Lung cancer risk cut by eating raw garlic

Eating raw garlic twice a week could potentially halve the risk of developing lung cancer, according to a study published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

Researchers from the Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China carried out a population-based case control study between 2003 and 2010, to analyze the link between raw garlic consumption and lung cancer.

The researchers collected data from 1,424 lung cancer patients, alongside 4,543 healthy controls.

Data was compiled through face-to-face interviews with the participants, who were asked to answer a standard questionnaire disclosing information on diet and lifestyle habits, including how often they ate garlic and whether they smoked.

Results of the study showed that participants who consumed raw garlic on a regular basis as a part of their diet (two or more times a week), had a 44% decreased risk of developing lung cancer.

The study authors say:

"Protective association between intake of raw garlic and lung cancer has been observed with a dose-response pattern, suggesting that garlic may potentially serve as a chemo-preventive agent for lung cancer."

Lung cancer is the second most common type of cancer in both men and women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 205,974 Americans were diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009.

Long-term smoking is the most common cause of lung cancer, found to account for 9 out of every 10 cases of the disease.

Interestingly, when looking specifically at participants who smoked, researchers found that eating raw garlic still decreased their risk of lung cancer by around 30%.

The researchers say that the link between garlic and lung cancer prevention warrant further in-depth investigation.

Previous research has also shown that consumption of garlic may have preventive properties against certain forms of cancer.

A study from the New York Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center suggested that a compound found in garlic, selenium, may possess an anti-cancer property

Other research from the Medical University of South Carolina, found that organosulfur compounds found in garlic may play a part in killing brain cancer cells.

The widely used herb has also been cited as preventing and treating other ailments, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

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Los huevos no elevan el colesterol en la adolescencia

La ingesta de huevo no conlleva riesgos de enfermedades cardiovasculares. Expertos sugieren una revisión de las recomendaciones alimentarias.

Un estudio de la Universidad de Granada concluye que comer más huevos no se relaciona con un mayor colesterol plasmático en adolescentes ni con un peor perfil cardiovascular, independientemente de su nivel de actividad física. El trabajo ha analizado la asociación entre la ingesta de huevo en adolescentes y los principales factores de riesgo de desarrollar enfermedades cardiovasculares. Pese a que se ha tendido a restringir la ingesta de huevos por asociarlos con un aumento en el colesterol, las investigaciones más recientes afirman que el incremento del colesterol plasmático parece estar más influido por la ingesta de grasas saturadas y grasas trans que por el colesterol de la dieta.

Uno al día

Los resultados del trabajo, perteneciente al estudio europeo Helena y con nueve países implicados, se publican en Nutrición Hospitalaria y "concuerdan con estudios recientes en adultos sanos que sugieren que una ingesta de hasta siete huevos por semana no está asociada con un mayor riesgo de enfermedades cardiovasculares", explica Alberto Soriano Maldonado, autor del trabajo.

Los autores sugieren una revisión de las recomendaciones para la alimentación de los adolescentes, si bien sostienen que sería conveniente replicar la investigación en una población en la que la ingesta de huevo fuese superior.

Fuente

5 undeniable reasons your prescription drug costs are so ridiculously high

Americans spend a little less than $1,000 annually per person on average for prescription drugs. That's the average, which means that many spend a lot more. Why are prescription costs so ridiculously high? You might not like the answers, but here they are.

1. You're paying for other drugs that you don't use.
When you put your money down at the pharmacy for Lyrica, the nerve and muscle pain drug from Pfizer , you're really paying for your Lyrica prescription plus a whole host of other drugs. How's that possible? The answer lies in the realities of the drug development process.

Dr. Josh Bloom with the American Council on Science and Health estimates that it takes a drugmaker an average of 14 years to bring a drug to market -- at a total cost of around $1.3 billion. However, only one out of every 50 drugs that start down the development path actually make it to market. And, of those that do, typically only two out of 10 will make a profit.

