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Sunday, June 01, 2008
My Total Cholesterol Is 326 And Why I Don't Need To Take Lipitor Or Crestor To Lower It
Of all the blatant lies we have been told about our health over the years, there is one that sticks out as the most egregious of them all because it has failed to be proven by any reputable science or through human experience. And yet millions upon millions of Americans are currently taking a prescription medication for this condition because that's what their doctor told them they needed to do to prevent the risk of heart disease. I'm of course referring to the cholesterol hypothesis.
We've all heard it throughout our lifetime that you better keep your cholesterol below 200 if you want to keep from having clogged arteries which could lead to a heart attack, stroke, or worse. These warnings have come from well-meaning physicians, dietitians, and other so-called health "experts" who are simply regurgitating what they have been taught in medical school, personal training, and from other sources.
One of those "other sources" of information are pharmaceutical companies which stand to profit greatly from a trumped-up condition that they can swoop in and come to the rescue of people with a susceptibility for atherosclerosis with a miracle pill. That's exactly what Pfizer has done marketing Lipitor, Astra-Zeneca with Crestor, and Merck/Schering-Plough with Zetia. These prescription medications are meant to treat "high cholesterol," but has anyone stopped to ask the obvious question that is that gigantic elephant in the room?
WHAT IS THE PROOF THAT HIGH CHOLESTEROL LEADS TO HEART DISEASE?
Surely you jest, Jimmy! Everyone KNOWS that you put yourself at risk when you allow your cholesterol, especially that dastardly LDL "bad" cholesterol, to rise above 200. Anyone who refuses to take a statin drug when their total cholesterol rises above this level is simply putting themselves at severe risk for some rather serious health consequences down the road. Why not just take your medicine like the rest of us are doing and put yourself out of harm's way?
You'd be surprised how many people feel EXACTLY like that. We've been so cleverly sold a bill of goods about cholesterol that it's almost sacrilegious to even suggest a contrary point of view without being looked at like you're some kind of space alien. Of course, those of us who are livin' la vida low-carb are already used to this kind of scrutiny, so what else is new? That said, what is the harm in taking a pill that supposedly will do you some good?
Well, there's PLENTY of harm that can happen. Although cholesterol numbers have come way down from where they once were, what is the cost to our health that these reductions have produced. In my podcast interview with Dr. Jim LaValle last week, he said that if you put 250 people in a room and put them all on a statin drug and just ONE of them reduced their risk of heart disease as a result of this therapy, the pharmaceutical companies believe that is good enough to put the pill on the market for the masses. But what about those other 249 people? What is the impact of a statin drug on THEIR health?!
Let's just be honest for a moment. Cholesterol drugs are about nothing more than one thing and one thing alone: MONEY! If there was no money to be had in reducing cholesterol numbers, then all this hoopla over cholesterol would never even exist. The fact is battling "high cholesterol" is big business and anything that stands in the way of that multi-BILLION dollar profit machine will be run over with a proverbial Mack truck! If word got out that livin' la vida low-carb did more to improve your risk of heart disease than statin drugs, then there would be a lot of unhappy pharmaceutical reps who have made a healthy living selling the facade that "high cholesterol" will kill you.
Let's talk about the pharmaceutical reps for a moment. Who died and made them the great purveyors of health knowledge in the United States? I understand doctors are limited on their time and ability to continue their education into the latest research that comes out about health. But why do the pharmaceutical companies get a free pass to waltz right into see my doctor--sometimes as many as six blaze in and out while I'm there--to explain about their new wonder drug for every ailment known to mankind? Can I have the same sort of privileges to go from doctor's office to doctor's office to give a presentation about the latest scientific evidence supporting a controlled-carb approach on weight and health? I think you know the answer.
So that's the system we're stuck with for now. Doctors go to medical school where they receive a grand total of maybe one week of nutritional education (two if they're lucky!) and then are forced to rely on highly-paid drug company representatives to give them "unbiased" reporting on what they need to be giving their patients for high blood pressure, obesity, and high cholesterol. It's the way we've always done it, so I guess we had better get used to it, right?
Not me. When I decided to go on the Atkins diet in 2004, I was sick and tired (literally!) of settling for the conventional wisdom for what constituted a "healthy" diet and instead chose a way of eating that would help me go on to shed 180 pounds. At the time when I still weighed over 400 pounds, I was taking Crestor after a very painful stint on Lipitor to control my "high cholesterol" which was around 250 at the time. They had me so scared of NOT taking this statin that I felt like it was my only option despite the agonizing pain these drugs have been shown to cause in more users than they even realize.
Nine months later after losing about 140 pounds, I decided to come off of statin drugs for good. And I've refused to take another one since because low-carb has worked better to make me healthier than I ever thought possible. And yet those boo birds in my head kept making a lot of noise in 2006 when I visited my doctor for a routine physical check-up. As soon as my doctor said I needed the "s" word again, I just about screamed! When I politely told him I would NOT be going back on Lipitor or Crestor again, he said he'd give me four months to lower my LDL down from 170 or else he would insist I take it.
Once you break through literally years of cholesterol indoctrination and instead challenge those who support the cholesterol hypothesis to prove having "high cholesterol" is unhealthy, then you are then ready to understand that there's more to it than simple terms like "good" and "bad" cholesterol. The particle size of LDL is the BETTER way to determine if that cholesterol number you see is harmful or protective. The large, fluffy LDL are protective while the small, dense LDL particle size is what you need to be wary of. You can check out the particle size of your cholesterol by having a VAP test done or something similar that would give you the breakdown of these cholesterol subsets. It's not as simple as LDL and total cholesterol anymore.
One of my readers frantically wrote to me an urgent message about their recent trip to the doctor and her diagnosis of "high cholesterol." Here's what she wrote:
Hi Jimmy,
I have been doing Atkins since April 2007 and have lost 40 pounds. I just recently went to my doctor and had some blood work done. I received the results and it came back that my cholesterol is too high. My LDL is around 250, my HDL is around 54 and my total cholesterol is at 300.
I don't know what to do!! My doctor prescribed me Crestor, but I have heard awful things about it. What do you think I should do? I have been eating lean meats, fish and veggies and staying away from excessive salt intake. I don't want to stop doing low-carb. Oh and I am exercising too! I appreciate any help or advice you can give me!!
I'm so glad she wrote to me because she is EXACTLY who I wanted this blog post to be for. She has been sold that bill of goods that her cholesterol is too high and the ONLY answer she has to this grave problem they have presented to her is to take a statin drug. Gee, imagine that! Sure didn't see that one coming!
