High doses of common painkillers, Advil and Ibuprofen, may raise heart risk

PressTV – High doses of common painkillers may raise heart risk.

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PressTV Mon Jun 3, 2013

A new study has suggested that consuming high doses of two common painkillers ibuprofen and diclofenac can increase the risk of heart problems.

Those people who take high doses of common painkillers known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and diclofenac for a long time are in higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, study clarifies.

A team of researchers at the University of Oxford investigated over 353,000 patient records from 639 separate clinical trials to assess the impact of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines.

The results confirmed that taking either 2,400 mg of ibuprofen or 150 mg of diclofenac daily increased the risk of heart attacks, strokes and death by about one-third.

“Three per thousand per year sounds like it is quite a low risk, but the judgement has to be made by patients,” said lead researcher Prof Colin Baigent.

Researchers pinpointed that the drugs can pose even greater risks for smokers and the overweight, according to the study published in the journal The Lancet.

“The review also revealed that people on high doses of NSAIDs have a two to four times greater risk for bleeding ulcers or other significant upper gastrointestinal problems.”

As the other type of painkiller called naproxen has lower risks of heart complications, comparing to ibuprofen and diclofenac, some doctors recommend the medicine to higher-risk patients although this also increases the odds of a stomach bleed.

“However, because of their potential side-effects, in particular the increased risk of cardiovascular complications which has been known for a number of years, there is an urgent need to find alternatives that are as effective, but safer,” the medical director of Arthritis Research UK, Prof Alan Silman stressed.

FGP/FGP

Related articles

• Painkiller taken for arthritis is heart risk (telegraph.co.uk)
• High Doses of Common Painkillers May Raise Risk for Heart Trouble (nlm.nih.gov)

Statins Can Undo the Benefits of Exercise

Statins Can Undo the Benefits of Exercise.

June 07, 2013

http://www.mercola.com

By Dr. Mercola

Statins are now among the most widely prescribed drugs on the market with one in four Americans over 45 taking them, and are the number one profit-maker for the pharmaceutical industry, largely due to relentless and highly successful direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns.

In fact, a recent study assessing the effect of direct-to-consumer drug advertising concluded that TV ads for statins may be a driving factor of overdiagnosis of high cholesterol and overtreatment with the drugs.¹

Statins are HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, that is, they act by blocking the enzyme in your liver that is responsible for making cholesterol (HMG-CoA reductase).

The fact that statin drugs cause side effects is well established—there are over 900 studies proving their adverse effects, which run the gamut from muscle problems to increased cancer risk.

The biggest “sham” of all is that statin drugs, which millions are taking as a form of “preventive medicine” to protect their heart health, can have detrimental effects on your heart.

For example, a study published just last year in the journal Atherosclerosis², showed that statin use is associated with a 52 percent increased prevalence and extent of calcified coronary plaque compared to non-users. And coronary artery calcification is the hallmark of potentially lethal heart disease!

Now, researchers have uncovered yet another MAJOR problem associated with these drugs. One of the major benefits of exercise is the beneficial impact it has on your heart health, and exercise is a primary strategy to naturally maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Alas, if you take a statin drug, you’re likely to forfeit any and all health benefits of your exercise.

As reported by The New York Times³:

“The drugs routinely are prescribed for those with high cholesterol and other risk factors for heart disease, and some physicians believe that they should be used prophylactically by virtually everyone over 50.

… [P]eople who should benefit the most from exercise — those who are sedentary, overweight, at risk of heart disease or middle-aged — are also the people most likely to be put on statins, possibly undoing some of the good of their workouts.

… In past studies, researchers have shown that statins reduce the risk of a heart attack in people at high risk by 10 to 20 percent for every 1-millimole-per-liter reduction in blood cholesterol levels (millimoles measure the actual number of cholesterol molecules in the bloodstream), equivalent to about a 40-point drop in LDL levels.

Meanwhile, improving aerobic fitness by even a small percentage through exercise likewise has been found to lessen someone’s likelihood of dying prematurely by as much as 50 percent.

… But until the current study, no experiment scrupulously had explored the interactions of statin drugs and workouts in people. And the results, as it turns out, are worrisome.”

The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology⁴, discovered that statin use led to dramatically reduced fitness benefits from exercise, in some cases actually making the volunteer LESS fit than before!

