HWA – RISK FACTORS FOR HEART DISEASE

Before getting into the risk factors that you can work to reduce, let’s cover the few that you can’t do anything about.

• AgeThis one’s pretty simple. The older you get, the likelier you are to develop heart disease. In fact, more than 80% people who die from heart disease are older than 65, because the heart tends to grow weaker as you move into your golden years.
• GenderWhile heart disease may be the number cause of death for both men and women, it tends to develop later in women. Why? Experts believe that hormones such as estrogen, which women have in much greater abundance than men, may provide some protection against heart disease. However, those hormones decline during menopause. By age 65, a woman’s odds of heart disease match those of a man of similar age.
• Genetics and Family HistoryIt’s true: Heart disease tends to run in the family. Did your dad develop heart disease before the age of 55 or your mom before she turned 65? If so, your own risk is higher than normal because one or both of your parents may have passed along a genetic ingredient in the recipe for heart disease.
• Early MenopauseAccording to a 2019 study in The Lancet Public Health, going through “The Change” before age 40 increases risk of heart diseases like CAD, heart failure, arrhythmia, and heart valve disease among the approximately 10% of women who experience early menopause. It remains unclear why, though a decline in estrogen may be a factor.

 

These four factors make up only part of the complex swirl of possible causes of heart disease. You can’t change your genes or age, but don’t despair. Instead, use that knowledge as motivation to address the risks you can change. These include:

• High Blood Pressure (HBP)Having hypertension, a.k.a. high blood pressure, is a red flag for other forms of heart disease, increasing your risk for CAD, heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. HBP results from plaque buildups in your arteries, thickening them and reducing blood flow.
• High Cholesterol Unhealthy cholesterol levels contribute to blockages in your blood vessels that can eventually lead to heart attack. Your body produces cholesterol naturally—we all need it to make important hormones and absorb Vitamin D—but it’s easy to get more than you need by eating foods that are high in saturated and trans fats (like red meat, eggs, and dairy). There are two types of cholesterol: low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad” cholesterol) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or “good” cholesterol). LDL contributes to plaque buildups in your arteries. HDL protects against heart disease by transporting excess LDL to the liver to be processed as waste.
• Obesity Being obese forces your heart to work harder because your body requires more of the oxygen and nutrients that your blood supplies. This leads to high blood pressure. Excess weight also increases risk for heart disease, or makes them worse if you already have them, including high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. Obesity has been linked to heart failure and CAD.
• Diabetes Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, both limit your body’s ability to maintain a healthy level of glucose, a form of sugar that your body produces and uses for energy. Uncontrolled blood glucose damages your blood vessels and the nerves that control your heart, eventually leading to heart disease. In fact, as many as three out of four people with diabetes die from some form of heart disease.
• Physical Inactivity The couch potato life not only directly puts you at higher risk of heart disease, it opens the door to other risk factors like HBP, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.
• Smoking or Vaping Lighting up does more than damage your lungs. It accelerates your heartbeat while narrowing your blood vessels and contributes to the formation of blood clots that can lead to heart attack or stroke. Less is known about the risks of vaping, but many of the chemicals involved have been linked to heart disease.
• Stress Pressure and tension can elevate your heart rate and blood pressure—and too much eventually damages your blood vessels. Stress also can lead some people to abuse alcohol and eat too much, as well as smoke. (And, remember, any amount of smoking or vaping is too much.)
• Drinking Alcohol Too much alcohol also can harm your heart. Excessive drinking ups your blood pressure and heart rate as well as your triglycerides, a type of fat linked to heart disease, because they may contribute to hardening and thickening of your arteries.
• Sleep Apnea This sleep disorder causes breathing trouble as you sleep, reducing the amount of oxygen to your blood and raising your blood pressure. Together, these can weaken your heart and put you at heightened risk chronic HBP, atherosclerosis, arrhythmia, and heart failure.

Lifestyle Changes for Heart Disease

You know the drill: Eat better, exercise, lose weight, and quit smoking. We know—easier said than done, but so worth it. That’s because the everyday choices you make today can halt the progression of heart disease tomorrow—leading to a healthier and likely longer life.

Let’s walk through the basic lifestyle choices you can implement to help make happen:

• Lower your cholesterol. Cut back and avoid plaque buildup by swapping red meats for lean poultry and fish, consuming fibrous veggies and whole grains, and limiting (or even avoiding altogether) the saturated and trans fats found in fried and processed foods. Additional ways to get your cholesterol in check? Lose a few pounds, exercise more, and if that still isn’t enough, talk to your doctor about medication.

• Lower your blood pressure. The same lifestyle changes that help bring down unhealthy cholesterol levels can also help manage your blood pressure, often in tandem with one of the various blood-pressure lowering medications available.

• Do everything you can do to quit smoking. We know—it’s really hard. But we also know that smoking causes lung cancer and seriously hurts your heart. Plus, a nicotine or vaping habit damages your arteries, ups your risk of dangerous blood clots, raises your heart rate, and contributes to HBP and high cholesterol. So make quitting smoking your top priority. Going cold turkey works for some, while others have to slowly wean themselves from lighting up with the help of nicotine patches and other aids, including medications and support groups. Your doctor can walk you through your options, so have that conversation as soon as possible. Visit the American Heart Association to learn more about how to quit.

• Get moving. Physical activity of just about any kind beats the couch potato life. That’s because exercise strengthens your heart muscle so that it can do its job more efficiently. It helps lower your cholesterol, blood pressure, and, if you have diabetes, blood sugar levels, too. An added benefit? Breaking a sweat leads to a slimmer, fitter you. Exactly how much exercise you can do depends on your current state of health. Talk to your doctor, who might advise you to start slow and gradually build up endurance. If a walk around the block is your limit, that’s OK—lace up your shoes and get going. Tomorrow, you’ll likely go even further. If you’re recovering from a serious heart issue, cardiac rehabilitation programs can get you started safely.

• Eat less, and eat better. Changing how you stock your fridge and pantry is often connected to lowering your cholesterol levels—so follow the same advice: Try high-fiber foods, lean proteins, vegetables, and whole grains, and skip overly processed junk food and fried fare. If you need guidance, consider enlisting a registered dietitian/nutritionist to outline a healthy eating plan for you—and provide strategies to stick with your plan to reach your goals.

• Lose weight. It can’t be overstated: Being overweight or obese is hard on your heart. Your body mass index (BMI) measures body fat based on your weight in relation to your height. A BMI of 25 to 29 is considered overweight. You are considered obese if your BMI is 30 or higher. While use of BMI has been questioned by researchers as of late, partly because even the super-fit and muscle-bound may technically have “unhealthy” BMI numbers, some doctors still use it as a guide. More and more, however, physicians are concerned when excess body fat is concentrated around your waist, likely because a lot of belly fat can cause chronic inflammation, a risk factor for heart disease. The result? Your blood pressure and cholesterol go up and stay up—and you want neither to happen.

• 

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  If your heart health is at risk, and you find losing weight slowly and safely to be an impossible task, consider securing the services of a registered dietician, or ask your doctor if gastric bypass surgery is right for you.

• Manage your diabetes. Diabetes and heart disease are a deadly combination. People with diabetes have as much as four times the risk of dying from heart disease than someone without this condition. This is in part due to the effect diabetes has on your blood vessels, and also because many other health conditions often accompany diabetes, including HBP, high cholesterol levels, and obesity. Controlling your diabetes through medication and lifestyle changes benefits your heart.

