Breaking Down Cholesterol

March 16, 2010

Natural News

By Dr. Julian Whitaker

I’d like to shine the spotlight on one of medicine’s sacred cows- the belief that lowering cholesterol with drugs protects against heart attacks and premature death. Our obsession with cholesterol began in the 1950s when studies linked high consumption of animal fat with high rates of heart disease. This opened the door for clinical trials that laid the foundation of a new paradigm: the cholesterol theory of cardiovascular disease.

This theory has had profound ramifications. It changed the way we eat (fats bad, carbohydrates good) and contributed to our problems with obesity and diabetes. It wormed its way into “clinical practice guidelines”- cholesterol management has become a “standard of care” that doctors are expected to follow. It spawned the invasive heart surgery industry, based on the presumption that cholesterol-laden blockages must be bypassed or propped open. And it led to the creation of the best-selling class of medications in history: cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, which generate more than $15 billion in worldwide sales every year.

But it’s all a house of cards. No matter what you’ve been led to believe, a high cholesterol level is not a reliable sign of an impending heart attack. In fact, growing numbers of experts question whether cholesterol matters at all. As for statin drugs, for most of the 40-plus million Americans recommended to take them for the rest of their lives, they’re an ineffective, expensive, side effect- riddled fraud.

Statin-Free Zone
When a patient taking Lipitor, Zocor, or another statin drug comes to Whitaker Wellness, we discontinue it at once. “But my cholesterol level is 240.” “My doctor told me I’ll have a heart attack if I don’t take this drug.”My father died of heart disease, so I have to take it.” I’ve heard all these justifications and more, and I still recommend that my patients get off statins. Here’s why.

First, they’re not very effective. These drugs do lower cholesterol, but so what? We’re not treating lab numbers. We’re treating patients, and the ultimate goal in cholesterol management is to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease. Except for a very limited number of people, there is absolutely no evidence that statins protect against heart attack or premature death.

Are you over age 65? Not a single study suggests you’ll receive any benefits, even if your cholesterol goes down substantially. A woman of any age? Same story. A man younger than 65 who has never had a heart attack? Ditto, no help at all. For middle-aged men who have had a heart attack, statins may lower risk of a repeat heart attack, but that’s the extent of it.

I know this is hard to buy in light of the multiple drug advertisements and glowing endorsements from doctors. But keep in mind that pharmaceutical companies do a superb job of pulling the wool over the eyes of consumers and physicians alike by withholding unfavorable study results and making false, misleading, and often deceptive claims.

A Statistic We Can Understand
That’s why I want to step around confusing statistics and tell you about an easy-to-understand measure that you’ll never hear about in drug ads. It’s called “number needed to treat,” or NNT, and it describes the number of patients who would need to be treated with a medical therapy in order to prevent one bad outcome. Experts consider an NNT over 50 to be “worse than a lottery ticket.”

Lipitor ads claim that it reduces risk of heart attack by 36 percent. Sounds pretty good until you look at the fine print, do the math (which John Carey did in a great article in Business Week), and figure out that the drug’s NNT is 100. This means that 100 people must be treated with Lipitor in order for just one heart attack to be prevented. The other 99 people taking the drug receive no benefit.

To put this into perspective, the NNT of antibiotics for treating H. pylori, the underlying cause of stomach ulcers, is 1.1. These drugs knock out the bacteria in 10 out of 11 people who take it, making them a reliable, cost-effective therapy. At the other end of the spectrum are statins, which as a class have an NNT of 250, 500, or higher depending on the study you look at. What a deal for drugs that can cost more than a thousand bucks a year and are almost guaranteed to cause problems.

Goodbye Drugs, So Long Symptoms
Statins lower cholesterol by suppressing the activity of an enzyme in the liver involved in the production of cholesterol. But this enzyme has multiple functions, including the synthesis of coenzyme Q10. CoQ10 is a key player in the metabolic processes that energize our cells. No wonder statin users often suffer from fatigue, muscle pain and weakness, and even heart failure- the cells are simply running out of juice.

The second most frequent adverse effects of statins are problems with memory, mood, suicidal behavior, and neurological issues. Other common complaints include sexual dysfunction, and liver and digestive problems. Symptoms range from minor (achiness, forgetfulness) to serious (complete but temporary amnesia, permanent memory loss) to lethal (congestive heart failure, rhabdomyolysis or complete muscle breakdown). One statin drug, Baycol, was taken off the market a few years ago after it caused dozens of deaths from rhabdomyolysis. Several studies have also linked statin drugs with an increased risk of cancer.

