Cholesterol Theory – Fatally Cracked

September 9, 2008 // No Comments »

As many of you may know I have a particular interest in the Cholesterol Theory of heart disease and this article came across my desk  today and i thought it so important that i just had to post it. The unerlying premise that Cholesterol and coronary heart disease are linked is clearly coming under increasing scrutiny and may well be not only disproved but blown out of the water – where does that leave the pharmaceutical companies????

September 8, 2008

Egg Study Puts Cracks in Anti-Cholesterol Claims
Results undermine the never-proven hypothesis that diets high in cholesterol and saturated fat promote cardiovascular disease
by Craig Weatherby

A new study from Britain further undermines a decades-old medical myth regarding the role of dietary cholesterol in cardiovascular disease.

And these findings add to fast-deepening doubts surrounding the broader, near century-old “lipid hypothesis” of heart disease, which is reflected in public health policies, including the USDA Food Guide Pyramid.

This increasingly discredited hypothesis holds that “excess” dietary saturated fat and cholesterol – and resulting rises in blood cholesterol and lipid (fat) levels – are major contributing factors to cardiovascular disease (atherosclerosis) and resulting coronary heart disease.

Key Points UK study finds that two eggs a day did not raise cholesterol levels in overweight dieters. Study affirms prior findings that dietary cholesterol does not cause cardiovascular disease. The idea that saturated fat and cholesterol cause heart disease is increasingly discredited by the evidence.

Atherosclerosis – which is the chief defining characteristic of cardiovascular disease – is the medical term for arteries lined with inflamed, unstable, plaque.

This inflammatory condition is the leading cause of heart attacks, stroke, congestive heart failure and the arrhythmias that induce sudden cardiac death.

(For a summary of the relationships and distinctions between inflammation, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, and coronary heart disease, see our accompanying article, “What is Heart Disease, Exactly?”.)

Incredibly, given the decades-old public health advice to avoid saturated fat and cholesterol – and the several billion dollars spent annually on cholesterol-lowering drugs – the evidence supporting the lipid hypothesis of heart disease is astonishingly weak.

We covered the declining credibility of the lipid hypothesis of cardiovascular disease earlier this year: see “Cholesterol Fiasco Undermines Accepted Theory”, which contains links to several eye-opening articles in The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

Eggs and heart disease: The overdue exoneration of a scapegoat

Healthy people and heart patients alike have routinely been advised to strictly limit intake of eggs … or avoid egg yolks, where most of their fat and cholesterol reside (along with their valuable vitamin A and D).

Omega-3-enriched eggs: Making a good food better Advice to avoid eggs is misguided, given their blamelessness with regard to heart disease, and the fact that each egg provides about 10 percent of the recommended daily intake of protein and vitamin A. And anti-egg advice is especially wrong-headed now that most supermarkets offer eggs high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are proven to enhance heart health. Eggs high in omega-3s were the norm before competitive pressures caused most farmers to confine their hens in cages and feed them grains such as corn, which are low in omega-3s and high in pro-inflammatory omega-6s. Today, it’s easy to find omega-3-enriched eggs, which come either from “free-range” hens raised on pasture or, more commonly, from hens raised on grain-based feed fortified with fish meal.

This advice flowed from the lipid hypothesis of heart disease, which holds that foods high in cholesterol and saturated fat – such as egg yolks – promote cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, and resulting coronary heart disease.

Yet, misguided medical advice was never supported by a persuasive preponderance of evidence.

Indeed, with the exception of people diagnosed with diabetes – among whom high egg intake is associated with increased heart risks – none of the large epidemiological studies that looked for links between eggs and coronary heart disease or stroke have found any.

As early as 1982, researchers who examined data from the famous Framingham Heart Study found no association between eggs and heart disease: “It is concluded that … differences in egg consumption were unrelated to blood cholesterol level or to coronary heart disease incidence.” (Kritchevsky SB et al. 1982)

Then, researchers from Harvard School of Public health analyzed diet and health data from two of the largest, best-controlled epidemiological studies ever conducted: the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1986-1994) and the Nurses’ Health Study (1980-1994), which together involved 37,851 male physicians and 80,082 female nurses.

The Harvard team found no evidence that eggs were risky: “These findings suggest that consumption of up to 1 egg per day is unlikely to have substantial overall impact on the risk of CHD [coronary heart disease] or stroke among healthy men and women.” (Hu FB et al. 1999)

(The only exception was diagnosed diabetics, among whom a higher intake of eggs was associated with greater risk of developing heart disease. This could simply reflect the facts that diabetics are more prone to developing coronary heart disease, and that diets high in fat are associated with higher risk of CHD.)