Let me just say that her HDL of 54 is great and I would be willing to bet her triglycerides are below 100. Dr. Mary C. Vernon has said that one of the surefire ways of knowing someone is low-carbing correctly is their HDL is above 50 and their triglycerides are under 100. If that's the case, then her HDL/triglyceride ratio is FABULOUS and she really has nothing to worry about.
But what about the LDL and total cholesterol? Are they really irrelevant? Well, without seeing the results of her particle size test (which I don't know if they ran or not), it's impossible to know if she's at risk with those numbers. But I do happen to know someone with similar numbers who did have a particle size test done recently--ME!
You'll recall I went to see a low-carb doctor last month about my recent mysterious 30-pound weight gain and he ran my lipid profile numbers for me. When the results came back, they would no doubt be a bit stunning to someone who looks at cholesterol in a traditional way:
Total Cholesterol - 326 Total LDL - 246 Total HDL - 65 Triglycerides - 77 Insulin - 5.8
Yes, my total cholesterol is 326 and hopefully now you know why I don't need to take a statin drug like Lipitor or Crestor to lower it. Check out my HDL/triglyceride ratio. It's virtually 1-1 and that's FANTASTIC! Note that my HDL is above 50 and my triglycerides are below 100--a sign that I'm livin' la vida low-carb 100% right despite my weight gain. So what's up with the LDL? Is the particle size where it needs to be?
The answer is YES! My doctor said that when he analyzed the LDL subset breakdown, he saw a clear majority of the LDL was the large, fluffy kind that you want to protect against cardiovascular problems and very few if any of the small, dense kind. So, despite my astronomical LDL number, it's a non-factor. And neither is the total cholesterol. Keep in mind my HDL "good" cholesterol is high like it needs to be, so that contributes to the total number, too.
So if you've been to the doctor after being on a low-carb diet and you see numbers similar to mine and my reader's cholesterol, don't panic! Get your particle size so you can be armed with the facts about what to do in response. "High cholesterol" is a gimmick to sell more dangerous statin drugs to people who could stand to benefit from the healthy low-carb lifestyle. I'd never tell you what to do for YOUR health--that's YOUR decision. But one thing is for certain. I'm NEVER gonna take a statin drug again!
And I don't have to because I'm livin' la vida low-carb!
Most people are confused and bewildered about what supplements they should be taking as part of a healthy lifestyle change like livin' la vida low-carb. We all know the benefits of a solid multivitamin as part of your daily nutritional routine. But what else can we take to help improve our health while losing and then maintaining our weight?
I've shared a few of the specific supplements I take on a daily basis in this YouTube video as well as this blog post. But there is one that you may not have heard much about because quite frankly the medical industry doesn't want you to know there's an over-the-counter dietary supplement that will replace some very expensive prescription drugs you may be taking. It's called CoQ10.
CoQ10 stands for Co-enzyme Q10 and is as crucial for protecting your body against heart disease, cancer, AIDS, hypertension, muscular dystrophy, brain disorders like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's as well as memory loss as anything else you could take. Heck, it's even good for your gums, too! Although the benefits of taking CoQ10 as regular part of your healthy routine are well-known overseas, doctors here in the United States, including cardiologists who are supposed to be treating heart health ailments, have downplayed its importance because there's no money in promoting something that could replace many of the most bestselling drugs available today.
It's kinda like our cherished low-carb lifestyle. Most doctors frown and turn their nose up at the use of low-carb diets for weight loss because of its alleged dangers. But then when someone starts using it and the weight comes pouring off, A1C numbers drop, HDL "good" cholesterol rises, triglycerides plummet, and all the other excellent health benefits of eating this way kick in, there's little a doctor can say in reaction to these results. Even still, some doctors decry these improvements as a fluke and that continuing to eat this way long-term will cause damage. WHATEVER!
So you think you might wanna be a rebel and start taking CoQ10 anyway despite any objections from your doc, eh? Here are six reasons why you should consider this small, but incredible investment (and, yes, CoQ10 is a bit pricey, but well worth it for the benefits you receive) in the future of your health:
1. It naturally lowers your blood pressure.
This is something that I was so pleased to know about CoQ10 because I had been taking blood pressure medicine prior to my low-carb lifestyle and taking supplements. Within a few months of taking CoQ10, I started blacking out when I stood up. It was the weirdest thing and I couldn't figure out what was happening. When I went to the doctor about it, he said my blood pressure was TOO LOW with the medication, so I'd have to stop taking it. WOO HOO! CoQ10 was doing the trick for managing my blood pressure. In fact, this University of Texas study found that over HALF of patients with high blood pressure were able to reduce or eliminate their need for blood pressure drugs after just one month of taking CoQ10. AMAZING!
2. Destroy cell-damaging free radicals.
CoQ10 is a potent antioxidant (it comes in 100mg, 200mg, 300mg, and 400mg--I personally use either 300mg or 400mg) and should be replenished in your body on a daily basis for the protection of your heart, brain, kidneys, and liver from the damage that can be caused by the existence of free radicals. Think of CoQ10 as the "premium grade" of gasoline for your car helping it to run as smoothly as possible.
3. Reduces oxidized fat that leads to clogged arteries.
While limiting your carbohydrate intake is certainly protective for the heart while on the low-carb lifestyle, you still want to limit the creation of arteriosclerosis that happens when fatty deposits begin to fill up in the blood vessels. CoQ10 helps to prevent this by preventing the oxidation of fat cells from happening.
4. Alleviates major heart health risk factors.
If you have heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), or hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), then taking CoQ10 on a daily basis can give you relief from these conditions and quite possibly improve them! Why wouldn't you want to do that?
5. Improves pain felt by chronic stable angina patients.
For those people with chronic stable angina, CoQ10 gives them the necessary relief from chest pains and the ability to perform certain cardiovascular exercise to improve their health health.
6. Regulates the rhythm of your heart rate.
Having a steady heartbeat gives you peace of mind about the state of your heart health. If CoQ10 can help manage a fluttering heart, then everyone who has one should be taking this supplement!
Interestingly, did you know the dangerous cholesterol-lowering statin drugs like Lipitor, Crestor, and Zetia actually ROBS THE BODY of CoQ10? Yep, that's a dirty little secret you won't be hearing in all those cutesy little commercials on television about these awful prescription medicines. And when one company attempted to supplement the statin with some extra CoQ10, they decided not to do it since they feared it would cut into the sales of their statin drugs if the word got out about the CoQ10 depletion. INCREDIBLE!
As you can see, CoQ10 is an important supplement for creating energy and to help your mitochondria function (where you get your energy from!) the way it is supposed to. Taking this supplement daily will keep your cells youthful and vibrant for many years to come! Be sure to keep your fat intake up when you are taking CoQ10 since it is a fat-soluble nutrient. But you're already doing that, of course, since you're livin' la vida low-carb!