• Consider medications for heart disease, if you need them. Many drugs treat coronary artery disease, or CAD. (Remember, CAD occurs when your arteries become clogged with plaque, restricting the flow of blood.) Here are the more commonly prescribed types of medication for CAD and other heart ailments:

  • Cholesterol lowering drugs, like statins, lower the amount of plaque-forming materials in your bloodstream.
  • Anti-coagulants (a.k.a. blood thinners) help prevent the formation of dangerous blood clots in your arteries, where they would block the flow of blood.
  • Anti-platelets, including aspirin, also help prevent clots from forming.
  • Beta blockers both lower your blood pressure and reduce your heart rate. That, in turn, causes your heart’s need for oxygen to drop.
  • Calcium channel blockers are often used in tandem with beta blockers. They lower blood pressure and heart rate while relaxing arteries in order to boost blood flow to the heart.
  • Nitroglycerin eases chest pain, or angina, caused by restricted blood flow to the heart. It works by allowing more oxygen-rich blood into your heart.
  • ACE inhibitors lower blood pressure and ease the heart’s workload, which helps prevent further weakening of the heart.

Heart failure as well as heart valve disease are both treated with some of the same medications, such as diuretics, which help rid your body of excess fluids. In heart failure, for example, fluid can build up in your lungs and make it difficult to breathe. You may also be prescribed digitalis, a type of drug that strengthens the contractions of your heart and lowers your heart rate. Beta blockers and anti-clotting medications are also among the drugs that may be used to treat both conditions.

• We are in this Together!-

  -People Start to Heal The Moment They Are Heard-

  Health and Wellness Associates

  EHS Telehealth

  REVIEWED BY DR JEROME WAGNER

  

HWA – REMEDY FOR HIGH CHOLESTEROL

REMEDY FOR HIGH CHOLESTEROL

 

High Cholesterol

“Anything to do with cholesterol has everything to do with the liver. Any kind of cholesterol problem developing is a sign of an early liver condition developing. The liver produces, controls, organizes, and stores cholesterol. So when the liver gets sluggish, stagnant, and toxic over the years—which will go undetected at the doctor’s office— and its functions start to break down, cholesterol readings can start to change. This may happen long before tests show elevated liver enzymes, so no one will realize this has anything to do with the liver.

Have you ever wondered how someone who eats the poorest diet can get back perfectly fine cholesterol readings? That’s a person whose liver is not maxed out yet. Then you could have someone with a seemingly healthy diet who’s diagnosed with a cholesterol condition because readings are heading in a direction the physician doesn’t like. That’s a person whose liver is starting to flag from being overloaded for too long. Everyone’s liver has a different state of being. Some are filled with pathogens such as the Epstein-Barr virus and strep. Some are filled with both pathogens and toxins such as toxic heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and other petroleum products. When the liver’s storage is at capacity, that’s when its ability to process, convert, create, store, and develop cholesterol starts to diminish.

Far more powerful than any statin can ever be, celery juice goes to the root cause of cholesterol conditions: it heads to the liver. There, it helps flush, clean, and purify poisons, toxins, and pathogens. It restores and revives damaged liver lobules while its sodium cluster salts reduce viral and bacterial loads. These cluster salts also revitalize the liver’s multiple functions related to cholesterol and improve the strength of the bile that the liver produces—and stronger bile helps break down fats.”

How To Make Celery Juice

 

Plain, fresh celery juice is one of the most powerful healing juices available to us. This clean, green drink is the very best way to start your day. Make this juice a part of your daily routine, and soon you won’t want to go a day without it!

Ingredients:
1 bunch of celery

Directions:
Rinse the celery and run it through a juicer. Drink immediately for best results.

Alternatively, you can chop the celery and blend it in a high-speed blender until smooth. Don’t add water or ice for the greatest healing benefits, use only celery. Strain the blended celery well through a fine mesh strainer, cheesecloth or nut milk bag and drink immediately.

CELERY JUICE TIPS

If you want to heal and improve your health quickly and efficiently, follow this routine:

* Every morning, drink 16 ounces or more of celery juice on an empty stomach. Make sure it’s fresh, plain celery juice with no other ingredients. Celery juice is a medicinal, not a caloric drink, so you’ll still need breakfast afterward to power you through the morning. Simply wait at least 15 to 30 minutes after drinking your celery juice before consuming anything else.

* If you’re sensitive and 16 ounces is too much, start with a smaller amount and work your way up. You can also drink more than 16 ounces. Many people love to drink 32 ounces daily.

* Use organic celery whenever possible. If you’re using conventional celery, be sure to wash it especially well before juicing.

* If you find the taste of straight celery juice too strong, you can juice one cucumber and/or one apple with the celery. This is a great option as you get adjusted to the flavor. As you get used to it, keep increasing the ratio of celery until your juice is only celery; the greatest benefits come when celery juice is consumed on its own.

I hope you will bring celery juice into your life soon—doing so will deeply support you in healing.

 

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-People Start to Heal The Moment They Are Heard-

Health and Wellness Associates

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REVIEWED BY DR PATRICIA CARROTHERS

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HWA – CARDIO EXERCISE GOOD FOR MORE THAN YOUR HEART

CARDIO EXERCISE GOOD FOR MORE THAN YOUR HEART

 

You probably already know that cardio, or “aerobic,” exercise — the kind that gets your heart pumping — is good for your ticker. It lowers your resting pulse and strengthens your heart muscle. That’s why, as you slowly lengthen your cardio workouts, you’re able to go for longer time and distance. But your heart isn’t the only part of your body that benefits.

Heart Health Is Just the Start

 

Cardio may be good for your shut-eye. Scientists know that it can help you keep an even mood, wind down at bedtime, and set up a healthy sleep-wake cycle (circadian rhythm). The exact brain effects aren’t always clear, but people who exercise more tend to get more of the deep “slow wave” sleep that helps renew the brain and body. But try not to exercise too close to bedtime, which disrupts sleep for some people.

 

Lower Your Blood Sugar

Cardio exercise helps lower blood sugar (glucose) levels and improve insulin resistance if you have diabetes. Resistance training, like weightlifting, is also good. A combination of the two seems to help the most. Talk to your doctor before you start a new fitness routine if you have diabetes, especially if you take insulin or other meds.

Improve Your Mood

Aerobic exercise like running can help ease depression and anxiety well enough that your doctor or therapist may suggest it as a treatment. Part of the reason might be that it seems to enlarge your hippocampus — an area of your brain that manages emotion — and slow the breakdown of brain cells. Stick with it on a regular basis for several months to get the most benefit.

Get a Better Night’s Sleep

Cardio may be good for your shut-eye. Scientists know that it can help you keep an even mood, wind down at bedtime, and set up a healthy sleep-wake cycle (circadian rhythm). The exact brain effects aren’t always clear, but people who exercise more tend to get more of the deep “slow wave” sleep that helps renew the brain and body. But try not to exercise too close to bedtime, which disrupts sleep for some people.

Think Better

People who do more aerobic exercise may be better at “executive function” — the ability to organize information, interpret it, and act on it. Just a single workout session can increase blood flow to the part of your brain called the prefrontal cortex, which helps control your executive function. Over the long term, exercise seems to help brain cells in your prefrontal cortex connect more easily.