And a study in Japan yielded more evidence exonerating eggs as risk factors for developing coronary heart disease: “In conclusion, eating eggs more frequently, up to almost daily, was not associated with an increase in CHD [coronary heart disease] incidence for middle-aged Japanese men and women.” (Nakamura Y et al. 2006)

Last year, researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey came to similar conclusions after analyzing diet and health data from 9,734 adults aged 25 to 74. The title of their publication summarized their exculpatory findings: “Regular egg consumption does not increase the risk of stroke and cardiovascular diseases.” (Qureshi AI et al. 2007)

Die-hard defenders of the lipid hypothesis of heart disease might say that while epidemiological studies like these reveal associations, they cannot provide final proof of a hypothesis regarding diet and disease.

However, the results of a British clinical trial should help end the debate over heart health and eggs.

British study exonerates eggs

A research team from the University of Surrey recruited 45 overweight but otherwise healthy volunteers, and divided them into two groups (Harman NL et al. 2008).

• Group A (egg group) followed a low-calorie diet that included two eggs per day for 12 weeks.
• Group B (control group) followed the same low-calorie diet for 12 weeks, but ate no eggs.

The people in both groups lost 7- 9 lbs (3 to 4 kg) and their average levels of blood cholesterol fell.

Their blood cholesterol levels were measured at six weeks and 12 weeks, and both groups showed either unchanged or reduced cholesterol levels … particularly in their LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.

This finding came despite the egg group increasing their dietary cholesterol intake to around four times that of the control group.

As the authors concluded, “An increased intake of dietary cholesterol from two eggs a day does not increase total … or LDL cholesterol when accompanied by moderate weight loss. These findings suggest that cholesterol-rich foods should not be excluded from dietary advice to lose weight on account of an unfavorable influence on … LDL cholesterol.” (Harman NL et al. 2008)

Team leader Bruce Griffin, Ph.D., RPHNutr summarized their findings in a press release: “We have shown that when two eggs a day are eaten by people who are actively losing weight on a calorie-restricted diet, blood cholesterol can still be reduced.”

And Dr. Griffin’s companion comment focused on the heart of the matter: “There is no convincing evidence to link an increased intake of dietary cholesterol or eggs with coronary heart disease through raised blood cholesterol.”

In fact, saturated fat – whose primary dietary sources among Americans are red meats, butter, and foods made with butter – is more responsible for raising blood cholesterol than cholesterol-rich foods, such as eggs.

However, this does not mean that saturated fat is a significant villain, either.

The available evidence shows that diets high in saturated fat are not linked much more closely to risk of heart disease than are diets high in total fat, polyunsaturated fats, or monounsaturated fats. The main exception is that younger people’s risk is exacerbated more by high fat intake. (Artaud-Wild SM et al. 1993; Esrey KL et al. 1996; Jakobsen MU et al. 2004; Xu J et al. 2006; Volk MG 2007)

Sadly, many doctors remain unaware that the lipid hypothesis of heart disease rests on a foundation of sand, with numerous studies proving that diets high saturated fat and cholesterol are not inherently unhealthful.

Instead, it is a lack of plant foods and exercise and an excess of refined carbohydrates (i.e., white flour products) that can make fatty diets dangerous. These contextual differences explain why people in Finland and France have widely divergent rates of heart disease despite having similar intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol (Volk MG 2007).

In other words, it appears safe to eat reasonable amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol as long as your diet meets the basic criteria outlined in our accompanying article, “What is Heart Disease, Exactly?”