Regardless of your current health, I think everyone should be taking this supplement now to prevent any possible ailments that may come in the future. You won't hear your doctor or pharmacist touting CoQ10, but it very well could be the most beneficial supplement you've never heard of.
For the first time ever, audio from my interview with Dean Ornish
It was about one year ago that I was given the opportunity to interview someone who many in the low-carb community consider public enemy #1: Dr. Dean Ornish. Over the years, Dr. Ornish has made a career out of being the king of the low-fat diet and has become quite an established guru among his peers. He is arguably the most famous low-fat diet proponent in the world today and it was truly an honor to have had the opportunity to interview him despite our obvious differences.
In Episode 95 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," you will get to hear for the very first time ever the first part this exclusive interview I conducted with Dr. Ornish with all of his answers to the questions I had for him. If you're expecting a debate between him and I, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. The purpose of this interview was to simply listen to what the man had to say to see what he believes--straight from the horse's mouth!
Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod (I apologize for the poor audio quality of this recording--this was before I had my own podcast show and I was using primitive digital equipment that sounded like we were talking into cardboard boxes. Do your best to listen and read the transcripts linked below to follow along):
"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 95 [27:21m]: LISTEN NOW | Download
Many of my longtime readers will recall seeing the 4-part transcript of my interview with Dr. Ornish last year and you can see the relevant parts of today's podcast for yourself here and here. I think what was most shocking about his comments in this podcast had to be his assertion that he doesn't really advocate a low-fat diet except for those who are trying to reverse heart disease (which I still find VERY hard to believe since that's his biggest claim to fame) and that he believes HDL "good" cholesterol is like "garbage trucks" for the body (getting rid of the fat which he thinks is the "garbage" in your body--something the always-lucid Dr. Mike Eades more than adequately responded to). I really had to bite my tongue throughout this interview with Dr. Ornish.
Listen early and listen often to low-carb podcasting by:
What did you think about what Dr. Ornish had to share in this portion of my interview with him? Did he say anything that you would agree with or do you think he was simply on his talking points the entire time? Talk about what you think and respond to anything you disagreed with. I can't imagine that anyone reading this would challenge a single word Dr. Ornish said...LOL!
Come back on Thursday for part two of my interview with Dr. Dean Ornish heard exclusively on "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore." THANK YOU for listening and for helping to spread the positive message of the healthy low-carb lifestyle with everyone you know.
Dr. William Davis says modern-day heart care "tragically off track"
Heart health in the United States and around the world is that much more pronounced nowadays in light of the fact that obesity rates and and so-called "high" cholesterol have risen to the level of being labeled diseases that require a pharmaceutical response. But there's at least one cardiologist in America who believes all the current treatments being used against coronary heart disease risks fall well short of the mark in actually doing anything about artery blockages that lead to a heart attack or stroke.
His name is Dr. William Davis and this heart doctor from Milwaukee, Wisconsin believes heart health is nothing more than a money-making venture for hospitals while patients experience no actual improvements in their risks of having a cardiovascular event while following the recommended high-carb, low-fat diet and popping expensive and dangerous statin drugs. Those are just a few of the topics he and I discussed in my interview with him which I will share with you today.
Fans of livin' la vida low-carb are gonna LOVE Dr. Davis! ENJOY!
1. Today we have with us Dr. William Davis, an unconventional cardiologist who also serves as the medical director of Milwaukee Heart Scan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Dr. Davis is an outspoken opponent of the traditional methods and treatments espoused by the medical and pharmaceutical industries for dealing with heart disease. Before we get into the details of what you believe about that, Dr. Davis, tell us a little bit about why you got interested in the subject of heart disease in the first place. Does heart disease run in your own family?
I came to the world of heart disease by the usual misguided route: When I was young, I found it exciting because of the opportunity for procedures to “fix” this disease.
After about 10 years of a cardiology practice heavily focused on angioplasty, stents, and the like, I began to recognize that this was a treadmill of futility.
I was just toying with these notions when my real epiphany came—-my mother died of a heart attack at age 62. Here I was, an interventional cardiologist employing all the newest techniques and my own mother dies of the disease I thought I understood.
That was the moment when it struck me: The world of conventional heart care was terribly and tragically off track.
2. Much of what we have been taught about heart disease focuses on dietary fat consumption, excess body fat, LDL/total cholesterol, and too much stress. But most of these “scams” as you describe them are not based on the science behind heart disease. How did such dogmatic axioms become so ingrained in our culture as undeniable truths?
The limited understanding of issues like cholesterol in the 1960s and 1970s has become deeply ingrained into the practicing cardiologist of this century. Unfortunately, it means that your practicing family practitioner, internist, or cardiologist is still performing a test that was outdated over a decade ago—-the cholesterol panel.
Today, there are more insightful and sophisticated tests that uncover the causes of heart disease far more effectively than cholesterol testing.
There’s also an economically perverse equation at work: If your heart disease is prevented, there’s virtually no profit in it. But if you are allowed to have a heart attack, there’s a bonanza of thousands of dollars of procedures that follow. This is a situation aided and abetted by hospitals, cardiologists, and the vast infrastructure of corporations that support the procedural cardiovascular care system. It is a system that generates tens of billions of dollars each and every year and sports a growth rate that is the envy of Wall Street.
3. You wrote two books about this subject--Track Your Plaque (2004) and What Does My Heart Scan Show? (2007)--to help dispel many of these so-called truths about heart disease and to help better prepare people about how they can detect and even prevent the risk of developing heart disease. And yet 9 out of every 10 cases of heart disease go undetected until a heart attack occurs. That’s why you developed a simple 3-step program has helped many patients see how much plaque is built up, find out why it is happening, and to give them complete control over the problem. Discuss how you came up with this novel concept for treating heart disease when most other cardiologists and physicians look at LDL cholesterol. Why is that such a poor way to gauge heart disease risk?
It's no secret: LDL cholesterol has proven a miserable failure as a detector of coronary heart disease.
Abundant clinical trial experience has borne this fact out: LDL cholesterol of the average American: 132 mg/dl; average LDL cholesterol of someone suffering a heart attack: 134 mg/dl—they’re virtually indistinguishable.
So, if your LDL cholesterol is, say, 141, will you die tomorrow? Will you require a heart bypass operation to restore flow to your blocked coronary arteries 2 years from now? Or, will you be dancing on the graves of all your friends and neighbors 50 years from now, never having experienced a stitch of heart disease? Cholesterol won’t tell you.
Cholesterol is a predictor on a statistical basis, but fails miserably when applied to a specific individual. This led me to search for better tools to identify the person with heart disease risk.