Because physicians rarely warn of these side effects, few patients suspect their drugs may be the reason they begin feeling bad- and it’s often a revelation when they put two and two together. Simply discontinuing these medications can result in tremendous improvements in health and well-being. Texas cardiologist Peter Langsjoen, MD, published a study showing that when symptomatic patients got off their statins and started taking 240 mg of CoQ10 per day, they had significant decreases in fatigue, myalgias (muscle aches), dyspnea (shortness of breath), memory loss, and/or peripheral neuropathy.

Not a Drug But a Program
As you can see, we need to shift away from this myopic focus on statin drugs and lowering cholesterol, and take a more holistic view. Folks, you don’t need statins- you need a program that addresses all the known risk factors for heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular disorders.

Inflammation, not high cholesterol, is the primary cause of heart disease. Harvard researchers have discovered that a high blood level of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation, is more predictive of heart disease than cholesterol. To get a handle on inflammation, lose weight- especially if you carry excess fat in the abdominal area. Exercise. Stop smoking. Eat plenty of vegetables and several weekly servings of salmon, sardines, and other omega-3 fatty acids, and avoid sugars and starches.

The beauty of this program is that it targets not only inflammation but other conditions that contribute to cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, diabetes, even cholesterol. Best of all, it’s a foundation for overall good health.

Necessary Nutrients
Your program should include a well-rounded nutritional supplement regimen, as well. My number-one suggestion for inflammation in all its guises is fish oil. This supplement also improves blood flow, discourages excess clotting, helps normalize heart rhythm, and saves lives by reducing risk of sudden cardiac death.

Folic acid and other B-complex vitamins are important because they lower levels of homocysteine, a toxic substance that damages the arteries. The mineral magnesium relaxes the arterial walls, which improves blood flow, lowers blood pressure, and helps prevent arrhythmias. And antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, provide protection against damaging free radicals- another contributor to cardiovascular disease.

Supplements that boost the heart’s energy are recommended as well. One is coenzyme Q10. In addition to serving as a potent antioxidant, CoQ10 also increases the heart muscle’s efficiency and protects against the adverse effects of statin drugs. Another is D-ribose, a natural sugar that is the structural backbone of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy that fuels cellular function.

Click here for the full report.

A Drink A Day May Keep the Pounds Away

March 10, 2010

ABC News

By Kristina Fiore

Cheers, ladies! Researchers now say light to moderate drinking may keep women from gaining too much weight.

Normal-weight women who drank 5 to 30 grams of alcohol daily gained less weight and had a lower risk of becoming overweight or obese than either teetotalers or those who drank too much, according to a report in the March 8 Archives of Internal Medicine.

How much is that? A 12-ounce light beer contains about 11 grams of alcohol, while 5 ounces of red wine contains 15 to 16 grams and a 1.5 ounce shot of 80-proof whiskey contains about 14 grams of alcohol.

Despite their findings, Dr. Lu Wang of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and colleagues cautioned against recommendations for drinking alcohol as a weight control measure.

“Taking into account the potential medical and psychosocial problems related to drinking alcohol,” they wrote, “any recommendation on alcohol use should be made for the individual after carefully evaluating both adverse and beneficial effects of the drinking behavior in broad context.”

Alcohol has a relatively high caloric value and may, in the long run, result in weight gain, some researchers have said. But epidemiological studies haven’t provided consistent evidence of that relationship.

So the researchers conducted an analysis of data from the prospective cohort Women’s Health Study of 19,220 women over age 38 who were disease-free and had a normal body mass index (BMI) at the outset.

They reported their weight and alcohol consumption on a questionnaire at that time, and reported their weight again on eight annual follow-up questionnaires.

The women were followed for an average of 12.9 years. During that time, 41.3 percent of the women became overweight or obese, while 3.8 percent became obese.

Average weight gain was 3.63 kg — about 8 pounds — for those who didn’t drink, compared with 1.55 kg — about 3.5 pounds — for moderate drinkers.

The researchers found an inverse relationship between alcohol consumption and subsequent weight gain. “Weight gain was largest for women who did not consume alcohol and then monotonously decreased with increasing total alcohol intake,” they wrote.

After taking into account many other variables, including nonalcohol caloric intake, physical activity, and other lifestyle factors, the relationship strengthened, with the risk of becoming overweight or obese diminishing as women drank more moderately.

But the risk of weight gain did not decline further once women drank 40 grams of alcohol per day or more.

This is not great news for men, however, the researchers say. That’s because mean and women drink differently: men add alcohol to their daily dietary intake, while female drinkers substitute alcohol for other foods without increasing total calories.

In this study, for instance, women who drank alcohol had lower caloric intake from nonalcohol sources, particularly carbohydrates.

The investigators said there may be gender differences regarding the metabolism of alcohol.

But they cautioned that “complex interrelationships” exist between drinking habits and various lifestyle, clinical, and physiological factors, which may help explain inconsistent findings in studies past.

Click here for the full report.