Remember Better

People who move around more are less likely to get Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. That’s in part because exercise helps prevent things that can raise your chances of getting dementia, such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression.

Learn Better

Neuroplasticity is the ability of your brain to change when you learn and do new things. Younger brains are generally better at this than older ones, but you can help preserve your neuroplasticity with cardio exercise, along with resistance training.

Help Ease Arthritis Pain

As you age, your knees and other joints can get osteoarthritis. The movement of aerobic exercise, like jogging or biking, is one of the most effective ways to ease pain and inflammation. And whether you walk, swim, or row a boat, your heart gets fitter, which makes it easier to stay active. When you combine physical activity with a healthy diet, you can drop extra pounds, which takes pressure off your knees.

Breathe Better

Even if you have a lung condition, regular cardio exercise can help improve your breathing. If the gym’s not your thing, a walk, jog, or a regular tennis game can do the trick. Just make sure to talk to your doctor about your exercise plan if you already have breathing problems.

Help Fight Germs

Regular aerobic exercise appears to help your body fight illness caused by viruses and bacteria. That’s partly because it helps blood get around your body better, which means germ-fighting substances get where they need to go. Scientists continue to study exactly how exercise helps boost the immune system — your body’s defense against germs.

Improve Your Cholesterol

Exercise seems to raise your HDL “good” cholesterol. It can also lower your LDL “bad” cholesterol, though you may need to make your workout more intense to get the full effect. Unhealthy cholesterol numbers make you more likely to build up plaque in your arteries that can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Talk to your doctor about starting a fitness routine if you’re already ill or you haven’t exercised in a while.

How Much Exercise Is Right?

Standard recommendations call for 30 minutes of moderate exercise on most days of the week. That’s a great place to start. But upping that to 300 minutes a week or higher can add even more benefits. The length of each session matters, too. Some of the best brain benefits come in exercise periods that last a bit longer: 45 to 60 minutes.

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Health Benefits of Cherries

 

Cherries for gout

Cherries are especially useful for treating gout.  Gout is a kind of arthritis linked to an unusually high amount of uric acid in the bloodstream. Uric acid is made in the liver and sometimes too much uric acid is made. Needle-like crystals form as uric acid levels increase, and these crystals build up in the joints over time, resulting in the pain and inflammation typical of gout.

Bing cherries have antioxidant as well as anti-inflammatory properties, in particular a compound known as cyanidin, which has been found to inhibit the activity of the enzyme involved in the making of uric acid. Research has revealed that eating the equivalent of a pound of fresh cherries each day is highly effective for lowering uric acid levels.

One study demonstrated that healthy people who ate Bing cherries for 28 days had reduced inflammation markers and they stayed low for days despite discontinuation of cherry consumption.

Another study has also shown that eating cherries may lower risk of gout attacks. Gout sufferers consuming cherries for a 2 day period had a 35 % reduced risk of gout attacks when compared with those not eating cherries. The risk of gout flare continued decreasing with the increase of cherry intake, up to 3 servings over 2 days. It was found that additional cherry intake did not provide any extra benefit.^[3]

Nutritional value of cherries (red) per 100g:

•     How many calories in cherries – 50
•     How much protein in cherries – 1g
•     How many carbs in cherries – 12g
•     What is the fat content of cherries – 0.3g

Nutrients in cherries

Cherries are a very good source of vitamins C and A. They are a good source of copper, calcium, iron, potassium and manganese.

 

Cherries and blood pressure

Montmorency tart cherry juice lowers blood pressure

Consuming tart cherry juice is as effective for reducing high blood pressure as blood pressure lowering medications. Participants of a 2016 study who had early signs of hypertension experienced a blood pressure reduction of 7% three hours after consuming a Montmorency tart cherry concentrate and water mixture.^[4]

The blood pressure readings of the 15 participants was least 130/90 mmHg, which means they had a higher risk of having cardiovascular related problems. They consumed either 60ml of tart cherry juice concentrate or 60ml of a commercial fruit-flavored drink.

Blood pressure was taken before consuming the Montmorency cherry concentrate and was measured thereafter on an hourly basis. The participants consuming the Montmorency cherry concentrate experienced a blood pressure reduction of 7 mmHg in the 3 hours after consumption.

The greatest systolic blood pressure improvement occurred when vanillic and protocatechuic, the cherry concentrate’s phenolic acids, reached peak plasma levels. The reduction in blood pressure from the consumption of the Montmorency cherry concentrate was comparable to the reduction achieved by blood pressure lowering medication.

A 2018 study found that consuming Montmorency tart cherry juice reduced systolic blood pressure in individuals between the ages of 65 and 80. The 34 study participants in this 12-week randomized controlled trial were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups.^[5]

The 1st group drank 240ml of Montmorency tart cherry juice in the morning and 240ml in the evening every day for the 12 weeks. The 2nd group drank the equivalent amount of a cherry flavored placebo drink devoid of tart cherries. Blood pressure as well as blood sugar, insulin, weight and cholesterol were measured when the study began and again when it ended.

The Montmorency tart cherry juice group had a significant reduction (4.1 mmHg) in systolic blood pressure in comparison to the drink placebo drink group.

How much tart cherry juice should you drink a day to lower blood pressure?

The participants in the 2016 study drank 60ml of tart cherry juice concentrate, which is estimated to be equivalent to about 500g of whole tart cherries.

The participants in the 2018 study drank 480 ml tart cherry juice, which was prepared from 68ml Montmorency tart cherry juice concentrate diluted with 412ml water.

Tart cherry juice for sleep
Melatonin in cherries

Montmorency tart cherries have been found to contain substantial amounts of the sleep hormone melatonin, which helps in regulating the sleep-wake cycle. Although some other foods also have melatonin, the quantity is too low to be effective, but, according to research, Montmorency cherries have 0.1 to 0.3 milligram of melatonin a serving,[6] and contain about 6 times more melatonin compared to Balaton cherries. At this dosage melatonin has been proven to be an efficient sleep inducer.

 

A 2014 study concluded that Montmorency tart cherry juice helps in improving the quality and duration of sleep, as well as help in reducing insomnia severity.^[7] The 7 study participants who suffered from insomnia that consumed the cherry juice in the morning as well as at night slept over an hour longer each night.

Besides Montmorency tart cherries being a good source of melatonin, tart cherry juice also helps in increasing the availability of the essential amino acid tryptophan, a precursor to serotonin which helps with sleep.  The tart cherry juice inhibits a tryptophan degrading enzyme and degradation of tryptophan is a predictor of insomnia. The researchers suggest the melatonin and tryptophan combination in Montmorency tart cherries is likely contributing to the benefits of tart cherries for sleep.

Cherries for weight loss

A 2008 animal study has suggested that tart cherries have significant potential for reducing belly fat. Obese rats that were given tart cherry powder combined with a high-fat diet gained less weight than rats that were not given cherries. After 12 weeks, the rats that were given the tart cherry powder had 54% body fat in comparison to 63% for rats that were fed a “Western diet”. The difference in weight gain was particularly pronounced in fat around the waist area, the rats that were given the cherry powder gained less belly fat.

