Babies who are breastfed have lower cholesterol as adults, researchers say.  It should be noted that breast milk itself is full of cholesterol.  Infant formulas actually tout themselves as "low cholesterol" as if that were somehow healthier, despite the facts that infants who breastfeed have lower rates of allergy and asthma and less cardiovascular risk. 

We must remember that cholesterol is a necessary part of each of our cells, and that consuming it as an infant is crucial to normal nervous system development.  Additionally, cholesterol that we consume as part of a healthy diet does not adversely affect our health!  Cholesterol is only a problem when our our metabolism spins out of control due to an unhealthy lifestyle and the liver starts to create unhealthy cholesterol ratios.  Please read my Cholesterol Article for more information on the subject.

Read the study. 

I recently had a patient tell me that she attended a health screening and was told to eat less olive oil and avocados.  The idea, apparently, was that these are both high sources of fat, and that fat causes you to become fat and increases your risk for heart disease.  This completely blew my mind, because it flies in the face of all the evidence on the subject.  I wanted to comment on it here to be certain that no one believes advice like this!

Here are the facts:

Just adding avocados to the daily diet for 7 days provided the following results in people with high cholesterol:

• 17% reduction in total cholesterol
• 22% reduction in LDL cholesterol
  
• 22% reduction in triglycerides
• 11% increase in HDL cholesterol

These changes are better than any drug I know, and they taste great!  If you've read my Cholesterol Article, you know that the 2 most important numbers in your cholesterol panel are your triglycerides and HDL's.  You want relativley high HDL's and relatively low triglycerides.  That makes avocados an ideal treatment for cholesterol imbalance!  The researchers attributed the beneficial changes to the high monounsaturated fat content of avocados--the same type of fat found in olive oil.  Olive oil is attributed with a host of benefits too long to list here including decreases in diabetes, heart disease, dementia, chronic pain, and improvements in cholesterol.

The authors of the study conclude: "High lipid (fat), high monounsaturated-avocado enriched diet can improve lipid profile in healthy and especially in mild hypercholesterolemic patients, even if hypertriglyceridemia (combined hyperlipidemia) is present."  In other words, eating a diet rich in fats from avocados and olive oil helps your cholesterol levels--eat your olive oil and avocados!

Read the study here.

I’ve been writing since 2003 on the negative effects of statin drugs.  An article in today’s New York Times confirms everything I’ve written—it begins:

“For decades, the theory that lowering cholesterol is always beneficial has been a core principle of cardiology. It has been accepted by doctors and used by drug makers to win quick approval for new medicines to reduce cholesterol.  But now some prominent cardiologists say the results of two recent clinical trials have raised serious questions about that theory — and the value of two widely used cholesterol-lowering medicines, Zetia and its sister drug, Vytorin.”

The article goes on to highlight how in both of those studies the drugs killed more people than using no drugs.  This is not surprising, since this has been a theme in most published studies on statins, the papers usually go like this:

This is a study on our new drug—we gave our drug to 100 suckers, and followed a similar population of 100 who did not take the drug.  In the drug group 7 people died, in the none-drug group 3 people died.  The increases in death in the drug group were due to suicide, sudden cardiac death, and cancer.  All of these disorders have been linked to statins in the literature, but we don’t think our drug caused these things.
Conclusion:  Our drug did lower LDL cholesterol—we think that LDL cholesterol alone is related to heart disease even though the literature does not support this hypothesis.  Since our drug lowered LDL cholesterol and we think this reduces heart disease risk, we will spend 4 billion dollars in the next year educating doctors as to what a smashing success this trial has been.

The disgusting truth is that that is not an exaggeration—do a search on my site for “statins” and read more of the research yourself.  The other disgusting truth is that the doctors buy the hype—without carefully reading the studies.

While the Times article only highlights the two drugs mentioned—I think we will see the truth coming out on all statin drugs soon.

Read my Cholesterol Article here—it shows how to read your numbers, what they really mean, and what to do about it naturally.

Read the New York Times article here.

Another study demonstrates the efficacy of Chinese Red Yeast Rice in lowering cholesterol safely.  The study involved giving people with high cholesterol 600mg of red yeast rice twice daily for 8 weeks.  All cholesterol values improved dramatically.

Red Yeast Rice is an extremely safe product (read more about it here) from which the statin drugs were derived.  While statin drugs are riddled with side effects, side effects are extremely rare with red yeast rice.  Read this article on red yeast rice, then read my cholesterol article here...and don't forget your fish oil!

Read the study here.

A new study shows that an Ayurvedic herb is very effective for type 2 diabetes.  The herb, Salacia Oblonga, was found to lower blood sugar by 27% after a meal!  The researchers analyzed the effect of the herb on 66 individuals with type 2 diabetes who either consumed a high carbohydrate meal with or without the herb.  The results were consistent with 2 prior studies that found the herb to be effective.

People in the study had the best results with 480mg of Salacia Oblonga extract. 

This herb can be added to my "standard plan" for type 2 diabetics, which includes gymnema sylvestra extract (purchased here) and 3 grams of omega-3's from a quality fish oil (purchased in my store). 

