Nutritional data taken from the USDA 2004 National Nutrient Database, Release 17
Daily menu:
Total grams of fiber:
Category: Uncategorized
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Vitamin D A Special HealthBeat News Report
Vitamin D – You have been reading about it in the news, and you have wondered what is real and what is hype.
Dr. Myatt and Nurse Mark have researched and prepared this special report for HealthBeat News Readers.
Vitamin D — The Short Course
1.) Vit D is produced in our bodies in response to sun exposure. Vit D is also available from food and supplements.
2.) Vit D is FAR more important to health than was previously realized. I’m talking FAR more important.
3.) Vit D deficiency is widespread, including North America, even in sunny climates like Arizona. Many people who think they are getting enough Vitamin D from sunlight are mistaken.
4.) How to Optimize Vit D Levels for Good Health:
I.) Vit D test, supplement accordingly, re-test
II.) Supplement at 5,000IU for 3 months, then test your levels.
III.) Don’t test, run the risk of being deficient, but take at least 2,000IU total per day. (This is still an extremely conservative dose, but much higher than the RDA of 400IU which hasn’t been changed yet to reflect the newer findings about Vit D).
5.) Natural ways to obtain Vit D: Foods, supplements and sun exposure.
Vitamin D — Nutrient of the Decade: Are You Getting Enough?
The Consequences of Low Vitamin D
Vitamin D is called “the sunshine Vitamin” because our bodies make it in response to sun exposure.
Vit D is necessary for normal bone formation in both children and adults. In children, deficiencies of Vit D lead to rickets. In adults, deficiencies are associated with osteoporosis and osteomalacia (soft bones), decreased muscle strength and increased risk of fall. (1,12,14,22,43-48)Until recently, the bone-protecting effect was about all that Vit D was known for, but the past decade of medical research has changed all that.
The newly appreciated Vitamin D deficiency risks include:
1.) heart disease: myocardial infarction, high blood pressure, heart failure, myopathy, sudden cardiac death, stroke (11,13-26, 30, 49-50)
2.) blood sugar problems: glucose intolerance, diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome (13-14,19,23-24,27-29)
3.) cancer prevention and improved cancer survival rates (7,8,11,14,15,24,31-37)
4.) upper respiratory tract infections, influenza and tuberculosis (24,30,38)
5.) cognitive impairment and low mood (38-40)
6.) autoimmune disease (multiple sclerosis, RA, systemic lupus erythromatosis (SLE) (15,24,26,29,30,32,41,42)
7.) misc. diseases: psoriasis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease
8.) urinary incontinence (54)
9.) and all-cause mortality! (5,6,7,24,30,51)
How “significant” are these associations? Here are some of the conclusions of various studies and meta-analyses (lots of studies looked at together) concerning Vit D. Italics are mine for emphasis.
“Research strongly supports the view … Vitamin D status would have significant protective effects against the development of cancer …. cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, ovary, lungs, and pancreas…” (8)
“High levels of Vitamin D among middle-age and elderly populations are associated with a substantial decrease in cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.” (9)
“Low levels of [Vitamin D] are independently predictive for fatal strokes” (10)
“It is estimated that there is a 30 to 50% reduction in risk for developing colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer by either increasing Vitamin D intake or increasing sun exposure…” (11)
“Oral Vitamin D supplementation between 700 to 800 IU/d appears to reduce the risk of hip and any nonvertebral fractures in ambulatory or institutionalized elderly persons” (12)
” 28 studies including 99,745 participants … highest levels of serum [Vit D] were associated with a 43% reduction in cardiometabolic disorders (cardiovascular disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome) …” (9)
Are Your Vitamin D Levels Optimal? (Vitamin D Deficiency is Widespread)
One billion people worldwide are estimated to be Vit D deficient, and the problem affects us here in the United States as well. (2) One study found that more than half of North American women receiving drugs for prevention or treatment of osteoporosis were Vitamin D deficient. (1) Another study found 48% of pre-adolescent girls to be Vit D deficient (3). Other studies have found that 40% to 100% of older men and women in both the United States and Europe are Vitamin D deficient.[2] Because of the importance of Vit D and how widespread Vit D deficiency is, an estimated $100 to $200 billion is spent (wasted) each year on diseases which may really just be Vitamin D deficiencies. [4]
Age, overweight, dark skin color, use of sunscreen, and overprotection from the sun’s rays are causes of decreased production of Vit D in response to sunlight. (52,52)
How Much Vitamin D Should You Take?
Ideally, you should take whatever amount of Vitamin D puts you in the “optimal” range. Since the amount will be highly variable depending on age, sex, race, weight, daily sun exposure and diet, there is no “one size fits all” answer. Instead, blood testing of Vitamin D levels and increasing intake until optimal levels are reached is the surest way to obtain optimal concentrations of Vitamin D in the body.
Deficiency Insufficiency Sufficiency * Optimal Excess (Toxicity) <20ng/ml 20-32ng/ml 32-100ng/ml 40-80ng/ml > 150ng/ml
* – conventional medicine says that 30 ng/ml is “sufficient.” Chart references (59-62)
At the wellness Club we believe the most accurate and effective way to embark on a program of Vit D supplementation is to perform a Vit D test, supplement Vit D in accordance with the results, and then re-test in 3 months at which time your daily doses of Vit D can be fine-tuned for maintenance. March (right now!) is the best time to test initially because Vit. D stores tend to be lowest in this month.
The Vitamin D Council, a non-profit group dedicated to Vitamin D research and education recommends people take 5,000 IU per day for 2-3 months, then perform a Vitamin D test. They then suggest adjusting the dosage so that blood levels are between 50-80 ng/mL (or 125-200 nM/L) year-round. (55)
Alternately, some people opt to supplement without knowing their initial Vit D levels. A dose of 2000IU is quite conservative but certainly safe for almost anyone. In cases of significant Vit D deficiency conservative dosing such as this may take considerable time to rebuild healthy stores of this important Vitamin.
For those who wish to calculate their own Vit D requirements, 100 IU of Vitamin D could be expected to raise blood level of 25(OH)D by 1 ng/ml. (11)
Can too much Vitamin D can be toxic? Research shows that massive doses may eventually cause toxicity. One source found that in adults a sustained intake of 50,000 IU daily could produce toxicity within a few months (58) and 40,000 IU per day in infants has been shown to produce toxicity within 1 to 4 months. (56) That is ten times the recommended dose for each of those age groups! Vitamin D testing is good insurance that will allow you to safely fine-tune your dosage to your actual needs. Be careful though, since not all testing is the same and lab references and standards vary – be sure that you are comparing “apples to apples” and obtaining useable results when you are tested.
The 25-hydroxyVitamin D blood test (25(OH)D blood test) is a test that measures the amount of calcidiol circulating in the blood. This is the most accurate measure of the amount of Vitamin D in the body. The Wellness Club offers Vitamin D testing – performed by a lab that adheres to standardized references and values so that you know what you are getting when you receive your results. This can is performed at home with a “spot” (finger stick) blood test. Other tests that require a blood draw are also available.