The best test for heart disease is a test that measures the disease itself, not some risk for the disease. That’s how I stumbled on heart scans as a method of detecting early coronary heart disease. Heart scans are measure of the disease itself-—atherosclerotic plaque-—not some risk factor that might predict its development.
4. I recently highlighted a rather humorous post you wrote on “The Heart Scan Blog” about your experience on a low-fat diet as prescribed by Dr. Dean Ornish for “reversing heart disease.” What’s wrong with the low-fat , low-salt, low-cholesterol (DASH) diet recommendation that Dr. Ornish and virtually every other medical professional prescribes to people who are developing or already have heart disease?
The misguided advice offered to most people is that a low-fat diet reduces cholesterol and heart disease. This is simply untrue for the majority of people.
In fact, the opposite is true: a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet filled with wheat products like whole grain bread, wheat crackers, pretzels, fiber breakfast cereals, and wheat pasta raise cholesterol. Corn starch-containing products, white rice, potatoes, and processed carbohydrates are similarly to blame.
They raise small LDL cholesterol particles, the worst form of cholesterol of all. While large cholesterol particles are rather harmless, the small cholesterol particles are the ones behind heart disease in over 70% of cases. And it's small LDL cholesterol that is hugely magnified by high-fiber, high-carbohydrate diets.
5. One of my readers sent me an e-mail with concerns about the diet you recommend in “Track Your Plaque” because it is basically a lower-fat approach (albeit, not as low-fat as Dr. Ornish recommends). Your diet calls for 24 percent fat coming from unsaturated fat sources in conjunction with a high-fiber (35g daily) intake. What are your thoughts about a higher fat diet and more specifically one that includes saturated fat?
The Track Your Plaque book was written in 2003 before its publication in 2004. Much has happened in the few short years since its release.
Among the changes to the somewhat low-fat approach articulated in the book is diet that has proven more effective in correcting the causes of heart disease: a diet higher and richer in healthy fats like those from fish, raw nuts, olive oil, canola oil, flaxseed and grapeseed oils, and wild game. These changes, along with a reduction in carbohydrate content, suggest that a diet that is at least 30% fat (calorie percent) is probably more towards the ideal.
However, I do believe that saturated fat remains an issue. Saturated fat really became an issue when humans began to fry their foods and add animal fats like butter and shortening. It became an even bigger issue when the “factory farm” phenomenon seized control of American farming away from the traditional family farm, introducing economies of scale like corn feeding of livestock that transformed beef, pork, and chicken into high saturated fat foods.
The trend to reject saturated fat is really a trend towards rejecting the factory farm movement driven by enormous multi-national corporations intent on supporting the fast food and processed food industries.
6. I lost nearly 200 pounds on the Atkins diet back in 2004 and have been able to maintain that weight loss ever since by continuing to implement the principles I learned from the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins. And yet you do not recommend this particular way of eating over the long-term as a way to improve health. What specifically is unhealthy about eating an Atkins-styled diet beyond weight loss and is there a better way of eating that you believe is both heart healthy and bring about weight control?
Interestingly, before Dr. Atkins died, he articulated a diet that was more balanced in monounsaturated fats, less rich in saturated fats, included more vegetables, fruits, nuts, and other healthy foods.
We need to remember that the “Induction phase” of the Atkins’ diet that permitted indiscriminate and unlimited intake of meat, cheese, and other saturated fat-rich foods was simply that—-the induction into the world that allowed you to be divorced from the addictive property of refined carbohydrates.
In we were to follow the Induction phase of the Atkins’ diet indefinitely, we would experience increased bladder infections, kidney stones, rashes, osteoporosis, cancer (liver, colon, prostate, breast), diverticulosis, and other chronic conditions. The induction phase is a useful tool to make the break from carbohydrate-addicted physiology, but not a recipe for long-term health.
7. For people interested in having their plaque measured by a heart specialist like yourself, the Heart Scan Resource Center at TrackYourPlaque.com is an excellent resource for finding a recommended center where this can be conducted. Walk us through what that process is like. What exactly happens when a patient comes into your office for this test? How soon will they know the results of their scan and can begin working on correcting any abnormalities?
Actually, heart scans are performed at heart scan centers. I do not own a heart scan device. Thus, I have no vested interest in having people undergo heart scans.
Heart scans are, nonetheless, a valuable tool for detection and quantification of coronary atherosclerotic plaque, the material that constitutes coronary artery disease and the stuff that causes heart attacks.
Heart scans are ridiculously easy tests. Some EKG leads are applied, hold your breath—-you’re done. No IV, no poking or prodding, no pain. The paperwork truly takes more time than the scan itself.
You walk away from the scan center with a score, a calcium score that reflects the total amount of atherosclerotic plaque in your heart’s arteries. Because calcium occupies 20% of the volume of atherosclerotic plaque in your arteries, measuring calcium is a useful and practical method of indirectly measuring the total amount of plaque in your heart arteries.
Once you have a heart scan score—a precise measure of atherosclerotic plaque in your coronary arteries—you have a starting place to seize control and stop the increase in your score, perhaps even reduce it.
8. Just so we're perfectly clear about what you are saying, am I right in assuming you believe people should people stop worrying about their cholesterol numbers because they really don’t have a bearing on heart disease? How about those who are taking cholesterol-lowering statin medications like Lipitor, Zocor, and Crestor, among many others to lower their “high” cholesterol? Is there a reason for them to remain on those drugs in light of what we now know about heart disease?
The cholesterol reducing drugs do have role—-unfortunately, the majority of people are put on these drugs for the wrong reasons.
Let me explain. Someone will come in because of a reportedly high cholesterol. We do more testing and discover that the majority, say, 90%, of the cholesterol particles are small. This pattern is very likely to contribute to formation of plaque in the arteries. It also responds exceedingly well to a reduced carbohydrate diet. Many, many times, a person with this pattern will follow a diet that slashes carbohydrate content and cholesterol levels drop like a stone. In this instance, statin cholesterol drugs may be entirely unnecessary.
Another exception: A person with a high cholesterol that is not truly high. When you are provided an LDL cholesterol from your doctor’s office, it has not been measured, it has been estimated. The crude estimation is based on a calculation called the “Friedwald equation,” an equation derived in the 1960s when new technology for testing was not yet available.
It sounds ridiculously simple, but simply measuring cholesterol can provide insights that can often suggest that a statin cholesterol drug is not necessary. The more sophisticated testing is called “lipoprotein testing.”
9. Cardiac care is “big business” with nearly $60 BILLION dollars annually spent by Americans on heart health-related expenses. In fact, half of the profits generated from most hospitals comes from cardiac care alone--a staggering number which should be a real wake-up call to people who are concerned about health insurance and healthcare costs. Who or what do you believe is driving this heart disease “business” and are they intentionally trying to make people sick to continue the big payday?