The participants in the study included 37 overweight, sedentary men and women, all of whom had symptoms of metabolic problems, such as high blood pressure or excess abdominal fat. None of them had exercised regularly within the past 12 months, and most had slightly but not excessively elevated cholesterol levels.

Before the trial, muscle biopsies were taken from each participant to evaluate mitochondrial content, and their aerobic fitness was determined using treadmill testing. All participants were instructed to maintain their regular diet. The participants were then divided into two groups. One group was given a daily 40 mg dose of simvastatin (Zocor). The other group did not receive any medication. Both groups then began a supervised 12-week exercise program, walking or jogging on a treadmill for 45 minutes, five days a week. At the end of the three-month long trial, their aerobic fitness and muscles were retested. The results were astounding:

• On average, unmedicated volunteers improved their aerobic fitness by more than 10 percent. Mitochondrial content activity increased by 13 percent
• Volunteers taking 40mg of simvastatin improved their fitness by a mere 1.5 percent on average, and some had reduced their aerobic capacity at the end of the 12-week fitness program. Mitochondrial content activity decreased by an average of 4.5 percent

According to senior study author John P. Thyfault, a professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri⁵:

“Low aerobic fitness is one of the best predictors of premature death. And if statins prevent people from raising their fitness through exercise, then that is a concern.”

How Statins Might Undo Fitness Benefits and Make Your Heart Health Worse

The key to understanding why statins prevent your body from reaping the normal benefits from exercise lies in understanding what these drugs do to your mitochondria—the energy chamber of your cells, responsible for the utilization of energy for all metabolic functions.

The primary fuel for your mitochondria is Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and one of the primary mechanisms of harm from statins in general appears to be related to CoQ10 depletion. This also explains why certain statin users in the featured trial ended up with worse aerobic fitness after a steady fitness regimen.

It’s been known for many decades that exercise helps to build and strengthen your muscles, but more recent research has revealed that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential role exercise can play in your health. A 2011 review published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism⁶ pointed out that exercise induces changes in mitochondrial enzyme content and activity (which is what they tested in the featured study), which can increase your cellular energy production and in so doing decrease your risk of chronic disease.

The researchers stated:

“Increasing evidence now suggests that exercise can induce mitochondrial biogenesis in a wide range of tissues not normally associated with the metabolic demands of exercise. Perturbations [changes] in mitochondrial content and (or) function have been linked to a wide variety of diseases, in multiple tissues, and exercise may serve as a potent approach by which to prevent and (or) treat these pathologies.”

Increasing mitochondrial activity is incredibly important because free radicals, which are toxic byproducts of metabolism as well as exposures to chemicals, pollutants and other toxins, can overwhelm your body’s defenses, leading to oxidative damage to cells and tissues that can destroy cellular proteins, lipids and DNA, as well as lead to the loss of mitochondrial function. In the long-term, irreversible damage in the mitochondria can occur, leading to:

• Lower threshold for physical exercise
• Impaired ability to utilize carbohydrates and fat for energy
• Insulin resistance
• Excessive weight gain
• Accelerated aging

Full article:

Statins Can Undo the Benefits of Exercise.

Related articles

• Benefits of statins for prevention of heart disease questioned (cbc.ca)
• New Report Shows Cholesterol Drugs Cause Muscle and Joint Injuries (healthimpactnews.com)
• Well: Can Cholesterol Drugs Undo Exercise Benefits? (well.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Statins could lead to muscular injuries, scientists warn (telegraph.co.uk)
• A Cardio Conundrum (mensjournal.com)

Fried food ‘fine for heart’ if cooked with olive oil

BBC News – Fried food ‘fine for heart’ if cooked with olive oil.

By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News

Eating fried food may not be bad for the heart, as long as you use olive or sunflower oil to make it, experts say.

They found no heightened risk of heart disease or premature death linked to food that had been cooked in this way.

But the investigators stress that their findings, from studying the typical Spanish diet in which these “healthy” oils are found in abundance, do not apply to lard or other cooking oils.

So traditional fry ups should not be the order of the day, bmj.com reports.

When food is fried it becomes more calorific because the food absorbs the fat of the oils.

And experts know that eating lots of fat-laden food can raise blood pressure and cause high cholesterol, which are risk factors for heart disease.

For the study, the researchers at the Autonomous University of Madrid surveyed 40,757 adults about their diet.

The participants were asked about what types of food they ate in a typical week and how that food was prepared and cooked.

