Cholesterol is a necessary part of almost all metabolic processes in the body. Without it we could not survive.
In the early 80s there were some landmark studies linking cholesterol levels to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Since then, all kinds of conclusions have been made as to what this means, what numbers are “normal”, and how those numbers change depending on your medical history.
Drug companies have invented a class of drugs called statins that lower plasma cholesterol levels from 10-50%, depending on the type of drug given and the amount. Statins are prescribed so frequently that they are now a multi-billion dollar industry.
Unfortunately, they also have side effects that can be devastating to some patients. In my practice, I have had to take many patients off their statin drugs because of side effects such as muscle pains, aching, and fatigue. In addition, the medical community has no long term studies (20-30 years) to see what the consequences of taking statins will be.
Here are some facts to keep in mind.
•There has been no evidence that having low cholesterol reduces the risk of first time heart attack. In fact, half of those with a first time heart attack have normal cholesterol levels. In a study of 10,000 people comparing those taking a statin to those that did not but maintained their weight and exercised, there was no difference in outcome of any kind.1 Did you get that?
•There is LDL (bad cholesterol) and HDL (good cholesterol). Statins lower both, and the problem is we want to see HDL increased. In fact, it seems that heart health results more from increasing HDL than lowering LDL. Drug companies are scrambling to find a drug that raises HDL, but so far without success. Only exercise and the B vitamin, niacin, have been proven to raise HDL.
My personal heart disease prevention plan looks like this:
1. High intensity exercise on a consistent & regular basis
2. A diet consisting of natural foods — high in fresh fruits and vegetables and low in trans fats
3. EPA-DHA Fish oil supplements, 3-4 grams daily (Metagenics EPA-DHA 720)
4. Multi-vitamin/mineral supplements (Metagenics Wellness Essentials for Men)
5. UltraMeal shake (2 scoops per day) by Metagenics
6. Coenzyme Q10 (Metagenics NanoCell Q10 200 mg daily)
7. Grass-fed beef to increase omega-3 fatty acids
8. Green tea extract for extra antioxidants (Metagenics Celepro)
Instead of rushing to take a statin, find a physician you trust and take some time to talk to him or her about your particular situation. You may find that with a proper diet, nutritional supplements, and moderate exercise, your risk of a heart attack from all causes can be dramatically reduced.
References
1. JAMA December 18, 2002;288:1998-3007,3042-3044.
2. NEJM November 27, 1997 Vol 337 number 22:1631-1633.
To get an idea of what “normal” is, let’s look at populations living near the equator where we all evolved from. At or near the equator, the average person has vitamin D levels around 50 ng/mL. Here are the generally accepted graduated levels of vitamin D deficiency:
Extreme deficiency: 20 ng/mL (high risk of various conditions)
Clinically deficient: below 32 ng/mL (increased risk of various conditions)
Borderline deficient: below 35 ng/mL
Acceptable: 35-45 ng/mL
Healthy: 45-55 ng/mL, or
Optimal: 55 ng/mL
Excess: greater than 100 ng/mL
Intoxication: greater than 150 ng/mL
By Dr. Jeffrey Tucker
Everyone is talking about the detrimental effects of low-grade systemic inflammation. Inflammation is involved in a variety of conditions from neurological to degenerative conditions, and is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Low-grade systemic inflammation can be measured easily with the inflammatory biomarker called ‘highly sensitive C-reactive protein’ (hs-CRP). This is the same marker used as a cardiovascular risk factor, and is an inexpensive blood test that you can ask your Doctor for.
Inflammation is important and appropriate to produce an effective immune response when needed to eliminate pathogens and illness. But chronic low grade systemic inflammation is tissue-destructive, and cardiovascular tissue, joint tissue and muscle tissue is no exception.
Men with the highest level of C-reactive protein (CRP) showed in a study to have three times the incidence of myocardial infarction and two times the incidence of ischemic stroke when compared with men having the lowest level.
Low grade inflammation causing joint aches & pains, as well as difficulty losing weight may be due to the fact that you are eating foods that you’re allergic to! Food allergies that you are unaware of can also be responsible for a number of health issues including gas, bloat, fatigue, rashes, irritable bowel type symptoms and migraine headaches. When chronic pain patients come see me, I am very interested to hear about there responses to certain foods.
Patients who struggle with trying to lose extra weight may have food allergies as well.
One of the most allergic foods and therefore a high inflammation producer is dairy. Many patients are sensitive to dairy and don’t know it. Even those on a low carb diet, which I strongly advocate, may have switched to eating more dairy. You may need to perform a trial of cutting out cow’s milk, cheeses, and dairy products altogether to see how you feel.
