Factors to Consider if You're Told Your Cholesterol Is Too High. By Dr. Mercola. When I first opened my medical practice in the mid- 8. Today, dietary fat and cholesterol are typically still portrayed as the worst foods you can consume. As noted by Dr. Frank Lipman in the featured article: 2“. Why would we want to lower it when the research. Framingham Heart Study. In fact, for older people, deaths were more common with low cholesterol. The research is clear – statins are being prescribed based on an incorrect hypothesis, and they are not harmless.”. In his article, Dr. Lipman discusses seven things you need to know when you have a talk with your doctor about your cholesterol level. For starters, it’s important to realize that the conventional view that cholesterol causes heart disease was based on seriously flawed research right from the start.#1: Flawed Cholesterol Science Has Done Untold Harm.. Ancel Keys’ 1. 95.
![]() ![]() The Paleolithic period represents just the last two million years of human evolution. What did our bodies evolve to eat during the first 90% of our time on Earth? The Gerson Miracle examines many of the elements of the Gerson Therapy, explaining why we are so ill and how we have in our grasp the power to recover our health. A1C A form of hemoglobin used to test blood sugars over a period of time. ABCs of Behavior An easy method for remembering the order of behavioral components. Seven Countries Study,5 which linked the consumption of dietary fat to coronary heart disease. When Keys published his analysis that claimed to prove this link, he selectively included information from only seven countries, despite having data from 2. Once the data from all 2. Moreover, as noted by Dr. This interpretation took root, giving rise to what became the prevailing wisdom of the last 4. This helped set off the stampede to create low- fat/no- fat Frankenfoods in the lab and launch the multibillion- dollar cholesterol- lowering drug business in hopes of reducing heart disease risk. Did it work? Instead of making people healthier, we’ve wound up with an obesity and diabetes epidemic that will wind up driving up rates of heart disease – hardly the result we were hoping for.”#2: Cholesterol Is Important for Health. Cholesterol, a soft, waxy substance, is found not only in your bloodstream but also in every cell in your body, where it helps to produce cell membranes, hormones (including the sex hormones testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen), and bile acids that help you digest fat. When sunlight strikes your bare skin, the cholesterol in your skin is converted into vitamin D. It also serves as insulation for your nerve cells. Low levels of HDL cholesterol has been linked to memory loss and Alzheimer's disease, and may also increase your risk of depression, stroke, violent behavior, and suicide.#3: Total Cholesterol Tells You Virtually Nothing About Your Health Risk. Your liver makes about three- quarters or more of your body's cholesterol, which can be divided into two types: High- density lipoprotein or HDL: This is known as the . Low- density lipoprotein or LDL: This . If a clot forms in one of these narrowed arteries leading to your heart or brain, a heart attack or stroke may result. Having defined those two types of cholesterol, it’s worth noting that there’s really only one kind of cholesterol, as previously explained by Dr. Ron Rosedale below. LDL and HDL are lipoproteins - - fats combined with proteins. Cholesterol is fat- soluble, and blood is mostly water. For it to be transported in your blood, cholesterol needs to be carried by a lipoprotein, which are classified by density. Only small dense LDL particles can potentially be a problem, as they can squeeze through the lining of your arteries. If they oxidize, they can cause damage and inflammation. Stephen Sinatra, a board- certified cardiologist, and Chris Kresser, L. About Us Welcome to Girlfriend Collective. When we started Girlfriend Collective we knew that we wanted to get away from fast fashion that strips the world of its. But Is Forskolin right for you? Let’s embark on an organic, energetic and fantastic journey as we dive deep into the accompanying scientific literature and related. Ac, a licensed integrative medicine clinician, have both addressed this issue in previous interviews. Some groups, such as the National Lipid Association (NLA), are now starting to shift the focus toward LDL particle number instead of total and LDL cholesterol, in order to better assess your heart disease risk. But it still has not hit mainstream. ![]() As noted in the featured article: “Consequently, you may have blood teeming with the less alarming large particle LDL, and still get signed up for a statin. And with the new controversial – and in my book dangerous – . The new guidelines. Kresser recommends using the NMR Lipo. Profile. All major labs offer it, including Lab. Corp and Quest. As noted by Dr. Lipman, if your doctor tells you your cholesterol is too high based on the standard lipid profile, getting a more complete picture is important—especially if you have a family history of heart disease or other risk factors. He writes: “Press your doctor to review and assess the other often overlooked but possibly more important factors that can shed a brighter light on your unique situation – namely tests which look at hs- C- reactive protein, particle sizes of the LDL cholesterol (sometimes called NMR Lipoprofile), Lipoprotein (a) and serum fibrinogen. These measurable physical clues will help fill in a few more pieces of the puzzle, and enable you and your doctor to develop a more customized program to help manage your risk, with or without cholesterol drugs. If your doc’s not interested in looking under the medical hood, then it may be time to switch to a new mechanic.”