Read the study here. 

Several studies have shown cinnamon to lower blood sugar levels in diabetics.  A new study shows just how this delicious herb works.  The results, published in this month's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, demonstrate that cinnamon actually slows the passage of food through the stomach.  When you take 6 grams (about 1/4 teaspoon) of cinnamon with your meal, you slow the rate at which the food goes through your stomach and significantly lower blood sugar.  Prior research has shown as much as a 25% drop in blood sugar in diabetics after 6 weeks of using cinnamon daily.

Another very powerful herb for treating diabetes is an Ayurvedic herb called Gurmar.  Here is a link to an extract of Gurmar called ProBeta--its an excellent herb to use in conjunction with cinnamon to lower your blood sugar naturally! 

Link to the study. 

A new study shows that the popular diabetes drug, Avandia, is associated with a 43% increased risk of heart attack, and a 64% increase in cardiovascular death!  Reading the report, it is frightening to realize that the paper is the result of combining 42 existing clinical trials of the drug--in other words, the research has been around for quite some time, but the drug has continued to sell like hot pancakes.  The research analyzed by the article dates back to 2000, and continues through 2007.  That's scary stuff, and one more reason to do your own research and consult a holistically minded doctor before beginning drug use.

In contrast, several studies over the years have shown that proper nutrition and supplementation, an exercise program, and stress reduction can control about 70% of type 2 diabetes cases.  I ran a 6- week lifestyle modification program last year and the results were phenomenal--people required less or no medication by the end of the 6-week program.  As type 2 diabetes rates continue to skyrocket, we need to remember that most cases are lifestyle related--by building health from within, most people can control the disease.  Medications do drop blood sugar levels, but they do not necessarily reduce suffering and death in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Here is an article highlighting some of the most powerful supplements for treating type 2 diabetes.  Here is an article on the role of omega-3 fatty acids in treating type 2 diabetes.  Here is a link to our exercise page.  Here is a link to the greatest article on controlling cholesterol (and type 2 diabetes) on the planet.  If you are interested in learning more about diabetes, click here to request a copy of my "Lifestyle Intervention for Type 2 Diabetes" book.  Learn, Enjoy, and Act!

Read the original study here.

“Just a cup a day” is a phrase I hear frequently from patients when I ask them if they drink coffee.  People take comfort in this phrase-they even take pride in it.  They have a concept that “just a cup a day” means that they are not like their friends, who drink thermos-fulls a day, and that they are safe from any disease-producing effects.  Any recommendation of cutting down coffee consumption and it is as if the patient has been asked to strike down their own kin, or to stuff their favorite pet.  The truth is there are pros and cons to the drink—rather you will experience the pros or the cons may depend greatly on who your parents were, as I will discuss later in this article...read more...

A new study found that more than half of pregnant women and their unborn children in the Northern United States are deficient in vitamin D.  This deficiency is associated with future skeletal problems, type 1 diabetes, schizophrenia, and lowered immune function.  Interestingly, more than 90% of the women in the study used prenatal vitamins!

Clearly pregnant women require more information on vitamin D--here it is:

• Get lots of sun!  Your hands and face are the most important parts to expose--if possible get a minimum of 30 minutes of sun per day.
• Fish is an excellent source of vitamin D--unfortunately pregnant women need to avoid fish due to its high mercury content.  Occasional consumption of wild salmon is OK.
• Eggs and liver are good sources of vitamin D.
• Pregnant women should supplement with 200-400IU of vitamin D per day.  If you eat meat and get plenty of sun use 200IU's, if you are vegetarian and get little sun lean toward 400IU's.  Recent research has shown that you need to be sure your supplement has the active form of vitamin D--it is called D3, or cholecalciferol.  D2 (ergocalciferol) is much less effective--it is used to fortify foods--hence the deficiency!
  
• Lastly, get your kids outside.  Not only is it nature's playground and a source of endless fun and growth, its good for them!
  

Read the study.

In the wake of the recent negative research on pill-form antioxidants, it is important to remember that healthy antioxidant levels from food are protective against many disorders.  A recent study looked at vitamin C levels and total antioxidant levels in the blood of over 11,00 individuals.  They found that both vitamin C levels and total antioxidant levels were associated with huge reductions in periodontitis (a disease that affects the supporting tissues of the teeth). 

This is extremely important because "Periodontitis is the major cause of tooth loss and is also significantly associated with an increased risk of stroke, type-2 diabetes and atheromatous heart disease. Oxidative stress is reported in periodontitis both locally and peripherally (serum), providing potential mechanistic links between periodontitis and systemic inflammatory diseases."  In other words, periodontitis is really a symptom of systemic inflammatory conditions and poor antioxidant status.  The researchers found that people with the highest blood levels of vitamin C had 62% less periodontitis!

Remember that you must use food and food-based supplements to improve your antioxidant status.  Regular pill form antioxidants have been proven time and again to actually increase your risk of degenerative disease.  You can read more about antioxidants and powerful ways to increase antioxidant status here.

Read the study.