How to Get to Your Optimal Vitamin D Levels
Start Vitamin D supplementation eight to twelve weeks before testing. Dr. John Cannell of the Vitamin D Council suggests a starting dose of 1,000 IU per 25 pounds of body weight. For example, a 150 pound person would take 6,000 IU Vitamin D per day. (150 divided by 25 = 6; 1,000IU x 6 = 6,000). Maintain this dose for 8-12 weeks, then test.
This dose may or may not put you in the optimal target range, but it certainly won’t put you in any “toxic” range. Remember, most adults can safely take up to 10,000IU per day and still be far away from Vitamin D toxicity which typically appears at 40,000-50,000IU taken for several months.
Although this dose should theoretically put you in an optimal range, numerous personal variations alter Vitamin D requirements. Some people will need a higher dose than this calculation affords. However, taking the calculated dose should at least put you “in the ballpark” for optimal dosing.
When you test results come back, you can use the number to help you know whether or not you need to increase your Vit D dose and by how much. It is estimated that each 1,000 IU increase in supplemental Vitamin D will generally produce a 10 ng/ml increase in the Vitamin D blood level (8). If your test result shows that you are 10ng/ml below your target, increase daily Vit D intake by 1,000IU per day for a total of 7,000IU per day from the above example. Continue this dose and re-test in another 3 months to verify that you are now in your optimal range.
Congratulations! You have found your optimal daily Vitamin D intake needed to maintain optimal Vitamin D blood levels.
How to Obtain Vitamin D Naturally
Exposure to sun is the most natural way to boost Vit D levels. Medical scientists have found that the skin produces approximately 10,000 IU of Vitamin D in response to as little as 30 minutes of unprotected summer sun exposure. (57)
Vitamin D can be obtained from food too. Since rickets in children is such a crippling but preventable condition, governments have long encouraged the “fortification” of dairy products and breads and cereals with token amounts of Vitamin D. In the United States and Canada, for example, fortified milk typically provides 100 IU per glass.
It is difficult to obtain optimal levels of Vitamin D from food alone.
Food IUs per serving* Percent DV** Cod liver oil, 1 tablespoon 1,360 340 Salmon (sockeye), cooked, 3 ounces 794 199 Mushrooms that have been exposed to ultraviolet light to increase vitamin D, 3 ounces (not yet commonly available) 400 100 Mackerel, cooked, 3 ounces 388 97 Tuna fish, canned in water, drained, 3 ounces 154 39 Milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D-fortified, 1 cup 115-124 29-31 Orange juice fortified with vitamin D, 1 cup (check product labels, as amount of added vitamin D varies) 100 25 Yogurt, fortified with 20% of the DV for vitamin D, 6 ounces (more heavily fortified yogurts provide more of the DV) 80 20 Margarine, fortified, 1 tablespoon 60 15 Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 2 sardines 46 12 Liver, beef, cooked, 3.5 ounces 46 12 Ready-to-eat cereal, fortified with 10% of the DV for vitamin D, 0.75-1 cup (more heavily fortified cereals might provide more of the DV) 40 10 Egg, 1 whole (vitamin D is found in yolk) 25 6 Cheese, Swiss, 1 ounce 6 2 *IUs = International Units.
**DV = Daily Value. DVs were developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help consumers compare the nutrient contents of products within the context of a total diet. The DV for vitamin D is 400 IU for adults and children age 4 and older. Food labels, however, are not required to list vitamin D content unless a food has been fortified with this nutrient.
Table courtesy of the U.S. Government National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements
Although cod liver oil is high in Vitamin D, it is also high in Vitamin A which interferes with Vit D uptake, so cod liver oil is not the best supplemental form of Vit D. Keep daily intake of pre-formed Vitamin A to a maximum of 5,000IU per day so as not to interfere with Vitamin D absorption. Beta carotene does not appear to interfere with Vit. D uptake.
Vegetarians need to be sure they are getting plenty of sunshine, because other than tiny amounts that may be found in UV-irradiated mushrooms, there are no vegetable sources of Vitamin D.
The Bottom Line on Vitamin D
Achieving Optimal Vitamin D levels appears to be one of the most important things we can do for our overall health and life expectancy.
Please click on the image below enjoy an interesting and instructive video which discusses the relationship between Vitamin D and Cancer.
References
1.) Holick MF, Siris ES, Binkley N, et al. Prevalence of Vitamin D inadequacy among postmenopausal North American women receiving osteoporosis therapy. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005;90: 3215-3224.
2.) Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med. 2007;357:266-281.
3.) Sullivan SS, Rosen CJ, Halteman WA, Chen TC, Holick MF. Adolescent girls in Maine at risk for Vitamin D insufficiency. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105:971-974.
4.) GrassrootsHealth. The Vitamin D deficiency epidemic. A call to D*action. http://www.grassrootshealth.org/daction/epidemic.php. Accessed May 8, 2009.
5.) GrassrootsHealth. Disease incidence prevention by serum 25(OH)D level. http://www.grassrootshealth.org/_download/disease_incidence_prev_chart_101608.pdf. Accessed May 8, 2009.
6.) Autier P, Gandini S. Vitamin D supplementation and total mortality. Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(16):1730-1737.
7.) Thomas L. Lenz. Vitamin D Supplementation and Cancer Prevention. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2009;3(5):365-368.
8.) Ingraham BA, Bragdon B, Nohe A. Molecular basis of the potential of Vitamin D to prevent cancer. Curr Med Res Opin. 2008 Jan;24(1):139-49.
9.) Parker J, Hashmi O, Dutton D, Mavrodaris A, Stranges S, Kandala NB, Clarke A, Franco OH. Levels of Vitamin D and cardiometabolic disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis. Maturitas. 2010 Mar;65(3):225-36. Epub 2009 Dec 23.
10.) Pilz S, Dobnig H, Fischer JE, Wellnitz B, Seelhorst U, Boehm BO, März W. Low Vitamin d levels predict stroke in patients referred to coronary angiography. Stroke. 2008 Sep;39(9):2611-3. Epub 2008 Jul 17.
11.) Holick MF. Vitamin D and sunlight: strategies for cancer prevention and other health benefits. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2008 Sep;3(5):1548-54. Epub 2008 Jun 11.
12.) Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Willett WC, Wong JB, Giovannucci E, Dietrich T, Dawson-Hughes B. Fracture prevention with Vitamin D supplementation: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. JAMA. 2005 May 11;293(18):2257-64.
13.) Anagnostis P, Athyros VG, Adamidou F, Florentin M, Karagiannis A. Vitamin D and Cardiovascular Disease: A Novel Agent for Reducing Cardiovascular Risk ? Curr Vasc Pharmacol. 2010 Feb 25. [Epub ahead of print]
14.) Holick MF. Vitamin D: importance in the prevention of cancers, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Mar;79(3):362-71.
15.) Holick MF. Vitamin D and sunlight: strategies for cancer prevention and other health benefits. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2008 Sep;3(5):1548-54. Epub 2008 Jun 11.
