The red-flag number that could signal heart disease (and why your doctor might be ignoring it!)

Control your cholesterol and you’ll reduce your risk of collapsing from a heart attack—right? That’s what we’re led to believe. But there’s another factor that mainstream doctors disregard that’s actually just as deadly—and you’d better pay immediate attention to it!

This risk factor is being ignored and dismissed because there’s no patented medication for it.

Compare that to cholesterol. There are now six patented prescription statins on the market, and worldwide it’s a $30 billion industry. Big Pharma is cashing in. (And it’s no coincidence that cereal makers, snack-food companies, and exercise-equipment makers are now cashing in also with ads claiming they too can reduce your cholesterol level.)

That’s not good medicine! That’s good marketing.

I want to say this as clearly and boldly as I can: Your cholesterol level is only ONE factor that can increase your risk of heart disease! The other factor that no one has been talking about, not even among many alternative doctors, is your homocysteine level. Homocysteine is what is formed when your body breaks down protein. In excess, it’s a toxic substance. And it could be what’s elevating your cholesterol, but you won’t see that in any ads. High homocysteine levels have also been linked to Alzheimer’s and osteoporosis.

So why haven’t you heard about this until now? For the same reason cholesterol claims now appear on cereal boxes—money! I’ll tell you more about that in a moment, and I’ll show you step by step how to reduce your homocysteine level with safe, natural solutions.

A simple process gone awry

Let’s take a closer look at homocysteine and its role in your body. Homocysteine is what results when an amino acid called methionine is broken down. Methionine is found in many foods—especially in red meat.

You have an ongoing simple, chemical process that occurs in your body called methylation. When methylation is working normally, it changes the toxic homocysteine into a nontoxic amino acid and keeps the levels of toxic homocysteine low in the body. In order for this conversion to take place, the methy- lation process requires adequate amounts of folate, B12, and B6. (This is an example of specific nutrients at work!)

Abnormal methylation occurs due to a genetic variation for a particular individual, plus inadequate intake of the B vitamins. Eat too much protein (as people do with the Standard American Diet) and don’t get enough B vitamins in order to methylate the homocysteine, and the result will be a rise in your level. Also, due to common genetic variations, up to 44 percent of the population has abnormal methylation. Having abnormal meth-ylation for any reason increases the risk of the sorts of problems I mentioned earlier—such as heart disease.

In the famous Nurses Health Study, researchers looked at the incidence of heart attacks and intake of B6 and folate in over 80,000 women. The women began with no previous history of heart disease, high cholesterol, cancer, or diabetes. They were followed for 14 years, during which time there were 658 nonfatal and 281 fatal heart attacks. Participants who had the highest intakes of B6 had more than a 30 percent lower risk of heart attack than did those with a lower intake. And those with the highest intakes of both folate and B6 had less than half the risk!

High homocysteine levels are just bad news when it comes to your blood vessels and heart. It triggers unfavorable inflammatory changes in your vessel walls, encouraging the growth of unwanted muscle tissue in those walls, leading to the growth of life-threatening atherosclerotic plaque. Homocysteine also promotes the formation of clots in those same vessels—the final step in a heart attack after plaque rupture. And here’s the cholesterol connection: High homocysteine levels actually promote the transformation of so-called “bad” LDL cholesterol into its harmful oxidized form.

When it comes to homocysteine —the lower, the better. Levels above 10 are associated with an up to three times increased risk of experiencing a heart attack, and levels like this occur in 5 to 10 percent of the population—and in 40 percent or more of people with heart disease.

Most recently, a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that a homocysteine level above 15 increased the risk of death in patients with heart disease an incredible 6.47 times! And it’s even worse for smokers: Another study showed a 12 times higher risk for heart disease in smokers who have a level above 12.

It also plays havoc with your brain. Levels above 14 increase your risk of Alzheimer’s. The higher your levels, the more DNA within your brain that is damaged by oxygen and eventually killed off. As more of your brain cells die from this process, the greater the amount of memory loss that occurs. Researchers from the Framingham Study, an ongoing study following the population of Framingham, Massachusetts, found that levels over 14 increase the risk of Alzheimer’s by 150 percent!

