February 2009 PDF

High blood pressure is not a life sentence
Get off those deadly pills and learn to control your blood pressure with safe, effective cures.

If you’ve ever been diagnosed with high blood pressure, I bet your doctor had his prescription pad out faster than a gunfighter drawing his pistol.

And here’s the reason—most docs don’t want to spend the time it would take to learn what’s causing your hypertension. I’m not kidding—mainstream medicine claims that over 90 percent of all cases of high blood pressure are “essential,” which is a bizarre medical term for “we don’t know the cause.”

In my experience, it’s not that doctors don’t know or can’t find out—it’s that finding out will take more time and effort than they’re willing to spend.

So doctors are literally trained to throw up their hands and put you on a drug for the rest of your life (as if your blood pressure problem is due to some sort of drug deficiency). In fact, they’ll put you on…

Drugs so terrible you wouldn’t wish them on your enemies!

Docs will usually start you off with a cheap first-line drug called hyrdochlorothiazide (HCTZ). HCTZ is a water pill that helps your body absorb less salt. But that’s not all it does—is can cause dry mouth, fatigue, irregular heartbeat, nausea, stomach pain, clay-colored stools and dark urine, to name a few. And get this—HCTZ actually hastens the onset of diabetes, probably because is depletes your body of magnesium.

But even if you try to avoid the prescription pill carousel, you might find that some of the most popular recommendations for lowering blood pressure aren’t all that effective either.

Why most blood pressure advice isn’t worth its salt

I remember one patient, Tom, who was 52 years old and in reasonably good shape, except for his high blood pressure. He didn’t want to take HCTZ, so, like a lot of people, he tried to get his blood pressure under control by lowering salt.

Lowering your salt intake isn’t a bad idea—but don’t expect it to be the silver bullet that lowers your blood pressure. Recent research tells us that only about 20 percent of the population is salt sensitive, where salt would have a significant impact on their blood pressure. So unless you’re consuming loads of processed foods and making heavy use of a salt shaker, reducing salt is unlikely to fix the problem.

But, somehow, cutting salt consumption remains the number-one recommendation doctors dole out for people with high blood pressure—even though, in all likelihood, it won’t change a thing! My recommendation—keep your salt consumption to about 2 grams a day (preferably sea salt), and you should be fine.

If you’ve been told to lose some weight and exercise to lower your blood pressure, that’s pretty good advice. Tom started taking brisk walks with plenty of arm swing 45-60 minutes a day, at least five days a week. He dropped 10 pounds, got into better shape, and did see his blood pressure drop—but still not to a desirable level.

And, really, prescription drugs, exercise and reducing your alcohol and salt consumption are all that mainstream medicine has to offer for lowering blood pressure. It’s no wonder so many people never get their blood pressure under control!

Fortunately, alternative medicine has taken a more thorough and holistic approach to identifying the causes of—and curing—high blood pressure. We’ve got a little more in our toolkits than typical mainstream M.D.’s, and you can use these tools to get hypertension out of your life.

The vitamin deficiency that sends your blood pressure skyrocketing

You’ve heard me talk before about how most Americans are deficient in vitamin D and how this deficiency can unleash a barrage of health problems. High blood pressure is one of them.

One important function of vitamin D is to normalize renin levels. Renin regulates salt and fluid balance, key determinants of blood pressure. If your blood pressure is high and your vitamin D levels are low, getting more vitamin D may help lower your pressure. It may be all you need, as it was for one of my patients, a 66-year-old woman who lowered her blood pressure by taking vitamin D supplements and getting a little more sun during the warm months.

A high renin level of over 0.6 ng/ml (which your doc can determine from a simple blood test) might require vitamin D3 therapy, even if you’re getting enough vitamin D.

If your renin levels are very low, your doc may recommend diuretics and calcium channel blockers, two drug types. But drugs are by no means your only option. In fact, you may even be able to…

Replace prescription drugs with celery!

Celery is a potent diuretic—try a few stalks (4-6 would be a typical daily dose) or a glass of celery juice, and you’ll soon see what I mean. Or you can try celery seed extract in capsule form.

Celery seed has a long history of use in the Indian Ayurvedic tradition for water retention, calming nerves, muscle cramps, arthritis and gout. Nature’s Way, Natural Factors, Swanson and Puritans Pride all offer reliable celery seed products.

Celery seed is not the only natural tool you can use to bring your blood pressure under control. Here are five other natural cures that I’ve used with good results:

• Grape seed extract: This helps relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure. New Chapter offers a remedy called Blood Pressure Take Care that also includes Hawthorn, which has been used for decades in Europe to treat high blood pressure.
  
• Coenzyme Q10: Try 100 to 300 mg daily. CoQ10 also supports an ailing heart and is a must if you happen to be on a cholesterol-lowering “statin” drug like Lipitor, which depletes your CoQ10 levels. Make sure you take a gel cap for optimal absorption.
  
• Garlic: Try the equivalent of one clove a day. Cook with garlic or get it in a supplement from New Chapter, Mediherb, Kyolic, Garlique or Garlicin.
  
• Taurine: This amino acid is used by savvy doctors to treat high blood pressure, heart failure and anxiety. For blood pressure, it helps regulate fluid balance and normalize aldosterone levels, so it may be useful in people with primary hyperaldosteronism (See my sidebar, “The blood pressure problem that most doctors miss”). Take 2—4 grams daily, split into two doses.
  
• Bonito Fish peptide: This is a fish-derived protein that has been used with a lot of success in Japan. It’s available in a product called Vasotensin from Metagenics.

In addition to these supplements, there are plenty of other treatment strategies patients have used with success. In fact, here are three questions I get all the time as people look to make lifestyle changes to improve their blood pressure.

Question #1: Will eating more vegetables really make a difference?

Quite possibly. The magnesium and potassium found in a variety of plant-based foods help relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure. If you’re not getting enough magnesium (which you can find out from a red blood cell magnesium test), eat more nuts and leafy green vegetables, or add a magnesium supplement. Avoid magnesium oxide, which is poorly absorbed and will just cause diarrhea. Instead, use magnesium citrate, orotate, malate, or fumurate: 400—1200 mg daily. Magnesium is a good calmative, so take it in the evening to promote better sleep.