The rats were given either a high fat and moderate carbohydrate diet,  or a low fat and high carbohydrate diet, both of which came either with or without tart cherry powder. The cherry enriched diet rats experienced a total cholesterol level reduction of approximately 11%.The TNF-alpha inflammation marker was reduced by 40% and interleukin 6 (IL-6) was reduced by 31%.

Cherries and cancer

Cherries have quite high levels of anthocyanins (the flavonoids giving cherries their intense red color), which give them anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and chemopreventative properties. Tart cherries contain the natural compound perillyl alcohol, which seems to be very effective in reducing the incidence of all kinds of cancer.  Perillyl alcohol has tested well for treating advanced prostate, breast and ovary cancers.^[9] Research suggests that substances in tart cherries can reduce the formation of the carcinogenic chemicals (HCAAs) that develop from the charring of meat.

Cherries for colon cancer

Two of the anthocyanidins present in cherries, quercetin and isoquerxitrin, have been found to prevent the growth of colon cancer.

Cherries for breast cancer

Cyandin-3-glucoside, another anthocyanin found in cherries and other fruits, has antioxidative and anti‐inflammatory properties and also induces the death of  breast cancer cells. Cyandin-3-glucoside inhibits the cytokine VEGF, which plays a key role in tumor angiogenesis. Angiogenesis (new blood vessel formation) plays a major role in breast cancer progression by providing cancer cells with nutrients, oxygen, and blood vessels for cancer cells to spread.

Delphinidin is another  anthocyanin found in cherries and other brightly colored fruits and veggies, and is also found in certain dietary supplements used as complementary cancer treatment. Delphinidin induces cell death in HER2+ breast cancer cells. Delphinidin also inhibits epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling in breast cancer cells.

Tart cherry juice benefits for exercise

Tart cherry juice improves exercise recovery

Cherries help to alleviate muscle soreness after exercising. A cup of tart cherry juice can help in reducing the soreness and inflammation of the muscles that is experienced after strenuous exercise. Marathon runners consuming tart cherry juice twice a day for 7 days before a race experienced less post race pain compared to runners not consuming cherry juice.

A 2011 study revealed that men who had tart cherry juice after weight training exercises experienced less muscle pain as well as less strength loss.

A 2019 study found that active women consuming tart cherry concentrate twice a day for eight days experienced reduced muscle soreness after exercising.

Tart cherry juice improves exercise performance

A 2019 study concluded that Montmorency cherry supplementation improves cycling performance. Eight trained cyclists supplementing Montmorency tart cherry for 7 days improved cycling time-trial performance. The exercise performance improvement was accompanied by muscle oxygenation enhancement which suggests that the cherry polyphenols’ vasoactive properties could be supporting the performance improvement effects.

Tart cherry juice for arthritis

Commonly used pain medication for osteoarthritis doesn’t actually reduce inflammation and has  unwanted side effects such as kidney or liver damage. The pain relieving properties of tart cherries have been show to be effective for the relief of pain associated with osteoarthritis without the side effects of conventional treatments.

A 2007 study revealed that pain and function improved significantly in osteoarthritis of the knee patients when they were given tart cherries in supplement form for 8 weeks.

Cherry juice for inflammation

In a 2012 double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, 20 patients suffering from inflammatory osteoarthritis had significant reductions in inflammation markers after consuming tart cherry juice twice daily for 3 weeks.

The study participants included twenty  40 to 70 year old women experiencing at least moderate osteoarthritis pain. They consumed 10.5-ounces of tart cherry juice or a placebo cherry drink twice daily for 3 weeks. There was a statistically significant reduction in inflammation among those individuals who consumed the tart cherry juice, which was indicated by reduced C-reactive protein levels. The reduction in inflammation was greatest for individuals who had shown the highest levels of inflammation at the beginning of the study.

Cherry juice for pain relief

Cherries are a natural pain reliever. Researchers have found that anthocyanidins from cherries have the ability to block both COX-1 and COX-2, enzymes considered to cause pain. Of all the fruits which were tested, cherries had the highest amounts of key anthocyanidins. The COX-inhibitory activities of the anthocyanidins in cherries were even found to be comparable to those of naproxen and ibuprofen.

Tart cherries and cholesterol

Elevated LDL cholesterol levels are a risk factor for atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases. The standard medical approach to help reduce LDL cholesterol levels to a safer range is to prescribe statins to reduce blood lipid levels. However, some patients encounter Statins are however not without side effects such as muscle pain to liver dysfunction.

A 2011 study reported a 26% reduction in cholesterol levels in mice fed tart cherry powder. A  reduction in early death of 65% was also reported, which was believed to be as a result of an improvement in cardiovascular health.

Another 2011 study in humans reported a reduction in of triglycerides levels of more than 17% on average after consuming 8-ounces of tart cherry juice daily for 4 weeks.^[21]

A 2018 study reported a significant reduction in LDL cholesterol levels after participants drank Montmorency tart cherry juice made from concentrate. Study participants drinking 480ml of Montmorency tart cherry juice daily for 12 weeks experienced a reduction in LDL cholesterol levels as well as lower levels of total cholesterol.

Benefits of cherries for skin

What is oxidative stress?

Oxidative stress when the body has an imbalance of antioxidants and free radicals. Free radicals are produced by the cells of the body during normal metabolic processes, and free radical neutralizing antioxidants are also produced by the cells. The body usually maintains a balance between free radicals and antioxidants.

Oxidative stress plays an important part in the aging process, especially in the skin. Aging results in the thinning of the epidermal (outer) as well as dermal (under) layers of the skin. This leads to fine wrinkles as a result of reduction of elastic fibers, collagen, and hyaluronic acid.

What are antioxidants?

Free radicals are unstable molecules which can cause damage in the body, and antioxidants neutralize free radicals by giving the free radical an electron. Antioxidants are produced naturally by the body and can also come from food such as fruit and veggies.

Several human studies have shown that sweet as well as tart cherries reduce oxidative stress. Melatonin, carotenoids, anthocyanins, polyphenols,  and vitamins C and E are all contributors to the antioxidant properties of cherries.

Cherries are an excellent source of anthocyanins, the flavonoid pigment that gives the cherry it’s color, and which has the greatest antioxidant capacity of any of the flavonoids. Tart cherries have more anthocyanins in comparison to sweet cherries. Scientific evidence has suggested that anthocyanins could possibly delay the appearance of signs of skin aging.

Cherry juice and diabetes

There is some evidence to suggest that consumption of cherries could help in promoting healthy glucose regulation and reducing diabetes risk.

The enzymes dipeptidyl peptidase-4 and α glucosidase which are involved in the promotion of diabetes are inhibited by chlorogenic acid, one the main polyphenols of tart cherry juice.

Study results suggest that blood glucose could be reduced from anthocyanins by slowing the production of glucose from complex carbohydrates. The production of glucagon by pancreatic α cells could also be reduced, and hepatic glucose uptake and production of insulin by pancreatic β cells increased.

A 2008 study revealed a significant decrease in hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) after diabetic women supplemented 40 mL of concentrated tart cherry juice day for 6 weeks. Fasting blood glucose was also decreased by 8%.

History of cherries

Cherries were named after the ancient Turkish town of Cerasus and go as far back to at least 300 B.C.

Cherries were among the first fruits the early settlers brought to America. The first cherry orchard was planted in northern Michigan in the 1600s. The 1st commercial tart cherry orchards in Michigan were planted in 1893.