High homocysteine levels are also related to osteoporosis. Low estrogen levels in women appear to raise the level of homocysteine, leading to an increased risk of developing osteoporosis. The idea is to keep your homocysteine level as low as possible.

So I’m sure you have to be asking, if homocysteine is linked to heart disease, as it clearly is, why isn’t it getting as much attention as, say, cholesterol?

Blacklisted for creative thinking

To answer that question, we have to go back a few years. The homocysteine link was actually discovered about four decades ago thanks to the pioneering work of Dr. Kilmer McCully. But that discovery actually got him blacklisted for a time! Dr. McCully was a scientist on research fellowships at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1969, he found a link between homocysteine and heart disease in two different cases involving a rare genetic disease called “homocystinuria,” which causes unusually high levels of homocysteine in the blood.

Dr. McCully was drawn by these two cases, which involved children, both of whom died of severe atherosclerosis normally seen only in elderly people. He thought maybe the homocysteine was what caused the arterial damage. And if this was so, then maybe high homocysteine went beyond this rare genetic disorder and was a factor for the same type of damage in the population at large.

He was right.

Beyond that, he theorized that the most likely cause of high homocysteine levels in the wider population was due to a nutritional deficiency! Specifically B6, B12, and folic acid.

Unfortunately for Dr. McCully, his theory conflicted with another theory that was striving for dominance at the time: Cholesterol. He didn’t stand a chance. No one would fund his research. Even if he proved heart disease could be cured with a few simple vitamins, there was no money to be made because you can’t patent Mother Nature. Meanwhile, mainstream researchers got all the funding they needed to develop synthetic cholesterol-lowering statins that they could patent and turn into blockbuster drugs.

As for Dr. McCully, with a scientific theory that he couldn’t get funding to support, he ended up losing his academic position and had difficulty finding another job for a couple of years.

But as time went on, studies on homocysteine were done that sparked new interest. (The truth has a funny way of not lying down.) One researcher took advantage of an ongoing study called the Physicians Health Study, looking at homocysteine in the physicians who made up the study’s participants. His team found that those whose homocysteine levels were in the highest five percent were more than three times more likely to have had a heart attack than those who were in the bottom 90 percent.

This finding that homocysteine was connected with heart disease spawned yet more research with additional risk findings, including some that utilized the ongoing Framingham Study. Researchers found that 30 percent of the overall population was not getting enough folic acid, which was mimicked in the Framingham population—30 percent of whom had high homocysteine. Also, people with high homocysteine levels had double the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

Tossing the baby out with the bath water

So why aren’t doctors testing homocysteine levels?

Most still buy into two recent studies that got lots of attention with headlines like, “Hope Abandoned for Benefit to Lowering Homocysteine.” The studies concluded that moderate lowering of homocysteine doesn’t help folks who already have serious vascular disease.

There are several problems with these two studies that you need to know about. First of all, the studies were done with groups of people who already had severe vascular disease. The horse was already out of the barn and about to cross the state line—a little too late for a few B vitamins to make a difference. The abnormal and harmful tissue changes of vascular heart disease are known to start decades before the onset of symptoms.

Another problem with these studies involves the levels that were looked at. In the studies, the starting homocysteine levels weren’t especially high (in the 12 to 13 range) and the ending levels after two or three years weren’t especially low (9.6 to 9.7). It’s still well above a 9.0 level that we already know reduces your risk. There really wasn’t much of a difference, so of course, the B vitamins wouldn’t make much of a difference.

What’s needed is a study that looks at otherwise healthy folks who haven’t yet developed symptomatic heart disease, but have homocysteine levels around 15. Then, try lowering them with adequate levels of folate, B12 and B6 to below a 7.5, and do it for a minimum of five years. Don’t look for Big Pharma to fund that one, though!