Question #2: Is there such a thing as a “chocolate cure” for high blood pressure?

In a word, yes. Even small amounts of high quality dark chocolate (< 1 oz) have been shown to drop blood pressure by a few points. I don’t recommend dark chocolate as a first-line therapy for blood pressure—it is loaded with calories. Instead, enjoy small amounts a few times a week as part of your overall blood pressure program.

Question #3: How big a role does stress really play in raising blood pressure?

I get this question all the time, because people who think they live low-stress lives will sometimes end up with high blood pressure. On the other hand, people who are constantly stressed may find their blood pressure isn’t a problem.

The truth is, each of us handles stress a bit differently. But, as a rule, stress can have a tremendous effect on your blood pressure. The patient I talked about earlier, Tom, got great results from RESPeRATE (see www.resperate.com), an FDA approved device that directs you to breathe slowly and rhythmically, reducing stress.

I’ve seen other patients get great results through regular yoga that includes deep breathing, called Pranayama. For others, biofeedback may be the answer (see my “Knock anxiety out of your life” article on page 4 for more information on this treatment). Deep breathing training in the Buteyko Method or Yogic tradition also can be effective (search online for training opportunities).

Finally, both acupuncture and various forms of massage can be useful parts of an overall blood pressure management program. They key here is to connect with the therapy that personally appeals to you, then stick with for at least three months.

The blood pressure problem that most doctors miss!

I’ve seen plenty of patients who’ve lost weight, eaten smart and taken a fistful of prescription drugs, only to see their blood pressure stay put. If that sounds like you, ask your doc is you may be suffering from primary hyperaldosteronism.

Primary hyperaldosteronism is something every doctor learns about in medical school— but it’s probably more common than they’re ever told. Researchers now say that as many as 15 percent of people with high blood pressure have primary hyperaldosteronism—much higher than the 1 percent I was taught in med school.

When you have too much aldosterone, a hormone made by your adrenal glands that regulates salt and fluid balance, your high blood pressure may not respond to most drug treatments. A simple blood test that measures both aldosterone and renin is the first step. If levels are high, one cause may be a non-cancerous mass on your adrenals, which forces them to make a lot of aldosterone. A relatively safe surgery can solve the problem.

Or, your adrenal glands may just be enlarged and overactive. If that’s the case, you’re doc may try a drug called spironolactone, although an amino acid supplement called taurine may be useful here.

At any rate, if you have hard-to-treat blood pressure, get tested! I’ve seen three cases of primary hyperaldosteronism myself the last two months!

What is normal blood pressure anyway?

When it comes to blood pressure, many patients wonder how high is too high. The following are simplified national guidelines used by doctors.

Normal: Under 120/85
Borderline: 120/80 to 140/90*
High: Over 140/90

* Most doctors will start a drug around 140/90 or above.

Knock anxiety out of your life
You could be just 10 steps from living the calm, stress-free life you deserve.

In my experience, there are few things that can cripple a person’s well-being like anxiety.
Some worry is normal. But when that worry becomes non-stop…when you can’t keep your mind from wandering from one issue to the next…when you start obsessing over the smallest of issues…you need help.

Left unchecked, anxiety can trap you in a cycle of negativity that can undermine your relationships and your physical health.

People with anxiety disorders may tire easily, have difficulty concentrating, and suffer from restlessness, poor sleep and memory impairment. As many as 40 percent of anxiety sufferers are plagued by other medical conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome and depression.

A menace affecting millions

If you suffer from anxiety, you’re not alone. Over 13 percent of the population—19 million people—suffer from involuntary, difficult-to-control, irrational thoughts.

And, because anxiety is so quickly missed or dismissed by doctors, the average individual with an anxiety problem ends up consulting 10 medical professionals before getting a correct diagnosis. And then guess what happens?

Most doctors’ “cures” for anxiety are worse than the problem itself!

You see, getting to the root of a person’s anxiety problem is complicated. It can be caused by so many things. Some people with anxiety experience low cortisol and high levels of epinephrine, which keeps them in a state of constant perceived threat. Others may have low levels of the brain chemical serotonin, while still others may have a genetic tendency toward anxiety or learned it from their family.

Rather than root out the cause of a person’s anxiety, most docs simply turn to prescription drugs. This is a crazy idea if ever there was one, as many anxiety sufferers are already self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. It’s like giving the wolf the key to the henhouse.

And these are some pretty serious prescription drugs. The most commonly prescribed drugs for anxiety are called benzodiazepines, or “benzos,” and they include Valium, Ativan, Xanax and Halcion.

Long-term use of these drugs can lead to physical and psychological dependence. Side effects include confusion and memory loss. Sudden, unsupervised withdrawal could kill you. Plus, they have been associated with increased risk of falls and motor vehicle accidents.

You get the picture—these drugs are bad news unless used with great care and discretion. And that’s often not the case.

Fortunately, if you suffer from anxiety, you don’t have to be sentenced to a lifetime of misdiagnosis and ill-advised treatment. Here are 10 supplements and techniques that I have prescribed to really improve the lives of people suffering from anxiety.

1 Green tea’s secret ingredient

Theanine is a calming amino acid found in green tea. It helps you focus and think better, and it reduces blood levels of stress hormones epinephrine (adrenalin) and norepinephrine (noradrenalin). It also acts gently and safely at the same brain receptors targeted by common tranquilizers like Valium and Ativan. Try 100-200 mg once or twice day.

2 Restore your balance with this versatile amino acid

Taurine is getting a lot of interest from medical researchers and clinicians, who are impressed by its ability to reestablish the balance between glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter, and GABA, a calming neurotransmitter. It is also involved in the production of serotonin. You can use 1000-2000 mg once or twice a day.