Sources

• Artaud-Wild SM, Connor SL, Sexton G, Connor WE. Differences in coronary mortality can be explained by differences in cholesterol and saturated fat intakes in 40 countries but not in France and Finland. A paradox. Circulation. 1993 Dec;88(6):2771-9.
• Dawber TR, Nickerson RJ, Brand FN, Pool J. Eggs, serum cholesterol, and coronary heart disease. Am J Clin Nutr 1982;36:617-25.
• Dawber TR, Nickerson RJ, Brand FN, Pool J. Eggs, serum cholesterol, and coronary heart disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 1982 Oct;36(4):617-25.
• Esrey KL, Joseph L, Grover SA. Relationship between dietary intake and coronary heart disease mortality: lipid research clinics prevalence follow-up study. J Clin Epidemiol. 1996 Feb;49(2):211-6.
• Gramenzi A, Gentile A, Fasoli M, Negri E, Parazzini F, La Vecchia C. Association between certain foods and risk of acute myocardial infarction in women. BMJ 1990;300:771-3.
• Harman NL, Leeds AR, Griffin BA. Increased dietary cholesterol does not increase plasma low density lipoprotein when accompanied by an energy-restricted diet and weight loss. Eur J Nutr. 2008 Sep;47(6):287-93. Epub 2008 Aug 26.
• Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Rimm EB, Manson JE, Ascherio A, Colditz GA, Rosner BA, Spiegelman D, Speizer FE, Sacks FM, Hennekens CH, Willett WC. A prospective study of egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease in men and women. JAMA. 1999 Apr 21;281(15):1387-94.
• Jakobsen MU, Overvad K, Dyerberg J, Schroll M, Heitmann BL. Dietary fat and risk of coronary heart disease: possible effect modification by gender and age. Am J Epidemiol. 2004 Jul 15;160(2):141-9.
• Kritchevsky SB, Kritchevsky D. Egg consumption and coronary heart disease: an epidemiologic overview. J Am Coll Nutr. 2000 Oct;19(5 Suppl):549S-555S. Review.
• Lacombe CR, Corraze GR, Nibbelink MM, Boulze D, Douste-Blazy P, Camare R. Effects of a low-energy diet associated with egg supplementation on plasma cholesterol and lipoprotein levels in normal subjects: results of a cross-over study. Br J Nutr. 1986 Nov;56(3):561-75.
• Nakamura Y, Iso H, Kita Y, Ueshima H, Okada K, Konishi M, Inoue M, Tsugane S. Egg consumption, serum total cholesterol concentrations and coronary heart disease incidence: Japan Public Health Center-based prospective study. Br J Nutr. 2006 Nov;96(5):921-8.
• Qureshi AI, Suri FK, Ahmed S, Nasar A, Divani AA, Kirmani JF. Regular egg consumption does not increase the risk of stroke and cardiovascular diseases. Med Sci Monit. 2007 Jan;13(1):CR1-8. Epub 2006 Dec 18.
• Volk MG. An examination of the evidence supporting the association of dietary cholesterol and saturated fats with serum cholesterol and development of coronary heart disease. Altern Med Rev. 2007 Sep;12(3):228-45. Review.

Xu J, Eilat-Adar S, Loria C, Goldbourt U, Howard BV, Fabsitz RR, Zephier EM, Mattil C, Lee ET. Dietary fat intake and risk of coronary heart disease: the Strong Heart Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Oct;84(4):894-902.

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Posted in Drugs, Omega 3, cholesterol, diet, food, heart, medicine, pharmaceutical drugs

Drug interactions hidden or Unknown?

January 21, 2008 // No Comments »

Hi its Monday morning and a quick trawl through the news brings up this article which seems to point to the fact that drug interactions are indeed harming our health. Thats no surprise to many of the people who read this blog but what was more interesting is that the negative evidence around the Cholesterol lowering drugs is growing. For someone who was told 15 years ago that i’d have to be on Zocor for the rest of my life and that once on the drug could never come off – hoggwash. I’m now off the dru, have been for 10 years and my cholesterol is lower than its been in 20 years. Please don’t always believe what the drug companies say. If you want to find out what i did and do today just email or Skype me.

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Healthy Mentors – here to help you
Trehalose – the safe sugar

January 17, 2008
Major Heart and Mood Drugs Take Huge Credibility Hits
Cholesterol drug enlarges artery clogs; Makers of major anti-depressants hid studies with inconveniently negative outcomes
by Craig Weatherby

America’s biggest prescription drugs, and the patients taking them, were reeling today after reading headlines about the second of two disturbing medical reports to appear this week.

We hope that these findings prove decisive in energizing the public to insist that legislators enact urgent data-disclosure reforms.
(more…)

Posted in Omega 3, cholesterol, heart, hypotension, nutrition

The Greatest Tragedy of All Time

January 15, 2008 // No Comments »

This film was a personal response to our over reliance on the established medical treatments and it expresses some of my personal views. If you want to see more please go to website www.squidoo.com/greatesttragedye mail me


Healthy Mentors – here to help you
Trehalose – the safe sugar

Posted in C Reactive Protein, Low GI, NIDDM, Omega 3, Sickle Cell, Trehalose, breast cancer, cancer, chemicals, cholesterol, diabetes, diet, food, glycoforms, glyconutrition, health, medicine, minerals, obesity, skin, skin care, skincare, type 2 diabetes

Omega 3, Omega 6 and Allergies

// 2 Comments »

Found this article very interesting – there has been an ongoing debate about Omega 6 and the concensus is now that we have too much in our diets and shouldn’t supplement it at all. Omega 3 are a different afair and we need them but even then its not always clear – plant based Omega 3 is not well used by the body so my preference is to use a product called Omega 3 From Nordic naturals – available from the best site on the web.

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Healthy Mentors – here to help you
Trehalose – the safe sugar

January 14, 2008
Omega-3s Cut Child Allergies in Clinical Trial
Swedish study finds that higher maternal omega-3 intake reduces infants’ allergy risks
by Craig Weatherby

The human immune system uses the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in cell membranes to make messenger chemicals called eicosanoids.