If you’ve never had your homocysteine level checked, I recommend you have your doctor perform this simple blood test right away. I, along with many other experts, suggest you lower your homocysteine to below 7.5, especially if you have other risk factors for heart disease, dementia, or osteoporosis or suffer from any degree of depression. (Abnormal methylation, for which an elevated homocysteine is a marker, may result in a neurotransmitter defect in the brain.)

Some health insurance companies will consider the test to be a preventive screening and may not cover the cost. Check with your insurance company. The blood test costs about $50.

However, if you have your blood tested in the morning after a 12-hour fast, the level measured may not be a true measure of your normal level. That’s because after an overnight fast, your methionine levels—and therefore your homocysteine levels —are at their lowest. (Remember, methionine is an amino acid from foods.)

One option is to have your homocysteine level checked after a meal. Another is to first have a baseline-fasting homocysteine level drawn. You then take methionine in supplement form of 50 mg per kg of body weight (4 to 5 grams for most people), wait three hours, and have it rechecked. This is called a methionine challenge test and is a more accurate measure of how well your body methylates. This method can identify an additional 25 percent of people with abnormal methylation that I told you about earlier.

And the way you get your level below 7.5 is by taking folate, anywhere from 1 mg to 5 mg per day. The key is to push the dose up to achieve the treatment goal of 7.5 or below. You’ll want to work under the patient supervision of a willing doctor. For B6, 50 to 100 mg is usually enough. For B12, up to 1,000 mcg may be necessary. I recommend the sublingual form, which is better absorbed.

Along with supplementation, I recommend you include folate-rich foods in your diet to achieve your goal. See the side box for some ideas.

SBPG3

Foods high in folate (by microgram)

Spinach 1 cup 263
Broccoli ½ cup 128
Sunflower 4 tbsp. 82
seeds
Avocado 1 cup 81
Romaine 1 cup 64
lettuce
Walnuts ½ cup 57
Orange juice 6 oz. 54

Top 10 Food additives to avoid like the plague

I’m not going to reminisce about the “good old days,” but I do feel sorry for folks today who think fresh fruit or vegetables means something that’s eaten before the “sell date” on the plastic package. They’ve probably never enjoyed the pleasure of biting into a fruit or vegetable that’s been picked only moments before.

It wasn’t too long ago that meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products came from known local producers, if not from your own animals. These animals weren’t pumped full of antibiotics and hormones, either. They were raised in what most of us would agree were humane conditions as compared to the senseless brutality of modern corporate factory farming. Healthy grains were obtained locally without the addition of destructive chemical fertilizers cooked up in a lab.

And we certainly didn’t require any additives—and you don’t need them today. They’re unnatural, concocted in a laboratory, and meant to doctor food that was perfectly good to begin with. They go hand in hand with assorted side effects that you just don’t get with natural foods.

Here are my top 10 food additives—many of them banned in Europe—to delete from your diet.

Sodium nitrate

A versatile substance, it’s used to dye fabrics and textiles, in metal coatings, for photography, and for the manufacture of rubber chemicals. It also lends a desirable red color to meat and fish, and happens to be toxic to mammals. The food companies don’t even hesitate to use it in our food.

Of particular concern is the formation of potentially harmful nitrosamines, when it’s combined with stomach acid. Nitrosamines can cause cancer. And some scientists are concerned about an association with colon cancer and lung disease. Will it cause cancer in everyone who ingests it? No, but there are an unlucky few—so don’t wait around for a definitive answer. Due to variables of individual susceptibility, it’s difficult to predict who will react to it. Be aware of it and avoid or at least minimize the processed meat and fish products that contain it.

Potassium bromate

Some years back, a consumer group urged the FDA to ban this additive—used to bake bread—because it’s been found to be “possibly carcinogenic” to humans. It causes cancers in lab animals. But due to a legislative technicality, the FDA allows its use to continue. (It’s banned in Europe.)

You can protect yourself by purchasing whole grain breads that have been baked without it. Those commercial loaves stacked to the ceiling in grocery stores are mostly air anyway, not to mention they’re doctored to the hilt with extra sugar and trans fats. Worse, they’re further adulterated with a cheap vitamin spray that’s supposed to convince you that all of the valuable nutrients stripped from the grains have somehow been successfully replaced. Wonder Bread, my eye!

