Health & WellnessS


Heart

Heart disease is a gut-immune-hormone disease

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Trepanation, drilling a hole in the head, used to be a medical technique. In the future, people will view the way we treat heart disease today as just as absurd.
An ancient surgical procedure, called trepanation, consisted of drilling a hole in the head and removing a piece of the skull. It is thought this practice was used to release evil spirits that caused mental illness, migraine headaches and other ills. Nowadays, however, if you went to your naturopath with complaints of headaches and she pulled out her drill, you would bolt from her office in horror.

Sadly, when it comes to heart disease, it seems we haven't advanced all that much. When future humans look back to 2010 and the way we treat heart disease, they will shake their heads in disbelief. Much of heart care today, in both conventional and alternative medicine, ranges from harmful to hopelessly misguided.

Although cancer recently took the top spot, heart disease has long been the leading cause of death since the advent of processed foods almost 100 years ago, and it's no wonder. The root of disease almost always begins in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, with problems compounding in the immune and endocrine (hormone) systems, which in turn stress the heart. That gut health and immunity status affects the heart is lost on most conventional doctors, including many holistic ones.

These days we see two extreme viewpoints of cholesterol, both of which are incomplete. In conventional medicine, cholesterol is the defining marker for heart disease. While your local MD's approach to treating high cholesterol has been seriously questioned and successfully challenged by reputable science, the standard of treatment - low-fat diets and Lipitor, for example - hasn't budged. And when this model fails to prevent heart disease, as it often does, doctors simply blame the patient for not toiling long enough in the prison of low-fat diets.

In holistic medicine, on the other hand, cardiovascular health is often dismissed when symptoms are lacking, and high cholesterol is brushed away. Although the nutritional model is safer (for statin drugs can have devastating side effects), it too falls short when it doesn't address the risk of high cholesterol levels.

Health

Obesity Epidemic Risks Heart Disease "Tsunami"

Subway commuters
© Reuters/Lucas JacksonSubway commuters walk through the turnstiles while leaving the U.S. Open in New York September 4, 2007.
More than half a billion people, or one in 10 adults worldwide, are obese -- more than double the number in 1980 -- as the obesity epidemic spills over from wealthy into poorer nations, researchers said on Thursday.

And while rich nations made big strides in cutting rates of high cholesterol and hypertension, or high blood pressure, the overall number of people with high blood pressure rose from 600 million in 1980 to nearly 1 billion in 2008, fuelled by an aging and expanding global population.

"Overweight and obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are no longer Western problems or problems of wealthy nations," said Majid Ezzati of Imperial College London and Harvard University, who led the studies published in the Lancet journal.

The research, conducted with the World Health Organization, benchmarks changes in key risk factors that affect heart health.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of people in the industrialized world, and billions of dollars are spent every year on medical devices and drugs to treat it. Thursday's study showed progress in some areas, but also areas of major concern.

Cowboy Hat

I have high cholesterol, and I don't care

Still think saturated fat is bad for you? Still think eating eggs raises cholesterol? Still think high cholesterol causes heart disease?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you really need to watch these videos. (But hey, you might learn something even if you answered "no".)

In this presentation I:

* debunk the myth that eating saturated fat and cholesterol causes heart disease.
* explain why LDL and total cholesterol are not useful markers for heart disease.
* present three markers that are useful markers for heart disease.
* demonstrate that low-fat, high carb diets promote - rather than protect against - heart disease.
* show you how eating saturated fat and cholesterol can prevent heart attacks
* tell you how to order a test that more accurately predicts your risk of heart disease


Comment: We discourage dairy products (casein) for the same reasons that gluten is discouraged. Both are addictive opioids that can lead to behavioral changes and health problems. For more information see The Addictive Opioids in Wheat and Dairy Foods.


