Omega-3's. Good for What Ails You!

Omega-3's. Remember them? Believe it or not there is even more good news on the benefits of omega-3 fish oil and why you should be taking a least 1000mg every day. I receive a email newsletter weekly that summarizes all of the newly published research pertaining to nutritional supplements. Since January of this year 4 new studies have been completed and published on the benefits of omega-3's.

The first study tested omega-3 fish oil as an adjunct treatment for lowering cholesterol while using statin type drugs. What the author of the study found should be of no surprise to anyone in the health food universe. Taking between 4 and 8 grams of omega-3 fish oil per day lowers cholesterol. The fish oil supplement further lowered the study participants total cholesterol in a dose dependant manner. In other words, the more you take the better it works. What the authors did not do is test omega-3 fish oil by itself. Most of you know that omega-3 fish oil lowers total cholesterol, lowers LDLs and raises HDLs. What is also interesting is that authors did not mention that fish oil could be used without the use of statin drugs. Hmmm.....I wonder who paid for this study?

The next study tested DHA in middle aged men and women to see what effect the DHA had on blood pressure and endothelial function. The study participants were given 1.5g/d of oil containing 700 mg of DHA. After three months the study authors found that this level of DHA lowered blood pressure by 3.3 mm Hg and lower the heart rate by 2.1 beats per minute. DHA did not decrease arterial stiffness in any of the participants. What all this means is that taking six fish oil capsules per day (720 mg of DHA) will help to lower blood pressure and heart rates.

The next study addresses an often overlooked benefit of taking omega-3 fish oil. That is the effect of not having enough omega-3's in the diet may cause depression, impulsivity and personality and mood swings.
The authors of this study showed that there is a inverse correlation between the amount of omega-3 in the diet and the different personality disorders. What this means is that for people who are predisposed to depression even if they are not aware that fact, omega-3 fish oil can help to decrease the symptoms of depression. In addition, all of the other personality disorders saw a marked reduction in severity when taking omega-3 fish oil.

The last of the group is an article about the benefits of omega-3 fish oil and the reduction of cardiovascular disease and sudden cardiac death. The authors cite the four large scale studies among the thousands of smaller studies that show the benefits of omega-3 fish oil in preventing cardiovascular disease and sudden cardiac death. The authors discuss the importance of omega-3's index ( the level of EPA + DHA in red blood cells), which when greater than 8% is associated with a 90% decrease of sudden cardiac death, compared to the levels below 4%. What does all this mean? These author argue that if the serum level of omega-3's is greater than 8% in the individual red blood cell, you have a 90% less chance of dying of sudden cardiac death ( myocardial infarction or heart attack).

Thanks for spending part of your day here with me,

James

Nutritition and Doctors

An article in my latest trade magazine had an interesting survey about doctors. It seems that doctors are not pleased with the level of nutritional training they received in medical school. The survey polled 400 doctors of which 97% were members of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The survey revealed that many of these doctors felt that is at least somewhat or mostly their responsibility to provide nutritional counseling for their patients. Think about this for a moment. How many times in the past have you read where some unknown doctor was quoted as saying nutrition didn't matter? Like every other business, the medical field is changing when faced with consumer demand. Consumers have an almost infinite amount of information at their fingertips with the Internet. What consumers need and want is someone to help to interpret the information.

Where does one go to help interpret this kind of information? The Internet is not the place to go for most people. Why? If you don't know enough to know that you don't know enough, then how are you going to sift through the thousands of pages of Internet drool looking for one tidbit of usable information. Even if you found that tidbit, would you know how to apply this information to your particular problem? The answer is finding several people that you can trust to help you decide what is the best course of action for you. One of the best persons for this job should be your doctor. But as is stated above, he does not know enough to give you an informed decision. Here at my store I work with my customers and their doctors to determine what if any supplements should be used and for how long.

Thanks for spending part of your day here with me,

James

A Real Cure for CANCER?