Food coloring

There are seven colorants approved for use in foods in this country that many European countries have seen fit to ban. Here are a few to watch for: Allura Red AC, Brilliant Blue FCF, and FD&C Yellow No. 5. All of them are derived from coal tars—hardly an appetizing source! They’re variously associated with causing cancer in rats, causing allergic reactions, and provoking increased hyperactivity in susceptible children. Here we go again—those who are susceptible, and who knows for sure whom that is? Keep in mind that these are chemicals that don’t exist in nature.

MSG (monosodium glutamate)

Some years back, you couldn’t watch the news without hearing about MSG. Discovered in Japan to be a flavor enhancer, it seems to be in everything: Canned foods, stocks, potato chips, snack foods, frozen dinners and fast foods.

Even the FDA recognizes that some people develop the so-called MSG Symptom Complex. This presents varied symptoms that include a burning sensation on the skin of the neck, forehead and chest, numbness radiating down the neck to the arms and legs, facial pressure, chest pain, nausea, and/or a fast heart rate. (People want to feel better after eating!)

Scientists continue to argue about MSGs role as an excitotoxin, which can cause brain damage or chronic disease. Although individual spikes of MSG in the body from, say, just a bag of potato chips may not in itself be harmful, it’s not known what harm may accrue over the years from repeated ingestion for some folks. MSG goes by other names on labels, to Glutamic acid, hydrolyzed protein, textured protein, yeast extract, modified food starch and modified corn starch. Avoid it all.

Aspartame

This widely used artificial sweetener (Equal, NutraSweet) is associated with over 90 undesirable side effects. These include headaches, dizziness, mood changes, stomach issues, seizures and memory loss for starters. Studies in the 1970s showed it caused brain tumors in rats, and a recent study showed (again) associations with leukemia, breast cancer, and lymphomas.

A National Cancer Institute study in 2006 looked at folks ages 50 to 69 over 5 years and concluded that the product was safe, but it failed to evaluate whether some people are more susceptible than others and didn’t look at lifetime-of-ingestion effects. My advice: Keep it out of your body. It’s found in nutritionally worthless junk like soda and gum anyway, so you won’t miss it.

Olestra

I can think of nothing less appetizing than a synthetic fat that passes right through your body without being absorbed. Not to mention that it causes “anal leakage,” a cringe-worthy description if ever there was one. It’s considered an “anti-nutrient,” meaning it reduces your body’s ability to absorb important fat-soluble carotenoid antioxidants from fruits and vegetables as well as the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

Launched in 1996 with much fanfare, sales were dismal thanks to the strict warning label. But the FDA caved in 2003 and allowed laxer label wording. It’s still found in many “light” products, which many folks find unappealing compared to undoctored products. Over 20,000 complaints of adverse effects have been filed—more than have been filed against all other food additives put together! Initially used in potato chips, it has now made its way into crackers—and who knows where it will end up next!

Hydrogenated fats

These are man-made fats derived mostly from soybeans, and they perform no useful function in the human body. (Also goes by “partially hydrogenated” and “trans fats.”) Designed to increase shelf life, they shorten your shelf life, killing 15,000 to 20,000 people prematurely each year due to adverse effects, mainly on the heart.

These fake fats float around in the body, promoting oxidative stress, free-radical damage, and inflammation. They can also throw off your cholesterol and damage your arteries. Worse, they incorporate themselves into your cell membranes. This prevents normal, healthy communication between brain cells and the rest of your body, further compounding the risk of common degenerative diseases like diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. They’re already outlawed in several European countries, and food companies in this country are scrambling to find substitutes because more of us are avoiding them like the plague they are.

Saccharin

Well-known as a tabletop sweetener, it’s still found in Sweet N’ Low and many diet foods. Studies support that in animals it causes cancer of the bladder, the ovaries, the uterus, skin, and blood vessels. Back in the 1970s, the FDA actually proposed to ban it. Congress intervened and in 2000 repealed the law requiring saccharin to carry health-warning labels.