Arrow Up

Nourish Your Body


Comment: This is the third article in an ongoing series called 9 Steps To Perfect Health. Make sure to check out the other articles:

* 9 Steps to Perfect Health: Introduction
* 9 Steps to Perfect Health: #1: Don't Eat Toxins


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In step #1, we talked about what not to eat. In this article, we'll talk about what to eat.

Most of the calories we get from food come from protein, carbohydrates and fat. These are referred to as macronutrients. We also get other important nutrients from food, such as vitamins and minerals. These don't constitute a significant source of calories, so they're called micronutrients.

For the last 50 years we've been told to follow a diet low in this or that macronutrient. From the 1950s up until the present day the American Heart Association and other similarly misguided and pharmaceutically-financed "consumer organizations" have advocated a low-fat diet. More recently, low-carbohydrate diets are all the rage.

Not all macronutrients are created equal

The problem with these approaches is that they ignore the fact that not all macronutrients are created equal. There's a tremendous variation in how different fats and carbohydrates affect the body, and thus in their suitability for human consumption. Grouping them all together in a single category is shortsighted - to say the least.

What many advocates of low-fat or low-carbohydrate diets conveniently ignore is that there are entire groups of people around the world, both past and present, that defy their ideas of what constitutes a healthy diet.

For example, the low-fat crowd will tell you that eating too much fat - especially of the saturated variety - will make you fat and give you a heart attack. Tell that to the traditional Inuit, who get about 90% of calories from fat, and were almost entirely free of obesity and modern degenerative disease. The same is true for the Masai tribe in Africa, who get about 60-70% of calories from fat (almost entirely from meat, milk or blood.) And then there's the modern French, who have the lowest rate of heart disease of any industrialized country in the world - despite the highest intake of saturated fat.

The low-carb crowd is very much aware of these statistics, which are often used in defense of low-carb diets as the best choice. Tell that to the Kitavans in Melanesia, who get about 70% of calories from carbohydrate and, like the Inuit and Masai, are almost entirely free of obesity, heart disease and other chronic, degenerative diseases that are so common in industrialized societies. We see a similar absence of modern diseases in the Kuna indians in Panama and the Okinawans of Japan, two other healthy indigenous populations that get about 65% of calories from carbohydrate.

These rather inconvenient exceptions to the low-fat and low-carb dogma vigorously promoted by advocates of both approaches show us that humans can in fact thrive on a wide range of macronutrient ratios, ranging from extremely high fat (Inuit, Masai) to very high carb (Kitavans, Kuna & Okinawans). They also hint at the idea that perhaps not all carbohydrates are the same in terms of their effects on human health.

Attention

Several Medications Linked to Violent Acts

A psychiatrist with a particular interest in violence believes that psychiatrists should become aware that the antismoking medication varenicline and antidepressants have been linked with violent behavior.

A link between several types of psychotropic medications and violent behavior toward others has been documented in a recent study.

The medications most strongly linked to violent behavior were the smoking-cessation aid varenicline and antidepressants, regardless of class.

The association was made by Thomas Moore, Joseph Glenmullen, M.D., and Curt Furberg, M.D., Ph.D. Moore is a senior scientist for drug safety and policy at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) in Horsham, Pa. The ISMP is a nonprofit organization that educates health care providers and the public about safe medication practices. Glenmullen is a clinical instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Furberg is a professor of public health sciences at Wake Forest University.

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© Thomas Moore

Attention

Health Foods that are Dangerous for Your Health

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You could be eating sawdust - and not even know it!

Sound crazy?

Let me explain.

On a recent plane ride to a medical conference, I started a conversation with the man sitting next to me to pass the time. I told him that I was a physician working in the area of nutrition.

He exclaimed that the new low-carb craze was a boon for business. I assumed he was in the food business - but I was wrong.

When I asked him what he did for a living, he replied that he worked in the wood pulp industry.

So what's the connection between wood pulp and low carbs?

As it turns out, cellulose - an indigestible fiber starch - is one of the main ingredients in processed low-carb foods.

And what's another name for cellulose?

Sawdust!