16.) Judd SE, Tangpricha V. Vitamin D deficiency and risk for cardiovascular disease. Am J Med Sci. 2009 Jul;338(1):40-4.
17.) Kendrick J, Targher G, Smits G, Chonchol M.25-HydroxyVitamin D deficiency is independently associated with cardiovascular disease in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Atherosclerosis. 2009 Jul;205(1):255-60. Epub 2008 Nov 11.
18.) Lee W, Kang PM. Vitamin D deficiency and cardiovascular disease: Is there a role for Vitamin D therapy in heart failure? Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2010 Mar;11(3):309-14.
19.) Martins D, Wolf M, Pan D, Zadshir A, Tareen N, Thadhani R, Felsenfeld A, Levine B, Mehrotra R, Norris K. Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and the serum levels of 25-hydroxyVitamin D in the United States: data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Arch Intern Med. 2007 Jun 11;167(11):1159-65.
20.) McConnell JP, Foley KF, Vargas GM. HypoVitaminosis D: a new risk marker for cardiovascular disease. Clin Lab Sci. 2009 Fall;22(4):240-6.
21.) Mertens PR, Müller R. Vitamin D and cardiovascular risk. Int Urol Nephrol. 2009 Dec 29. [Epub ahead of print]
22.) Murlikiewicz K, Zawiasa A, Nowicki M. Vitamin D–a panacea in nephrology and beyond] Pol Merkur Lekarski. 2009 Nov;27(161):437-41.{article in Polish]
23.) Parker J, Hashmi O, Dutton D, Mavrodaris A, Stranges S, Kandala NB, Clarke A, Franco OH. Levels of Vitamin D and cardiometabolic disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis. Maturitas. 2010 Mar;65(3):225-36. Epub 2009 Dec 23.
24.) Pilz S, Dobnig H, Nijpels G, Heine RJ, Stehouwer CD, Snijder MB, van Dam RM, Dekker JM. Vitamin D and mortality in older men and women. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2009 Nov;71(5):666-72. Epub 2009 Feb 18.
25.) Pilz S, März W, Wellnitz B, Seelhorst U, Fahrleitner-Pammer A, Dimai HP, Boehm BO, Dobnig H. Association of Vitamin D deficiency with heart failure and sudden cardiac death in a large cross-sectional study of patients referred for coronary angiography. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Oct;93(10):3927-35. Epub 2008 Aug 5.
26.) Wu PW, Rhew EY, Dyer AR, Dunlop DD, Langman CB, Price H, Sutton-Tyrrell K, McPherson DD, Edmundowicz D, Kondos GT, Ramsey-Goldman R. 25-hydroxyVitamin D and cardiovascular risk factors in women with systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Rheum. 2009 Oct 15;61(10):1387-95.
27.) Baz-Hecht M, Goldfine AB. The impact of Vitamin D deficiency on diabetes and cardiovascular risk. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2010 Apr;17(2):113-9.
28.) Cheng S, Massaro JM, Fox CS, Larson MG, Keyes MJ, McCabe EL, Robins SJ, O’Donnell CJ, Hoffmann U, Jacques PF, Booth SL, Vasan RS, Wolf M, Wang TJ. Adiposity, cardiometabolic risk, and Vitamin D status: the Framingham Heart Study. Diabetes. 2010 Jan;59(1):242-8. Epub 2009 Oct 15.
29.) Holick MF. Sunlight and Vitamin D for bone health and prevention of autoimmune diseases, cancers, and cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Dec;80(6 Suppl):1678S-88S.
30.) Ginde AA, Scragg R, Schwartz RS, Camargo CA Jr. Prospective study of serum 25-hydroxyVitamin D level, cardiovascular disease mortality, and all-cause mortality in older U.S. adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2009 Sep;57(9):1595-603. Epub 2009 Jun 22.
31.) Grant WB. How strong is the evidence that solar ultraviolet B and Vitamin D reduce the risk of cancer?: An examination using Hill’s criteria for causality. Dermatoendocrinol. 2009 Jan;1(1):17-24.
32.) Holick MF, Chen TC. Vitamin D deficiency: a worldwide problem with health consequences. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Apr;87(4):1080S-6S.
33.) Holick MF. Vitamin D: its role in cancer prevention and treatment. Prog Biophys Mol Biol. 2006 Sep;92(1):49-59. Epub 2006 Mar 10.
34.) Ingraham BA, Bragdon B, Nohe A. Molecular basis of the potential of Vitamin D to prevent cancer. Curr Med Res Opin. 2008 Jan;24(1):139-49.
35.) Pilz S, Dobnig H, Winklhofer-Roob B, Riedmüller G, Fischer JE, Seelhorst U, Wellnitz B, Boehm BO, März W. Low serum levels of 25-hydroxyVitamin D predict fatal cancer in patients referred to coronary angiography. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 May;17(5):1228-33. Epub 2008 May 7.
36.) Pilz S, Tomaschitz A, Obermayer-Pietsch B, Dobnig H, Pieber TR. Epidemiology of Vitamin D insufficiency and cancer mortality. Anticancer Res. 2009 Sep;29(9):3699-704.
37.) Ginde AA, Mansbach JM, Camargo CA Jr. Association between serum 25-hydroxyVitamin D level and upper respiratory tract infection in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Feb 23;169(4):384-90.
38.) Annweiler C, Schott AM, Allali G, Bridenbaugh SA, Kressig RW, Allain P, Herrmann FR, Beauchet O. Association of Vitamin D deficiency with cognitive impairment in older women: cross-sectional study. Neurology. 2010 Jan 5;74(1):27-32. Epub 2009 Sep 30.
39.) Cherniack EP, Troen BR, Florez HJ, Roos BA, Levis S. Some new food for thought: the role of Vitamin D in the mental health of older adults. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2009 Feb;11(1):12-9.
40.) Wilkins CH, Sheline YI, Roe CM, Birge SJ, Morris JC. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with low mood and worse cognitive performance in older adults. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2006 Dec;14(12):1032-40.
41.) Cutolo M, Otsa K. Review: Vitamin D, immunity and lupus. Lupus. 2008;17(1):6-10.
42.) Kamen DL, Cooper GS, Bouali H, Shaftman SR, Hollis BW, Gilkeson GS. Vitamin D deficiency in systemic lupus erythematosus. Autoimmun Rev. 2006 Feb;5(2):114-7. Epub 2005 Jun 21.
43.) Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Willett WC, Wong JB, Giovannucci E, Dietrich T, Dawson-Hughes B. Fracture prevention with Vitamin D supplementation: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. JAMA. 2005 May 11;293(18):2257-64.
44.) Bischoff HA, Stähelin HB, Tyndall A, Theiler R. Relationship between muscle strength and Vitamin D metabolites: are there therapeutic possibilities in the elderly? Z Rheumatol. 2000;59 Suppl 1:39-41.
45.) DIPART (Vitamin D Individual Patient Analysis of Randomized Trials) Group. Patient level pooled analysis of 68 500 patients from seven major Vitamin D fracture trials in US and Europe. BMJ. 2010 Jan 12;340:b5463. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b5463.