Pfizer spent around $890 million on cholesterol drug torcetrapib, only to cancel the drug's development program in 2006 after serious safety concerns. The big pharmaceutical company wrote off $2.8 billion on inhalable insulin Exubera after consumers simply didn't like it.

How did Pfizer make up for those and other losses? Like all the other drugmakers, it added to the cost of the drugs that did succeed -- so Lyrica and others cost more than they would have otherwise.

2. You're paying for the world.
The weight of the world might not be on your shoulders, but the weight of subsidizing the world's drugs is. Prescription drug costs are higher in the U.S. than in any other country. Per-capita pharmaceutical spending in Canada, the second-highest nation, is a whopping 33% lower than in the U.S.

Two words explain why: price controls. Most other countries establish fixed price limits that they will pay for prescription drugs. What this means, though, is that pharmaceutical companies raise their prices for prescription drugs sold in the U.S. to make up for charging lower prices throughout the rest of the world.

You might think the simple solution is to implement price controls in the U.S., too. Such a move probably would lower prices for the drugs currently available.

The problem, though, is that it would provide financial disincentives for pharmaceutical companies to develop as many new drugs as they do now. If that happened, it could end up actually increasing overall health care costs, since taking prescription drugs is frequently much less expensive than other medical treatments.

3. You're paying for others to find out about the drug you use.
Marketing is king in the world of pharmaceuticals. And it demands a king's ransom. Unfortunately, you ultimately pay that ransom every time you buy a prescription drug.

Pfizer's advertising budget last year totaled more than $622 million. Over half of that budget was spent promoting three drugs -- Celebrex, Viagra, and Lyrica.Eli Lilly wasn't far behind with an ad budget topping $433 million. Nearly 94% of that amount was spent on only two drugs, in this case Cymbalta and Cialis.

Nielsen's tracking found that the top 10 pharmaceutical companies spent $2.7 billion last year on direct-to-consumer advertising. However, that figure doesn't include online advertising or physician promotions, so the actual marketing budgets for the big pharma companies is even larger. Research firm Cegedim estimates that total pharmaceutical industry spending on promoting drugs was around $28 billion in 2010.

You're also likely picking up part of the tab for the companies mistakes in how they promote their products. For example, Abbott Labs settled federal and state lawsuits accusing the company of inappropriate promotion practices for epilepsy drug Depakote for a cool $1.6 billion last year.

At the time of the settlement, the Justice Department said that the case demonstrated that "those who put profits ahead of patients will pay a hefty price." A hefty price was surely paid, but Abbott's profits for 2012 were more than 26% higher than either of the previous two years.

4. You're paying Uncle Sam.
Don't forget your good friends at the IRS. The passage of the Affordable Care Act brought new fees for large drugmakers totaling $80 billion. That amount is spread over multiple years, though. "Only" $2.8 billion was paid by pharmaceutical companies last year.

Technically, the big pharma companies pay these fees, which basically are excise taxes. However, those companies can't pay the IRS unless it first gets the money from its customers. Ultimately, you're paying Uncle Sam.

5. You're paying for profits.
Regardless of what product you purchase, you're paying for the maker of those products to make money. It's no different with prescription drugs. The concern is over whether prices paid by consumers contribute to excessive profits.

Most pharmaceutical companies generate nice profits. Despite Lilly's woes from losing patent protection for some of its big drugs, the company still had a profit margin of over 20%. Even though Abbott paid a steep fine last year for a legal settlement, its profit margin was 13% -- better than a lot of companies.

Pfizer ranks first among all Dow index stocks in terms of profit margin, with a margin of nearly 27%. The other two pharmaceutical companies in the Dow have profit margins higher than the average Dow company. However, of the top 10 Dow stocks ranked by profit margin, four are technology firms. Pharmaceutical companies generate high profit margins, but they're not always the highest among all industries.

A little good news
You're paying ridiculously high prices for prescriptions, but there is a little bit of good news. In 2012, Americans actually spent less on prescription drugs than the prior year for the first time on record. It was only 1% less -- but that's still better than spending more.