The ultimate celebration of cherries is the National Cherry Festival, which is held each year in July in Traverse City, Michigan.

Cherry trees have played a part in American folklore since George Washington chopped down his father’s cherry tree, then couldn’t tell a lie and told his father what he’d done.

Sweet cherries are cultivated throughout North America and Europe. France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Russia are big producers in Europe. Sour cherries are cultivated in Eastern Europe, Germany, Russia, and the United States. Germany tops the world in cherry production, followed by the United States.

Remember We Are In This Together!

Health and Wellness Associates

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Article reviewed by Dr Patricia Carrothers, Regenerative and Preventative Medicine.

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Ways to Help Your Cholesterol Level

5 Ways to Help You with Your Cholesterol Level

For people battling high cholesterol, choosing meals wisely can be a challenge, but it is essential. Restaurants, parties, even an office potluck may present unhealthy temptations. But simple dietary modifications can help you eliminate those unhealthy choices:

1. Reduce sugar and flour. Recent research indicates that added sweeteners and flour-based carbohydrates, which are far too abundant in the American diet, are major contributors to obesity and heart disease.  Be aware of the flour-based foods that may seem less obvious, such as breads, tortilla chips and cereals, as they are all high carbohydrate foods. As far as your cholesterol profile goes, they will raise your triglycerides. Recent research suggests that higher non-HDL cholesterol, comprised of LDL and triglycerides connect strongly to heart disease risk.  Gluten Free means there is still flour and sugar in the products.
2. Avoid trans-fat. Stay away from items that list “hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil” on the label, especially snack foods such as chips or popcorn. Try baked or air-popped versions instead.
3. Use fresh garlic regularly in your meals. Garlic has been shown to help lower cholesterol levels.
4. Drink green tea daily. The antioxidants in green tea help lower cholesterol and prevent the cholesterol in your blood from oxidizing.  Women need to limit the amount that they drink daily.
5. Eat plenty of soluble fiber. It has a powerful cholesterol-lowering effect. The best sources are beans and lentils, apples, citrus fruits, oats, barley, peas, carrots and freshly ground flaxseed.
6.  Dairy Products :  The sugar and the additives they they are allowing in dairy products now will increase your cholesterol.  Even if it says organic, or gluten free, you will not be able to consume dairy products.

You do not see anything in here written about eggs , red meat, bacon or ham, because all of that has been dis-proven time and time again.

In addition, relax. There is quite a bit of data connecting stress, both physical and emotional, to elevated cholesterol levels. We talk about relaxation a lot, but rarely do we think of it as a way to lower cholesterol.

Always contact us if you need help, or have a question?

 

-People Start to Heal The Moment They Are Heard- 

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Lower Your Cholesterol with Foods

Foods That Lower Your Cholesterol

 

 

Certain foods can be part of the plan to improve your numbers, to both lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the bad one, and raise your high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the good one.

First, choose foods with soluble fiber. Think of this type of fiber as a magnet, drawing cholesterol out of your body. Good sources are oats, oat bran and barley, along with beans, eggplant and okra. When used in recipes, these foods tend to take on the flavors of other ingredients, so be adventurous with recipe planning — and generous with herbs and spices.

Apples, grapes, strawberries and citrus fruits are good choices because of their pectin, a type of soluble fiber.

Next, go for foods with polyunsaturated fats. These include vegetable oils like canola, sunflower and safflower, as well as fatty fish like salmon, rich with omega-3 fatty acids, and most types of seeds and nuts.

Plant-based foods also contain substances called plant sterols and stanols, which help keep the body from absorbing cholesterol. Particularly good sources are Brussel sprouts, wheat germ and wheat bran, peanuts and almonds, and olive, sesame and canola oils.
In terms of foods to limit, talk to your doctor about your unique needs. High-cholesterol foods like shellfish and eggs aren’t as dangerous as once thought. The verdict is still out on the saturated fat found in meat, but some research has found that full-fat yogurt, milk and even cheese may be good for you.

The one type of fat to completely avoid is trans fat. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned its addition to foods in 2018, but because of extensions granted to some manufacturers, certain items could be on store shelves until January 2021. So keep checking the ingredients on any packaged foods you’re considering.

You are What you Eat, So Dont Be Fast, Cheap, Easy or Fake!

 

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Eat Dark Chocolate and Olive Oil Together!

Those with a high cardiovascular risk profile should eat dark chocolate with olive oil, new study finds

 

In recent years, the medical community has put a lot of effort into educating people about reducing their cholesterol levels in order to protect their heart health. Of course, those who do have elevated cholesterol levels are often prescribed statin drugs like Lipitor, Zocor and others to lower these levels. In fact, these are among the most prescribed drugs of all time.

 

Nonetheless, these toxic drugs carry serious side effects, including muscle pain and weakness, increased liver enzymes, asthma complications, and birth defects in pregnant women, to name just a few.

 

This doesn’t mean, though, that there isn’t a healthy solution to reducing cholesterol levels naturally. In addition to maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly, a recent study has unlocked another key to taking care of your heart: eating dark chocolate and extra virgin olive oil together.

 

The study, undertaken by researchers from the University of Pisa in Italy, who presented the results at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in August, concluded that dark chocolate enriched with extra virgin olive oil can lead to improved heart health and a better cardiovascular risk profile.

 

“A healthy diet is known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,” said Dr. Rossella Di Stefano, a cardiologist at the University of Pisa, and the lead author of the study. “Fruits and vegetables exert their protective effects through plant polyphenols, which are found in cocoa, olive oil, and apples. Research has found that the Italian Panaia red apple has very high levels of polyphenols and antioxidants.”

 

The researchers set out to determine whether a combination of either dark chocolate and olive oil or dark chocolate and Panaia red apple might halt the progress of atherosclerosis (a build-up of plaque on the artery walls, causing obstructed blood flow, and potentially a life-threatening blood clot) in otherwise healthy people with cardiovascular risk factors.

 

The ESC explained in a press release:

 

The randomised crossover study included 26 volunteers (14 men, 12 women) with at least three cardiovascular risk factors (smoking, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, or family history of cardiovascular disease) who received 40 grams of dark chocolate daily for 28 days. For 14 consecutive days it contained 10% extra virgin olive oil and for 14 consecutive days it contained 2.5% Panaia red apple. The two types of chocolate were given in random order.

 

Progression of atherosclerosis was assessed by metabolic changes (levels of carnitine and hippurate), lipid profile, blood pressure and levels of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). EPCs are critical for vascular repair and maintenance of endothelial function.

 

The researchers took urine and blood samples at the beginning of the study and again at the end. The urine samples were analyzed for endogenous metabolites using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and circulating EPC levels were evaluated with flow cytometry. Body mass index (BMI), blood pressure levels, smoking status, lipid profile and glycaemia, were also carefully monitored for all participants.

 

The results were quite astounding. At the end of the 28-day study, the researchers found that EPC levels were significantly increased after consumption of the olive oil-enriched chocolate. Carnitine and hippurate levels were considerably decreased – which is a good thing – both in comparison to baseline figures and to the apple-enriched chocolate.

 

Most encouragingly, consumption of the olive oil-enhanced chocolate resulted in significant increases in high-density lipoprotein (good cholesterol) and sizable reductions in blood pressure levels. (Related: Olive oil antioxidant naturally kills all cancer cells tested within an hour.)