None of the adults had any sign of heart disease at the start of the 11-year study, but by the end of it 606 heart disease events and 1,134 deaths had occurred.

When the researchers looked at these heart events in detail, they could find no link with fried food in the diet.

This, they believe, is down to the type of oil the food is cooked in.

In an accompanying editorial, Professor Michael Leitzmann from the University of Regensburg in Germany said: “Taken together, the myth that frying food is generally bad for the heart is not supported by available evidence.

“However, this does not mean that frequent meals of fish and chips will have no health consequences.

“The study suggests that specific aspects of frying food are relevant, such as the oil used, together with other aspects of the diet.”

Mediterranean diets have long been hailed as healthy, being packed full of low-fat, high-fibre fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as fresh fish.

And numerous studies have shown a balanced diet such as this can cut the risk of illnesses like cancer and heart disease.

Victoria Taylor, a senior heart health dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Before we all reach for the frying pan, it’s important to remember that this was a study of a Mediterranean diet rather than British fish and chips. Our diet in the UK will differ from Spain, so we cannot say that this result would be the same for us too.

“Participants in this study used unsaturated fats such as olive and sunflower oil to fry their food. We currently recommend swapping saturated fats like butter, lard or palm oil for unsaturated fats as a way of keeping your cholesterol down and this study gives further cause to make that switch.

Image by Paul-W via Flickr

“Regardless of the cooking methods used, consuming foods with high fat content means a high calorie intake. This can lead to weight gain and obesity, which is a risk factor for heart disease. A well-balanced diet, with plenty of fruit and veg and only a small amount of high fat foods, is best for a healthy heart.”

Coffee: Good or Bad for Us? The Verdict is IN.

For most of us, the potential benefits of coffee far outweigh the risks. Over the last few years, a surprising number of research studies have buttressed that verdict. Why this reversal, in light of the earlier warnings about coffee?

Image via Wikipedia

Earlier studies didn’t always take into account that health risk behaviors — like smoking and lack of exercise — tended to be more common among heavy coffee drinkers. So, current studies have generally found no connection between coffee drinking and an increased risk of cancer or heart disease.

But current research still finds some risks. High consumption of unfiltered coffee is associated with mild elevations in cholesterol levels. Another study found that two or more cups of coffee a day can increase the risk of heart disease in people with a specific — and fairly common — genetic mutation that slows the breakdown of caffeine in the body. So, how quickly you metabolize coffee may affect your health risk. Too much coffee can result in jitters and stomach upset. One study found an increased risk of miscarriage when a woman is a heavy coffe-drinker.

That’s the downside. We coffee lovers — who can’t start the day without our java fix — are well aware of the energy-boosting effect of caffeine. But look at this array of studies finding other possible health benefits from coffee consumption:

Drinking more than three cups of coffee a day could help ward off basal-cell carcinoma, the most common cancer. Women who drink three or more cups a day have a 20% lower risk of skin cancer while men had a 9% lower risk.

Women who drink two to three cups a day have a 15% lower risk of depression than those who drink only one cup. Those who drink four or more cups have a 20% lower risk.

Drinking one to five cups of coffee per day reduces your risk of having a stroke by as much as 25%. A 10-year study involving 34,670 participants found a statistically significant lower risk of total stroke, cerebral infraction, and subarachnoid hemorrhage, but no impact on intracerebral hemorrhage. Three out of four ain’t bad.

Drinking coffee is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. People who drink more than six cups a day are 35% less likely to have type 2 diabetes. Six cups of coffee a day might result in the jitters for many of us. But four cups a day was associated with a still impressive 28% reduction in the risk.

Drinking two or three cups of coffee a day could lower the risk of developing Parkinson’s Disease by as much as 25%. And those drinking six or more cups a day are 63% less likely to develop Parkinson’s But being a three-to-four-cup-a-day coffee drinker most of my adult life didn’t stop me from getting Parkinson’s.

People who drink four or more cups of coffee a day are 80% less likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver than those who drink no coffee. According to the researchers who did this study, “there is an ingredient in coffee that protects against cirrhosis, especially alcoholic cirrhosis. Guess it was a good thing that I kept on tossing down caffeine as well as alcohol during my drinking days!

Women who drink one to five cups of coffee a day — including decaf — reduce their risk of death from all causes by 15 to 19 percent compared to those who drink no coffee at all. The researchers who did this study theorize that this result suggests that the protection comes not from the caffeine in coffee but rather that its magic-bullet antioxidants.