I figure this improvement amounts to maybe having an extra $10 in the wallet for the average American. You might want to hold on to that money. You'll probably need it soon enough.

Source

El té verde: mucho más que antioxidantes

Además de ser un maravilloso antioxidante, esta infusión alivia problemas recurrentes de salud, de manera rápida y natural. Algunos de sus principales beneficios son:

Disminuye el riesgo de cáncer: las catequinas del té contienen sustancias anticancerígenas, gracias a los polifenoles. Según un estudio del Instituto Nacional del Cáncer de los Estados Unidos y también el Instituto del Cáncer de China, reveló que quienes bebían, al menos una taza de esta infusión a la semana, tuvieron el 57% menos de riesgo de padecer cáncer de esófago y en las mujeres, aumento a un 60%.

Quema grasas: al ser un agente de termogénesis, ayuda de manera natural a gastar más energías, conllevando un descenso de peso. Acelera el metabolismo mediante los polifenoles (sustancias antioxidantes), aceleran el metabolismo, ayudando a las enzimas digestivas a que trabajen mejor, logrando un efecto adelgazante. Y también, es diurético, es decir colabora el proceso de diuresis, depurando el organismo de toxinas acumuladas.

Reduce el estrés: ciertos compuestos de este té disminuyen la formación y la actividad de radicales libres, reduciendo el estrés. Asimismo, posee un aminoácido llamado L-teanina, cuyo efecto principal es la relajación, sin somnolencia y aumenta los niveles de hormona llamada dopamina que mejora el estado de ánimo.

Sin embargo, esas no son todas sus bondades, sino que sólo unas pocas. El té verde también reduce el riesgo de cáncer, previene enfermedades cardiovasculares, combate el envejecimiento, previene las arrugas, reduce el riesgo de artritis, fortalece los huesos, ayuda a bajar el colesterol, previene la obesidad, es bueno para la diabetes, fortalece la memoria, protege contra el mal de Parkinson, es hepatoprotector, previene la hipertensión, protege de intoxicaciones alimentarias, reduce los niveles de glucosa en la sangre, estimula la inmunidad, evita gripes y resfriados, alivia el asma, combate infecciones en los oídos, contribuye en el tratamiento contra el herpes, previene caries, reduce el estrés y alivia las alergias.

¿Cómo consumirlo?

Según la Escuela de Medicina de Harvard, se debe tomar una taza de té tres veces al día. La hierba debe permanecer en agua caliente de tres a cinco minutos y es mejor si se consume recién macerado.

El mejor momento para beberlo es entre comidas, ya que puede impedir la absorción de hierro de las frutas y vegetales. Y si prefieres tomarlo en el desayuno o durante la comida, el problema se soluciona añadiéndole limón o leche.

Por último, los médicos recomienda beberlo al menos, dos horas antes de dormir, para prevenir el insomnio.

Fuente

How High-Fat Extra Virgin Olive Oil is good for your immune system

One tablespoon of high-fat extra virgin olive oil can provide numerous benefits to the immune system.

Skip the butter and stick margarine in the kitchen and use oil — extra virgin olive — to improve your immune system. The consumption of this oil has increased dramatically in recent years with a United States purchase of 292,925 metric tons (MT) in 2011, reports the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). This high-fat oil contains 73 grams of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and is popularly used as for frying and baking as a healthier replacement for vegetable oil. It can also serve as a dressing for salads. Its health benefits derive from its nutritional content of high MUFAs that are considered to be a healthy dietary fat. MUFAs have been linked to lower cholesterol and control the insulin levels in the body as they replace the saturated fats or trans fats that can increase LDL cholesterol levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Extra virgin olive oil is a good source of antioxidants with vitamins E and K that can protect the body from oxygen-free radicals and promote healthy cognitive function, says the USDA. Implementing olive oil in cooking provides numerous health benefits if used correctly. The nutritional value of olive oil is affected by heat, light, and air. For storage, Mayo Clinic recommends to keep the oil in a dark, room-temperature cupboard or in the refrigerator to preserve the healthy fats and the taste that can wither over a long period of time.