 

So, if like millions of others you’ve been advised to take steps to decrease your cholesterol levels, you now have a fantastic excuse to increase your consumption of delicious dark chocolate. Just make sure you take some pure virgin olive oil with it! Perhaps melt that chocolate in a little olive oil and pour over fresh strawberries? Yum

 

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Can Eating Walnuts Lower Your Cholesterol?

Can Eating Walnuts Help Lower Your Cholesterol?

You Only Need a Handful of Walnuts Each Day

 

Walnuts are not only good for cooking – they are healthy nuts that can also help your heart.

 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), recognizing the cholesterol-lowering properties of walnuts, accepted a petition filed by the California Walnut Commission in March 2004 to list the health claim that walnuts can aid in reducing cholesterol levels on product labels.

 

The discovery of the benefits of walnuts come from many clinical studies performed by various research institutions all over the world.

The results show consuming walnuts is beneficial in lowering cholesterol levels.

Walnuts are also noted for reducing the risk of heart disease and inflammation.

 

Walnuts Are Heart-Healthy

Walnuts demonstrate heart-healthy benefits due to the presence of high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids and phytosterols.

 

Omega-3-fatty acids reduce triglycerides levels and slightly reduce LDL levels (low-density lipoproteins, also know as the bad cholesterol). In fact, walnuts contain the highest amount of omega-3-fatty acids in 1 ounce of nuts (i.e. one handful) in comparison to other nuts (2.5 g of omega-3-fatty acids versus less than 0.5 g found in other nuts).

 

Phytosterols appear to slightly lower LDL cholesterol levels, however, the mechanism by which it does this is not entirely known.

In addition to heart-healthy ingredients, walnuts also contain a wealth of other nutrients, including vitamin E, the B vitamins, fiber, and several minerals.

 

Lower Your Cholesterol with Walnuts

Many studies on walnuts suggest that you only need to consume a handful of walnuts each day to receive the cholesterol-lowering benefits of these tree nuts.

 

The FDA agrees with this health claim, which will be on every bag of walnuts you purchase and will state the following: “supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 oz of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet, and not resulting in increased caloric intake may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

 

The Proof Walnuts Lower Cholesterol

 

Many studies indicate the usefulness of walnuts in reducing cholesterol levels. Some of the most important include:

 

The first study involving the benefits of walnuts was from Loma Linda University in 1993. This study revealed a controlled diet containing walnuts reduced LDL cholesterol significantly in comparison to the Step One diet produced by the American Heart Association. The controlled diet was a modified version of the Step One diet, with the exception that walnuts replaced the fatty acid portion in the diet.

A Harvard study outlining the benefits of nuts concluded that high dietary nut consumption decreased the risk of sudden cardiac death in 2002. In addition to this, many studies have elucidated the benefits of consuming walnuts and other omega-3 fatty acid-containing foods, citing that consuming high amounts of these products reduced the risk of stroke and clogging of arteries.

The bottom line is that walnuts are a healthy snack packed with important nutrients that can help keep cholesterol levels — and your heart — healthy. It’s amazing that most studies have shown that it takes only one handful daily to achieve this beneficial effect.

 

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Statins are Dangerous! Educate Your Doctor

 

Statins are Dangerous! Educate Your Doctor.

 

The idea that saturated fat is bad for your heart and should be avoided to prevent heart disease is misguided to say the least.

 

There’s no telling how many people have been harmed by this dangerous advice, as scientific evidence shows that a lack of healthy fat actually increases your cardiovascular health risks, but the number is likely significant.

 

Adding insult to injury, cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins) have become the go-to “preventive medicine,” despite ever-mounting evidence showing that these drugs can do far more harm than good as well.

 

Taken together, a low-fat diet and statins is a recipe for chronic health problems, and I cannot advise against falling into this trap strongly enough.

 

One in four Americans over the age of 45 currently take a statin drug, despite the fact that there are over 900 studies proving their adverse effects, which run the gamut from muscle problems to increased cancer risk—not to mention an increased risk for heart failure!

 

Questions have also been raised about statins’ potential to cause amnesia and/or dementia-like symptoms in some patients. According to Scientific American,1 hundreds of such cases have been registered with MedWatch, the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) adverse drug reaction database.

 

Statin Guidelines May Hurt Millions of Healthy People

 

 

In November 2013, the US updated its guidelines on cholesterol,2 focusing more on risk factors rather than cholesterol levels—a move estimated to double the number of Americans being prescribed these dangerous drugs.

 

According to the highly criticized new guideline, if you answer “yes” to ANY of the following four questions, your treatment protocol will call for a statin drug:

1.Do you have heart disease?

2.Do you have diabetes? (either type 1 or type 2)

3.Is your LDL cholesterol above 190?

4.Is your 10-year risk of a heart attack greater than 7.5 percent?

 

Your 10-year heart attack risk involves the use of a cardiovascular risk calculator, which researchers have warned may overestimate your risk by anywhere from 75 to 150 percent—effectively turning even very healthy people at low risk for heart problems into candidates for statins.

 

The guideline also does away with the previous recommendation to use the lowest drug dose possible.3 The new guideline basically focuses ALL the attention on statin-only treatment, and at higher dosages.

 

The UK followed suit in July 2014, recommending statins for otherwise healthy people with a 10 percent or greater 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). As in the US, this was a dramatic change in recommendation, raising the number of Britons eligible for statins by about 4.5 million.

 

Pediatric Statin Guidelines Dramatically Increase Number of Teens on These Dangerous Drugs

 

 

Even teens and young adults are now being placed on statins. In 2011, the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) issued new guidelines4,5 for reducing heart disease in children and adolescents, recommending statin treatment if cholesterol levels are at a certain level.

 

Meanwhile, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) have far tighter restrictions on the use of statins in those under the age of 40.

 

According to a new study,6 if doctors follow the NHLBI’s guidelines, nearly half a million teens and young adults between the ages of 17-21 will be placed on statins. As reported by Medicinenet.com:7

 

 

“Gooding’s team found that 2.5 percent of those with elevated levels of ‘bad’ low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol would qualify for statin treatment under the NHLBI cholesterol guidelines for children, compared with only 0.4 percent under the ACC/AHA adult guidelines.

 

That means that 483,500 people in that age group would qualify for statin treatment under the NHLBI guidelines, compared with 78,200 under adult guidelines…

 

It’s common for abnormal cholesterol levels and other heart disease risk factors to start appearing when people are teens, but the two sets of recommendations offer doctors conflicting advice, the researchers said.

 

For now, they recommend that physicians and patients ‘engage in shared decision making around the potential benefits, harms, and patient preferences for treatment…’”

 

Statin Drugs Can Wreck Your Health in Multiple Ways

 

 

Ironically, while statins are touted as “preventive medicine” to protect your heart health, these drugs can actually have detrimental effects on your heart, especially if you fail to supplement with CoQ10 (or better yet, ubiquinol, which is the reduced and more effective form of CoQ10).

 

For example, a study published in the journal Atherosclerosis8 showed that statin use is associated with a 52 percent increased prevalence and extent of calcified coronary plaque compared to non-users. And coronary artery calcification is the hallmark of potentially lethal heart disease.