New Gene Test May Help Pick A Diet Plan

March 3, 2010

Reuters

By Maggie Fox

Can’t lose weight on a low-fat diet? Maybe you need to cut carbs instead, and a new genetic test may point the way, maker Interleukin Genetics Inc reported on Wednesday.

The small study of about 140 overweight or obese women showed that those on diets “appropriate” for their genetic makeup lost more weight than those on less appropriate diets, researchers told an American Heart Association meeting.

“The potential of using genetic information to achieve this magnitude of weight loss without pharmaceutical intervention would be important in helping to solve the pervasive problem of excessive weight in our society,” Christopher Gardner at Stanford University in California, who worked on the study, said in a statement.

Massachusetts-based Interleukin’s $149 test looks for mutations in three genes, known as FABP2, PPARG and ADRB2.

The company says 39 percent of white Americans have the low-fat genotype, 45 percent have the type that responds best to a diet low in processed carbohydrates and an unlucky 16 percent have gene mutations that mean they have to watch both fat and processed carbohydrates.

The researchers randomly assigned around 140 women to one of four diets — the low-carb Atkins diet, the ultra low-fat Ornish diet, the very low-fat LEARN diet or the more balanced Zone diet.

Interleukin went back and tested about 100 of the women for their DNA by using a cheek swab and then looked to see if the women on the “right” diets lost more weight.

MOST EFFECTIVE MATCHES

Over a year, people on diets appropriate to their genetic makeup, as determined by the test, lost 5.3 percent of body weight. People on mismatched diets lost 2.3 percent, the Stanford researchers told the meeting.

Cholesterol levels improved in line with weight loss, they said.

The company said the test looks for genes that affect metabolism.

“One of the gene variations affects absorption of fats from the intestine,” Ken Kornman, chief scientific officer at Interleukin, said in a telephone interview. He said people with that particular mutation absorb more fat from their food and thus should avoid fat if they want to lose weight.

Another of the variations affects insulin response — the body’s production of insulin to metabolize sugar, he said. Simple carbohydrates such as sugar and processed flour stimulate people with that particular gene type to store more of the energy as fat.

Ten percent to 16 percent of people have both mutations, and must watch both carbs and fat, Kornman said.

“What we don’t know is if they are on the right diet for their genotype whether it affects satiety or feeling full,” he said. He said the company planned broader studies to ask these questions.

Interleukin markets the test under the brand name Inherent Health. It also can test who might best lose weight in response to exercise.

Click here for the full report

Food Labels May Mislead You

A very common question I get….

Dear Kevin,

How come you don’t talk about calories, fats, protein, or carbohydrates?

Everyone talks about calories, fats, protein, carbohydrates, sodium, and things of this nature. The fact of the matter is they are important, but not very important when compared to the chemicals and poisons put into the food. If you get your food here like me, you don’t have anything to worry about.

What is more important than calories or fats and carbohydrates is the chemical fertilizers used in the food, the pesticides used in the food, the fact that the food is picked early and then gassed, the fact that the food is genetically modified and manufactured in an unnatural way, the processing methods that are used, the irradiation that was used, the actual thousands of chemicals that are put in processed food to make it taste better and give it certain textures, preserve it, or specifically designed to get you chemically and physically addicted to the food, increase your appetite and make you fat.

This is what is more important than the amount of calories, or the amount of fat, or the amount of carbohydrates. That’s what everyone is missing.

Yours in Health,
KT

To Feel Better, Low-Fat Diet May Be Best

November 11, 2009

ABC News

By Courtney Hutchison

Research has shown that shedding pounds tends to put people in a good mood, but a new study finds that if they’re cutting back on carbohydrates, these good vibes may be short-lived.

An Australian research team assessed changes in mood for dieters on either a low-fat or low-carbohydrate diet, and found that throughout a year of dieting, a low-fat plan improved overall feelings of well-being.

The low-carb diet on the other hand, had the same mood-boosting effect at first, but this change in mood began to wear off after the first few weeks.

“This outcome suggests that some aspects of the low-carbohydrate diet may have had detrimental effects on mood that … negated any positive [mood] effects of weight loss,” the authors write.

The study, which was published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is the first to look at emotional differences long-term between these two diets.
Lower the Fat, Up the Mood
Researchers had 106 participants follow a reduced calorie diet, but randomly assigned participants to a regimen that was higher in fat and very low in carbohydrates or one that allowed carbohydrates but with cutbacks on the amount of fat.

Participants met with a dietician twice a month to help them stay on track and researchers assessed participants’ feelings of depression, anxiety, anger, and fatigue before the diet began, after eight weeks of dieting, 24 weeks, and at the end of the year.

Though participants consumed the same amount of calories and lost the same amount of weight — 30 pounds on average — only those on the low-fat diet maintained an increase in positive mood throughout the year.