3 A sleep aid from “across the pond” that’s running circles around Valium

Valerian has been used in Europe for over 100 years to treat insomnia. It has been used in combination with passionflower and St. Johns Wort, and it has been more effective than Valium in small trials. Try 150 to 300 mg in the A.M. and 600-900 mg in the P.M. in standardized formulations containing 3.3 percent valpotriates. I recommend formulations from Nature’s Way and Mediherb. It takes two to three weeks for valerian to take effect, so it cannot be used to treat acute anxiety or insomnia.

4 The “Swiss Army Knife” of minerals

Magnesium is an incredibly versatile mineral and it is lacking in most Americans. Most folks suffering from anxiety are probably low in it, too. I recommend 400 to 1200 mg of magnesium citrate, orotate, fumurate or malate, which should help you sleep. Don’t bother with magnesium oxide, which is poorly absorbed and more likely to cause diarrhea.

5 A delicious new way to calm your nerves

NuSera is a latte-flavored soft chew from a company called Metagenics. NuSera is new to the market, but the results so far have been excellent. Within 30 minutes it has a noticeably calming, relaxing effect. Research on the active ingredient, derived from milk protein, shows that it reduces the stress response and calms GABA receptors in the brain. Because NuSera can work so quickly, it’s worth keeping some on you as an “as needed” anti-anxiety aid.

6 Soothe your brain with a calming energy

Alpha Stim is a well-researched, safe product that sends a very low-energy, electric waveform through your brain. It has been used extensively to treat pain, depression and especially anxiety. Access to Alpha Stim devices is only available through licensed health care practitioners. It can be highly effective for anyone suffering from debilitating anxiety, especially when accompanied by chronic pain. See www.alpha-stim.com.

7 Let in some air—and feel your stress melt away

Some form of structured breathing should be part of any anti-anxiety program. Deep nasal breathing activates the calming branch of your involuntary nervous system, reduces the stress response and quickly brings about favorable changes in your brain chemistry. Most Yoga programs include Pranayama breathing. I also recommend the easily learned and applied Buteyko breathing method (www.buteyko.com), devised by a Russian physician, and sudarshan kriya breathing methods, which you can learn at courses given worldwide by the Art of Living Foundation (www.artofliving.org).

8 Learn the Chinese art of meditation in action

Tai Chi Chuan is a traditional Chinese medicine practice. It incorporates soft movement, breathing and focusing your mind to promote health and longevity. Tai Chi is an excellent way to reduce stress. Think of it as meditation in action. You can practice it alone or in a group. It is now widely taught in community centers, schools and hospitals across the country. As with all mind-body therapies, regular practice and lifelong commitment is key.

9 Connect with your spiritual side

Centering prayer traces its roots back to early Christianity. It involves emptying the mind of all thoughts, achieving an inner silence and focusing on the presence of God, or a greater universal being beyond oneself. In its practice, it bears a striking resemblance to other forms of prayer and meditation from the world’s great religious and spiritual traditions. It offers the promise of profound, long-lasting results to those who are inclined to make a strong commitment. For more information, go to www.centeringprayer.com.

10 Get control of your body

Biofeedback is one of the best studied forms of stress reduction and anti-anxiety therapies. It uses devices that measure quantifiable bodily functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature and tension. You become aware of these functions and start to exert conscious control over processes once thought to be involuntary. And it works quickly. In terms of its benefits, it’s like an effective, accelerated form of meditation. Heartmath (www.heartmath.com) and Healing Rhythms (www.wilddivine.com) both offer excellent, easy-to-learn programs. Or you can work with a biofeedback specialist (www.bcia.org).

As always, you’ll get best results when you tailor treatment to your individual needs, combine multiple therapies and work with an experienced professional.

Any anti-anxiety program also should include a whole foods diet with plenty of healthy omega 3 fats from fish and B vitamins. Exercise at last five days a week, and remove unnecessary stimulants, such as nicotine, drugs and caffeine. Also consider trying acupuncture and massage, which help some people break the anxiety cycle.

Forgotten cures
Use this Native American secret to ward off heart disease, memory loss and cancer

For centuries, Native American tribes regularly gathered their members in hunting expeditions that scoured Maine’s rocky coast looking for something they considered critical to their survival.

They weren’t hunting deer, or elk, or any of the other dietary staples you might imagine.They were hunting blueberries.

In Maine, Native American tribes cherished the wild blueberry for its powerful healing properties. They believed these wild blueberries—which only grow naturally along the coast of Maine and the eastern coast of Canada—kept them strong and disease-free as they aged.

We know now that they were right—and that this miracle fruit may be the key to warding off heart disease, dementia and even cancer!

This health-packed berry leaves other fruits in the dust!

When it comes to health benefits, most fruits can’t hold a candle to wild blueberries. It’s not just that other fruits aren’t in the same ballpark—they’re not in the same Zip Code.

Wild blueberries rank #1 in antioxidant content over 20 other fruits, including apples, cranberries and grapes—they’re even miles ahead of cultivated, farm-grown blueberries.

Wild blueberries are also particularly effective at boosting antioxidant levels in your blood. You see, eating and digesting a meal is a major cause of oxidative stress on our bodies. The digestion process releases harmful free radicals, so topping off a meal with wild blueberries can actually protect your body from the damage these free radicals cause.

Like most antioxidant-rich foods, wild blueberries are great for your heart. They work at the gene level to suppress inflammation that can lead to heart disease and other degenerative diseases, such as arthritis, cancer and dementia.

The powerful polyphenols in wild blueberries also help protect the inner lining of your arteries from the formation of atherosclerotic plaques.

While much of the early science focused on the heart-health benefits of wild blueberries, researchers now realized that they’ve only scratched the surface of what this wonder food can do.

Just over the past several years, study after study has shown that wild blueberries might:

• Stop cancer in its tracks—The compounds in wild blueberries help prevent early steps in the formation of cancer cells.
  
• Ward off Alzheimer’s—Researchers believe wild blueberries could be the key to reversing the loss of memory and muscle coordination found in early Alzheimer’s disease.
  