There are seven foods responsible for almost all food allergies — wheat, peanuts, other tree nuts like walnuts, fish/shellfish, soybeans, eggs, and cow’s milk. For most of my clients, I usually start with limiting eating wheat and cow’s milk dairy. Why? Through years of clinical practice, I have found that wheat and dairy are usually the most problematic. Avoid breads, crackers, cereals, and chips that contain wheat. You can try goat and sheep’s milk dairy products. I find that food allergies and the excess inflammation in patients body contributes to weight gain, joint aches & chronic pains.
I don’t want you to feel hungry but I want you to have a food plan to promote your optimal health. I recommend medical foods called the UltraInflamX shake to help reduce inflammation in the body. www.Meta-ehealth.com/site/office/index.jsp to order.
References
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/545808/
Kagan RS (February 2003). Environ. Health Perspect. 111; (2): 223–5.
Zar S, et al. (July 2005). Scand. J. Gastroenterol. 40 (7): 800–7.
Arroyave-Hernandez CM, et al. Rev Alerg Mex. 2007 Sept-Oct; 54(4):162-8.
A critical question I often get is: how much should I weight? What should my body fat be? The appropriate weight for each individual may vary. What’s the best way to achieve fat loss?
I tackle these questions everyday in the office. I draw on my 27 years experience at helping people lose weight and on new sports scientific findings into optimal weight loss techniques for both men and women. I look at the relationship between body fat, exercise, stress, diet, supplements and performance. I help clients identify complicating factors to weight loss and performance enhancement, because it is not enough just to say that the more you workout, the thinner you get, the better you feel. If only it were that easy…
I love to see body fat content decrease when I work with clients. The test I perform to measure body fat is called BIA (Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis). I have a machine that tells us how much body fat you have and how much lean muscle mass you have. It also tells me the number of calories you burn a day, as well as your water content amounts. Fat stores account for about 15-18% of total body weight in normal young men, and in young women the figure is about 25-30%.
Our fat stores are important and the fat cells play many key roles. As well as acting as a reserve of energy that can be called upon at times of need, fat is important in the structure of tissues, in hormone metabolism, and in providing a cushion that protects other tissues. Moreover, there’s good evidence that the immune system is impaired when body fat stores are too low. A reduced ability to fight infections means more interruptions to training and more chance of being sick on race day.
Let me help you identify strategies you can safely use to control weight and body fat, come into the office for your easy to perform body composition analysis.
I often get asked about coffee so I’ll share my current thoughts on so many peoples favorite morning drink. Clients expect me to disapprove of coffee because they think it increases the body’s acidity; or that health-conscious people are supposed to drink green tea instead; or they just think caffeine is bad for you.
Coffee is not harmful, it contains lots of antioxidants. The average amount of coffee consumed by American adults per day- 1.64 cups- provides 1,299 mg of antioxidants. Tea, the second richest source, supplied only 294 mg, followed by antioxidant-rich (but sparingly eaten) fruits and vegetables, which provide fewer than 75 mg each of antioxidants per day. Believe it or not, coffee even contains fiber- nearly 2 g per cup.
Research shows that drinking coffee reduces the risk of Parkinson’s disease by as much as 80 percent and protects against other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s. It increases insulin sensitivity, and a high intake- at least six cups a day- lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 54 percent in men and 30 percent in women. I wouldn’t recommend six cups of coffee per day especially if you have high blood pressure.
Coffee improves concentration and alertness and boosts mood. Coffee can help control asthma and can even halt a full-blown attack in its tracks. Additionally, coffee can stop migraine headaches, curb appetite, prevent tooth decay, and increase the effectiveness of aspirin and other analgesics (Anacin and Excedrin both contain caffeine). And if you drink it before working out, your endurance will improve and you’ll have less exercise-induced muscle pain.
Compared to people who avoid coffee, those who drink at least two cups a day are 80 percent less likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver (even if they drink a lot of alcohol), half as likely to have gallstones, and 25 percent less apt to get colon cancer. Coffee is also protective against cancer of the liver and kidneys, and although it’s long been suspected of increasing risk of breast cancer, a recent study spanning 22 years and involving nearly 86,000 women found a weak inverse association between the two in postmenopausal females.
Some studies reveal that regular and decaffeinated coffee both have benefits. Caffeine picks up the nervous system, and increases the activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine and enhances delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the muscles and brain.
So, the next time you feel like a cup of coffee, indulge yourself. It’s a good way to boost your mood, your energy, and your overall health.
