Botanicals

Our Ancestors have been eating eggs, meats and other good foods for thousands of years and the first mention of heart attacks in scientific literature was in the early 1900s.

To blame heart disease on something that had always been part of our diet doesn't make sense to me.

It has to be something of more recent origin, such as the refining of flour and the introduction into the diet of processed devitalized foods, sugar, and hydrogenated fats!

Heart disease has reached epidemic proportions in our Nation, in spite of our medical sophistication!

Every year, millions of people succumb to the ravages of heart attacks and strokes and millions more are left disabled. In the United States, one and a half million people will suffer a heart attack this year, and 300,000 of them will die suddenly before they reach a hospital or receive medical attention! The old adage "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" has never been so true as it is with heart disease.

There is a great deal we can do nutritionally and naturally to enhance the health of the heart, and to prevent instances of heart disease. These measures are all well documented in the medical and nutritional research literature. Only a summary of key conclusions will be included here.

The Famous Framingham Study

One of the most important studies regarding heart disease was one conducted by a team of Boston University Medical School physicians.

It was called the Framingham Study because the physicians picked Framingham, Mass. for the project. Thousands of adults participated in the study, which primarily is aimed at gathering information about the relationship about diet and heart disease.

One of the study's directors, William Kannel, M.D., reported that there was no discernible association between the amount of cholesterol in the diet and the level of cholesterol in the blood.

Half of the people who died of heart attacks in the time frame of his particular research did NOT have high blood cholesterol levels.

In fact, over a fifty-year period,

thousands of adults in Framingham died without having elevated dietary cholesterol levels.

No correlation was found between heart disease and eggs or meat.

This is an important point!

Cholesterol in the diet simply does not translate automatically into cholesterol in the blood!

Our bodies have a feedback mechanism that decreases the amount of cholesterol we manufacture if we don't need as much!

Animal proteins are high in dioxins! ( i.e. dairy and red meat),

Therefore,I would advise eating only Organic or FreeRange.

It takes as long as 30 days for most meats to make it through

our 30 ft. long intestinal tract!

Tons of toxins are absorbed in the process.

The Much-Maligned Egg!

It seems almost incredible to me that eggs, the most perfect food that God put upon this earth, the food for the embryo, the food associated with New Life, has taken the brunt of the cholesterol scare.

Carlton Fredericks, Ph.D., wrote,

"Despite all the hue and cry, the case against eggs, which is the case against cholesterol, is in no way proved."

He also observed that eggs are rich in Lecithin, the very substance that prevents cholesterol from working much of the mischief it is supposed to create in the arteries. Eggs are also rich in the B-complex vitamins choline, inositol, pyridoxine (B6), and the amino acid cysteine. These nutrients have all been used successfully in experimental medical treatments for hardening of the arteries!

It's the kind of fat!...

I certainly am not advocating that you ignore the dietary warnings you hear in the media. Rather you need to monitor closely the types of fats you consume. The renowned biochemist and researcher, Richard Passwater, Ph.D., stated that no clinical study has conclusively shown that dietary cholesterol causes heart disease. He wrote in his book, "The New Supernutrition," "Although people insist on examining all the diets of the world looking for one component, such as cholesterol, to blame as a cause of heart disease, they would be doing better to look for the absence of one component, such as Vitamin E. It is total nutrition, in fact supernutrition, that should be our main concern!"

Key Factors:

We now know that cholesterol contributes to heart disease ONLY when it is oxidized, or subjected to free radical damage! Cholesterol damaged by free radicals is taken up by white blood cells called macrophages and deposited in fatty streaks on the artery walls. This fosters plaque buildup in the arteries and is key in the development of heart disease. Visit: FreeRadicals

Prescription Drugs:

Beta blockers and calcium channel blockers are the mainstay of conventional treatment for heart disease, angina, and even cardiac arrythmias for millions of people.

Calcium channel blockers relax artery walls and lower blood pressure by blocking the entrance of calcium into cells! However, they also block essential functions of the heart and blood vessels. In numerous studies, patients taking large amounts of calcium channel blockers had a 60% higher death rate! One alternative to calcium channel blockers is MAGNESIUM! Magnesium accomplishes essentially the same result as prescription drugs; relaxat ion of the smooth muscles of the arteries and reduced stress on the myocrdium--but in a natural way! I also recommend increasing your daily intake of potassium and potassium-rich foods. Magnesium

Beta blockers are often given to treat high blood pressure:

They work by blocking the ability of your heart to respond to epinephrine and adrenaline, which stimulate your pulse rate and blood pressure, elevating both.

They are meant to weaken the heart so that blood pressure is lowered and heart pain reduced. Beta blockers can be beneficial for temporary relief, but that's not how they're used! Virtually every doctor I know prescribes them indefinitely!

Anti-hyperlipidemic drugs are given to lower cholesterol levels. These drugs all have dangerous side effects and again, there is little evidence that they reduce the risk of heart attack!

Statin drugs such as Mevacor and Zocor are the the most popular of lipid-lowering drugs. They reduce the production of cholesterol in the liver and alter the way LDL cholesterol enters the cells.

According to the "Physician's Desk Reference" (PDR), side effects include liver toxicity, muscle inflammation, gastrointestinal symptoms, and an increased risk of cataract formation. A significant side effect of statin drugs not mentioned in the PDR is a reduction in your body's production of Coenzyme Q10. CoQ10 is essential to heart health!

A Safe Natural Approach:

We now know that cholesterol-lowering drugs have dangerous side effects and there is scant research that they lessen the risk of heart attack! There are safe alternatives that address the CAUSES of heart disease, not just the symptoms! They work to prevent and in some cases even reverse heart disease. A low-fat moderate protein diet abundant in fruits and vegetables, a high-potency, antioxidant rich multivitamin regimen, an essential fatty acid supplementation along with moderate exercise greatly reduces your risk. I recommend this program to all patients, not just those with heart disease! Visit: GoodCholesterol

Colestid and Questran (resins) absorb bile acids from cholesterol in the intestinal tract and cause them to be excreted, lowering cholesterol levels circulating in the blood. Resins have considerable side effects---constipation, nausea, bloating, and, more seriously, reduced absorption of vitamins A,D, E, and K. In the long run, these deficiencies may cause bleeding, disorders and vision problems!

Atromid-S actually INCREASED deaths from non-cardiac causes, primarily CANCER!