• Restore your youthful eyesight—As we age, we lose the sharp vision we enjoyed when younger. Studies suggest blueberries may help reduce eye fatigue and improve night vision.
  
• Keep urinary tract infections at bay—Wild blueberries may be able to prevent bacteria from adhering to your bladder wall, which helps you avoid the pain and discomfort of UTIs.

All blueberries are not created equal—insist on the best

If you’re interested in tapping into the health benefits of wild blueberries, keep in mind that those little blueberry cartons in the supermarket produce section are not the same thing. As I said, wild blueberries only grow in certain areas of North America, and they are either organic or cultivated using sustainable integrated pest management, which carefully limits the use of pesticides.

Look for Wyman’s Wild Blueberries in the freezer section of your local grocery store. Flash frozen, they retain the rich nutrient content of the fresh berry. Dried wild blueberries are available from multiple sources online, and you can order frozen, organic wild blueberries from Vital Choice (www.vitalchoice.com).

And remember—all the health benefits of wild blueberries come packaged in a delicious food you can enjoy in countless ways. I add them to my breakfast cereal, cooked barley or oatmeal—along with some pecans, walnuts or almonds, and a little cinnamon. This usually supplies me with enough energy to get through the morning in fine form.

Your Questions Answered
Fishing for the truth about mercury poisoning

Q. I know fish is supposed to be good for you, so I’ve started to eat more. But I hear so much conflicting information about mercury and PCBs and am confused about safe choices. What is safe, and what isn’t? I’m 67 years old and have a little blood pressure problem.
––C. King, Danvers, MA

A:You know, I hear this all the time—and it’s not your fault you’re confused. Health officials have presented the issue of fish safety as a frightening trade-off.

Sure, you’ll get some toxic mercury, they say—but it’s worth it because of the numerous health benefits of fish. Fatty, cold-water fish such as salmon, sardines, mackerel and herring are especially rich in healthy omega 3s and vitamin D.

So, they’re basically saying you need to eat some poison in order to get vital nutrients—and then they wonder why people feel so ambivalent about fish.

Here’s the unvarnished truth—it is ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE to eat fish safely. You just need to follow a few simple rules.

When it comes to fish, size matters

The first rule of eating safe fish is that smaller is better. It’s hard to go wrong with anchovies, sardines and herring. I know some people don’t like the taste, but in France canned sardines are regarded as a gourmet food, kind of like wine, with certain high-end, premium brands. No kidding!

Large fish at the top of the food chain concentrate toxins, so tuna (including canned albacore tuna), shark, swordfish and sea bass, for example, should be eaten rarely, if at all.

Other types of fish can be safe, as long as you’re smart about how frequently you eat them. According to the Health Alerts List from the Environmental Defense Fund, the following fish are safe to eat over four times per month: anchovies; Atlantic herring; Maine lobster; Atlantic mackerel; wild Alaska salmon (especially sockeye); sardines; farmed bay scallops; squid; American farmed tilapia; and farmed rainbow trout (See www.edf.org for more information).

There’s plenty fishy about fish farms

Just as important, you should take note of what did not make the list of fish you can eat regularly—farmed shrimp and salmon. These are both extremely popular and consumed in massive amounts in the United States.

But the wide-scale farming of both of these species is causing massive destruction to natural habitats around the world, and they lack the nutritional value of wild shrimp and salmon.

Because of the conditions at the farms where these shrimp and salmon are raised, they also are likely to contain undesirable toxins and are best avoided.

For the definitive list of fish that are either sustainably farmed or caught, I recommend the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch List at www.mbayaq.org.

You’ll be surprised at how many endangered fish are still widely available at your supermarket and at restaurants serving fish!

For excellent sardines, mackerel and wild-caught Alaskan sockeye salmon—plus a variety of other healthy goodies—I highly recommend Vital Choice Seafood at www.vitalchoice.com.

I just placed a large order for canned sardines and salmon myself. I enjoy them as part of an easy-to-prepare lunch that keeps me alert and energized until my late afternoon snack.

Finally, check out two just-published books on the subject. The first is Diagnosis MERCURY: Money, Politics and Poison by Jane M. Hightower, M.D. This is an unsettling account of a San Francisco doctor’s encounters with mercury toxicity in patients eating fish and how the government and the health-care industry are dragging their feet on the issue.

The second book is Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically In a World of Vanishing Seafood by Taras Grescoe. Grescoe has written an extremely readable account of the disastrous destruction of fish populations as well as the toxic consequences of high-intensity fish farming around the world.

September 2008 PDF

Eat your way off diabetes
A drug-free plan that can slash glucose levels

There’s an old saying about digging your grave with a fork and a knife. As it turns out, that adage may be true: The single greatest contributor to your developing type-2 diabetes could be your food choices.

But who could fault you? With all the conflicting nutritional advice, it’s a wonder we don’t bump into ourselves trying to navigate grocery store aisles. Good fat, bad fat, good carb, bad carb—I talk with patients all the time who are on the road to type-2 diabetes, and who had no idea they were eating so poorly despite following these popular “guidelines.”

But I’m going to let you in on a secret I share with those patients—just as you can eat your way into type-2 diabetes, by making some better food choices you often can eat your way back to health again.

I’ve convinced many of my patients that drugs are not their only recourse in dealing with type-2 diabetes. I have a strategy that takes a lot more work than just popping a pill—but it’s worth it in the long run.

I’m going to show you how my plan worked for one of my patients, Jim, and how it can work for you too.

Facing down disease

Jim is a 52-year-old patient of mine. I met him when he showed up at our small, local hospital suffering from pneumonia. Turned out he also had new onset diabetes, with a sky-high fasting-blood-sugar reading in the 300s.

It didn’t get that way overnight. Diabetes is a long-latency disease, which means it was in the making for at least 10 years before coming on stage and sending Jim’s blood-sugar level into the stratosphere. But Jim did have one early warning: His father had diabetes too and ended up dying of a heart attack at 60. Heart disease is the most common complication of diabetes.