46.) Houston DK, Cesari M, Ferrucci L, Cherubini A, Maggio D, Bartali B, Johnson MA, Schwartz GG, Kritchevsky SB. Association between Vitamin D status and physical performance: the InCHIANTI study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2007 Apr;62(4):440-6.
47.) Kwon J, Suzuki T, Yoshida H, Kim H, Yoshida Y, Iwasa H. Concomitant lower serum albumin and Vitamin D levels are associated with decreased objective physical performance among Japanese community-dwelling elderly. Gerontology. 2007;53(5):322-8. Epub 2007 May 29.
48.) Pfeifer M, Begerow B, Minne HW. Vitamin D and muscle function. Osteoporos Int. 2002 Mar;13(3):187-94.
49.) Judd SE, Nanes MS, Ziegler TR, Wilson PW, Tangpricha V. Optimal Vitamin D status attenuates the age-associated increase in systolic blood pressure in white Americans: results from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Jan;87(1):136-41.
50.) Pilz S, Dobnig H, Fischer JE, Wellnitz B, Seelhorst U, Boehm BO, März W. Low Vitamin d levels predict stroke in patients referred to coronary angiography. Stroke. 2008 Sep;39(9):2611-3. Epub 2008 Jul 17.
51.) Melamed ML, Michos ED, Post W, Astor B.25-hydroxyVitamin D levels and the risk of mortality in the general population. Arch Intern Med. 2008 Aug 11;168(15):1629-37.
52.) Jacobs ET, Alberts DS, Foote JA, Green SB, Hollis BW, Yu Z, Martínez ME. Vitamin D insufficiency in southern Arizona. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Mar;87(3):608-13.
53.) Park S, Johnson MA. Living in low-latitude regions in the United States does not prevent poor Vitamin D status. Nutr Rev. 2005 Jun;63(6 Pt 1):203-9.
54.) Low Vitamin D Levels Tied to Incontinence. WebMD March 22, 2010 http://www.webmd.com/urinary-incontinence-oab/news/20100322/low-Vitamin-d-linked-incontinence.
55.) The Vitamin D Council. Vitamin D Council
56.) Wikipedia: Vitamin D. Wikipedia Vitamine D
57.) Holick MF. Environmental factors thatinfluence the cutaneous production of Vitamin D. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995 Mar;61(3 Suppl):638S-645S.
58.) Vieth R. Vitamin D supplementation, 25-hydroxyVitamin D concentrations, and safety. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 May;69(5):842-56.
59.) Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med. 2007;357:266-281.
60.) GrassrootsHealth. Disease incidence prevention by serum 25(OH)D level.Grassroots Heaalth. Accessed May 8, 2009.
61.) Dall T, Anderson J. Vitamin D: merging research into clinical lipid practice. Lipid Spin. 2008;6(3):4-8.
62.) Heaney RP. What is a Vitamin D deficiency?Grassroots Health Vitamin D deficiency. Accessed May 8, 2009.
Xylitol
The Sweet That’s Good For You
Unique Sweet® Xylitol Gum, Peppermint
Unique Sweet® Gum with xylitol, is a low-calorie delicious-tasting gum that freshens your breath, and can fight cavities and plaque. Xylitol is a natural sweetener found in strawberries, raspberries and plums. Unlike sugar, xylitol is actually good for teeth. It’s beneficial for diabetics, it stimulates remineralization of teeth, and it fights ear and sinus infections.
Recommended Dosage: chew Unique Sweet® gum after each meal or snack.
Currently Unavailable – Sorry!
Nutrition Facts – Unique Sweet Gum – Serving Size: 1 piece (1.08 g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value Calories: 1.7 Total Fat 0 g 0% Total Carbohydrates .72 g <1% Sugars 0 g ** Xylitol .72 g ** Sodium 0 g 0% Protein 0 g 0% *Percent Daily Values (DV) are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Ingredients: Xylitol, gum base, natural flavors, glycerin, gum arabic, soy lecithin and beeswax. Contains: Soy
Xlear Xylitol Nasal Wash
Aids in relief of nasal irritation caused by pollutants, allergens, and infections of the nasal passages. Safe for infants. Non-habit forming.
Recommended Dosage: For best results use at least two times per day.
Ingredients: Purified Water, Xylitol, Saline, and grapefruit seed as a preservative.
What is Your Health Concierge ?
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Oral ChelatoRx
Safe and Effective Alternative to IV Chelation Therapy
Oral ChelatoRx is an EDTA-containing formula designed to provide oral chelation. This formula chelates or “binds” heavy metals and excessive levels of calcium and other metal compounds from the bloodstream. Many anti-atherosclerotic protocols and toxic metal reducing protocols benefit from the inclusion of this product. Be sure to take an optimal mineral-containing formula such as Maxi Multi to insure replacement of the “good” minerals during oral chelation therapy.
Here are some of the known actions of Oral ChelatoRx’ Ingredients:
EDTA (ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid) is a synthetic amino acid, approved by the FDA as a pharmaceutical agent for the treatment of lead and other heavy metal poisoning or exposure. Prior to the late 1970’s, the FDA also approved EDTA as being “possibly effective in occlusive vascular disorders…arrhythmias and atrioventricular induction defects…and in the treatment of pathologic conditions to which calcium tissue deposits or hypercalcemia may contribute other than those listed above.” Although they have since withdrawn the latter “indication” (for reasons that were never substantiated by any science that I can find), many physicians still use EDTA chelation to bind and remove toxic metals and abnormal calcium deposits in the body.
Although best known in “IV chelation therapy” for atherosclerosis, low-dose daily oral EDTA also appears to be safe and effective. Clinical studies with EDTA reported loss of fat in rats, reduction of cholesterol in rabbits, and reduced blood pressure in humans. Human studies of oral EDTA have shown significant improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol levels, intermittent claudication and angina. In another study, chest pain symptoms completely resolved in patients taking oral EDTA for 3 months.
EDTA is considered quite safe and is approved as a food additive in the US.
Chlorella is a potent detoxifier, high in minerals and phytonutrients. Have you ever seen green algae growing in stagnant water? Algae is nature’s method of cleaning up impure water. Chlorella, an algae, does the same thing in the human body: it pulls out toxins and impurities. Chlorella is known to eliminate toxins, pesticides, and heavy metals from the body.
Garlic: Many studies have shown that garlic helps the cardiovascular system. Some trials show that garlic lowers cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Garlic also inhibits platelet aggregation and increases fibrinolysis, which decreases “blood stickiness.” Garlic has blood-pressure lowering and has antioxidant activity.
Garlic’s heart-protective effects were seen in a four-year clinical trial on people 50–80 years old with atherosclerosis, where consumption of 900 mg of standardized garlic supplement reduced arterial plaque formation by 5–18%.
Malic Acid is a naturally occurring compound that plays an important role in deriving adenosine triphosphate (ATP; the “energy currency” of the body) from food. It is found in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, but the richest source is apples, which is why malic acid is sometimes referred to as “apple acid.” ATP is crucial to normal heart function.