Men who drink six cups of coffee a day have a 60% less chance of developing a dangerous form of prostate cancer as well as a 20% lower risk of developing any other kind of prostate cancer. This study, like the one above, involved men who drank decaf or regular coffee. The researchers here also suggested that coffee’s antioxidants, not the caffeine, were associated with the risk reduction. As with Parkinson’s, my coffee consumption didn’t ward off my prostate cancer, but fortunately mine doesn’t appear to be the particularly dangerous form.

Although some of these studies speak of impressive risk-reduction percentages from drinking six or more cups of coffee a day, most medical authorities caution that in the case of heavy coffee consumption the risks may well outweigh the benefits.

Remember also that the findings in studies like these, while useful, do not establish causality. At best, the studies tell us that the beverage is associated with a reduced risk of cancer… or whatever, not that it actually reduced the risk.

via Coffee: Good or Bad for Us? The Verdict is IN. | Before It’s News.

Chocolate consumption lowers stroke risk and heart disease incidence by a third

Image via Wikipedia

(NaturalNews) Everybody likes chocolate, a fact supported by the annual increase in consumption documented by chocolate manufacturers around the globe. This may be good news for many chocolate consumers, but caution is advised to carefully monitor the quantity consumed and the cocoa content of the product purchased. We now have documented evidence to explain how dark chocolate consumption lowers stroke risk in women and slashes heart disease risk in adults. Researchers publishing the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found high chocolate consumption correlates with a lower risk of stroke in women. Further proof of vascular benefits is documented in the British Medical Journal as scientists explain that chocolate consumption lowers heart disease risk by more than a third.

A number of recent studies have shown that eating chocolate has a positive influence on human health due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This includes reducing blood pressure and improving insulin sensitivity, a primary factor in diabetes development and progression in millions of at-risk children and adults. The World Health Organization predicts that nearly 24 million people will die from heart disease by the year 2030, yet proper diet and lifestyle could significantly lower the mortality rate.

High Levels of Chocolate Consumption Dramatically Lower Heart Disease and Stroke Risks

In an effort to confirm past research efforts that suggest a connection between chocolate consumption and lowered risk of heart disease and stroke, Dr. Oscar Franco and colleagues from the University of Cambridge in England analyzed the results of seven studies involving over 100,000 participants with and without existing heart disease. Researchers compared the group with the highest chocolate consumption against those with the lowest, taking into account differences in study design and quality of reporting.

Researchers performing a meta-analysis of all studies examined found a significant correlation between higher levels of chocolate consumption and the risk of cardiovascular events. They determined that the “highest levels of chocolate consumption were associated with a 37% reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 29% reduction in stroke compared with lowest levels.” Although the final analysis did not distinguish between dark and milk chocolate consumption, nutritional experts recommend choosing dark chocolate with minimal added sugar and at least 75% cocoa content.

There are many documented lifestyle changes that have been shown to dramatically lower the risk of heart disease and stroke including vitamin D optimization, fish oil supplementation and potent antioxidants such as resveratrol. Chocolate eaten in small amounts several times a week can now be added to the list as research confirms the powerful human health benefits of cocoa.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/art…

http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/c…

http://www.sciencedaily.com/release…

via Chocolate consumption lowers stroke risk and heart disease incidence by a third.

Find out more about the amazing nutrient CoQ10

Image by k_haruna via Flickr

(NaturalNews) Coenzyme Q10, known as CoQ10, is highly regarded as a super antioxidant. But is it for real? CoQ10 gets a lot of good press, but it’s not cheap. So to buy and try or not to buy and try is the question. Not all supplements live up to their reputation, and not all supplements are right for everyone. Let’s examine CoQ10 a bit.

What it is and isn’t

CoQ10 is not a magic bullet. It is an important compound that our bodies produce, but production declines as we age. It functions best in conjunction with a decent diet and other quality supplements. Foods such as organic organ meats, oily fish, spinach, peanuts, and whole grains provide some CoQ10.

It likes to lodge in the parts of our cells that produce energy, and is instrumental for producing the molecule adenosine-5-triphosphate (ATP). ATP is a major source of cellular energy, and it’s involved with several metabolic processes within the cell, including protein production.