Jim wanted a fix that didn’t include a bottle of pills. He was open to making lifestyle changes, which, as you know, is the first thing I recommend. And guess what? It took less than six months to fix his blood-sugar problem without a drug in sight.

I’m going to show you how to do it too, but first it’s important to understand diabetes and the mechanics of how it affects your body.

Behind the curtain

Diabetes is defined as a fasting blood glucose (FBG) level of 125 or more. Prediabetes consists of having an FBG level of 100 to 124. In fact, a FBG of 90 or more merits attention.

Type-2 diabetes accounts for more than 95 percent of all diabetes in the United States. The main problem is insulin resistance (which means your cells are refusing to cooperate with the insulin in your body). The development of insulin resistance starts in your digestive system, which breaks down whatever carbs you eat into glucose (i.e. blood sugar).

Forget everything you think you know about carbs. We need carbs—they’re the most efficient fuel for energizing our bodies. The problems begin when we overdose on just one type of carb for too long.

Further, there are no such things as “good” and “bad” carbs—it’s just a matter of where they fall on the glycemic index (GI). The GI gives you a sense of how quickly the sugar in the foods you eat is entering your bloodstream as glucose and causing the trademark blood sugar and insulin “spikes.” You don’t have to give up your favorite carbs—you just have to practice moderation and balance. Get a good GI guide that shows you whether a food is high on the GI scale, then balance that selection with something that’s lower.

When you don’t pay attention to the GI scale, problems with insulin are bound to develop. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas, and “insulin resistance” is just what the phrase implies: Your cells stage a rebellion, resisting the efforts of insulin to do its job and escort glucose into your cells, where it can be burned as energy. Next thing you know, you have a backlog of glucose idling its engine in your bloodstream. That excess sugar in your blood is basically a time bomb.

Reevaluate your food options

I hope that by now I have convinced you of the need to balance what you eat to keep your blood sugar in check. Jim had failed to do this for years and was experiencing the grave results. Like most of my diabetic patients, Jim thought he was making decent food choices, but he was wrong. Here are two dietary truths I share with my diabetic patients––and they tend to be quite surprised:

1) You must avoid “white death”: A lot of folks have taken up the “Fat is Bad” mantra and rushed to purchase “low fat” foods—which often are a mother lode of white sugar and white flour. “Low fat” should be read as “cheap, carbohydrate-rich, edible manure,” courtesy of the fat cats at Big Food corporations.

2) You need fat: I can’t emphasize this enough: Eat fat. Overall, fat consumption has decreased over the last 30 years (except for people who eat fast food daily). I think it’s no coincidence that as fat consumption has dropped in this country, diabetes cases have skyrocketed. Fats provide vitamins A, D, E and K, vitamins that protect your heart, your metabolism, and your immune and nervous systems. Fats support hormone production and electrical functions. They’re also the clean-burning energy source your body prefers.

But not just any kind of fat will do. Trans fats (a.k.a. hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated ones) are lethal. Here’s a mantra to memorize: Increases shelf life? Decreases human life. Trans fats are found in thousands of processed foods—mainly packaged baked goods, snack foods, salad dressings, margarines, and french fries (sad but true, I know). Trans fats will be here with the cockroaches when the world ends.

The saturated fats we’ve been eating since the beginning of time in dairy and meat products are better—as long as they have not been tampered with. The mischief begins when hormones, antibiotics and pesticide residue enter the picture, which is why you need to choose organic dairy products and meat.

You have a picture now of what not to eat. Now I’m going to put the pieces together for you and show you a diet that can keep type-2 diabetes out of your life.

A blood-sugar-friendly diet

The diet I prescribe to patients looking to shed their type-2 diabetes requires discipline, but the results are worth it. Here’s a typical day’s worth of food and snacks.

Breakfast: Eat a couple of eggs (try boiling them and adding a pat of butter) plus an apple with chopped nuts. You’ll get the vitamins and filling proteins you need to avoid hunger and develop an ample supply of energy. Try a glass of unsweetened green tea as your beverage, which will give you a rich supply of antioxidants.

Many of my diabetic patients had been starting their days with over-processed cereals, skim milk and a cup of coffee. If you’re looking to avoid diabetes, this is a disaster. Skim milk consists of sugar and protein, and when combined with some fake-food dry cereal is guaranteed to spike blood sugar and lead to cravings by midmorning.

Midmorning snack: Instead of reaching for a doughnut at midmorning, opt for some walnuts, almonds or pecans, or a piece of cheese, plus a large glass of filtered water.

Lunch: For many people, lunch means a sandwich. That’s OK if you eat the right type of sandwich. Use one slice of very dense whole-grain bread from a local bakery, along with organic meats and cheeses. Add a big salad or a bowl of soup (which can include beans, whole grains and vegetables).

Afternoon snack: By late afternoon, grab some nuts or cheese again or some leftovers from lunch. No more potato chips, candy or soda pop.

Dinner: Your dinner should include a piece of fish, chicken or organic beef or lamb (from a pasture-fed animal) plus a plate piled high with vegetables (mostly the non-starchy green-leaf variety, such as bok choy, broccoli, kale or collard greens), and another salad. For dessert, try a piece of fruit—it’s a good way to savor a bit of sweetness without blowing your blood sugar sky high.

Tips and tricks

There are some simple tricks you can use to augment your diet—shake cinnamon onto your fruit and nuts, since cinnamon lowers blood sugar. Use apple cider vinegar on your salads, as research has shown that it significantly reduces blood-sugar and insulin levels after meals.

Take a good once-daily supplement. I recommend Every Man’s One Daily or Every Woman’s One Daily from New Chapter. Also, take a daily tablespoon of Carlson’s Cod Liver Oil for healthy vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, both important for their favorable effects on inflammation and blood-sugar levels.

Finally, consider adding some Rhodiola rosea, one of a class of adaptogens that can aid in balancing the internal workings of your body. One study showed that Rhodiola can significantly reduce blood glucose.

Get some exercise and manage your stress. Building muscle and losing weight will improve your insulin sensitivity, and getting a handle on stress will lower your body’s production of cortisol, which fuels insulin resistance. Several times a day, take a 60-second time-out, during which you slow your breathing down to six breaths per minute. It’ll make a difference.