Performing heart procedures pays big money. Prevention of heart disease does not.
That simple perversion of the healthcare equation explains a lot. Physicians and hospitals are not in business to provide health. They operate businesses that are meant to profit from treatment of disease. Wiping out a disease is not part of the picture.
Put in a stent and reap about $2000 to the cardiologist, $25000 or more to the hospital. Perform a heart bypass operation, and the physician gets at least $5000, the hospital $70-100 thousand.
Prevent a heart attack and you get paid . . . maybe a couple of hundred dollars for several hours work. Which do you think most physicians choose? Which do you think hospitals promote in endless TV commercials and billboards? What about the stent industry, manufacturers of implantable defibrillators, operating room equipment, and on and on.
Heart disease is big business. In fact, it is the biggest business every conceived in health. Why try to change it?
I try to change it because there is a far better way, a way not built on profit, but on returning control of health and life back to the individual. I see what I do as self-empowerment of the individual, taking control over health and away from hospitals and physicians and back to the human being whose life is at stake.
10. THANK YOU again, Dr. Davis, for joining us here today at the “Livin' La Vida Low-Carb” blog to talk about one of the most important health issues of our lifetime. I’m anxious to have one of these screenings myself in the near future and encourage my readers to do the same. Do you have any words of encouragement and hope to share before we end this interview today?
We are just beginning to enter an age of taking back control of health from hospitals and physicians and returning it to the individual. The biggest chunk of this phenomenon is heart disease.
I believe that the tools necessary to seize control of coronary heart disease are already available to the vast majority of people. It involves heart scans, testing that effectively uncovers the underlying causes of heart disease (including the rejection of the cholesterol testing scam), and following a program that truly corrects the causes.
I endorse web sites like Livin' La Vida Low-Carb because they shed light on the enormous sea of misinformation being fed the American public. Your 200-pound weight loss itself speaks volumes about the useless detour the American diet has followed. There are far better answers than the ones being provided by organizations like the American Heart Association, the USDA, the Surgeon General’s office, and other official organizations. We need to turn to the real world wisdom provided by the national experiment in health and diet provided by people like Jimmy Moore.
In fact, I tell my patients that if they want heart disease, they should follow the American Heart Association diet. On the other hand, if they want to substantially reduce, perhaps eliminate, risk of heart disease in their lifetimes, they need to follow a diet that eliminates the distortions of convention habits and wisdom.
Be sure to visit "The Heart Scan Blog" often for more from Dr. William Davis. And you can e-mail him to thank him for the work he is doing on behalf of heart health at heartprotection@aol.com.
As a cardiologist in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, Dr. Davis says he is "deeply disturbed by the state of affairs in heart disease" nowadays. In fact, he's so troubled by the profit-driven motives of "hospitals, drug companies, medical device companies, and physicians" over the issue of heart disease that he created a brand new blog entitled "Heart Scam" to expose these practices to the world.
In fact, his "Heart Scan Blog" does much the same thing while arming people with what to look out for when heart health claims are made and how to avoid falling into these moneymaking schemes.
It seems the good Dr. Davis has had some experience with the low-fat diet as he detailed in his post from late last month called "The Ornish Diet Made Me Fat." I absolutely love the humor he invokes in sharing what his life was like eating an ultra-low-fat diet in the early 1990s. It brought back some rather painful memories for me.
As you know, I went on a very low-fat diet in 1999 to lose weight and experienced remarkable success at it losing 170 pounds in about 10 months. But on the inside I was screaming bloody murder to get out of this diet. I was literally HUNGRY ALL THE TIME and didn't like the way it made me feel.
Sure, I was skinnier and everyone around me was stunned by the transformation. But I was unable to convince myself that this was a healthy way to eat and live, so I got off of it in a big way! Within four months after ending my low-fat diet experience and rebelling against thinking I had to eat that way for the rest of my life, I gained all that weight back...AND MORE!
I remembered the lesson of that experience well when it came time to start livin' la vida low-carb in 2004. One of the primary reasons I chose this way of eating was my belief that it was something I could do forever and ever amen. Four years later, I'm still eating this way so there must be something to that. This is something Dr. Davis can relate to personally as well as for his patients.
As you will quickly discover, he's no fan of the Dr. Dean Ornish plan for "reversing heart disease." This was something I experienced early and often from Mr. Low-Fat Diet himself during my interview with him last October. Dr. Davis says he is tempted to "roll my eyes" when a patient asks if they should go on the Ornish diet.
Here's what his Ornish diet looked like:
- Consumed less than 10% of his calories as fat - Eliminated all fish, meats, vegetable oils, and nuts - Ate vegetables and fruits - Increased whole grain consumption - Ornish-recommended recipes - Running five miles daily - Avoiding sugary candy and fruit juice
This "healthy" diet is supposed to help improve weight and health so that you never have to worry about heart disease, right? Well, let's see what happened to Dr. Davis:
- Gained 31 pounds - Developed protruding belly (this study confirms it happens) - HDL fell to 28 mg/dl - Triglycerides vaulted to 336 mg/dl - LDL cholesterol particle size was the small dangerous kind - In a strange mental fog by the afternoon - Constantly tired and cranky - Sudden surges of anger and frustration over the small stuff - Needed excessive amounts of coffee to function
Respected researcher Dr. Jeff Volek from the University of Connecticut asserted in my interview with him last year that the low-fat diet has no positive impact on health apart from weight loss. So what is Dr. Davis' point? While the low-fat diets promoted by Dr. Dean Ornish may have been all the rage 30-40 years ago, it's time to move on to something more efficient and effective for improving health based on all the latest nutritional knowledge we have at our disposal today.
"Few of us wear bell-bottomed jeans, tie-dyed t-shirts, or say 'groovy'...so should go the misadventures of the ultra low-fat diet, as articulated by Dr. Ornish. His day came and went. We learned from our mistakes. Now let's do something better."
We are, Dr. Davis! It's livin' la vida low-carb, baby!
You can e-mail Dr. William Davis to thank him for sharing his perspective about the the use of a low-fat diet on heart disease and health at heartprotection@aol.com. We need more voices like his to stand up for the truth and speak it boldly to those who need to hear it most!
Millions of diabetics take Avandia, but is it harming them?
We live in a society that says as long as you take your pills, you can live your life however you want to. Forget about making natural changes in your diet and lifestyle to manage your health, just go hog wild living it up and let the prescription drugs take care of the consequences of those foolish actions (like the American Diabetes Association's recommendation to go ahead and eat your carbs as long as you take your diabetes medicines--UGH!).
But doing that sometimes opens you up to certain health risks as we discovered in this USA Today column about the widely-used and prescribed diabetes drug Avandia. Have you heard this shocking story yet?