Beside its antioxidant capabilities, which scavenge damaging free radicals that cause cellular damage, it appears able to repair oxidative damage. CoQ10 prevents problematic blood clotting. All these qualities have made it a favorite for increasing cardiovascular health and for preventing heart diseases or recovering rapidly from heart problems.

In addition to hundreds of reports from Japanese doctors on CoQ10′s positive effects with heart patients, Dr. Denton Cooley found that most of his heart disease patients were CoQ10 deficient. His finding corroborates discoveries from Karl Folker, Ph.D, who had originally researched CoQ10 in the west.

For athletic types or those who are involved in strenuous activities, CoQ10 offers rapid recovery times from spent energy and muscular stress as well as additional energy too for competing athletically or completing arduous physical tasks.

Even more benefits have been discovered

Perhaps the most unusual benefit is how CoQ10 helps kidneys recover from renal failure. Obviously it should also help those with less drastic kidney conditions.

A 2003 study published in the Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine showed dramatic improvement in renal failure patients who took CoQ10 compared to those who took the placebo. Some who were on dialysis were even eventually able to manage without.

As an aside, it seems cruel to conduct test trials using placebos, depriving those of the benefits found with what’s being tested. But that’s the way modern mainstream medicine does it.

In addition to those tests, testing is being conducted to determine the effects of CoQ10 on neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The focus for testing is on the early phases of those diseases. The intention is to prevent them from fully manifesting.

Keep in mind that CoQ10 is a naturally occurring compound sold over the counter as a supplement. Perhaps Big Pharma is on the sidelines trying to figure out how to replicate CoQ10 in a lab and get it patented.

If that occurs, those obscure trials on renal failure and neurological disorders may become very public with the over-the-counter supplement banned. Now is the time to buy and try to determine if it works well for you.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.bastyrcenter.org/content…

http://www.vitaminstohealth.com/coq…

http://www.preventive-health-guide….

via Find out more about the amazing nutrient CoQ10.

From Wikipedia:

 

Coenzyme Q₁₀, also known as ubiquinone, ubidecarenone, coenzyme Q, and abbreviated at times to CoQ₁₀ /ˌkoʊ ˌkjuː ˈtɛn/, CoQ, Q10, or Q, is a 1,4-benzoquinone, where Q refers to the quinone chemical group, and 10 refers to the number of isoprenyl chemical subunits in its tail.

This oil-soluble, vitamin-like substance is present in most eukaryotic cells, primarily in the mitochondria. It is a component of the electron transport chain and participates in aerobic cellular respiration, generating energy in the form of ATP. Ninety-five percent of the human body’s energy is generated this way.^[1][2] Therefore, those organs with the highest energy requirements—such as the heart, liver and kidney —have the highest CoQ₁₀ concentrations.^[3][4][5] There are three redox states of coenzyme Q10: fully oxidized (ubiquinone), semiquinone (ubisemiquinone), and fully reduced (ubiquinol). The capacity of this molecule to exist in a completely oxidized form and a completely reduced form enables it to perform its functions in electron transport chain and as an antioxidant respectively.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CoQ10

Why daily low dose aspirin for heart attack protection should be discouraged

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(NaturalNews) Many of us are aware of some negative side effects from low dose daily aspirin use to prevent heart attacks. But lately, more side effects, serious ones, of daily aspirin doses are making the risks outweigh the advantages completely. Fortunately, there are natural substitutes without side effects that match or surpass the daily aspirin for heart attack protection.

Another allopathic myth that backfired

As late as 2007, a massive aspirin TV ad campaign promoting daily low dose aspirins took hold over millions, despite the growing awareness of side effects from this routine. Aspirin zombies were awakened.

Several studies had been conducted on daily aspirin use for over two decades. The studies had mixed results, mostly negative. Gastric hemorrhaging (stomach bleeding) and ulcer production affected close to one-third of the trial subjects.

That seemed tolerable to some, since second heart attacks were reduced. However, fatal heart attacks were not reduced at all by taking low dose aspirin daily.

After a few more years of observation, other side effects manifested. Those on daily aspirin regimens had a twofold increase in hemorrhagic brain strokes, which cripple and kill. In other more recent studies, kidney and liver problems appeared as a result of daily low dose aspirin.

And now, another so-called side effect from daily low dose aspirin has popped up: Blindness. The age group usually involved with daily aspirins for heart protection is in the same age group most vulnerable to Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

Wet macular degeneration is the type of AMD most likely to develop into blindness. And the rate of wet AMD occurrences among daily aspirin pill poppers was twice that of senior citizens not taking low dose daily aspirin.