A home run

By sticking to my diet and making the necessary lifestyle changes, I have seen diabetic patients achieve remarkable results without drugs. After just six months, Jim lost 30 pounds and his fasting sugar levels went back to normal—under 100. (Remember: They were originally in the 300s!) His glycated hemoglobin reading dropped from 9.3 to 5.7. Glycated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1C) gives you a three-month measure of your average blood-sugar. Although most doctors don’t wave the red flag until it’s over 7.0, anything over 5.8 suggests progression toward diabetes.

Jim’s results may seem remarkable, but I promise you they are not. If you’re looking to get your type-2 diabetes under control, stick to my diet. Clip this article and post it to your refrigerator door, then refer back to it often. Change what you eat and how you manage your life, and you will see improvements. With a little discipline, you really can eat your way to being diabetes-free.

Balance your blood sugar with magnesium

Nearly half of all Americans are not getting the 400 mg of magnesium per day needed in their diets. It plays a major role in insulin and glucose metabolism. Get it naturally from these sources:

• Whole-grain breads and cereals
• Beans: varieties include lima, black, and navy
• Avocados
• Pumpkin seeds
• Leafy green vegetables: includes Swiss chard, spinach, mustard and turnip greens
• Broccoli

Dr. Inglis recommends…

More great menu items for managing blood sugar

Breakfast

• Eggs with a banana-almond smoothie
• Whole oat groats and hulled barley (soak overnight) topped with nuts and berries

Lunch

• Salad: romaine lettuce and your choice of vegetables, topped with black beans
• Steamed bok choy and broccoli over brown rice
• Soup: navy beans, barley and a variety of vegetables with a side of hearty bread and a pat of butter

Dinner

• Whole-wheat pasta topped with organic ground-beef meat sauce
• Whole-wheat tortillas with your choice of black beans or organic ground-beef, cheese, and heavy on the veggies
• Grilled organic chicken breasts with steamed kale or collard greens with brown rice

Snacks & desserts

• Small plate of sliced pear or apple with a portion of cheese
• Baked berry or apple-betty made with a whole-oat, chopped-almond and cinnamon-rich topping

10 ways to stay eagle-eyed for life

Your vision provides as much as 80 percent of your sensory input. You want to preserve it at any cost, because it has an enormous impact on your quality of life. You have a couple of conditions working to erode your eyesight. Cataracts are the chief cause of vision loss in both developing and developed countries and are the leading cause of blindness worldwide. As if that weren’t enough, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has become the bane of the “golden years,” currently affecting as many as 20 million elderly Americans.

Most physicians still believe that progression to either of these conditions is inevitable, and they’ll wait to intervene until you start exhibiting symptoms. This type of “reactive” medicine could cost you your eyesight. You’re better off focusing on a variety of proven prevention strategies, running the gamut from nutrition to lifestyle choices, that can help keep your eyes healthy.

Here are 10 areas you can focus on to help promote a lifetime of good eye health:

Use vitamins as a first line of defense

Vitamins A, B, C and E play vital roles in eye health. You can get plenty of these vitamins if you are smart about food choices. Numerous studies have shown that a good way to fill up on vitamin C, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2) and niacin (B3) is with a whole-food diet. It should be a smorgasbord of vividly colored vegetables and whole grains. For vitamin E, I prefer to see patients supplement with food-based multivitamins (available from New Chapter or Mega Food) that include all four tocopherols. Get your preformed vitamin A (retinol) from cod-liver oil, up to 10,000 units a day for most folks. Higher doses may be risky for smokers, people with liver disease stemming from alcohol abuse, or women who are pregnant.

Incorporate sulfur-containing foods into your diet

Glutathione is an eye-supportive antioxidant that works as a major free-radical scavenger in the human lens. It’s found in sulfur-containing foods like onions, garlic, avocados, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, turnips, and cabbage), asparagus, and watermelon—all of which you should eat to your heart’s content. Glutathione boosters include alpha lipoic acid, MSM and N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Astronauts, who are exposed to high levels of oxidative stress-producing UV lights, supplement with as much as 3,000 mg of NAC per day. As for us earthbound folks, we can usually manage this need through nutrition.

Learn to love the yolk

Lutein and zeaxanthin are sibling carotenoid antioxidants found in abundance in leafy green vegetables and egg yolks. Because they’re fat-soluble, you’d be well advised to make sure your diet includes adequate amounts of healthy fats. Lutein and zeaxanthin are present in high amounts in the retina and lens—more so than beta carotene, found in orange-colored fruits and vegetables such as carrots. Folks with early cataracts or AMD should include 6 mg daily of supplemental lutein.

For extra supplemental lutein, Jarrow Formulas Lutein is an excellent, widely available choice. (Go to www.jarrow.com to locate a store near you.) For general prevention, getting 2 mg included in a multivitamin is recommended.

Get your amino acids

Taurine is an interesting amino acid, because it’s the only one that circulates freely on its own through your bloodstream and tissues. Capable of truly multitasking in the body, it helps stabilize biologic membranes in addition to being a useful mood stabilizer and a calmative and cardio-protective agent. It’s the most abundant amino acid in the retina and is known to protect the eye from toxins. For the eye, taurine deficiency is common in people with the retinal degeneration associated with AMD. Consider a supplemental dose of 1,000 mg daily. Taurine can be found naturally in fresh fish and meat.

Mine for minerals in your food choices

It’s not difficult to come up deficient in mineral intake—especially when you consider our food is being grown in increasingly mineral-depleted soil. But minerals are necessary for your eye health.

Zinc, magnesium, and selenium are key multitasking minerals, which means they work as cofactors in your body. The retina has some of the highest concentrations of zinc found in the body. Zinc is found primarily in meat, poultry, and fish and other types of seafood, especially oysters. Magnesium, which supports healthy blood flow to the eye, is found in leafy green vegetables and a variety of nuts. Selenium has been linked to cataract prevention. It’s found in whole grains, shellfish, and especially Brazil nuts—a couple per day can supply your daily requirement.