A few days ago an interesting newsletter came across my email. I have seen many articles claiming a cure for cancer, from Barley Grass to Hydrogenperoxide all have failed to live up to their promise. This is not unexpected since the best cancer researchers in the world still do not agree upon how a normal cell becomes cancerous.

This new article was featured on the January 20th e-newsletter form newscientist.com. The link for the article is : http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/mg19325874.700-cheap-safe-drug-kills-most-cancers.html. This is an exciting development if all the facts become known and the follow-up research is carried on.

I am going to summarize the article only because I think you should read this for yourself. Scientists at the University of Alberta in Edmonton found that by using the chemical dichloroacetate, abnormal cancerous cells switched back form using glycolysis to using their mitochondria. So what you say. This is big. Very, very big. The mitochondria in addition to providing the individual cells energy also serve the body by telling an abnormal cell to self destruct. Which means the cancer cells kill themselves without the use of toxic chemotherapy or radiation treatments.

I googled dichloroacetate and found several citations. A rat study showed that 80% of rats infected with human cancer cells survived when fed dichloroacetate. Rats are a long way form humans, but it is a start. The only problem with this drug is that it is not patent protected.
Why is this a problem? None of the big drug companies are going to invest millions of dollars that they cannot exclusively sell. So this means that others are going to have to contribute money in order to do the research to see if this is the magic bullet medical science has been looking for the last 50 years.

Thanks for spending a part of your day here with me,

James

Turmeric for Alzheimers?

In one of my trade magazines there was a small article on turmeric being a possible treatment for alzheimers. As I read the press release I became more intrigued that turmeric may be helpful for another disease. Turmeric has been shown to help cystic fibrosis, arthritis and chronic muscle pain. A finding that something as simple and as cheap as turmeric may help the people afflicted with this disease gives everyone hope. As I read further I did not find an explanation of how the study was done or who was studied. I googled turmeric and alzheimers and found that this study was performed on cell lines not in humans.

This is another example of releasing preliminary study results when no results should have been released. There is nothing exceptional about this study other than to say that turmeric dissolved amyloid plaque in a petri dish. Who is served by releasing this information? Who benefits by releasing this information? The answer is the company who sponsored the study. I am sure in a couple of months you will be hearing how turmeric may fight alzheimers. You will see ads in the magazines for turmeric. For those of you who do not know any better you will see people and companies proudly saying that a cure for alzheimers is close at hand.

I think that releasing this type of information is at best disingenuous. It offers hope where there is none.

Thanks for spending a part of your day here with me,

James

Eggs for Eye Health?

Are you still one of those people who thinks eggs are bad for them? Eggs, like every other kind of food, used in moderation have a variety of positive effects on the body. Eggs contain vitamins A and D, which are good for your immune system, bones and night blindness. Two new studies have been released this year show that the egg may have a more profound effect on your eyes than previously thought.

In the Journal of Nutrition, these studies look at the effects of eggs on Age-related macular Degeneration (AMD). The finding are interesting not because of what the is in the egg, rather what the egg is apparently doing to lutien and zeaxanthin concentrations. The first study used 33 men and women over the age of 60. The serum levels of lutein and zeaxanthin were measured to established a baseline. The participants in the study ate one egg per day for five weeks. At the end of the study, serum levels of lutein and zeaxanthin were again measured. After five weeks the serum levels of lutein increased 26% and zeaxanthin increased 38% as compared to a control group that did not eat any eggs. The second study found similar results over a 12 week period.

If you at risk for AMD then you should take notice of these results. Eating foods high in lutein and zeaxanthin are one way that may prevent AMD. Adding an egg per day appears to help the body to hold on to more lutein and zeaxanthin than it normally would. The more of these two chemicals that your body has may help to prevent or at least delay of the onset of AMD.

Thank you for spending a part of your day here with me.

James

Blood viscosity. What is it? Why is it Important?

