE PROTEIN
This is an inflammation of the blood which can lead to long term damage to your heart. Most physicians will prescribe a daily dose regimen of aspirin or one of the non steroid anti-inflammatory drugs. Try to avoid this treatment.
Fish oil will help naturally reduce inflammation of the blood as will ginger and MSM (methyl sulfonyl methane) a naturally occurring sulfur compound found in some vegetables. It is also common in many arthritis formulas. We include it in our 'Total Balance' as well as ginger extract. However, if your blood tests show excess levels of C-Reactive Protein you will have to take a lot more than what we use...maybe up to 5,000mgs a day.
A final thought!
I sincerely hope that the information in this newsletter will help you have a better understanding of some of the treatment options that are available. But even just as importantly I hope that it has given you a few pointers on what changes you may need to make to your diet and supplement program to ensure that you can reduce your risk or experiencing a heart 'event' of any type.
The next issue of XTEND-YOUR-LIFE will be devoted to answering the question raised by Mary in the previous one. The question she raised was regarding insulin imbalance being the prime reason why people find it so difficult to lose weight and any gains they make are short lived. I think that you will find it most interesting particularly if you have a pound or three that you wish to lose.
The issue after that will be the special one on Cholesterol.
Until then,
In good health
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: Subscribers and customers are invited to submit questions for inclusion within this newsletter. Space does not permit the publication of all Q & A's, but we promise to answer all questions directly. Your questions are considered confidential and only your first name and last initial with State or Country will be published. To ask a question please contact us.
Jerry P of Alabama writes:
I had a blood test as you suggested and my homocysteine was 12 micro mo/L. My doctor told me that I was OK because a level of 15 is considered acceptable. I know that you quoted 15 as being normal but under 7 would be optimal. Do you think I have anything to be worried about?
Warren Matthews replies:
As I am sure you appreciate Jerry I am neither qualified nor permitted to give specific medical advice. All I can do is pass on information which I have been able to uncover as a result of my own research. What I can tell you in relation to your question is that the level of 15 micro mol/L was determined from research carried out in the 1980's. Since then there is a growing body of evidence from further studies and statements by experts that the level of 15 is too high and that you should aim for a level of 7 or less.
Some of these experts suggest that a reading of 12 (same as yours) is as high as you should allow yourself to go before you commence a program of folic acid and B6 and B12 supplementation. It would seem that you are on the borderline. I would suggest you talk to your physician about some supplementation. I am sure he/she will agree that it can only do you good.