Combats Inflammation

The phenolic compound — oleocanthal — found in olive oil has anti-inflammatory properties. A study from the Monell chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, Pa. examined the effects of daily intake of teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil on pain. Researchers found that four teaspoons of this high-fat oil per day for 12 weeks acted as an anti-inflammatory drug, such as ibuprofen, to reduce pain. While extra virgin oil and ibuprofen have the same effect on treating inflammation, they have different effects on the body. According to Science Daily, ibuprofen can increase bleeding and gastrointestinal damage whereas olive oil has no such effect on the body.

Tip: The amount of oleocanthal differs in olive oils. To see how strong the oleocanthal content is in an olive oil, you can take a sip and see how it stings the back of your throat. The stronger the sting, the more oleocanthal it has, says Arthritis Today.

Combats Diabetes

Diabetics are often told to limit their daily intake of dietary fat because they are at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease. In a landmark government study, it was determined that foods with high MUFAs does not cause weight gain in diabetics and can even reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by approximately 60 percent. MUFAs help diabetics regulate their insulin levels and blood sugar, especially for those who have type 2 diabetes.

Combats Cancer

The consumption of olive oil has been linked to a decrease in tumors of colon, prostate, and breast cancer. Before recent studies, researchers concluded that higher incidences of breast cancer are linked to a high saturated fat diet. In a study published in Annals of Oncology, researchers found that oleic acid — the main MUFA in olive oil — can weaken a cancer gene found in 25 to 30 percent of all breast cancers. What's more, with oleic acid, the effective of the breast cancer drug Herceptin improved dramatically.

Reduces Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

MUFAs in olive oil have been shown to reduce heart problems and rate of heart disease deaths. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers conducted a randomized trial of the Mediterranean diet pattern and its prevention of cardiovascular disease. In Spain, participants who were at high risk of cardiovascular disease but did not develop it yet were assigned to a Mediterranean diet with extra virgin oil, a Mediterranean diet with the addition of mixed nuts, or a control diet with advice on how to reduce dietary fat. Researchers found that a Mediterranean diet with either extra virgin olive oil or mixed nuts can significantly reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease.

Promotes Healthy Fetal Development

Pregnant women are often advised to include olive oil in their diet due to its high content of omega-3 fatty acids. This heart healthy oil has the ability to improve brain function and learning capacities in young children. The consumption of extra virgin olive oil has been linked to a positive effect on a child's height, weight, and cognitive and behavioral development. In a study published in the Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry, researchers tested the effects of consuming olive oil in relation to body weight gain and foot efficiency as well as placental and fetal development. The results of the study showed that a pregnant rat's consumption of olive oil as the only dietary fat source did not have any detrimental effects on the expectant mother's weight gain or placental and fetal development.

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Diabetes and Crestor, Zocor and Other Cholesterol Reducing Drugs

There has been a lot of publicity surrounding one of the side effects of the cholesterol-reducing drug Lipitor and some of its side effects. It has been shown that the highly prescribed drug increases the risk of diabetes slightly, especially in older women and those already at risk of the Type II form of the illness.

Other cholesterol-reducing drugs, particularly Crestor (rousuvastatin) and Zocor (simvastatin), also have been shown to increase the risk of diabetes. The connection is much less clear with earlier cholesterol reducing drugs, such as Pravachol and Prevocor, probably because they are less powerful.

Patients taking 20 milligrams of Crestor had a one in 167 chance of developing Type II diabetes. The risk increased to one in 125 at higher doses. According to one New York Times article, patients taking the three most popular cholesterol-reducing drugs have a one in 200 chance of developing Type II diabetes, when all doses and drug brands are taken into account.