Yes, cellulose gives us those low net carbs that food manufacturers like to cite on labels.

Attention

Expert: Fluoride Linked to Stillbirths & Miscarriages

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© almightydad.com
World-renowned Professor Dr. A K Susheela presently visiting Australia Warns on Fluoride Link to Miscarriages, Stillbirths and Retardation.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, there were more than 2,900 perinatal deaths in Australia. In addition, each year many more parents experience the loss of a baby early in the pregnancy. Sadly, one in every four pregnancies ends in a loss from miscarriage and stillbirth. http://www.sandsvic.org.au

Professor Dr. A.K. Susheela who is visiting Australia says long-term studies show fluoride is a serious threat to public health. It has not only has been linked to increased rates of stillbirth and miscarriages among Indian populations exposed to fluoride in water, but poses a serious risk of birth abnormalities including mental retardation.

Syringe

Vaccines: Get the Full Story

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The International Medical Council on Vaccination just released a six page write-up critiquing the very wide-spread use of vaccination. I was made aware of this report some days back and was happy to contribute my name to the scores of likely more credentialed MDs, PhDs, DOs, Naturopaths etc. who likewise support a serious reassessment of our current vaccination practices. The full report is publicly available on line here, Vaccines: Get the Full Story, and I would highly encourage readers to take a moment to go through the full write-up. In this post I will just touch on a few areas and add some additional commentary about certain items. And away we go ...

First off, simply regarding the list of physicians, health practitioners and scientists who lent their name to this important report, while it is a long list it is by no means complete. Many people, of course were not aware of the report while perhaps even more importantly, as has been brought out by commentators numerous times on this blog, if one is in a conventional medical environment, it is extremely difficult and risky to criticize firmly entrenched policies. If one deviates from the norm and something goes awry, one is at risk of not only harming or even losing ones career to a charge of malpractice but also possibly facing a financial lawsuit.

Perhaps a better measure of what physicians and health care providers think of vaccines is to observe what they do themselves. As is brought out in the report, doctors and nurses, quite often avoid vaccines like the plague (pardon the pun) if they are able. Additionally, an ABC News report from 2008 stated that the majority, 60% of physicians, don't get the yearly flu vaccine. At least as regards flu vaccine, I think that figure should give one pause, "Do as we say, not as we do."

Info

A Reversal on Carbs

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© Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles TimesCarb consumption has risen over the years. So have U.S. obesity levels.
Fat was once the devil. Now more nutritionists are pointing accusingly at sugar and refined grains.

Most people can count calories. Many have a clue about where fat lurks in their diets. However, fewer give carbohydrates much thought, or know why they should.

But a growing number of top nutritional scientists blame excessive carbohydrates - not fat - for America's ills. They say cutting carbohydrates is the key to reversing obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

"Fat is not the problem," says Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. "If Americans could eliminate sugary beverages, potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and sugary snacks, we would wipe out almost all the problems we have with weight and diabetes and other metabolic diseases."

Comment: To learn more about the health benefits of saturated fat read the following articles:

Saturated Fat is Good for You
7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat
Higher saturated fat intakes found to be associated with a reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease
Boosting 'good' fat to burn off the bad
A Healthful Diet? Don't Forget the Fat


Arrow Up

Study: Cutting Out Suspect Foods Could Help Calm ADHD Children

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Natural solution: Changing a child's diet could calm ADHD, says new research.
According to a new study by Dutch scientists, restricting the range of foods fed to children suffering from ADHD can "significantly improve" their disrupting behavior and can prove a standard treatment for such kids.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurobehavioral developmental disorder in children characterized by the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity with symptoms starting before seven years of age.

Kids with ADHD are excessively restless, impulsive, inattentive and difficult to handle. Such children often require special care at school and in home.

"Dietary intervention should be considered in all children with ADHD, provided parents are willing to follow a diagnostic restricted elimination diet for a five-week period, and provided expert supervision is available," according to study published in The Lancet medical journal.