Gugulipid (Commiphora mukul) is a small, thorny plant found in India. The resin contains compounds that lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, including total cholesterol, LDL and VLDL cholesterols ( the “bad” cholesterols). At the same time, gugul raises HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol). Gugul contains antioxidants which prevents LDL cholesterol from oxidizing, an action that helps protect against atherosclerosis. Guggul also reduces the stickiness of platelets—another effect that lowers the risk of coronary artery disease.
Serrapeptase is an enzyme derived from the Serratia bacteria which lives in the intestinal tract of silkworms. It has been used for over 30 years in Europe and Asia (where it is approved as a “drug”) to reduce pain and inflammation. Serrapeptase dissolves blood clots and prevents abnormal blood clotting.
Suggested dose: 12 capsules per day in a single dose between meals or as recommended by a physician.
Supplement Facts Serving Size: 6 Capsules Servings Per Container: 60 
Amount Per Serving % Daily Value 
Calcium 70mg 7% (as calcium disodium EDTA) Magnesium 206 mg 51% (as 85% magnesium aspartate, 15% magnesium orotate) Sodium 80 mg 3% as calcium disodium EDTA Potassium 125 mg 4% (as 75% potassium aspartate and 25% potassium orotate) EDTA 500 mg * (as calcium disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) Chlorella 375 mg * (Chlorella regularis) Garlic 313 mg * (Allium sativum) extract (root) 10,000 ppm allicin Malic Acid 300 mg * Gugulipid 250 mg * (Commiphora mukul) extract (gum) 2.5% guggulsterones Serrapeptase enzyme (30,000 IU activity) 15 mg * *Daily Value not established Other Ingredients:
Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (Vcap) and magnesium stearate.
Contains no added starch, salt, wheat, gluten,
corn, coloring, or dairy products.
Keep container tightly closed in a cool,
dry and dark place. Keep out of reach of children.
References
1.)Calcium disodium edetate and disodium edetate. Federal Register, Volume 35, No. 8, Tuesday, January 13, 1970, 585-587.
2.) Perry, H. Mitchell, Schroeder, Henry A. Depression of cholesterol levels in human plasma following ethylenediamine tetracetate and hydralazine. J Chronic Diseases, 1955, 2: 5, 520-532.
3.) Foreman, H., Trujillo, T. The metabolism of C14 labeled ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid in human beings. J Lab Clin Med, 1954, 43: 566-571.
4.) Born, G.R., and Geurkink, T.L. Improved peripheral vascular function with low dose intravenous ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA). Townsend Letter for Doctors. July, 1994, # 132, 722-726.
5.) Mariani, B., Bisetti, A., and Romeo, V. Blood-cholesterol-lowering action of the sodium salt of calciumethylenediaminotetraacetic acid. Gazz Intern Med e Chir, 1957. 62: 1812-1823.
6.) Gordon, G. Oral Chelation with EDTA. J Holistic Medicine, 1986, 8: 1 & 2, 79-80.
7.) Warshafsky S, Kamer R, Sivak S. Effect of garlic on total serum cholesterol: A meta-analysis. Ann Int Med 993;119:599–605.
8.) Silagy C, Neil A. Garlic as a lipid-lowering agent—a meta-analysis. J R Coll Phys London 1994;28:39–45.
9.) Neil HA, Silagy CA, Lancaster T, et al. Garlic powder in the treatment of moderate hyperlipidaemia: A controlled trial and a meta-analysis. J R Coll Phys 1996;30:329–34.
10.) Legnani C, Frascaro M, Guazzaloca G, et al. Effects of a dried garlic preparation on fibrinolysis and platelet aggregation in healthy subjects. Arzneim-Forsch Drug Res 1993;43:119–22.
11.) Silagy CA, Neil HA. A meta-analysis of the effect of garlic on blood pressure. J Hyperten 1994;12:463–8.
12.) Kleijnen J, Knipschild P, Ter Riet G. Garlic, onion and cardiovascular risk factors: A review of the evidence from human experiments with emphasis on commercially available preparations. Br J Clin Pharmacol 1989;28:535–44.
13.) Koscielny J, Klüendorf D, Latza R, et al. The antiatherosclerotic effect of Allium sativum. Atherosclerosis 1999;144:237–49.
14.) Satyavati GV. Gum guggul (Commiphora mukul)—The success of an ancient insight leading to a modern discovery. Indian J Med 1988;87:327–35.
15.) Nityanand S, Kapoor NK. Hypocholesterolemic effect of Commiphora mukul resin (Guggal). Indian J Exp Biol 1971;9:367–77.
16.) Singh K, Chander R, Kapoor NK. Guggulsterone, a potent hypolipidaemic, prevents oxidation of low density lipoprotein. Phytother Res 1997;11:291–4.
17.) Mester L, Mester M, Nityanand S. Inhibition of platelet aggregation by guggulu steroids. Planta Med 1979;37:367–9.
18.) Heinrich, J. et al. “Fibrinogen and factor VII in the prediction of coronary risk.” Arterioscler Thromb 1994, 14:54-59.
19.) Hager, K. et al. “Fibrinogen and Aging.” Aging (Milano) 1994, 6:133-38.
20.) Montalescot, G. et al. “Fibrinogen as a risk factor for coronary heart disease.” Eur Heart J 1998, 19 Suppl H:H11-17.
What is Your Health Concierge ?
Click here to
Order This Concierge ProductThis is a separate website and you will need to create a new account to order.
Order This Concierge Product
This is a separate website and you will need to create a new account to order.
Rhodiola
Cellular and Physical Energy
The Russian herb rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) has demonstrated a remarkable ability to support cellular energy metabolism. Rhodiola promotes higher levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the cellular power plants known as the mitochondria, thus providing more of the energy molecules needed to perform many daily activities.
In a human clinical trial, rhodiola aided exercise endurance after just a single dose. In a double-blind crossover human trial, rhodiola increased several measures of mental performance, including associative thinking, short-term memory, concentration, calculation and speed of audiovisual perception. Statistically significant improvements were reported after just two weeks of supplementation. More recent clinical trials have found that Rhodiola rosea significantly improves physical and cognitive function.
Supplement Facts
Serving Size 1 vegetarian capsule – Servings Per Container 60
Amount Per Serving
Rhodiola Rosea extract (root)
[std. to 3% rosavins (7.5 mg), NLT 1% salidrosides (2.5 mg)] – 250 mg
Other ingredients:
Vegetable cellulose (capsule), microcrystalline cellulose, vegetable stearate, silica.
Dosage and Use
Take one capsule daily with food, or as recommended by a healthcare practitioner.
Caution
Individuals with manic or bipolar disorder should not use Rhodiola
Take early in the day if Rhodiola Extract interferes with your sleep.
Saturated Fats and The Big Fat Lie
“For every complicated problem there is a solution that is simple, direct, understandable, and wrong.” — H.L. Mencken
Everybody knows that saturated fats are unhealthy, just like everybody knew once upon a time that the earth was flat. The saturated fat myth has seriously compromised the heart-health of Americans, and it’s all based on a Big Fat Lie. Here’s how this fairy tale came to be….