It turns out that for people who have already had a heart attack or stroke, the benefits of taking Crestor or Zocor outweigh the risks of developing diabetes. However, people who have not had any health incidents before may do better trying non-drug methods of reducing their cholesterol levels. These include diet, exercise, weight loss and stress reduction and other approaches.

Crestor is manufactured by AstraZeneca. The company has issued warnings that there is an increased risk of side effects in Asian populations in general, and that it is more potent among those of Asian ethnicity than Caucasians. Doctors should begin treating Asian patients with Crestor at the lowest dose available, five milligrams.

A 2008 study sponsored by Crestor showed that there was an elevated risk for Type II diabetes, as did later studies of the same drug and other statins. Researchers have hypothesized that the link between such drugs and diabetes is because the medicine increases muscle resistance to insulin. This, however, has not been conclusively demonstrated.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responded to research indicating the increased risk of developing diabetes when taking cholesterol-lowering drugs by issuing a warning label for Crestor, Lipitor and for other cholesterol-lowering statin drugs that include:

Zocor 

Lescol 

 

Pravachol

Mevacor 

 Livalo

The warning says that patients taking these drugs and their generic equivalents face a slightly increased risk of high blood sugar levels and of being diagnosed with diabetes. The warning was added in 2012. However, studies conducted earlier, including those mentioned above, established some degree of risk several years prior to the FDA changing required warnings. 

If you developed diabetes after taking one of these drugs, call the Cleveland attorneys at Elk & Elk. They will know what to do.

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Statines: le Crestor est trop prescrit en France

Le Crestor est dans le viseur de l'Assurance-maladie. Il fait partie de la famille des statines, une classe de médicaments utilisés pour faire baisser le taux de cholestérol dans le sang. Il est très largement prescrit en France, beaucoup trop selon la Sécurité sociale.

La Cnam a mené une étude auprès de 163.801 patients suivis pendant trois ans, pour comparer l'efficacité de deux molécules différentes, l'une disponible sous forme générique, la simvastatine, l'autre non, la rosuvastatine, plus coûteuse.

Or, les résultats ne montrent "pas de différence significative d'efficacité sur la morbimortalité" (mortalité due à la maladie).

La rosuvastatine, seule molécule n'ayant pas d'équivalent générique et vendue sous le nom commercial de Crestor, représente 30% des volumes prescrits en France. Ce qui est bien plus élevé que dans les autres pays européens. Dans sept pays en effet (Allemagne, Royaume-Uni, Pays-Bas, Italie, Finlande, Norvège, Espagne), sa place reste très minoritaire : 7,8% des volumes en moyenne, seulement 3,9% au Royaume-Uni et 0,5% en Allemagne.

Les médicaments anti-cholestérol représentent un "potentiel d'économies majeur" pour le système de soins français car, contrairement à d'autres pays européens, les génériques, moins coûteux et à l'efficacité comparable, ne sont pas assez prescrits, selon l'Assurance-maladie.

Près de 6,4 millions de patients suivent un traitement anti-cholestérol (statines) en France, ce qui a représenté 1,2 milliard de remboursements en 2012.

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Gwen Olsen: Pharma Not in Business of Health, Healing, Cures, Wellness

Highlights

"Pharmaceutical industry are not in the business to cure cancer, to cure Alzheimer, to

cure heart disease because if they were, they will be onthe business putting themselves:

OUT  OF BUSINESS"

"Pharmaceutical industry doesn't want to cure people"

"Psychiatric drugs: these drugs encourage people to

remain customers of the pharmaceutical industry"

"Cholesterol drugs are lowering cholesterol excessively and causing other diseases states as a consequence"

"The drugs are always trailed against the placebo and clinical trials. Placebo is a sugar pill.

In fact, many drugs are not found to be much more efficaces than a sugar pill"

"Antidepressants are not more effective than placebo as per clinical study"

"Pharmaceutical industry makes 5 to 6 times the amount of

money as any of the others companies in United States of America"

Avocado Health Benefits

It has achieved this distinction because many nutritionists claim it not only contains everything a person needs to survive — but it has also been found to contribute to the prevention and control of Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other health conditions.