#5: Be Very Wary of Pro- Statin Studies. Most pro- statin studies are sponsored by the drug manufacturers, which will typically skew results in their favor. Worse yet, conflicts of interest have become more of the norm than the exception when guidelines are created. For example, the revised and highly controversial cholesterol- treatment guidelines issued by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in 2. This includes: The lead author, Dr. Stone, who is a strong proponent of statin usage and has received honoraria for educational lectures from Abbott, Astra. Zeneca, Bristol- Myers Squibb, Kos, Merck, Merck/Schering- Plough, Novartis, Pfizer, Reliant, and Sankyo. He's also served as a consultant for Abbott, Merck, Merck/Schering- Plough, Pfizer, and Reliant. The second author listed, Jennifer Robinson, admitted to the New York Times in 2. Another author, C. Noel Bairey Merz, received lecture honoraria from Pfizer, Merck, & Kos, and has served as a consultant for Pfizer, Bayer, and EHC (Merck). She's also received unrestricted institutional grants for Continuing Medical Education from Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Novartis, Wyeth, Astra. Zeneca, and Bristol- Myers Squibb Medical Imaging, as well as a research grant from Merck. She also has stocks in Boston Scientific, IVAX, Eli Lilly, Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, SCIPIE Insurance, ATS Medical, and Biosite.#6: Assess Your Actual Need for a Cholesterol- Lowering Drug. As noted by Dr. Lipman, cholesterol- lowering drugs are not required or prudent for the majority of people—especially if high cholesterol and longevity run in your family. Just divide your HDL level by your total cholesterol. That percentage should ideally be above 2. That percentage should be below 2. Your fasting insulin level: Any meal or snack high in carbohydrates like fructose and refined grains generates a rapid rise in blood glucose and then insulin to compensate for the rise in blood sugar. The insulin released from eating too many carbs promotes fat accumulation and makes it more difficult for your body to shed excess weight. Excess fat, particularly around your belly, is one of the major contributors to heart disease Your fasting blood sugar level: Studies have shown that people with a fasting blood sugar level of 1. Ideally, you should monitor your ferritin levels and make sure they are not much above 8. The simplest way to lower them if they are elevated is to donate your blood. If that is not possible you can have a therapeutic phlebotomy and that will effectively eliminate the excess iron from your body. An important side note: if you do decide to take a statin drug, you need to make sure you take Co. Q1. 0 or Ubiquinol with it. One in four Americans over the age of 4. Q1. 0 to buffer against some of the most devastating side effects of the drug. As previously explained by Dr. Sinatra, statins block not just cholesterol production pathways, but several other biochemical pathways as well, including Co. Q1. 0 and squalene—the latter of which Dr. Sinatra believes is essential in preventing breast cancer. The depletion of Co. Q1. 0 caused by the drug is why statins can increase your risk of acute heart failure. So if you're taking a statin drug, you MUST take Coenzyme Q1. You cannot get enough of it through your diet. Sinatra recommends taking at least 1. Co. Q1. 0 or Ubiquinol daily. As noted by Dr. Lipman: “Ultimately, the more HDL- boosting steps you take, the better the odds, and if you’re able to do it without medicating the numbers, so much the better.” What exactly are these steps? Needless to say, your diet has a lot to do with it, and step number one is to ignore conventional advice to eat a low- fat, low- cholesterol diet. Lipman includes a list of 1. This includes the following. Instead, opt for grass- fed, pastured varieties, raised according to organic standards. Half of the population suffers with insulin resistance and would benefit from consuming 5. No- or low- fat foods are usually processed foods that are high in sugar, which raises your small, dense LDL particles. Balancing your omega- 3 to omega- 6 ratio is also key for heart health, as these fatty acids help build the cells in your arteries that make the prostacyclin that keeps your blood flowing smoothly. Omega- 3 deficiency can cause or contribute to very serious health problems, both mental and physical, and may be a significant underlying factor of up to 9. For more information about omega- 3s and the best sources of this fat, please review this previous article. To get more fresh vegetables into your diet, consider juicing. Some researchers, like Dr. Stephanie Seneff, believe that optimizing your vitamin D level through regular sun exposure, as opposed to taking an oral supplement, may be key to optimizing your heart health. If you do opt for a supplement, you also increase your need for vitamin K2. Vegan Diet Dangers (#5 can get you in BIG trouble)! Are you curious about the vegan diet and whether it’s healthy or not? Learn about the vegan diet dangers as well as the ramifications of this diet on your whole body. Definition: vegan diets exclude all animal products including meat, eggs, seafood, dairy products, and honey. Vegan Diet Danger #1: Historically, there are no cultures that have thrived by subsisting off of animal- free diets. Gleaning dietary wisdom from those who have come before you is one of the best ways to learn about health. Along with that goes eating foods that people have been consuming for generations. Check out this book to learn more about Dr. Weston Price, a dentist who traveled the world to study the dietary behaviors and consequences of various dietary practices. Price made the ground- breaking discovery about the link between a diet low in animal foods (thus low fat- soluble vitamins) and tooth decay. Vegan Diet Danger #2: People often turn to vegan diets because they have trouble digesting meat and dairy products and have other issues like fatigue, inflammation, acne, bloating, and weight gain. Intolerance to certain foods does not mean there is a problem with that particular food group per se, but it does