How Bad Science (And Urban Health Legends) Get Started
Once upon a time, not so very long ago in a place called Nebraska (where the corn grows as high as an elephant’s eye) there lived a handsome young man who was very wealthy and powerful and kept himself very fit. This young man worked hard making millions of dollars in the construction industry and he loved to eat hamburgers. Though he was a very happy young man with a fine family and a successful business, all was not well. One day the young man became very sick. He suffered a heart attack, and almost died.
The young man’s doctors were very skilled and they saved the his life, but this turn of events frightened the young man very much and he set out to discover why such a dreadful thing happened to him. He found out that his blood cholesterol was high and his doctors told him that this was the cause of his heart attack. Without questioning whether this was true or not, the young man made up his mind to ensure that this would never happen again. He set out to learn as much as he could about heart disease and cholesterol, and quickly decided that the foods he was eating were to blame for his troubles. You see, the experts at that time believed that certain kinds of fats called saturated fats would cause high blood cholesterol and dangerous buildups of a substance called plaque in peoples blood vessels. The young man listened carefully to these “experts,” and being a fine young man who wished to help others avoid the troubles that he had experienced, he decided that he would do everything in his power to make sure that saturated fats never ever harmed anyone again.
The young man wrote many letters and spent much of his own money to take out big newspaper ads telling people how they were being poisoned by saturated fats. He made a lot of people believe in the same things that he believed – that is, that saturated fats were bad and would make them sick and had no place in a healthy diet. The young man’s efforts were quite successful and many big companies were forced to change the way they cooked their foods. They stopped using the saturated fats, and began to use fats that were created especially for them by big industries in big factories. They said that these fats were healthier, and the young man was pleased.
The young man became very popular, and dedicated the rest of his life to his mission of spreading the word about “bad saturated fats” and cholesterol to all who would listen. He didn’t live happily ever after, but he did live a long life, and became known as “America’s Number One Cholesterol Fighter” before he became sick with heart failure and passed away just a few years ago.
While this sounds like a fairy tale, it really isn’t. Philip Sokolof was a handsome and wealthy young man who suffered a heart attack that was blamed on high cholesterol and who dedicated himself and his millions to becoming a self-described “amateur cardiologist” and championing the cause of removing the saturated fats that he believed caused elevated blood cholesterol levels from the American diet. While his intentions were good, his science was shaky (he was a high school graduate, not a biochemist or a doctor – much less a cardiologist) and his misguided campaign resulted in the replacement of stable, healthy saturated fats with artificially created trans fatty acids that we now know as extremely dangerous “trans fats.”
Big Business (Can You Say “Proctor and Gamble”?) Helps Promote the Sat Fat Myth
While Sokolof was largely responsible for the vilification of saturated fats in America, he was not alone. The campaign against saturated fats actually began many years earlier, and Sokolof’s efforts were going on at the same time as the efforts from other political organizations were gathering momentum. A few years prior to Sokolof’s efforts, in 1986, the American Soybean Association began a campaign protesting the importation of competing palm and coconut oils. Two years later the “watchdog” organization, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, took up the cry against saturated fats with the publication of a booklet that was later found to contain mistakes, errors of biochemistry, and erroneous statements about the fat composition of foods. This concerted campaign against saturated tropical oils paid off, and ” fats” have been considered poison ever since by mainstream medicine and nutrition “experts.”
To discover why saturated fats have been given such a bad rap we need to go a little further back into history – perhaps as far back as the riverboat days of Mark Twain, but at least to the Second World War, when Japanese forces occupied much of the south Pacific and supplies of most of the tropical oils in the US were cut off for a number of years. Americans turned to home-grown substitutes: polyunsaturated oils such as corn, peanut, cottonseed, and a product of the aforementioned American Soybean Association, soy oil. As the use of these oils grew the growers and industries involved in their production became more powerful and eager to protect their market at any cost.
At this same time, in the early 1950′s, America began to notice a sharp increase in rates of cardiovascular disease and researchers were looking for answers. A study conducted by a Russian researcher found that rabbits, fed with animal fats (cholesterol) added to their feed developed fatty deposits in their skin and other tissues, including their blood vessels. (I’ll bet those normally vegetarian bunnies wondered what they were being fed!) Another sensational study relied on autopsies of American soldiers that had died in the Korean conflict and found that many of those examined had buildups of arterial plaque – atherosclerosis. (Which surely couldn’t have had anything to do with the military diet of the day, right? Or with the popularity of cigarette smoking?) This study, which made major news at the time, overshadowed other studies of the period which showed similar degrees of atherosclerosis in populations which had less mortality from heart disease despite high fat and high meat diets, or that ate far more vegetarian diets and suffered similar degrees of atherosclerosis, and generally indicated that the thickening of the arterial walls is a natural and unavoidable process. The press took the headline-grabbing autopsy results and ran with them using their usual logic of “the rooster crows every morning, and then the sun rises: therefore, the crowing of the rooster is what makes sunrise happen!”
During the 1960′s the attack on saturated fats continued with unabated vigor: despite scientific studies showing a decided lack of benefits companies such as Mazola and Proctor and Gamble promoted their vegetable oil creations as being especially healthy, and medical journals of the day promoted Fleischman’s unsalted margarine as being especially good for patients with high blood pressure. The American Medical Association was initially skeptical of all this hype but after the American Heart Association published its dietary guidelines damning animal fats and praising vegetable oils the AMA quickly fell into line. In 1966 a little self-help book called “Your Heart Has Nine Lives” advocated the substitution of vegetable oils for butter and other so-called “artery clogging” saturated fats. This book was sponsored by makers of Mazola Corn Oil and Mazola Margarine – no surprise – and was widely and freely circulated.
And that brings us to the handsome young man with his clogged arteries. Despite volumes of evidence to the contrary, saturated fats have been the “fall guy” for coronary artery disease since the 1950′s when in fact, as early as 1956 one researcher had suggested that the increasing use of hydrogenated vegetable oils might be the underlying cause of the CAD epidemic. Unwilling to stand idly by and let profits be imperiled by such things as health or humanitarian concerns, the massive and powerful edible oil industry in the United States has obfuscated, bullied, manipulated, and outright lied to protect it’s burgeoning market share. Supporting the flawed science of Philip Sokolof and pressuring legislators to adopt the anti-saturated fat / tropical oils legislation that he promoted was just good business.
Setting the Record Straight about Sat Fats
So, just what are these so-called saturated fats, where do they come from, and what are they used for? Well, the answers to these questions might be a surprise – sat fats are not what we have been led to believe. The most exact answers to the question “what is a saturated fat?” require some tedious and complicated science, and there are varying degrees of saturation. It is easier to simply think of the properties of “hardness” of fats.