“I’m not surprised at all that [dieters] would have a better mood while [still] eating healthy carbs,” says Dr. Keith Ayoob, nutritionist and associate professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. “When a diet is [very] low in carbs, it can start to wear you down.”

Click here for full report

Remove Heavy Metals in the Body With Cilantro

November 09, 2009

Natural News

By Mike Adams

Heavy metals are extremely toxic to human neurology. Mercury, lead and cadmium all contribute aggressively to the deterioration of neurological function. Fortunately, there’s a simple, natural way to detox your body and remove these toxic substances from your tissues.

The solution is cilantro. It’s that magical-tasting herb often used in Mexican food recipes. As it turns out, cilantro not only taste great, it also binds to heavy metals and helps remove them from your body.

Below, we’re collected some important research on this remarkable ability of the cilantro herb. Read them all to learn more, then whip up your own delicious recipes using raw cilantro in your own kitchen!

Food, after all, is really potent medicine. You can also purchase cilantro liquid extracts from places like Baseline Nutritionals (their product is called “Metal Magic”) or other vendors of quality superfood supplements.

Cilantro removes heavy metals
Supplements helpful in the detoxification process include: cilantro, Vitamin C, selenium, garlic and others. Eating a clean diet, free of pesticides and hormones, is a must for a detoxification program. I encourage my patients to eat whole foods, with adequate amounts of protein. Eliminating the “whites”– refined sugar, refined flour, and refined salt will help any health condition and help any detoxification program. The glycemic index of carbohydrates can be a helpful guide on which carbohydrates to eat and which to avoid.
- The Miracle of Natural Hormones by David Brownstein

Add cilantro to meals; it can help remove heavy metals. Add dark green leafy vegetables, which contain chlorophyll, a helpful detoxifier. Get curcuminoids from spices such as turmeric. Try herbal detoxification teas containing mixtures of burdock root, dandelion root, ginger root, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, cardamom seed, cinnamon bark, and other herbs.
- Ultraprevention : The 6-Week Plan That Will Make You Healthy for Life by Mark Hyman, M.D.

There are several natural chelation products that use only the cilantro and chlorella to extremely positive effect supporting the basic premises being put forth here. The addition of ALA brings in the leading work of Dr. Andrew Hall Cutler, who is one of the world’s leading experts on mercury detoxification. His extensive and successful use of ALA has won him a large devoted audience.
- Transdermal Magnesium Therapy by Mark Sircus

Metal Magic is made from two simple herbs: cilantro and chlorella. Alone, each of these has the ability to bind with heavy metals, and together they make a very powerful metal detoxification substance that can literally pull mercury, lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals right out of your body, thereby sparing your body the damage that would normally be caused by those heavy metals. This is potentially a life-saving product, and it can certainly save the health of a fetus, if you happen to be pregnant or you plan to have a pregnancy in the near future.

Click here for the full report

Veggie Juice Your Way to Healthy Weight

October 29, 2009

NaturalNews

by David Gutierrez, staff writer

Daily consumption of vegetable juice may not just help increase vegetable consumption, but also improve the effectiveness of weight loss strategies, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of California-Davis and presented at the Experimental Biology Conference in New Orleans.

The study was funded in part by the Campbell Soup Company.

The researchers conducted the study on 81 adults with metabolic syndrome, three-quarters of them women. Metabolic syndrome refers to a cluster of symptoms — central obesity, high blood levels of trigylcerides and fasting glucose, high blood pressure, and low levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol — that significantly raise a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. All the participants were advised to follow an American Heart Association-recommended diet high in fiber, fruit, vegetables, minerals and low-fat diary, and low in salt and saturated fat. They were also told to drink 0, 1 or 2 cups of low-sodium, high-potassium V8-brand vegetable juice daily.

After 12 weeks, participants who drank either one or two cups of vegetable juice per day lost an average of four pounds, while those who drank no vegetable juice lost only one pound. The researchers also found that people in the vegetable juice groups had significantly higher vitamin C and potassium intake, and a significantly lower intake of carbohydrates.

Drinking vegetable juice also made people significantly more likely to reach the recommended intake of five fruits and vegetables per day. Among those not drinking vegetable juice, less than 25 percent reached the daily fruit and vegetable goal, in contrast with more than 50 percent of those in the one-cup-per-day group and 100 percent of those in the two-cups-per-day group.

“What we found in this study is that drinking vegetable juice seemed to address some of the key barriers to vegetable consumption such as convenience, portability and taste, so individuals were more likely to meet their daily recommendations,” researcher Carl Keen said. “Furthermore, vegetable juice drinkers reported that they actually enjoyed drinking their vegetables, which is critical to adopting dietary practices for the long-term.”

Click here for full report