It seems the manufacturer of this diabetes medicine--#2 bestselling prescription drug at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)--informed the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) as early as 2005 of a 30-percent increase in heart disease risk for patients taking this drug. So did the FDA do their own investigation into this to confirm the safety of Avandia? Was an effort made to inform patients of this known risk?
In a word--NOPE!
Instead, it took a study published in this week's New England Journal Of Medicine to shine the light of truth on this horrific discovery that may have already quite literally negatively impacted the health of millions of Americans. You know what that means, don't you? Lawsuits out the ying yang and rightfully so. More about that in a moment.
First, let's take a look at that study for a few moments.
Lead researcher Dr. Steven Nissen (who conducted this study on statin drugs I previously highlighted at my blog) from the Cleveland Clinic wrote in his report that both GlaxoSmithKline and the FDA should have (but didn't!) take the necessary steps to adequately warn people taking Avandia of the risks to their health. Uh-oh!
Dr. Nissen concluded from his examination of 42 different studies that have been conducted on the drug posted right there on the GlaxoSmithKline web site that there was an even higher risk of heart attack--an astounding 43 percent INCREASE--as well as a spike in the risk of death from heart disease--a stunning 64 percent INCREASE!
Yikes!
These study results were eye-opening for Nissen and should be a real wake-up call for everyone who mindlessly believes you can live your life as a diabetic so long as you pop your prescription diabetes pills.
"This is important because cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in diabetes and is responsible for between 65% and 80% of all deaths in diabetics," he said. "The reasons we give drugs to lower blood sugar is to prevent the complications of diabetes, the most important of which is heart disease. When a drug increases that risk, it can have profound public health consequences."
Well, this study got the attention of the FDA who has NOW issued a Safety Alert this week stating there is a "potentially significant" heart health risk. Ya think?! That's mighty bold of you, FDA! It's about freakin' time!
The lapse in judgment by the FDA has compelled Congress to set up an emergency hearing by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on June 6th to look at this issue surrounding Avandia. Some lawmakers are already calling this "another Vioxx," referring to the now-infamous arthritis drug that had its FDA-approval yanked because of similar heart health risks.
In 2006, there were 13 million prescriptions written by doctors for their diabetic patients raking in over $2 billion (yes, that's billion with a "b")! This is big time big bucks for GlaxoSmithKline that they really hate to see go up in flames over Nissen's silly little study. So it's not surprising that they sent out the big guns to try to debunk it.
"We are confident of the safety profile of Avandia and believe in its benefit for type 2 diabetic patients," exlaimed Ronald Krall, medical director for GlaxoSmithKline, who added that there are serious flaws in how the study was conducted.
But this is something Nissen does not deny. However, he said he could only base his conclusions on the information available to him directly from the GlaxoSmithKline web site.
"It was based on an analysis of publicly available material, not patient-level data for these trials," Nissen noted. "Nevertheless, we think the results will stand up over time."
In the meantime, financial analysts are already estimating GlaxoSmithKline is gonna have to pay through the nose for the negligence despite their insistence they did nothing wrong by not revealing the heart health risks to the diabetic patients taking Avandia. How much will it cost them? Early estimates are saying the costs could end up being as much as $5 billion--that's TWO AND A HALF TIMES the sales generated by the drug in 2006 alone.
OUCH, that's gonna hurt! Wah, wah, wah! Cry me a river.
Legal experts state that there could be up to 16,000 legal claims made against GlaxoSmithKline in response to the study. At a nominal $300,000 for each case, that would add up to $4.8 billion. Additionally, Avandia sales would plummet significantly--as much as 30-40 percent.
This is exactly what you get when you rely too heavily on medicines from the big pharmaceutical companies to be your permanent lifestyle change. What do you do when that magic pill you rely on to keep you healthy actually puts you at greater risk for disease and even death? Don't you think it's time to look at all-natural changes in your diet and lifestyle to manage conditions like diabetes? If this story doesn't convince you of that truth, then I don't know what will!
Dr. Tavis Campbell blasts fat, but completely ignores the carbs
I'm sure you've seen all the news stories out of Calgary, Alberta Canada over the past couple of days about the study showing how "dangerous" eating one high-fat meal supposedly causes to stress and high blood pressure, haven't you? You can't help but notice an attention-grabbing headline like "One Fatty Meal Won't Hurt? Think Again" from our friends at CBS News.
Can they really be THIS stupid?! Yeah, they can, and so can the researchers who conducted this flim-flam research. I'll explain why you should be suspicious of the study findings in a moment.
Lead researcher Dr. Tavis S. Campbell, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Calgary, along with his fellow researchers observed 30 healthy adults who fasted the night before consuming one of two predetermined meals:
A HIGH-FAT FAST FOOD BREAKFAST or A LOW-FAT CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
Take a good hard look at this "high-fat" breakfast: A McDonald's meal with a sausage McMuffin, an egg McMuffin, and two hash brown patties. EWWWW! Oh, my stomach's churning just thinking about eating all of that! Incidentally, the "low-fat" breakfast was dry cereal with skim milk, a cereal fruit bar, fat-free yogurt, and a glass of orange juice. Yuck, that doesn't sound very appetizing either!
Both of these meals had about 800 calories, but the "high-fat" meal consisted of 42g fat while the "low-fat" meal only had 1g fat. The researchers also added a sodium supplement to balance the salt differential between the two meals.
A couple of hours after the meal, the study participants were put through some stress tests to see how their body would react to both mental and physical stress. For example, they were asked to perform public speaking about a sensitive and personal subject as well as dipping their hand in ice water.
The researchers measured their cardiovascular response, including blood pressure, heart rate, and resistance within blood vessels. What they found was the "high-fat" study participants experienced higher blood pressure than those who ate the "low-fat" diet. They conducted the experiment twice to confirm the results.
Therefore, Dr. Campbell concluded that eating just one "high-fat" meal can induce stress which is a precursor to cardiovascular disease. In other words, the researchers believe it's the fat that may bring on a heart attack or stroke.
But they would be just as wrong as this study on saturated fat from last year. Why? Just take a look at the macronutrient breakdown of the "high-fat" meal again. Yes, it is indeed high in fat, but it is also high in something else. Oh yeah, carbohydrate!
Is it possible that the combination of a high-fat with high-carb diet brought about the "exaggerated cardiovascular reactivity" and not the saturated fat content of that meal? I'd love to know what Campbell and his researchers would have found in their study if the participants had thrown away the English muffins and replaced the hashbrowns with a salad and full-fat Ranch dressing (thus making it a low-carb meal).