The avocado, also called the alligator pear, is a high-fiber, sodium- and cholesterol-free food that provides nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, is rich in healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (such as omega-3 fatty acids), vitamins A, C, D, E, K and the B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and folate) — as well as potassium.

Foods naturally rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as avocados, are widely acknowledged as the secret to a healthy heart, a brilliant brain and eagle eyes.

Dr. Daniel G. Amen, a clinical neuroscientist, psychiatrist, brain-imaging expert and author of the New York Times bestseller Change Your Brain, Change Your Life counts avocados as one of the top brain-healthy foods that can help prevent Alzheimer’s Disease.

That’s not only because of the avocado’s health benefits omega-3 fatty acid content but also its…

Vitamin E content — An international journal called Alzheimer’s Disease and Associated Disorders, reported its findings from years of clinical trials — high doses of Vitamin E can neutralize free radicals and the buildup of proteins to reverse the memory loss in Alzheimer’s patients; reverse symptoms of Alzheimer’s in the early stages and retard the progression of the disease;

Folate content — helps to prevent the formation of tangled nerve fibers associated with Alzheimer’s.

The virtues and benefits of the avocado are too numerous to mention.

But Here Are Just a Few More Avocado Health Benefits That Its Nutritional Profile Provides:

• Monounsaturated Fats — These types of fats help control triglycerides in the bloodstream, lower blood cholesterol and control diabetes
• Folate — This water-soluble B vitamin promotes healthy cell and tissue development. According to the National Institute of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements, “This is especially important during periods of rapid cell division and growth such as infancy and pregnancy. Folate is also essential for metabolism of homocysteine and helps maintain normal levels of this amino acid.”
• Lutein — This is a carotenoid (a natural pigment) that protects against cataracts and certain types of cancer, and reduces the risk of macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in adults 65 years of age and older. Avocados contain 3 or more times as much lutein as found in other common vegetables and fruits.
• Oleic acid and Potassium — Both of these nutrients also help in lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk of high blood pressure.

You can add these avocado benefits to your diet in many ways:

1) The easiest way is to cut the avocado in half and sprinkle it with herbal seasoning or maple syrup.
2) Chop the avocado and add it to a salad, or use it as a topping or side garnish for soup.
3) Mash an avocado and spread it on bread or a bagel (in place of butter or cream cheese).
4) Cut an avocado in half and fill the little hollow (left after you remove the pit) with your favorite healthy topping such as herbed rice or couscous.
5) Make an avocado dressing or the crowd-pleasing guacamole dip to add flavor to raw or steamed vegetables. You can easily find many avocado recipes online.

Blended with fruit, avocados make a rich and delicious snack, side dish or dessert — and produces highly-nutritious baby food which delivers “good fat” for baby’s brain and physical development.

Before you indulge in avocados to your heart’s content, however, remember that they have lots of calories because of their fat content. According to WebMD, “A medium-sized avocado contains 30 grams of fat, as much as a quarter-pound burger”.

They’re finding that most of the fat in an avocado is monounsaturated — the “good” kind that actually lowers cholesterol levels. Thanks to this new understanding, the U.S. government recently revised its official nutrition guidelines to urge Americans to eat more avocados.

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Why You Shouldn't Believe the Cholesterol Lie

Many of you have seen me (Dr. Ted Broer, a university-trained biochemist, exercise physiologist and licensed nutritionist, nearly died of heart disease at the age of 27) on TV with pastor Rod Parsley. If you haven’t, let me share with you the results of the Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy! program. When I met Pastor Parsley at a Daystar TV show, his cholesterol was over 600 and his triglycerides were through the roof at over 1,000! These are two dangerously high numbers.