A fat that is fully “saturated” would be as hard as wax, and quite indigestible. Fats that are almost totally “unsaturated” are very liquid, easily absorbed, and not at all common in the natural food supply. This “hardness” of fats is also dependant upon temperature. Many fats are liquid when warm, and solid when cold. Butter, for example, is quite hard when refrigerated, but soft at room temperature. Animal fats such as beef fat, lard, or chicken fat, while usually called “saturated fats” are actually not so: they are mixtures of naturally occurring fats and are actually less than half “saturated.” So-called “saturated fats” include things such as cocoa butter, dairy fats (milk fats and butter for example), palm oil, and tallow. Even breast milk is high in saturated fats! Monounsaturated fats include most animal fats, olive oil, canola oil, and peanut oil. Polyunsaturated fats include corn, cotton, and soybean oils, borage and primrose oil, flax seed oil, and fish oil.
Then there are the “modified” oils: oils that have been altered through a process called “hydrogenation” to make them more useful for certain applications. Margarine is a perfect example of hydrogenation: liquid oil such as cottonseed oil or corn oil, something that humans would never eat in nature, is altered to make it more solid and hard at room temperature. Crisco is another example – the name stands for CRyStalized Cottonseed Oil. The degree of hydrogenation is varied according to the desired use of the oil. Heavily hydrogenated oils might become stick margarine, while less hydrogenated or “partially hydrogenated” oils would become “spreads” or other “food products.”
Then there are the “trans fats” that have been in the news lately. These are fats that have had their molecular geometry altered, either on purpose or accidentally, and they are with very few and minor exceptions, not found in nature. Trans fats, when eaten by humans, tend to have some very bad effects on our bodies as they enter our cells and change how the cell walls function. Effects of trans fats in humans (and animals too) range from unfavorable changes in cholesterol levels to causing blood to become more “sticky”, to reduced ability to utilize insulin and increased blood sugar levels and increased weight, to alterations in hormone balances, and more. Trans fats are really only a very small step away from polyunsaturated fats – many polyunsaturated fats can be turned “trans” simply by heating them too much in cooking!
So, what does all this mean in more practical terms? It means that we must choose our fats carefully, and use them wisely. It means that we must cautiously weigh the claimed benefits of the vegetable-based hydrogenated “designer fats” that are so very commonplace in our modern “fast foods / prepared foods” diet against the known benefits of those traditional and natural fats that have been a part of mankind’s diet for millions of years.
We humans have evolved over the millennia as creatures that are well-adapted to, and in fact require, animal fats and proteins in our diets for optimal health – the claims of the vegetarian and vegan folks notwithstanding. Indeed, our very first meal, at our mother’s breast, supplied us with a high energy drink that gave our tiny bodies the cholesterol needed for development, and a special fat called Lauric Acid. This Lauric Acid, which is also found in the now-vilified tropical oils coconut oil and palm kernel oil has very strong antifungal and antibacterial properties and helps our tiny infant bodies develop strong immune systems. We are very well equipped to utilize fatty acids in the form of saturated fats such as dairy fats, and monounsaturated fats such as animal fats and olive oil. It is only with the advent of modern industrial processes that polyunsaturated fats such as corn and soybean oils have been available for our consumption – though fish oils (a form of polyunsaturated animal fat) have historically been considered to be healthy.
Why You Should Eat Butter and Lard
Butter, as another example, has a far healthier composition as a saturated fat than the synthesized creations that are the various margarines. Being a combination of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats it is not as “stable” as margarine – that is, it will turn rancid (a form of turning “trans”) if not refrigerated. But then, who would eat rancid butter? It also contains a variety of health-giving vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.
Does anyone remember the jar of bacon grease that was a fixture in every kitchen before the days of “spray-on” cooking oils, non-stick fry pans and fat-phobia? My mother carefully saved the grease from the morning bacon, and it was used to cook all sorts of wonderful things, from our morning eggs to delectable entrees and even desserts. We keep a jar of bacon grease in our own kitchen – it is far healthier than the canola oil and soy lecithin and “propellants” (your guess?) that are in our can of “no stick cooking spray.”
Then there is our obsession with “vegetable oils” as found in the aforementioned Crisco shortening. It is interesting to note that Proctor and Gamble, perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, or perhaps in a belated fit of conscience, has sold off the Crisco name and product. This “all vegetable oil” creation, once made from cottonseed oil, is now made from canola oil which must be hydrogenated (as was the cottonseed oil) to make it semi-solid. Smuckers, the new owners of Crisco, claims “Our entire line of Crisco Shortening products have been reformulated to contain zero grams trans fat per serving”. Can anyone reading this remember the days when lard was used? All-natural, no-trans-fat lard that made such wonderfully fluffy pastries and flaky pie crusts? Do we really think that humans are well-equipped to consume the kinds of oils that require bushels of rape seed or corn or soybeans per gallon to produce? Any more than we might be equipped to consume petroleum oils – no matter how they are “modified”?
Just like our handsome young man who made it his life’s mission to vilify healthful fats, we live in a fairy-tale world where we are led to believe that with a little help from chemistry and science we can fool mother nature into allowing us to consume “food products” that our bodies were never intended to have to deal with. Unfortunately, life in that fairy tale world is having very real and very serious consequences for Americans and people around the world who are buying into the anti-sat-fat fantasy being promoted by the vegetable oils industry. We are gambling our health and our lives and our future on a grand industrial experiment, and it is paying off with increasing rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and more.
At the beginning of the last century, most of the fats in our forefathers diet were either saturated or monounsaturated, mostly from butter, lard, tallow, coconut oil and small amounts of olive oil. Today most of the fats in our diet are polyunsaturated from vegetable oils mostly from soy, as well as from corn, safflower and canola. Before 1920 coronary heart disease was a rarity in America, causing no more than 10% of all deaths. Today heart disease accounts for at least 40% of all deaths. Is there a connection? We believe there is, and a growing body of scientists, researchers, and health care professionals is beginning to stand up to the politically correct diet dogma that is dictating low fat diets and vegetable fats instead of animal or tropical fats. For a historically interesting end to this article we go back to 1956 when Dr. Dudley White, in a television interview, noted that heart disease in the form of myocardial infarction (heart attack) was almost nonexistent in 1900 when egg consumption was three times what it was in 1956 and when corn oil was unavailable. When pressed to support the low-fat, vegetable oil based “Prudent Diet”, Dr. White replied: “See here, I began my practice as a cardiologist in 1921 and I never saw an MI patent until 1928. Back in the MI free days before 1920, the fats were butter and lard and I think that we would all benefit from the kind of diet that we had at a time when no one had ever heard the word corn oil.”
Former surgeon general Dr. C. Everett Koop even said, during congressional hearings in 1988: “the coconut scare is foolishness. . . To get the word to commercial interests terrorizing the public about nothing is another matter.” Could it be that it is time to turn away from the dangerous designer oils and fats of Big Industry and return to the animal and tropical fats that served our ancestors so well? We think it is!