There's no doubt in my mind the results would have been MUCH different compared with the high-carb, sugar-loaded low-fat meal. It's amazing how researchers like this Dr. Campbell so conveniently look past the high-sugar, high-carb content of these "high-fat" foods in their experiment and just automatically assume it's gotta be the fat. No, Dr. Campbell, it doesn't!
Wouldn't you know the lead researcher was going to play up the "high-fat" aspect of this one meal?! Yep, Dr. Campbell didn't disappoint one bit.
"It's been well documented that a high-fat diet leads to atherosclerosis [hardening of the arteries] and high blood pressure, and that exaggerated and prolonged cardiovascular responses to stress are associated with high blood pressure in the future," Dr. Campbell contended. "So when we learn that even a single, high-fat meal can make you more reactive to stress, it's cause for concern because it suggests a new and damaging way that a high-fat diet affects cardiovascular function."
Oh cry me a freakin' river, Dr. Campbell! What a bunch of ridiculous hogwash that you are spreading about fat consumption. You really need to read up on some of the latest studies about how protective fat consumption is when it is combined with a reduced carbohydrate intake. Please read the research conducted by Dr. Jeff Volek, Dr. Eric Westman, Dr. Stephen Phinney, Dr. Jay Wortman, Dr. Mary Vernon...there's MANY more, but that'll keep you busy for a while.
With such nonsensical misinformation about a high-fat diet like this, it is more important than ever that we distiguish to people that it is the carb consumption and not the fat that leads to heart disease. One of these days that truth will FINALLY get through. That's why we must be vigilant about sharing the facts every moment we can.
E-mail Dr. Tavis Campbell your concerns about his study on a "high-fat" diet at t.s.campbell@ucalgary.ca.
I've been thinking a lot about this whole issue of where to find "low-carb friendly" advice about diet, health, and fitness concerns over the past few days. My e-mail box is literally bursting (yes, I know it's not a word, but I'm using it anyway to make my point) at the seams with question after question from people worried about this and that health indicator on their low-carb diet. Somehow, some way we need to have a place where people can go for answers and I'm open to suggestions.
Some people might say that's what I do at my blog, but not exactly. Although I am pretty well-versed in most of the basic knowledge and even some secondary data about how and why livin' la vida low-carb works, I am by no means the all-encompassing low-carb diet expert with an answer for every question that comes my way. With that said, though, if I don't know something, then I'm happy to tell you and I will then go to the REAL experts and find you an answer you can use.
Two different people e-mailed me this week regarding the neverending confusion and concern over the subject of cholesterol and the ongoing myth that elevated levels of it in your body will lead to the development of heart disease. I brought in a very special guest today to help answer one of the e-mails directly, but let me handle the first questions myself since they are pretty easy.
Here's what my reader wrote:
Jimmy, can you provide a quick retort for laymen fools that believe the cholesterol/heart disease connection myth? Also, how do you respond to doctors who want to put you on statins?
Interesting questions and I'm happy to assist. As for the quick retort, I like to turn the question back on them (and you can even use this on the so-called health "experts" too!) by asking--"Can you provide any scientific proof that there IS an undeniable connection between elevated cholesterol levels and an increased risk of developing heart disease?"
After they stare back at you dumbfounded for a few seconds, follow up your question with this--"The fact is there isn't any and actually studies have shown that it is more lethal and dangerous to have cholesterol levels that are too LOW which can also lead to bouts of severe depression!" You can even show them YOUR proof: here's the study published in the January 22, 2007 issue of Laboratory Investigation conducted by researchers out of Duke University.
The researcher in that study has been raked over the coals for daring to share the truth because the cholesterol/heart disease myth has never been about health--just billions upon billions of dollars in MONEY FOR THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES. The cholesterol drug industry in collaboration with aggressive pill pushers visiting doctor's offices across the country have so successfully scared the living daylights out of people regarding their cholesterol levels that they are willing to take a bone-jarring, nightmare-inducing statin drug (which most low-carbers will tell you to avoid at all costs) like Zocor, Lipitor, or Crestor to artificially "lower" their numbers.
Why do people do this to themselves when more and more class action lawsuits are being filed against these harmful medications all under the illusion that they are making your heart healthier?! That's what makes me sick when I see that idiotic Lipitor commercial featuring Dr. Robert Jarvik, the inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, boasting about how much he just loves statin drugs and that everyone should be taking one. What a crock of you know what!
UGH! Not me buddy because I'm not interested in damaging my body anymore from taking those prescriptions that nearly killed me! I was on both Lipitor and Crestor before I started livin' la vida low-carb and quickly came off of them when I lost my weight and began educating myself about what they were doing to me. I don't know how people put up with the joint and muscle weakness and pain that comes from taking these ridiculous medications!
Regarding your doctor and the statin drugs, what I have said is I'll take my chances with my low-carb diet. They don't want to hear that, but my cholesterol numbers (especially the HDL and triglycerides) have improved so much that I'm not worried about the fact that my LDL is somehow "too high." Says who? I've seen studies indicating high LDL can be beneficial to you--check 'em out for yourself here and here. I hate to say it, but frankly it's getting harder and harder to trust doctors anymore when modern research is proving their treatment of patients has not updated to the 21st century yet.
It's all about breaking years upon years of cholesterol indoctrination much in the same way that you have had to do with the low-fat diet. How hard was it to convince yourself that eating fat was HEALTHY for you when you first started livin' la vida low-carb? I'll admit it was the most difficult mental aspect of this new way of eating that I had to get my head wrapped around because we have been told our entire lives that fat clogs your arteries which seems to make sense intellectually. But when you finally discover the truth about that theory and then apply the lessons learned to your own life with great success, then you become a believer!
The same goes for what has been described as "the great cholesterol con." That's why independent Australian researcher Anthony Colpo released a book about it in 2006 called (strangely enough!) The Great Cholesterol Con which is now in its expanded and updated second edition! This sensational book is the magnum opus on the subject of cholesterol and should be in the library of anyone and everyone who purports to care about health (if you doctor hasn't read it yet, then order a copy and give it to him ASAP!).
Colpo is quite the witty chap as we quickly discovered in my interview with him and the man really knows his stuff. If you want to talk with someone who has dotted all his i's and crossed all his t's on the subject of cholesterol, then Colpo is your man! Although he was forced to shut down his phenomenal web site TheOmnivore.com, he still has an online presence at his Low-Carb Muscle forum. So check it out!
But I have him here today to answer the more intricate question from my second reader who reported in an e-mail some rather specific numbers in his lipid profile that had his doctor up in arms. Now my reader is greatly concerned and doesn't know what to do about his "high" cholesterol numbers. Colpo gives a fantastic response, but first let's read the e-mail from my reader:
Hi Jimmy,
Visited the doctor this morning. She wanted to get a look at my cholesterol numbers since I told her I wasn't going to take my Zocor anymore. After reading Anthony Colpo's book that you convinced me to buy, I quit taking my statin about 2 1/2 months ago. Got my new numbers (I'll have to look up the old ones) and they went up quite a bit.