There’s no need to supplement with more than 200 mcg of selenium per day, as toxicity may kick in with regular ingestion of as little as 750 grams per day.

In one study, high-dose zinc sulfate (100 mg per day) significantly slowed the progression of AMD. While high doses of zinc can suppress the immune system, forAMD sufferers the benefits generally outweigh the risks.

If you don’t have AMD already, 15 to 30 mg per day in a supplement should be sufficient. Also, look for a supplement that includes 2 mg of copper, as supplemental zinc of 30 mg per day or more can reduce copper levels.

Eat more fish

A building block of every cell membrane in the body—and a key player in eye health—is DHA. It’s one of the two key fish-source omega-3 fatty acids that I recommend you look for when choosing an omega-3 supplement. It supports the health of your retinas, improves night vision and hand-eye coordination, and makes up 30 percent to 50 percent of the retinal photoreceptors responsible for light sensitivity. You can obtain it naturally in such fatty cold-water fish as salmon, mackerel, herring, and sardines. Go one better, and get at least 1,000 mg of DHA from cod-liver oil. In one study, the combination of fish-based omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA) in conjunction with acetyl-l-carnitine (1,000 mg) and coenzyme Q10 (100 mg) improved and stabilized vision in the elderly.

Use time-tested herbs

Ginkgo, sage, bilberry and milk thistle all have a role in eye support. Ginkgo (160 mg twice per day) has been shown to increase retinal blood flow by up to 23 percent. Sage also improves circulation. Unlike ginkgo, which can be excitatory for some people, sage is calming. Herbalists recommend 2 grams orally twice per day. Bilberry jam was used by RAF pilots in World War II to help support their night vision. Bilberries (similar to blueberries) and bilberry jam can be tasty additions to your diet. Bilberry is also found in many combination eye-support supplements.

Your liver supplies important substances that aid in molecular repair of the eye, including glutathione (which I mentioned earlier). To help support your liver while it’s supporting your eye health, I recommend you take the time-honored milk thistle (150 mg two or three times per day) to boost liver function.

Be wary of drug-treatment effects

If you’re taking any medication regularly, play it safe and wear sunglasses whenever you’re outside. More than 300 common drugs are known photosensitizers, which means they lead to increased light sensitivity. Cholesterol-lowering “statin” drugs, such as Lipitor, can diminish glutathione production in the liver (and that’s just one thing they do to your liver). Tylenol may also be liver-toxic, even in small amounts (over 4 grams per day, and as little as 2 grams daily if you drink even moderate amounts of alcohol each day). Corticosteroids (e.g. prednisone and hydrocortisone) are known to raise the incidence of both cataracts and glaucoma.

The danger is most pronounced with the topical steroids used to treat eye inflammation and allergies. These medications are best avoided, so ask your eye doctor for an alternative.

Wear sunglasses

Taking medication isn’t the only reason you should don sunglasses. Excessive sun exposure and high altitudes have long been known to raise the frequency of cataracts and AMD. (Astronauts who go into space even once have a higher incidence of cataracts.) One study found that those who reported higher levels of sun exposure than their peers were able to cut their risk in half for developing deposits on their retinas (which signal degeneration)––just by wearing sunglasses. The damage from sun exposure is cumulative over a lifetime, so children especially should be encouraged to wear sunglasses.

Avoid lifestyle risks

There are many lifestyle-related risk accelerators that can lead to eye disease. These include smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, not exercising, having diabetes, high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, lack of sleep, poor nutrition and poor stress-handling skills. They all contribute to increasing your chance of developing eye problems.

Postmenopausal women have higher rates of AMD than do men. While hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may be beneficial, I wouldn’t recommend it simply for this reason.

Remember, you’re in control of your lifestyle. Make sure you eat plenty of fatty cold-water fish, leafy green vegetables like spinach and kale, and fruits like blueberries and grapes. Round out your food selections with nuts and extra-virgin olive oil. Finally, make sure you get a regular eye exam from a specialist. Ask your primary-care doctor how often you should get one, since individual need varies.

Finally, I recommend you consider taking a good, comprehensive eye-support formula. Mega Food has a well-designed botanical combination eye formula called Vision Strength. Another good product, though more challenging to obtain, is Ocuforce, from Designs for Health. It’s available through many health professionals and some related Web sites.

I don’t care for the commonly prescribed Bausch and Lomb Ocuvite products, although they were used successfully in studies. Unfortunately, they contain inferior forms of zinc and vitamin E. Your eyes deserve the best. Getting the best products may cost a little more, but good eye health is well worth the price.

Setting the record straight on vitamin E

It seems as though the medical community thrives on creating confusion—one day something is good for you, and the next it isn’t. The reason for this is often a simple one: The “studies” that some mainstream docs cite as gospel are frequently funded—or at least influenced—by special interests. One of the things I’m here to do is help you separate the genuine medical information from the bunk—and a lot of the information that has emerged lately on vitamin E is pure bunk.

Vitamin E is classified as an antioxidant that pgle

rotects fats found in human tissues from free-radical damage. It stabilizes cell membranes, regulates vitamin A, protects red blood cells, and helps control cell division, which could possibly confer an anti-cancer benefit. So why is it getting a bad rap?

A great deal of attention has been focused on vitamin E and heart-disease prevention, and doctors often cite two prominent, negative studies. In one, a review of 19 clinical trials concluded that long-term use of 400 IU or more of vitamin E per day was associated with a small 4 percent increase in overall risk of death. In another study, people with heart disease who took 400 IU daily developed heart failure more often than did those taking a placebo—5.8 percent vs. 4.2 percent. I cite these two studies because doctors will often use them as “proof” that vitamins are no good.

Risk-benefit analysis

But here’s what you won’t hear: Both studies had serious methodological flaws. Both studies—like the vast majority of vitamin E clinical research—used only the alpha-tocopherol form. Researchers seem to have fixated solely on this one form because it’s more potent in humans than are the other forms. This is a classic example of an archaic, limited-reductionist approach.