Those levels are deadly. Pastor Parsley is blessed that he followed my EDBH program and reduced his cholesterol to under 200 and normalized his triglycerides. When the blood fats get that high, the blood viscosity increases because the blood gets too thick. This makes it very difficult for the heart to pump. An analogy would be that it is easier to pump water than axle grease. Once he increased his water consumption (helps to thin the blood—should be one-half of your body weight in fluid ounces per day; if you weigh 200 pounds, then 100 ounces per day), reduced certain animal protein, his blood thinned and his cholesterol and triglycerides were normalized. Six medical doctors had told him it would be impossible to reduce his cholesterol without a lifetime dependence on statin drugs.

First of all, let’s talk about cholesterol. Rod’s was ridiculously high, and it had to come down. But always remember that the liver produces large amounts of cholesterol; you can’t live without cholesterol. It used to be a total cholesterol of around 250 was considered normal. Then suddenly overnight, the pharmaceutical (big drug) companies decided that 200 was the proper number. Now it’s 160. There is no research to substantiate these numbers. I personally believe it is simply pulled out of thin air so that another 100 million people can be told they're ill and need to be on drugs for life to control their cholesterol.

Let me share with you some interesting facts. Cholesterol has never been proven to cause heart disease! I personally believe cholesterol under 250 should be considered a normal range. The food you eat only has a moderate effect upon cholesterol. Statistics prove your body needs it and your liver continues to make it. Statistics prove that people with cholesterol above 160 actually live longer. Low cholesterol under 160 actually increases the death rate.

Men, you also can’t produce much testosterone with low cholesterol. You lose muscle mass and increase body fat. Many men can’t think clearly, and many men feel terrible taking statin drugs. Cholesterol (statin) drugs put you at greater risk of cancer, depression, memory loss, nerve damage, skeletal muscle damage (necrosis) and kidney damage. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, in the May 2003 issue, if you take statin drugs for 30 years, you only live six months longer. That’s probably because other death rates are increased from the drugs themselves.

What I’m going to reveal to you in this article, in my opinion, it is the biggest medical mistake of the past 50 years. Cholesterol levels of 200 or higher is not the culprit in heart disease. The problem is that standard medical procedure won’t admit to being wrong. After all, the use of cholesterol drugs is a $16 billion a year enterprise. In 1983, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a completely pro-big pharmaceutical company, which feels everyone is sick and needs to be on drugs, decided that high cholesterol was the culprit in heart disease. A pioneer, Dr. McCulley, told us the truth about heart disease, homosystene levels and inflammation in the 1970s and was eviscerated by the standard medical establishment. The biggest problem the NIH had in the 1980s was that they were having a difficult time convincing medical doctors that cholesterol was bad.

Remember, doctors know that the liver manufactures huge amounts of cholesterol, unless it is drugged by statins not to do so. It’s amazing that in 1900, we had no statin drugs and had one of the healthiest populations on earth with almost no heart disease. Consumers, on the other hand, had already been brainwashed in the 1970s by bogus studies, media and research misinformation. Back in the 1950s, studies showed that powdered egg yolks caused heart disease. The truth is, powdered eggs do cause heart disease because they are oxidized—they cause inflammation.

That’s why I tell you to never to use powdered eggs, Egg Beaters or anything artificial. Use real organic eggs. They don’t cause heart disease. And always cook the eggs soft scrambled or over easy in real organic butter, and don’t throw the yolks away. They are healthy and they’re good for you. They are loaded with sulfur, and the sulfur helps to maintain good healthy skin, hair and nails.

Cholesterol is so important that every cell in your body contains it. The human body will die without it. And guess what organ has the highest concentration of cholesterol? Your brain! You can’t think clearly or remember without it.

That’s why when you artificially lower it, in many cases you don’t think clearly and your memory goes to pot, and then your liver makes extra cholesterol to make up for what you don’t get in your diet. That’s why it is difficult to lower cholesterol using diet alone. The drugs stop the liver from producing this essential nutrient. That’s because your liver fights back on a low cholesterol diet to keep you healthy. Remember, cholesterol is used as a blood lubricant by the body to keep the blood flowing properly.