So here we are with this allopathic compulsive blood thinning anti-coagulant: Just as likely to die from a heart attack, twice as likely to suffer a stroke, and very likely to undergo stomach bleeding or ulcers with maybe some kidney or liver damage.

And if you survive those “side effects”, you still may end up suffering from blindness. There must be better pills to pop, or why bother. Even though most mainstream MDs don’t know about them; there are several.

Natural heart protectors without side effects

Arginine, or L-arginine is an amino acid that can produce arterial dilation to keep arteries from constricting. Arginine generates short term nitrous oxide (NO), which acts only when needed to keep blood cells from clumping and clotting, but allows coagulation to occur when appropriate.

Vitamin K2, found in nattokinase or as separate supplements, keeps calcium from hardening along the inner artery walls of your arteries. This is usually what causes hardening of the arteries, calcification of the inner walls. K2 gets calcium out of the blood stream and into bone matter where it belongs.

Hawthorn berry has been used in Oriental Medicine for centuries. It is usually consumed as a tea. You can purchase or make your own tinctures as well, which many consider more potent than teas. Hawthorn berry is a vasodilator (artery and capillary dilator) that also strengthens the heart muscles and helps maintain regular heart beat rhythm.

Tocotrienol, found in natural vitamin E and some CoQ-10 products or even as a separate supplement, is a natural anti-coagulant without side effects.

Other beneficial natural anti-coagulants are fish oil and vitamin C. Magnesium is vital for heart health. Proper diet and exercise are the common sense lifestyle rules that serve as your foundation for heart health regardless of any medicinal supplement choices you deem necessary.

via Why daily low dose aspirin for heart attack protection should be discouraged.

Related articles

• Regular aspirin users at higher risk of sight problems, research suggests (telegraph.co.uk)
• Salicylate (Aspirin) Poisoning, Acute / Chronic Toxicity, Symptoms (healthhype.com)

New study – Whole food vegetarian diets reverse and eliminate many serious illnesses

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New study – Whole food vegetarian diets reverse and eliminate many serious illnesses.

(NaturalNews) A new study found that plant based diets are a fundamental solution to our public health crisis, especially with some of the most serious and debilitating illnesses. The physicians at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute found that the frequency and the cost of many illnesses, including obesity, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, can be considerably reduced just by switching to a whole food, nutrient dense, plant-based diet that doesn’t include meat or dairy. Sometimes, the diseases were reversed just with these diet changes too.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, who led the study, said: “We are potentially on the cusp of what could be a seismic revolution in health. This will never come about from another pill, another procedure, another operation, or construction of another cardiac cathedral. It will come about when we are able to show the public the lifestyle that will halt and eliminate 75% of these common, chronic killing diseases. The most essential component of this lifestyle is whole food plant-based nutrition.”

This is foundational for a population that often eats meat and dairy daily and also one that often has one health problem or another. It’s also eye opening for people who still believe that medical doctors have the health care answers, even though medical doctors are often only required to take one nutrition class (and that class is often about how foods and drugs interact). That seems to be lacking quite a bit when dietary changes can reverse and eliminate 75% of the most serious problems – and most people get the serious problems after having several smaller problems.

Dr. Esselstyn initiated this study to treat seriously ill patients with coronary artery disease with plant-based nutrition, and he generally succeeded in the reversal or removal of their disease.

According to Esselstyn, “Patients lose weight, blood pressure normalizes, and type 2 diabetes improves or resolves, as does angina, erectile dysfunction, and peripheral vascular and carotid disease.” He also added that today’s adolescents are but a decade or two away from compounding our healthcare epidemic.

Of course, the best time to start a dietary program that has the potential to change the quality of your future is always today. While adding tons of fruits and veggies to your diet and dropping the meat and dairy can reverse many diseases, it’s also definitely better to just avoid the disease route all together. Many people who practice this type of diet also find that they feel better emotionally and have better energy, which just equates to a better overall quality of life too.

More:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/art…


http://www.torontosun.com/2011/07/2…


http://blog.cncahealth.com/post/201…


http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2…

Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/033756_vegetarian_diet_disease_prevention.html#ixzz1a6WC5wga

Related articles

• The ‘heart attack proof’ diet (smokesomething.wordpress.com)
• CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: The Last Heart Attack (saturdaypersimmon.wordpress.com)

Chocolate and cocoa polyphenols vindicated in the war against heart disease

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Chocolate and cocoa polyphenols vindicated in the war against heart disease.