Scientists and public-health experts continue to argue over its dangers. We have no good data proving it does not cause cancer in more susceptible people, so it’s best to nix it altogether. Ironically, such artificial sweeteners have never been shown to actually help people lose weight, so why risk your health?

Dextrose

This is sugar found naturally in fruits and honey that’s added to foods as a sweetener, and it’s certainly preferable to artificial ones. What’s unnatural is the food companies banking on the ignorance of the public in being able to identify added sugar—which is empty calories and a promoter of tooth decay. The average American consumes 25 pounds of dextrose per year, and 150 pounds of all refined sugars.

Sorbitol

Known as an alcohol sugar, it occurs naturally in small amounts in fruits and berries. It’s half as sweet as sugar and used in many diet foods. Diabetics like it because it causes only a slow rise in blood sugar. However, 20 percent of the population does not digest it well, experiencing gas, stomach pains, cramps and diarrhea. Much less common is rectal bleeding, usually associated with using larger amounts as an actual laxative. The problem is this: People go to doctors with these complaints, but the doctors won’t think of sorbitol as a cause. You’ll end up on a wild-goose chase that can include unnecessary testing, X-rays or CAT scans, scoping procedures—and drugs. Other alcohol sugars to watch for include mannitol, lactitol and xylitol––so read those labels carefully!

Andean “pick-me-up” root

Native cultures around the world have a grand history of identifying plants with remarkable life-enhancing properties, including those that would get them “in the mood.”

One time-tested plant that does just that is Lepidium meyenii, or maca, a root vegetable that’s related to the radish and turnip. It’s found 14,000 feet above sea level in the Peruvian Andes. Not only does it have an honored reputation for boosting sexual desire and energy, it’s also known for quieting symptoms of menopause. In fact, there are more and more doctors finding it immensely helpful for women who suffer from hot flashes, sleep disorders, and mood and memory problems normally associated with menopause. Peruvian tradition also deems maca able to make both men and women more fertile.

When it comes to maca’s effect on the libido, it seems to give sexual desire a powerful boost. This would suggest a direct action on the emotional centers of the brain.

The story goes that farmers observed their animals copulating much more frequently when consuming maca. They decided to try it for themselves with reportedly similar results!

If you want to learn how to perform at your absolute best, you’ll want to look at competitive athletes and see what they’re doing to naturally enhance their performance. Athletes are now taking an interest in maca for this very quality of spurring performance, as well as its energy-boosting powers.

Maca is considered an adaptogen, which is a special class of herbs that helps to balance your body’s hormones—which explains maca’s success in treating meno-pausal symptoms. Adaptogens are also known to relieve the physical effects of stress. In order to be considered an adaptogen, the herb must cause minimal side effects and be very low in any possible toxicity.

Some folks who start to take maca notice a quick effect in terms of their energy, sex drive, and menopausal symptoms within just a few days. For other people, the effects may take a few more weeks to become noticeable. By the way, people who respond well to maca also report feeling both energized and calmer at the same time. Other positives are an improved skin tone and a healthier general appearance.

Proof is in the pudding

A couple of smaller studies in humans confirm an increase in sexual desire and an increase in sperm count. And beyond the real-life reports from those Peruvian farmers, there are a variety of animal studies that show increased sexual activity as well.

When you have a traditional, botanical substance like maca, with a long history pointing to specific properties and effects observed over many years, I believe the benefits are more than accidental. Too many drug study-oriented doctors and scientists want to wait for more studies when there is already a long history supporting that it works!

I’m happy to accept the common-sense results that are right before my eyes. Maca has been consumed—safely—for hundreds if not thousands of years, by people and animals alike.

I recommend you start with 500 mg of maca once or twice per day. The eventual dose to work up to is 500 to 1,000 mg two to three times per day. As usual, you can expect the best benefit when working under the supervision of an experienced practitioner.