Finally, let’s look briefly at this current medical fad that demands that we reduce cholesterol levels in our bloodstream to the lowest possible levels. Remember, cholesterol is essential to life; so essential that your liver will make it “de novo” – from new – if your body senses that it doesn’t have enough of this precious material. Even conventional medicine, in the form of The Framingham Report – the oldest, longest, and biggest study into heart disease in history – determined that when total serum cholesterol is reduced below 160 the risk of heart disease actually increases. Even more interestingly, the Director of The Framingham Study, Dr. William Castelli said in the July 1992 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine “At Framingham, we found that the people who ate the most saturated fat, the most cholesterol and the most calories weighed the least, were more physically active and had the lowest serum cholesterol levels.” We can only imagine the dismay that this information must have cause for Philip Sokolof; he must have been aware of it as it was published over a decade before his death. Nevertheless, Sokolof persisted in his efforts to vilify saturated fats and remove cholesterol from the American diet and we can only guess as to why he would continue these efforts in the face of research showing them to be wrong, even harmful. Was he simply too stubborn to accept the facts that proved him wrong, or was he too fully caught up in the whirlwind of Big Politics, Big Industry, Big Agriculture, and Big Pharmacy to be able to change? We’ll never know…
References
1.) Sokolof article http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/26/health/main585849.shtml
2.) Sokolof death http://www.blogofdeath.com/archives/000902.html
3.) D Groom, “Population Studies of Atherosclerosis,” Annals of Int Med , July 1961, 55:1:51-62; W F Enos, et al, “Pathogenesis of Coronary Disease in American Soldiers Killed in Korea,” JAMA , 1955, 158:912
4.) “Hydrogenated vegetable oils might be the underlying cause of the CAD epidemic”
A Keys, “Diet and Development of Coronary Heart Disease,” J Chron Dis, Oct 1956, 4(4):364-380
5.) Excerpt from “The Coconut Diet: The Secret Ingredient That Helps You Lose Weight While You Eat Your Favorite Foods” by Cherie Calbom http://www.enotalone.com/article/3242.html
6.) http://easydiagnosis.com/articles/oiling.html “The Oiling of America” by Enig and Fallon – many rerferences following this 4 part series.
7.) http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/skinny.html#lipid
The Weston A Price Society Enig & Fallon article “The Skinny on Fats”
8.) Framingham Study reports re: total cholesterol <160:
“There is a direct association between falling cholesterol levels over the first 14 years and mortality over the following 18 years” (11% overall and 14% CVD death rate increase per 1 mg/dL per year drop in cholesterol levels). Anderson KM JAMA 1987
9.) The Honolulu Heart Study:
“Our data accord with previous findings of increased mortality in elderly people with low serum cholesterol, and show that long-term persistence of low cholesterol concentration actually increases the risk of death. Thus, the earlier that patients start to have lower cholesterol concentrations, the greater the risk of death.” Lancet Aug 2001.
Senior Health
Good Health for the Golden Years
As I wrote in one HealthBeat article, “The ‘golden years’ can kiss my grits.” What I meant was that “The Golden Years” — that time in life when the family is raised and we are “hopefully” financially secure enough to stop working full time, and to travel or work at our favorite hobbies if we so choose — are often tarnished by failing health. I think that’s a pity, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
If you read the discussion on aging at the Anti-Aging Health Solution Center, you know that the human life expectancy should be on the order of 120 years. I’m not talking about just living long, either. I’m talking about spending those years in good health. Many people start crawling toward the grave from young or middle adulthood, plagued with aches, pains and illnesses. That’s not the way it is in many cultures.
By following some Basic Rules of Good Health and choosing natural, corrective measures over often-dangerous drugs and surgical “band aids,” a longer, healthier life is certainly possible.
Please visit these various areas of our site to find out how to be healthy and happy well into old age.
The Health Solutions Center at Left is a Great Place to Begin Your Search for Better Health.
Here are some additional articles for past HealthBeat News that you may find of benefit:
Neurological Disease: What You’re NOT Going to Hear From Your Conventional Doctor
Rejuvenate Your Heart in 9 Simple Steps
5 Proven Ways to Slow Dementia and Alzheimer’s
7 Ways to Decrease Your Cancer Risk
Stay informed! Claim your own FREE subscription to HealthBeat News here: HealthBeat News
Sero Tonin™
Nutritional Precursors and Co-Factors to Support Optimal Serotonin Production
Sero Tonin™ provides precursors and co-factors needed for production of the calming neurotransmitters serotonin, GABA, and melatonin.
Adequate levels of these neurotransmitters are necessary for healthy moods, appetite control (including carbohydrate and alcohol cravings), sexual interest, normal blood pressure regulation, sound sleep, and other functions.
By helping restore normal levels of calming neurotransmitters, Sero Tonin™ aids in creating proper balance in the body needed for feelings of well-being and satisfaction.*
To learn more about feeling good by achieving healthy neurotransmitter levels, please visit our website at www.NeuroRestore.info.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Directions: Take 2 capsules on an empty stomach within one hour of bedtime or as directed by your healthcare provider.
Recommended dose is 2 capsules per day when used in conjunction with Neuro Tonin™ capsules. When used alone up to 6 capsules per day can be taken in divided doses on an empty stomach.
Special Order – Call or email to request.
Caution: Keep out of reach of children. Do not take while pregnant or nursing without the advise of a physician.
Storage: Keep tightly closed in a cool dry place.
Shipping
How Does Dr. Myatt Ship My Order To Me?
We ship exclusively by United States Post Office Priority Mail.
USPS Priority Mail provides 2 to 3 day delivery of your order at the most economical rates.
We have tried other carriers (FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc.) and we have found that for our location none of them can match the cost effectiveness and quick delivery times of USPS Priority Mail.
Can I pay extra for “Overnight” shipping?
No – sorry, there is no “overnight” where we are. Dr. Myatt’s Wellness Club is located in an area of Arizona that has clean air and pure water and is also very rural. That means that our location adds at least a day to any expedited shipping method as the package must get from our location to a major center (Phoenix) where it can begin it’s journey to you. For all the extra cost of “overnight” shipping, we have found that 2 to 3 day USPS Priority Mail is just as fast in most cases.
UPS and FedEx pickups and deliveries are irregular and unreliable where we are. On the other hand, our staff takes your orders to our local post office for delivery.each postal business day at around 4 PM and they are on theri way to you that day.
I placed my order today – when can I expect to receive it?
If you placed your order on Sunday through Friday, we’ll do everything possible to have it in the hands of the Postman and on it’s way to you the next morning. Because there is no mail pickup on Sunday orders placed on Saturday will ship Monday morning.
Once your order is in the Postmans hands you can expect to receive it in 2 to 3 days.
Please remember that there is no mail pickup or delivery on Sunday or national holidays. (There is no UPS or FedEx either!)
My order is taking longer to come than it should – Why?
Delays sometimes happen. The Postman’s delivery van might have a flat tire. The USPS truck or airplane might be delayed by weather. Maybe someone in the post office sorting room goofed and your package went to Portland Oregon instead of Portland Maine and then it was redirected by way of Portland Texas. Once the package leaves our location it is up to the post office – we have no further control over it.
On very rare occasions we get caught short on products here: Sometimes there is an unexpected demand for a product, or maybe our supplier can’t get fresh products to us quickly enough. Usually delays like that are only a day or two – and if they are longer we’ll let you know and we may ship as much of your order as possible with the back ordered items to follow ASAP.