 

(NaturalNews) Researchers from the University of Cambridge in England have finally published solid evidence to demonstrate the consumption of chocolate is associated with improved heart and vascular health. Writing in the prestigious BMJ (British Medical Journal), Dr. Oscar Franco and his team determined several factors including diet, exercise, body weight control and lifestyle changes could help reduce the risk of heart disease, a condition expected to claim the lives of nearly 24 million people worldwide by the year 2030. The study authors found that the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of cocoa from chocolate consumption could reduce heart disease risk by one-third and could also reduce the risk of sudden death from a heart attack and stroke incidence.

The study included an analysis of seven detailed research bodies that included more than 114,000 participants. All studies independently pointed to the conclusion that different levels of chocolate consumption were associated with a substantial reduction in the risk of cardio-metabolic disorders. Researchers found that the flavonoids passed to chocolate from the cocoa bean have a positive impact on health and were found to regulate insulin sensitivity and maintain blood pressure in the normal range.

Researchers ranked chocolate consumption among participants in the seven studies from highest to lowest to determine the effect of the cocoa flavanols on human health risk factors. Five of the seven studies showed that eating the highest amount of chocolate significantly reduced the number of cardiac events. In particular they found those who ate the most chocolate had a 37% lower risk of having a cardiovascular incident compared to those who ate the least.

When assessing other risk factors, the study authors found that the highest chocolate consumers had a 29% lower incidence of stroke compared to the lowest chocolate eaters. Interestingly the researchers found that high levels of chocolate consumption specifically lowered the risk of a cardiac or stroke event but did not impact heart failure, another very serious form of heart disease and death. The studies examined did not differentiate between milk and dark chocolate, and included chocolate desserts, biscuits, chocolate bars and drinks. Prior research has indicated maximum benefit from eating dark, bitter chocolate with a high cocoa content.

The authors did provide a word of caution regarding excess consumption of chocolate particularly because commercially available chocolate is very caloric and eating too much of it could in itself lead to weight gain, risk of diabetes and heart disease. They concluded, “Based on observational evidence, levels of chocolate consumption seem to be associated with a substantial reduction in the risk of cardio-metabolic disorders.” Individuals looking to take advantage of the health benefits of chocolate may want to use a cacao bean extract supplement (25 to 50 mg per day) to reap the cardiovascular and stroke risk reduction benefits.

Article References:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea…


http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj….


http://www.nutraingredients.com/Res…


http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/art…

Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/033515_chocolate_heart_disease.html#ixzz1XGzF4oHL

Related articles

• People’s Pharmacy: Is cocoa powder as healthful as chocolate? (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Chocolate may be good for heart health, review finds (ctv.ca)
• Heart Disease: More Chocolate, Less Risk? (abcnews.go.com)
• Eating chocolate cuts risk of heart disease (medicalxpress.com)

Tomatoes Reduce Risk Of Killer Diseases

Tomatoes are widely available, cost-effective, and people of all ages and cultures like them. Now, a review research has shown that eating more tomatoes and tomato products could make people healthier and slash their risk of developing killer diseases such as cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.

Researchers Britt Burton-Freeman and Kristin Reimers of the National Centre for Food Safety and Technology, Illinois Institute of Technology and ConAgra Foods, Inc., looked at the current research to discover the role tomato products play in health and disease risk reduction.

They found that tomatoes are the biggest source of powerful antioxidant lycopene.

Unlike nutrients in most fresh fruits and vegetables, lycopene has even greater potency after cooking and processing.

Tomatoes also contain other protective mechanisms, such as antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory functions.

Scientists say that cooked tomatoes can have the same benefits as statins for patients battling against high cholesterol levels or high blood pressure.

They could be an ‘effective alternative’ to dangerous statins, the class of drugs commonly prescribed for these conditions which can lead to heart problems, according to a study.

And just two ounces of tomato paste or a pint of juice a day could be enough to help many patients.

Another study from Harvard contends that just one serving a day of tomato-based foods such as pizza or tomato sauce could lower your risk for heart disease by as much as 30 percent.What Two Fruits Pack The Biggest Antioxidant Punch For Disease Prevention and Longevity?

Tomatoes Reduce Risk Of Killer Diseases | Before It’s News.