 

Statins have also been shown to increase your risk of diabetes via a number of different mechanisms, so if you weren’t put on a statin because you have diabetes, you may end up with a diabetes diagnosis courtesy of the drug. Two of these mechanisms include:

• Increasing insulin resistance, which contributes to chronic inflammation in your body, and inflammation is the hallmark of most diseases. In fact, increased insulin resistance can lead to heart disease, which, again, is the primary reason for taking a statin in the first place.

 

It can also promote belly fat, high blood pressure, heart attacks, chronic fatigue, thyroid disruption, and diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.

• Raising your blood sugar. When you eat a meal that contains starches and sugar, some of the excess sugar goes to your liver, which then stores it away as cholesterol and triglycerides. Statins work by preventing your liver from making cholesterol. As a result, your liver returns the sugar to your bloodstream, which raises your blood sugar levels.

 

Drug-induced diabetes and conventional lifestyle induced type 2 diabetes are not necessarily identical. If you’re on a statin drug and find that your blood glucose is elevated, it’s possible that what you have is just hyperglycemia—a side effect, and the result of your medication.Unfortunately, many doctors will at that point mistakenly diagnose you with “type 2 diabetes,” and possibly prescribe yet another drug, when all you may need to do is simply discontinue the statin.

 

Statins also interfere with other biological functions. Of utmost importance, statins deplete your body of CoQ10, which accounts for many of its devastating results Therefore, if you take a statin, you must take supplemental CoQ10 or ubiquinol. Statins also interfere with the mevalonate pathway, which is the central pathway for the steroid management. Products of this pathway that are negatively affected by statins include:

• All your sex hormones
• Cortisone
• The dolichols, which are involved in keeping the membranes inside your cells healthy
• All sterols, including cholesterol and vitamin D (which is similar to cholesterol and is produced from cholesterol in your skin)

 

Refined Carbs—Not Fat—Are Responsible for Heart Disease

 

 

As noted by the Institute for Science in Society,9 Ancel Keys’ 1963 “Seven Countries Study” was instrumental in creating the saturated fat myth. He claimed to have found a correlation between total cholesterol concentration and heart disease, but in reality this was the result of cherry picking data.

 

When data from 16 excluded countries are added back in, the association between saturated fat consumption and mortality vanishes. In fact, the full data set suggests that those who eat the most saturated animal fat tend to have a lower incidence of heart disease:

 

 

“Nevertheless, people were advised to cut fat intake to 30 percent of total energy and saturated fat to 10 percent. Dietary fat is believed to have the greatest influence on cardiovascular risk through elevated concentrations of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. But the reduction in LDL cholesterol from reducing saturated fat intake appears to be specific to large, buoyant type A LDL particles, when it is the small dense type B particles – responsive to carbohydrate intake – that are implicated in cardiovascular disease.” [Emphasis mine]

 

We’ve long acknowledged that the Western diet is associated with increased rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Yet the conventional paradigm is extremely reluctant to accept that it is the sugar content of this diet that is the primary culprit. When you eat more non-vegetable carbohydrates than your body can use, the excess is converted to fat by your liver. This process occurs to help your body maintain blood sugar control in the short-term, however it will likely increase triglyceride concentrations, which will increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.

 

Excessive consumption of refined grains and added sugars will also elevate your insulin and leptin levels and raise your risk of insulin/leptin resistance, which is at the heart of many chronic health problems. High insulin levels also suppresses two other important hormones — glucagons and growth hormones — that are responsible for burning fat and sugar and promoting muscle development, respectively.

 

So elevated insulin from excess carbohydrates promotes fat accumulation, and then dampens your body’s ability to lose that fat. Excess weight and obesity not only lead to heart disease but also a wide variety of other diseases.So, while whole grains are allowed to make health claims saying they’re heart healthy, and low-fat foods are conventionally recognized as healthy for your heart, please remember that replacing saturated fats in your diet (like those from grass-fed beef, raw organic butter, and other high-quality animal foods) with carbohydrates (like breakfast cereal, bread, bagels, and pasta) will actually increase your risk of heart disease, not lower it.

 

Studies Show Saturated Fat Is Not Associated with Increased Heart Disease Risk, But Sugar Is

 

 

In one 2010 study,10 women who ate the most high glycemic foods had more than double the risk of developing heart disease as women who ate the fewest. Previous studies, including an excellent one published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,11 have also linked high-carb diets to heart disease. Contrary to popular belief, the scientific evidence also shows that saturated fat is in fact a necessary part of a heart healthy diet, and firmly debunks the myth that saturated fat promotes heart disease.

 

For example:

• In a 1992 editorial published in the Archives of Internal Medicine,12 Dr. William Castelli, a former director of the Framingham Heart study, stated:

 

 

“In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol. The opposite of what… Keys et al would predict… We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active.”

• A 2010 meta-analysis,13 which pooled data from 21 studies and included nearly 348,000 adults, found no difference in the risks of heart disease and stroke between people with the lowest and highest intakes of saturated fat.
• Another 2010 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition14 found that a reduction in saturated fat intake must be evaluated in the context of replacement by other macronutrients, such as carbohydrates. When you replace saturated fat with a higher carbohydrate intake, particularly refined carbohydrate, you exacerbate insulin resistance and obesity, increase triglycerides and small LDL particles, and reduce beneficial HDL cholesterol.The authors state that dietary efforts to improve your cardiovascular disease risk should primarily emphasize the limitation of refined carbohydrate intake, and weight reduction.
• A 2014 meta-analysis15 of 76 studies by researchers at Cambridge University found no basis for guidelines that advise low saturated fat consumption to lower your cardiac risk, calling into question all of the standard nutritional guidelines related to heart health. According to the authors: “Current evidence does not clearly support cardiovascular guidelines that encourage high consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids and low consumption of total saturated fats.”

 

Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Effectively Protect Your Heart Health

 

 

Contrary to what pharmaceutical PR firms will tell you, statins have nothing to do with reducing your heart disease risk. In fact, this class of drugs can actually increase your heart disease risk—especially if you do not take ubiquinol (CoQ10) along with it to mitigate the depletion of CoQ10 caused by the drug.Poor lifestyle choices are primarily to blame for increased heart disease risk, such as eating too much refined sugar and processed foods, getting too little exercise and movement, lack of sun exposure and rarely, or never grounding to the earth. These are all things that are within your control, and don’t cost much (if any) money to address.

 

It’s also worth noting that statins can effectively nullify the benefits of exercise, which in and of itself is important to bolster heart health and maintain healthy cholesterol levels. In fact, one of the best ways to condition your heart is to engage in high-intensity interval exercise.16,17 Taking a drug that counteracts your personal efforts to improve your health seems like a really questionable tactic. If you’re currently taking a statin drug and are worried about the excessive side effects they cause, please consult with a knowledgeable health care practitioner who can help you to optimize your heart health naturally, without the use of these dangerous drugs.

 

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Cholesterol Lowering Drugs Will Wreck Your Muscles and more

Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Will Wreck Your Muscles

 

Cholesterol-lowering “statin” drugs often come with side effects. The most frequently reported consequence is fatigue, and about 9 percent of patients report statin-related pain.

 

The results of a new study show that statins at higher doses may also affect the ability of the skeletal muscles — which allow your body to move — to repair and regenerate themselves.