Eicosanoids, which were made famous by Barry Sears’ Zone diet books, give orders to immune cells: orders that can start inflammation, control how fiery it will be, and end it.

The omega-6 fatty acids in which American diets are overloaded are used to make eicosanoids that prompt inflammation, while the eicosanoids made from omega-3s are either moderately inflammatory or anti-inflammatory.

And recent studies revealed a novel group of immune-system mediators made from omega-3s (resolvins, docosatrienes, and neuroprotectins), which exert independent anti-inflammatory effects.

In short, omega-3s tend to moderate inflammation in the body, while omega-6s tend to promote and extend inflammation.

What does this have to do with allergies?

(more…)

Posted in C Reactive Protein, Omega 3, auto immune

Meat can Kill you – but Vegetariansim may not be the full answer either

November 20, 2007 // No Comments »

Meat can kill you.

That’s one of the key points that came out of a major review of 7,000 studies.

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) spent six years preparing this research. Too bad they went to all that trouble and then produced advice that wasn’t quite on the mark.

Fortunately, HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., is here to help them fine-tune their results for some truly useful advice (especially for vegetarians).

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Apples & oranges
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This headline from FoodNavigator-USA caught my eye: “Red and Processed Meats Increase Cancer Risk, Says Study.”

Of the 10 recommendations offered by the WCRF in this report, FoodNavigator decided to feature this one: “Limit intake of red meat and avoid processed meat.”

Researchers found that high intake of red meat and processed meat was linked to a 30 percent increase in colorectal cancer risk. But lumping red meat with processed meat is like lumping “Citizen Kane” with “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” So much of processed meat is pure junk: binders, fillers, and a host of chemicals that preserve, color, and flavor. There’s really no comparison to the quality nutrition found in meat from an animal that’s been properly fed and cared for (i.e.; not raised on a factory farm).

Unfortunately, very few of us consume such high quality meat, which is rarely available in the average grocery store. Here’s how Dr. Spreen put it when I asked him for his thoughts on the WCRF report: “The studies on the meat and colon effects do not take into account the presence of herbicides, pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, and the use of antibiotics and hormones given to the animals that produce most of our meat. So, the problem may very well be toxic chemical exposure, not ingestion of meat, per se.”

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Filling in the Blanks
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I can easily imagine someone reading the FoodNavigator-USA article and deciding: That’s it! I’m going vegetarian! What they may not take into consideration is the essential nutrition they get from high quality meat.

In previous e-Alerts, Dr. Spreen has noted how important it is for vegetarians to include vitamin B-12 in their supplement regimen. He states flatly that vegetarians cannot ingest this important B in adequate amounts unless they take a B-12 supplement. The irony here is that the WCRF report also offers this recommendation: “Aim to meet nutritional needs through diet alone.”

Good luck with that.

I wondered what other supplements Dr. Spreen might recommend for a strict vegetarian.

Dr. Spreen: “Besides the B-12, I’d add some conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), as that form only comes from being processed within an animal. Getting enough of the omega-3 oils in general is a problem, as the ratio tends to be more omega-6 in vegetarians (no fish). I’d also add some saturated fat – since butter and lard (animal fat) are out, vegetarians (especially young ones) are missing the type of fat that’s needed for cell membrane production (kind of important, as you might imagine). In that case I’d be pushing for the use of coconut oil and palm kernel oil (neither one being popular these days).

“Iron is a problem (especially since only animal sources provide iron in a form that ‘insulates’ its oxidative effects from the body within a heme ring), so I’d add an iron supplement.

“Vitamin D is no problem if the individual gets enough whole-body solar exposure daily. That’s kind of rare, unfortunately, so I’d be adding that.

“High quality protein (egg highest, milk next) is an issue. You’re only left with soy, a sad substitute (especially in young boys), but I’d have to add that.

“Vegetarianism is a wonderful cleanse in the short term – I definitely recommend it. In the long term…a total disaster.”

Ouch. I know a lot of our members won’t enjoy hearing their diet described as a “disaster.” But when a wide spectrum of nutrition is missing, a disaster is in the making without some supplementary help.

Talk to your doctor or an experienced dietician before adding any of these supplements to your daily regimen.

Posted in Omega 3, diet, food, nutrition

Blood Pressure Vs Cholesterol

November 7, 2007 // 4 Comments »

A high blood level of cholesterol, which damages the heart by clogging the arteries with plaque and fat deposits, is probably the number one contributing factor for heart disease. But high blood pressure (currently defined as anything above 140/90) comes in as a close second, also known as hypertension, it is often called the silent killer, because there are usually no symptoms.Hypertension can often be controlled with medication, but there are a number of other measures you can take that may help as well. You might want to experiment with some of the following to see how they work for you, but consult your doctor beforehand.