I like a nice organic formulation called MACA Magic, from Herbs America. I’m especially appreciative of the fact that it’s sustainably harvested, making it a renewable resource that ensures an ongoing supply. Currently, maca is so popular (despite no hard-core drug studies to support it!) that some less-reputable concerns have been engaging in irresponsible and rapacious practices.

Growers should allow the land to rest for several years between maca plantings, due to its drain on the nutrient content of the soil. Some companies also use chemicals to increase production. I’ll take mine organically grown, thank you. And I prefer to support companies that take the stance of being stewards—as opposed to plunderers—of resources. HR

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Let this “flu fighter” fade into the mist

Q.I want to do anything possible to avoid the flu, because I can’t afford the downtime. I’ve read and been hearing a lot about something called FluMist. I know you warn your patients to stay away from the flu vaccine, but I wonder if this is a good alternative. I’m 61 years old, and I have my 14-year-old grandchild living with me. Is there any reason why we both can’t get it?

––J. Tolson, Lansing, MI

A.I’m sure you have your hands full with a teenager in the house—and probably the last thing you want is for them to bring flu germs home from school!

However, I think it’s wise to look for a healthier alternative for staving off the flu. FluMist is just a risky flu vaccine—of questionable effectiveness—in different packaging. There are plenty of reasons NOT to take it.

First and foremost, FluMist was made for folks under the age of 50. That doesn’t make it any less of an unsavory choice for the younger crowd, though. It is actually a live flu virus—10 million to 100 million of such viruses—that’s blown right up your nose! This is actually a small number of viruses, intended to promote a healthy protective immune response that can supposedly help prevent flu for up to one year.

Common side effects of FluMist include coughing, a runny nose, irritability, headaches, chills and muscle aches. The side effects sound like the flu to me! It is, albeit a milder version—but still the very thing you’re trying to avoid.

And that brings me to another important point. The following written warning is included with every dose:

FluMist recipients should avoid contact with immunocompromised individuals for at least 21 days.

Many folks have immune systems not quite up to snuff, including people with eczema, cancer, or HIV. Also, anybody on corticosteroids, such as prednisone, could be immuno-compromised.

Indeed, you might make the argument that the elderly and anybody with any serious chronic disease—diabetes, for example—should not be exposed to this virus. And all it takes to shed the virus is a simple sneeze or a blowing of the nose, so you can see what a real problem this can be.

But that’s not even the biggest problem. I would point the finger at the false sense of security people derive from using something like FluMist. They think they’re protected to the extent that they can skip over sound, healthy prevention practices like regular hand washing, adequate sleep and rest, stress avoidance, and limiting excess amounts of sugar. Too much sugar in your diet depresses your immune system, leaving you vulnerable to infection.

I recommend you consider skipping the vaccine—the shot as well as FluMist. I am now recommending to my patients that, for general immune support during the cold season, they use a product called HOST DEFENSE from New Chapter. It’s an advanced combination mycomedicine (a type of treatment made from medicinal mushrooms) devised by Paul Stamets, one of the world’s leading mycomedicine experts.

Also, I can’t emphasize enough this simple habit: regular—and effective—hand washing. And to be sure it’s effective, wash for 15 seconds with soap and warm water. And I mean 15 seconds—count them out! It’s a valuable lesson for your grandchild to learn early, as well. (I say, start them young.)

If you feel flu-like symptoms coming on, I suggest you load up on vitamin C (1,000 mg every two to three hours), grape seed extract (50 to 100 mg), Echinacea and garlic.

Should you actually come down with the flu, I recommend that you use Oscillococcinum. It’s an effective European homeopathic remedy. It’ll shorten the duration of your flu symptoms. I also favor Sambucol for the same reason. Sambucol is a specially formulated black elderberry formula that I really like. As always, the earlier you start treating yourself, the better. I appreciate questions from my readers, and I encourage you to send yours in. You can either email them to housecalls@healthiernews.com or send them by way of regular mail to 819 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

The text contained herein does not constitute medical advice. Health Revelations advises that you consult your own physician before acting on any recommendations contained within this publication.