Another thing you won’t hear is that the benefits of vitamin E far outweigh the “risks” found in these flawed studies. High-dose supplemental vitamin E (usually 400 to 800 IU daily of the alpha-tocopherol variety) has been used to treat a wide variety of complaints. It speeds the healing of burns, provides immune-system support (particularly for the elderly), and has been known to benefit patients suffering from leg pain due to poor circulation, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and age-related macular degeneration (for more on eye health, go to page 4). I hate to think that people suffering from these conditions are being scared away, quite unnecessarily, from vitamin E.

Let’s face it—vitamin E has been an important dietary staple throughout history. We know from the research of nutrition expert Dr. Weston L. Price in the 1930s that many pre-industrial, primitive diets around the world supported excellent health and vitality. And those diets were rich in key vitamins, including vitamin E.

Food sources for vitamin E include wheat germ, nuts and seeds, whole grains, egg yolks, and leafy green vegetables. Foods that feature vitamin E often contain other nutrients that help support its function, including selenium, unsaturated fats, sulfur-based amino acids, and antioxidants like vitamin C and beta carotene.

Here are my common-sense recommendations: If you’re going to use vitamin E to treat a condition (the way you would use a drug), use a full-spectrum product with all four tocopherols and tocotrienols, such as Carlson E-Gems. (Go to www.carlsonlabs.com to locate a store near you.)

Other full-spectrum products include New Chapter’s Vitamin E and Standard Process’ Wheat Germ Oil Fortified™. I highly recommend either, as it would be reasonable to expect overall health benefits from a food-based product.

CAUTION: Supplemental vitamin E in higher doses over 400 IU has blood-thinning effects. Usually desirable, this could actually pose a hazard to people on the blood-thinning drug Coumadin (warfarin).

Vitamin E––naturally

• Sunflower seeds
• Almonds
• Peanuts
• Spinach
• Kiwi
• Broccoli
• Mango
• Wheat germ

Your Questions Answered

When your heart takes a hit, you can fight back

Q. I’m 62 years old and have been told I have congestive heart failure. I have a history of high blood pressure and am now on three drugs for it. My doctor tells me I had one or more silent heart attacks in the past because my heart isn’t pumping normally. My ejection fraction is 35 percent—whatever that means. I’m now taking a water pill, Lasix, to help the swelling in my legs and feet. I’ve finally quit smoking and have become serious about my diet and weight, but isn’t there something more I can do? I don’t want to live on Lasix the rest of my life.
––A. Potts, Charlotte, NC

A:The short answer is yes—there’s plenty you can do. In particular, there are specific nutrients that can help your heart to pump more efficiently.

First, let’s talk about your ejection fraction. This number reflects how much blood is being pumped out per heartbeat. Based on your heart’s ejection fraction, you’ve lost 25 percent to 30 percent of your heart’s strength. So now there’s back-up pressure in the vessels leading to your heart. As a result, fluid is pushed out of these blood vessels into tissue—mainly in the lungs and liver but also in the legs and feet. Another name for visible swelling due to fluid build-up is edema. All this waterlogged tissue is what the term “congestive” refers to.

When your doctor took his assessment, he probably saw a combination of things. One most likely was an abnormally thickened left ventricle, which is common in patients who have been dealing with high blood pressure for years. Another may have been some degree of damage from a silent heart attack. In a heart attack, the vessels serving the heart are blocked, preventing blood from delivering essential oxygen to the hard-working heart muscle. You end up with irreversible damage—a permanent scarring. A silent heart attack can happen in the absence of symptoms and occurs in up to 25 percent of cases.

And in case you weren’t aware, your heart is an energy hog. Many folks with CHF are functionally deficient in key nutrients required to produce energy in the heart muscle. These key nutrients are magnesium, carnitine, coenzyme Q10 and ribose. Many people with congestive heart failure are also deficient in vitamin D and vitamin B2 (riboflavin).

For vitamin D, ask your doctor to check your 25-hydroxy vitamin D level. Make sure it’s between 40 and 60 nanograms per milliliter, which for most folks will require 1,000 to 2,000 IUs of D3 daily. Most folks with CHF have some degree of vitamin D deficiency.

Here’s a roundup of nutraceuticals that you should consider adding to your daily regimen. They’ll help support and energize your heart.

1) Magnesium: Any form but the “oxide” version is good, so look for citrate, glycinate, orotate, or lactate. Take 400 to 800 mg daily.

2) D-ribose: Take 10 to 15 grams. It’s a huge energy-restorer and will help you to feel better than ever. I recommend you take a look at the product from Valen Labs (www.valenlabs.com). It includes both ribose and magnesium, which is also an effective treatment for chronic fatigue ass puociated with CHF.

3) L-Carnitine: 2,000 to 3,000 mg a day.

4) Coenzyme Q10: Take 100 to 300 mg in the gel-cap form. I put my wife’s grandmother on this while her ejection fraction was 40 percent. It increased to 50 percent after coenzyme Q10 treatment.

5) Vitamin B: Obtain this important vitamin through a whole-food diet that includes bananas, chicken breasts, tuna, liver, and beef tenderloin (from organic sources).

6) Food-based multivitamins: Use of multivitamins is the easiest way to give your body much of what it may be lacking. New Chapter (www.newchapter.com), Mega Food (www.megafood.com), and Standard Process (www.standardprocess.com) all carry multivitamins that I recommend highly.

7) Heart-healthy omega-3s: Take 2,000 to 3,000 grams of fish oil that includes DHA and EPA. (You’ll need to add up the amounts on the label.)

I owe a huge thanks to Frank Sinatra, M.D. (not to be confused with “Ol’ Blue Eyes”), an integrative cardiologist who spells this all out in his excellent book The Sinatra Solution, which I consider recommended reading for anyone suffering from CHF.

By the way, you may be able to eliminate the need for Lasix entirely and reduce—or even eliminate—the need for your blood-pressure medications with the right combination of these supplemental nutrients, exercise, and a whole-food diet.