The reality is that, statistically, people with a high 160-250 cholesterol level live the longest. Remember, the government’s own Framingham study shows that older people with the lowest cholesterol had some of the highest death rates. Yale University’s Dr. Harlan Krumholz found elderly people with low cholesterol die more often from heart attacks than those with high cholesterol. His findings are even published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Here are the facts:

- People of all ages with low cholesterol have higher death rates from gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases (19 studies using 16,000 people).

- Low cholesterol increases the rate of infection.

- Below 160 is twice as likely to die than a 160-250 cholesterol level.

- Low or high cholesterol deaths from heart disease are about the same, but low cholesterol has a much higher cancer rate. That’s probably because cholesterol of under 160 is normally obtained from the use of statin drugs. Statin drugs all have one common side effect: They all cause cancer. A French study revealed that cancer rates climb steadily as cholesterol levels fall below 200.

The reality is that the heart researchers know the truth but are too arrogant to give us the facts. I mean, after all, 50 years of entrenched dogma is hard to change or at least admit. Plus, much of the cholesterol research is paid by the drug companies, and their data is secret.

Always remember this cholesterol lie was started by a bunch of (no eggs) tree hugger doctors, drug companies and researchers who refused to admit the truth about the major cause of heart disease.

I remember it was 1973. I was a senior in high school, and Richard (foul-mouthed) Nixon was president. He decided to declare war on cancer. What a joke that has been. The big shots of mainstream medicine decided that they could, if given enough money (around $1 trillion to date) could cure cancer. In the process, they decided to do a seven-year study using 13,000 men. More than half had high blood pressure and were smokers.

The other half had maximum medical supervision—don’t eat this, don’t eat that, no eggs, no red meat. Guess what happened after seven years of deprivation? The boys who ate normal lived longer. Wow. Imagine that. How many times have you heard me say organic beef, organic eggs and organic butter are not on my top 10 list of foods not to eat?

Researchers even found that the blood pressure medication of the control group may have caused the death of the healthy participants. (Remember, according to the May 2003 Journal of the American Medical Association, 30 years of high blood pressure medicine only increases life expectancy by nine days. Again, the medicine has so many bad side effects.). These findings, by the way, were revealed in 1982.

However, the medical researchers and pharmaceutical companies hushed it up. Way too much money was and is being made selling drugs. Even the British medical journal Lancet wrote that 200 men without any prior heart disease have to swallow 357,700 statin tablets over five years to save one of them from dying of coronary heart disease. This is due from the fact that no exact knowledge exists as to which of these 200 will benefit from the treatment.

I personally believe that 1 in 200 is high. Remember, the toxic side effects and cancer-causing abilities of statin drugs. Chances are, more than 1 in 200 hundred will die or be adversely affected from the statin drugs themselves.

At one point, TV ads even said that Lipitor has not been shown to prevent heart disease, cardiac disease or heart attacks. It’s amazing to me that we are spending $16 billion on these drugs that are, in my opinion, not necessary and are probably causing a lot more health problems because of their consumption.

By the way, don’t blame your doctor for prescribing you cholesterol-lowering drugs. He’s following the standard medical procedures, and he has to if he wants to keep his license. Also remember, almost all of the continuing education provided to doctors after medical school is provided to them free of charge by—guess who—the drug companies. Imagine that. Do I hear a collective conflict of interest by anyone except me? What a horrible, not funny joke.

Now, there are several other real causes of heart disease. C-reactive protein, trans-fat consumption and excitotoxin consumption (found in MSG, NutraSweet, Aspartame, diet soda and Equal) are linked and are the true causes of heart disease.

 

So, I know your next question: Should I be concerned about my cholesterol? The answer is a very loud yes! I like to keep mine around 200. Your body needs it, but it needs to be watched. Also, the lipid profile is important. It’s important to keep the HDL cholesterol high and the LDL low.

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