Reference
Schardt D. Caffeine: The good, the bad, and the maybe. Nutrition Action Healthletter. March 2008.
This article by Dr. Jeffery Tucker called It Starts With the Core) is in the December ‘09 issue of TO Your Health (http://www.toyourhealth.com/mpacms/tyh/article.php?id=1251&pagenumber=1).
http://www.chiroeco.com/videos/videos_parker_lasvegas_2010_view.php?video=16
I had a question from a Doctor about what nutritional recommendations I use for patients with Osteoarthritis. Here is my response.
Make sure they are consistent for at least 3 months on an Anti-inflammatory diet. Depending on the client I use either the Mediterranean Diet or Paleo Diet.
The following are supplements from my Metagenics site (www.meta-ehealth.com/site/office/index.jsp) that I recommend:
If it is a light to moderate case:
Kaprex — 1-2 softgel twice daily
Non-responders by day 5, move to 6 softgels daily
Time to benefit: 2 to 10 days.
Kaprex is an herbal supplement that provides natural joint relief that is easy on the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. It works by interfering with signals in the body that initiate the production of damaging compounds that cause minor pain and negatively impact cartilage and other joint tissues.
Chondro-Relief Intensive Care – 2-3 capsules twice daily
Chondro-Relief Intensive Care supports healthy joint function with Glucosamine HCI, Chondroitin Sulfate, Methyl-Sulfonyl-Methane (MSM), P. Canaliculus, Hyaluronic Acid, and Avocado/Soybean Unsaponifiables (ASU) in addition to other antioxidants that support healthy connective tissue.
EPA-DHA 6:1 Enteric Coated — 2 softgels three times daily. Omega 3 fatty acids are important for patients with chronic inflammatory conditions.
D3 5,000 — 1 tablet two times daily. Get there blood level checked & then dose up or down.
•
If it is a moderate to severe case:
UltraInflamX Plus 360 — 2 scoops twice daily. They make a shake in the morning & afternoon. It is a Medical food for inflammation and biotransformation.
Chondro-Relief Intensive Care – 2-4 capsules twice daily
EPA-DHA 6:1 Enteric Coated — 2 softgels three times daily. Omega 3 fatty acids providing a ratio appropriate for patients with chronic inflammatory conditions.
D3 5,000 — 1 tablet three times daily.
I have clients use Capsaicin cream and rub it on the involved area at least four times per day.
There has been a lot in the news about ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) this week. The statistics are that in the US, 4% of children aged 4 to 8 and 9.7% of children aged 9 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD. That translates to around 4.5 million young people who have trouble paying attention and finishing tasks. In classrooms and at home ADHD behavior can appear rude, obnoxious, and disruptive because these children have trouble controlling impulsive behaviors.
In my experience, I have found when parents chose healthy nutritious foods for these kids, they notice a difference in reducing the number of behavioral problems and improving academic performance. Diet changes include, drinking juice diluted with water, eliminating sodas, candy, pizza, burgers, tacos and fries foods. Instead of eating lots of processed foods with excess carbohydrates, fresh fruits and vegetables, more protein dishes, and entrees free of chemicals and additives can be offered. The changes can be dramatic.
Parents have shared that their kids appear more calm and well-behaved and discipline problems are less after about 3-4 weeks of being on a low carb diet. I also recommend that parents give there kids L-theanine (I use a supplement called Celepro from Metagenics) which is a natural substance found in green tea. This helps kids focus and therefore concentration to study is improved.
The traditional medical treatment for ADHD has been medication. In fact, at least half of these children are taking powerful psycho-stimulant drugs like Adderall or Ritalin to control their symptoms. While these synthetic chemicals are effective at controlling hyperactive and aggressive behavior, there is often side effects that come from these drugs, including dizziness, insomnia, confusion, and an irregular heart beat.
What if these kids are off balance because there body is getting a toxin load from chemicals and processed foods, too much sugar, and dangerous additives that affect neurochemistry? Doesn’t it make sense to try a healthy food plan!
Adderall is a cocktail of four different amphetamines. High-dosage and long term use have been linked to erectile problems and other sexual dysfunctions. Ritalin (methylphenidate) is a central nervous system stimulant.
Let’s continue to pay more attention to nutrition as the first line of therapy. Start making better dietary changes at home. Stop buying junk food and spend the money on organic produce and grass-fed meats.
References
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/index.html
http://www.adderall.net/.
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/ritalin-side-effects.html.
http://www.feingold.org/Bluebook/page-09-wisconsin.pdf.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmericanFamily/Story?id=125404&page=1.
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