A customer came into my store yesterday and asked me if I had a certain product. She said one of her friends was using it and seemed to help her brain functions and memory. The name of the product escapes me, but I am asked this question several times a month. I asked her all of my standard questions including any medications she might be taking. She answered no to all of them except the last one, which was were her hands or feet cold. She told me her feet were cold. There are many reasons for feet being cold among them are blocked blood vessels, bypass surgery and diabetes. She stated she had no other medical problems. These facts suggested to me that her mostly likely problem has to do with poor circulation. Poor circulation is one of the causes behind cold extremities. It is also one of the causes of neurological problems that first manifests themselves as short term memory problems. Why is this? Your head is an extremity. Your head is also above your heart. This is important because in order for you brain to receive the nutrients it requires to keep you alive, the heart must be able to pump the blood at high enough pressures to overcome the effects of gravity to bring those nutrients to the brain. This is where blood viscosity becomes important.

I think the easiest example of how to understand blood viscosity is the car engine. A car engine is very analogous to the human body. A car has an oil pump and water pump(heart), two circulatory systems and an oil filter (liver). I would like focus on the oil as the blood of the engine. Engine oil is used to lubricate the engine to prevent damage to the moving metal parts. It also absorbs pollutants and combustion byproducts. The filter strains the oil removing damaging particles from the oil. I would like you to think of what new oil looks like. It is translucent and pores easily. It has a very smooth texture and a somewhat pleasant odor. Now think of what that same oil looks like after 3000 miles in your engine. It is jet black. It is thick, almost viscous, as it comes out of the crankcase drain. It is rough against the skin as you feel the dissolved pollutants and other impurities now in the oil.

When we are young our blood is like the new engine oil. This new blood moves easily around the body. As we age, whether through improper diet, lack of exercise or nutrient deficiencies the blood in the body becomes more viscous. The heart has to work harder to move the blood to the extremities. The extremities no longer receive all of the nutrients they had earlier in life. This is the point when you may become consciously aware that your feet are cold or your short-term memory is for lack of a better word, failing. So what can you do to prevent or treat these symptoms? There are many things, far too many to list here. Some of the suggested changes for your diet include reducing animal fat, removing transfats, eating more lean meats as well as eating more fruits and vegetables. Regular exercise is also very important. There are many supplements that are useful to regulate the viscosity of the blood. Vitamin C and Vitamin E are very important. Garlic, Cayenne and Butcher Broom also may help. Omega-3 fish oils are very important and may be a replacement for low dose aspirin therapy.

Here is link to an article on omega-3 fish oil and the effects of blood viscosity in the human body. http://www.drpasswater.com/nutrition_library/gordon.html

Thanks for spending a part of your day here with me,

James

Parabens and your health

You may not even know what a paraben is, but you are going to start to here more about them in the coming months. Parabens are a preservative mostly used in the cosmetics industry. This type of preservative is used to prevent mold and fungus from growing in cream based products. Parabens are also used in most deodorants as a way of making the active ingredients in commercial deodorant last longer.

Parabens are a class of chemicals regulated by the FDA but have never been fully tested for safety. The FDA regulates about 90,000 different chemicals, however they do not know how many of these chemicals interact with the environment or in humans. Beginning early last year I began reading small articles that appeared in my trade magazines about parabens. The most disturbing article I read at that time was that parabens were being found in the breast tissue of women. Where these parabens came from and how did they entered into the breast tissue is unknown. More than one theory supposed that parabens found in shampoos, deodorants and other cosmetics may be the culprit. This is because parabens are a fatty chemical that can be absorbed directly through the skin.

Yesterday, July 31st, I read another article about a preliminary study that found parabens in breast cancer cells. What this means is still open for debate. There is of course going to be another study, but you may not want to wait. If you have a history of breast cancer in your family you may want to eliminate the products that contain parabens until more useful information in available.

Thanks for spending a part of your day here with me,

James