 

The study examined the proliferative capacity of human satellite cells when exposed to the statin simvastatin. They found that higher end concentrations of the drug led to reduced proliferation, which would likely negatively affect the muscle’s ability to heal and repair itself.

 

Statins — a class of drugs used to lower your cholesterol — are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the world. I’ve long maintained that statins are one of the most unnecessary drugs there is, and I’m not about to change my mind anytime soon. The list of studies documenting their dangers to your health just keeps getting longer.

 

With at least 12 million Americans taking statins, and experts’ recommendations that another 23 million “should” be taking them, it’s important to educate yourself on this issue.

 

Now, there are a very small group of people with genetic enzyme defects that end up having cholesterol levels above 325-350. These are about the only individuals in my experience, who seem to benefit from statins. In my clinical experience, which spans over more than two decades and thousands of patients, there have been a grand total of three patients that required statins to control this genetic problem.

 

For the remainder of you, taking a statin drug to control your cholesterol levels will likely do far more harm than good.

 

The Dangerous Side Effects of Statin Drugs

 

Statins have been known to cause muscle pain and weakness, but no one knew exactly why. More recent studies, however, have shed light on this mystery – including the latest study above. These findings add valuable talking-points to your arsenal when discussing your need for a statin drug with your doctor.

 

As Dr. Thalacker-Mercer, a member of the research team, stated:

 

“While these are preliminary data and more research is necessary, the results indicate serious adverse effects of statins that may alter the ability of skeletal muscle to repair and regenerate due to the anti-proliferative effects of statins.”

 

And,

 

“It is possible that older adults may not be able to distinguish between muscle pain related to a statin effect or an effect of aging and therefore adverse effects of statins in older adults may be under-reported.”

 

In this study, the viability of the proliferating cells was reduced by 50 percent at a dose equivalent to 40 milligrams of Simvastatin – the dose per day used in some patients. This could clearly have a negative effect on your skeletal muscles’ ability to heal and repair themselves, and could lead to eventually becoming more or less incapacitated.

 

Additionally, a study published last year in the Journal of Clinical Investigation found that statin drugs can activate the atrogin-1 gene, which plays a key role in muscle atrophy.

 

Three separate tests showed that even at low concentrations, statin drugs led to atrogin-1 induced muscle damage. As the drug dose increased, the damage increased as well.

 

One thing is for sure. You should NOT ignore symptoms of pain and muscle weakness, as they can deteriorate into even more dangerous conditions, including death.

 

For example, Bayer’s statin, Baycol, was pulled from the market in 2001 after 31 people died from rhabdomyolysis, a condition in which muscle tissue breaks down resulting in kidney failure.

 

Adding insult to injury, Vytorin, a drug that combines two cholesterol drugs — Zetia and Zocor – into one pill, has been found to cause the opposite effect of that desired: plaques grew nearly TWICE AS FAST in patients taking the Zetia-Zocor combination compared to those taking Zocor alone.

 

Experts called the results “shocking.”

 

Other serious and potentially life threatening side effects include, but are not limited to:

 

An increase in cancer risk

Immune system suppression

Chronic Kidney Failure

Potential increase in liver enzymes, so patients must be monitored for normal liver function

What You Must Know About Cholesterol

 

Statin drugs work by preventing the formation of cholesterol, and reducing LDL cholesterol, which is considered the “bad” cholesterol. There is no argument that these drugs are effective at lowering your cholesterol levels. However, they in no way, shape or form, treat the cause of your problem.

 

In order to understand why you don’t need them to manage your cholesterol levels, you first need to understand that there is no such thing as “good” or “bad” cholesterol.

 

Both HDL and LDL cholesterol perform vital functions in your body, which is why it’s actually dangerous to bring your LDL levels down too low.

 

HDL (high density lipoprotein) and LDL (low density lipoprotein) are actually proteins that transport the cholesterol to and from your tissues. Cholesterol in turn is a precursor to steroid hormones. (For example, you can’t make testosterone or estrogen, cortisol, DHEA or pregnenolone, or a multitude of other steroid hormones that are necessary for health, without cholesterol.)

 

Even more importantly, you can’t make new cell membranes without cholesterol.

 

So, the major reasons your body makes cholesterol in the first place, and why you have LDL, is to take the cholesterol to the tissue so you can make new cells or repair old damaged ones.

 

The Relevant Facts About “Bad” Cholesterol Your Doctor May Not Have Told You

 

The reason why LDL could be considered “bad” at all is because there are different sizes of LDL particles, and it’s the LDL particle size that is relevant. Small particles can easily get stuck and cause inflammation, which leads to damage and the buildup of scar tissue, also known as arterial plaque.

 

Unfortunately, most people don’t hear about that part.

 

And, naturally, the drug companies don’t want you to know that part of the science because it would severely limit the number of people going on cholesterol-lowering drugs, since statins do not modulate the size of the particles.

 

The only way to make sure your LDL particles are large enough to not get stuck and cause inflammation and damage is through diet. In fact, it’s one of the major things that insulin does.

 

If you eat properly — which is really the only known good way to regulate LDL particle size — then it does the right thing; it takes the cholesterol to your tissues, the HDL takes it back to your liver, and nothing gets stuck causing damage.

 

Simply Reducing Your Insulin Levels Can Achieve Statin Drug Effect

 

Another noteworthy point: Statins work by reducing the enzyme that tells your liver to produce cholesterol when it is stimulated by increased insulin levels. But you can achieve the same, or better, result by simply reducing your insulin levels.

 

How?

 

Simple! Reducing or eliminating sugar and most grains will effectively lower your insulin levels naturally.

 

You also need to be aware that statins are non-specific inhibitors of not just one, but a number of very important liver enzymes. For example, not only do they block HMG coenzyme A reductase (a key enzyme in cholesterol synthesis), they also block Coenzyme Q10.

 

CoQ10 is a vital enzyme that your body needs for energy and cardiovascular health. It is widely recommended to repair heart damage, boost the function of the heart and acts as a protectant against heart attacks and valve damage. Additionally, CoQ10 has been shown to be beneficial in heart and lung cancer, as well as maintain cognitive function.

 

Thus, when you take statins your production of this enzyme is dramatically depleted and you do not reap the health benefits associated with it.

 

How to Normalize Your Cholesterol Without the Use of Drugs

 

Just about every person, other than the tiny minority with the genetic enzyme defects I mentioned in the beginning, can normalize their cholesterol levels with my Take Control of Your Health Program, which includes modifying your eating habits based on your body’s unique nutritional type.

 

If you truly want to normalize your cholesterol levels, following these simple lifestyle changes can get you there:

 

Normalize your insulin levels by eliminating sugar and grains.

Take a high-quality krill oil or fish oil, which are chock full of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids.

If you are a man, or a woman who is in menopause, check your iron levels as elevated levels of iron can cause major oxidative damage in your blood vessels, heart and other organs. Excess iron is also one of the major contributing factors of cancer risk.

Exercise regularly.

Energy Psychology methods such as Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) can also be helpful for cholesterol reduction.  Read this press release for the possibilities: Doctors Use New Acupressure Technique to Lower Cholesterol and Triglyceride Levels: Medications Unnecessary.

 

Many vitamins and supplements need to be considered for this also, so please contact us to help you with a personal health care plan just for you.

 

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