indicate imbalances within the body, which can cause weaker digestive function (such as slowed metabolism and sluggish thyroid function). Some people tend to gravitate toward a vegan diet because the included foods are “easier” to digest due to poor digestive juices. Eliminating these “problematic foods” completely and permanently only avoids the problem, instead of getting at the root issue, which is working to re- balance the body to regain tolerance of a wide variety of foods. Vegan Diet Danger #3: The best diets are those with the greatest variety of nutrients and without dietary limitations. Blacklisting certain food groups interferes with your body’s communication system, which causes you to ignore your body’s cravings by placing certain types of food off- limits. Ray Peat, Ph. D. Vegan Diet Danger #4: Vegan diets tend to be low in high- quality protein (and low protein diets can increase toxicity). Did you know that there is a big difference in the protein quality of animals vs. According to Dr. Ray Peat, Ph. D, “One thing that happens in the vegetable diet, heavily based on . According to this recent study, vegans and vegetarians also have lower sperm count and mobility! Liver detoxification takes a big hit when you don’t get enough high quality protein too. Phase 2 liver detoxification is driven by amino acids (the building blocks of proteins). Long- term vegan diets tend to impair liver detoxification pathways leading to toxicity. According to Dr. Ray Peat, Ph. D, “Protein deficiency itself contributes to the harm done by toxins, since the liver’s ability to detoxify them depends on adequate nutrition, especially good protein.”Vegan Diet Danger #5 Plant foods don’t contain real Vitamin A, only the precursors that require conversion. Real vitamin A, called retinol is only found in animal foods. Plant foods contain vitamin A precursors, such as beta- carotene that requires conversion into real vitamin A by the liver and intesines if conditions are right. However, some gene mutations can decrease ones ability to make this converstion by up to 9. Aside from genetic mutations that can impact ones ability to get real vitamin A from plant foods like carrots and sweet potatoes, there are also non- genetic factors such as poor gut health, low thyroid function, liver disease, and nutritional deficiencies that can greatly reduce your body’s ability to make this conversion. As a little reminder, vitamin A is extrememly important for thyroid function, hormone production, fertility, a healthy immune system, eye health, and fighting fatigue. Vegan Diet Danger #6 Plant- based diets can decrease digestive juices. Protein stimulates the production of HCL (hydrochloric acid) in your stomach to break down proteins. Proper digestion begins with strong stomach acid production that sets the stage for the p. H driven digestive process. Without regular and healthy stimulation of digestive juices, your digestion weakens and fewer nutrients are able to be absorbed in your body. Vegan Diet Danger #7: Dietary dogma that if it’s not working for you, you’re doing it “wrong.”Immersion in any dietary paradigm can be very powerful, and the vegan community is no exception. A 1. 0 year vegan shares her story: I remember over the years when people would go vegan and then stop because they didn’t feel well on it, I used to think to myself, “Well, they’re simply not doing it right.” Some people complained of lack of libido, lack of iron, lack of energy, etc. I now realize, quite humbled, that many of those problems may have been valid, even if they were doing a vegan diet “right.” Perhaps it took longer for the vegan diet to take a toll on my health than others. More likely I just couldn’t admit it to myself because my beliefs were so strong, constantly reaffirmed by my full- time immersion in the understandably self- reinforcing vegan culture. This can make it very difficult to detect. At first, you may not notice the lack of fat soluble nutrients you’re getting (particularly retinol and K2) and that a protein deficiency is hurting your health. Because your body will first exhaust your “nutritional bank account,” it may be many months or years until nutrient deficiencies cause impaired detoxification, thyroid issues, and/or hormonal imbalance. Vegan Diet Danger #9: Vegan dieters often favor soy products. Since protein is scarce when you avoid animal products, soy products like edamame, tofu, soy protein powder, and tempeh are often dietary staples. The reality is that soy protein is very difficult to digest, thyroid suppressive and estrogenic due to phytoestrogens. It also contains high levels of phytic acid that cause less assimilation of nutrients, as well as contain trypsin inhibitors that can interfere with digestion. Vegan Diet Danger #1. Vegan diets can be heavy in nut consumption. In an effort to increase dietary protein and calories, nuts are often adopted to form a more significant part of the diet. But there are major downfalls to heavy nut consumption. Nuts are very hard to break down, especially for those with low stomach acid. They are also very high in polyunsaturated fats, contain enzyme inhibitors, and include phytic acid that blocks the absorption of minerals. Want to find out if a vegan diet is making you accumulate nutritional debt? Take the quiz below to find out! Quiz: Are you in nutritional debt? Get your free customized results! Take the Quiz. What’s been your experience with a vegan diet? Please share your thoughts! PIN IT: Further reading: The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith. Kristen’s story by Kristen’s Raw. References: Orzylowska, E. M. Decreased sperm concentration and motility in a subpopulation of vegetarian males at a designated blue zone geographic region. Fertility and Sterility , Volume 1. Issue 3 , e. 27. 3. Retrieved on May 1. Retrieved on September 1. Two common single nucleotide polymorphisms in the gene encoding beta- carotene 1.
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