I follow low-carb pretty well and rarely cheat, I could probably eat more veggies but I definitely eat more than pre-low-carb. I've lost 70 pounds in the last year doing so and the doctor was happy with that and she knows I'm low-carbing. She hasn't said anything bad about it and today told me to keep it up if its working.
Of course, though, she's not entirely happy about my new cholesterol numbers and I've mentioned how I have read that the tests are not accurate, cholesterol doesn't cause heart disease, etc. Her only reply is that all the cardiologists would disagree with me.
Anyways, here are my latest numbers:
Cholesterol: 234 Trigs: 89 HDL: 41 HDL risk factor: 5.7 (she didn't mention and I don't know what this is) VLDL: 18 (she didn't mention and I don't know what this is) Direct LDL: 163 LDL/HDL ratio: 4.0
Of course, she is concerned about how the numbers have gone up, specifically the LDL. I don't think that they're that bad. I still need to lose more weight and until I hit where I want to be (don't know where that's at yet, I'm 6'4" about 250 now but I have lots of muscle and wide shoulders) I will try not to worry about these numbers too much.
I'm kinda looking for your take on them and whether I should request a special test since my triglycerides are below 100 to figure out the exact makeup of the LDL and maybe show her its not so bad. Now I just need to work on getting off some of these blood pressure medications. Love the blog. Keep up the good work.
I loved this e-mail because it is EXACTLY what I used to fear myself and how so many other readers I am sure must feel about the same scenario. Before I get to Colpo's response (and it's a goodie!), let me address a few things first. Anyone who is following a low-carb nutritional approach will have different test results than those who eat a higher-carb program. Dr. Mary Vernon says the best way you can tell that someone is doing low-carb the right way is you'll notice their triglycerides are below 100. Since my reader's number is at 89, then he is right there.
You can get the VAP test done to see the actual breakdown of the particle size of your LDL makeup, but Dr. Vernon says LDL particle size in low-carbers who have triglycerides below 100 are the safer large, fluffy kind that are not a risk to your heart. But as Dr. Jeff Volek said in his interview with me, low-fat diets actually INCREASE the number of the dangerous small LDL cholesterol that he describes as "not so healthy" which leads to an even GREATER risk of a cardiovascular event. Yikes!
There's so much more to say about this, but let me share with you what Colpo had to say to my reader's concerns:
First of all, thanks for buying my book! I'm glad the information has helped empower you to the point where you are now critically analyzing the information your doctor disseminates--something a lot more folks should be doing.
As you would know from reading my book, cholesterol does not in any way "cause" heart disease. You have obviously challenged your doctor with this contention, and the fact that the only answer she can give in response to your cholesterol skepticism is "all the cardiologists would disagree" speaks volumes. If she is so sure that cholesterol itself causes heart disease, she should be able to articulate why in a coherent, scientific manner.
Whether she realizes it or not, she is implicitly admitting that she cannot defend the cholesterol paradigm, so instead she is using an "appeal to authority." This line of appeal is essentially a non-argument. It does not in any way explain why cholesterol is a causal factor in heart disease--it merely states that many employed in the field of cardiology think it is.
A majority of people once believed the Earth was flat. The fact that these folks shared a widely-held point of view did not in any way change the fact that it was utterly false. Nowadays, we laugh at those who still think the Earth is flat; I believe it won't be too long in the future before we do the same with people who think a perfectly healthy and absolutely essential natural substance like cholesterol causes heart disease.
Furthermore, she is wrong when she alleges that all cardiologists would disagree with you. I personally know of numerous cardiologists who agree that the cholesterol theory is complete hogwash. These include Texas cardiologist and preeminent CoQ10 researcher Peter Langsjoen. Another example is Paul De Groot, a retired cardiologist who, along with Uffe Ravnskov, caused an uproar when he recently appeared on the Dutch TV show "Radar" and tore the cholesterol theory to shreds.
I will reiterate: Cholesterol does NOT cause heart disease. As I am fond of saying, if you are eating, exercising and living right, then your cholesterol levels will be wherever they need to be.
There are numerous factors that contribute to "eating, exercising and living right." As you know, many of these are described in my book. Eating a nutrient-dense diet, getting regular exercise, avoiding high blood sugar levels, avoiding high bodily iron stores, avoiding excess adiposity, keeping good sleep habits, ensuring optimal essential fatty acid intake, and following a judicious supplementation regimen all help to stave off heart disease.
However, if one or more of these factors is not being achieved, then it can also affect cholesterol levels, by raising total cholesterol and/or raising LDL and lowering HDL. This is where the confusion arises--the modern medical establishment is still following the lead of early researchers who confused cause with effect.
Let's take magnesium for example.
Sub-optimal levels of this essential mineral have been implicated in a whole host of diseases, including heart disease. Having read my book, you'll know that magnesium is one of the "non-negotiable" items in the chapter on supplements. The average Westerner has a pathetic intake of this versatile mineral, and desperately needs to take measures to improve his/her magnesium status.
Magnesium is absolutely critical for cellular energy production, and sub-optimal levels will leave you increasingly prone to arterial spasm, blood clotting, and arrhythmia. Low cellular magnesium levels will exacerbate the damaging effects of psychoscial stress, and will also magnify the damage caused to heart tissue during a heart attack. In other words, low magnesium levels are a cardiovascular disaster waiting to happen.
Guess what? Magnesium is also involved in the regulation of cholesterol production. Low magnesium intakes can lead to rises in LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels.
The current medical approach is to identify this "unfavorable" change in blood lipids, and prescribe a cholesterol-lowering drug. This is a terribly short-sighted "Band-Aid" approach. The intelligent strategy would be to correct the life-threatening magnesium deficiency! Magnesium is a nutrient essential to optimal physiological function; toxic synthetic statin drugs are not!
By the way, while we are on the topic of magnesium, I strongly recommend Seelig and Rosanoff's terrific book, The Magnesium Factor. Ignore the authors' tendency to believe the reigning cholesterol nonsense, and you'll find a wealth of extremely helpful information on magnesium, including how to determine the correct dose.
Magnesium is just one example, but my book outlines many more. The bottom line is that you should make sure you are doing everything in your power to supply your body with the nutrient-rich, fitness-enhancing, low-stress environment it needs to thrive. If you do that, you'll achieve benefits no amount of cholesterol paranoia could ever hope to achieve!
All the best,
Anthony Colpo
Classic Colpo, as always! Man I love the way he just puts it out there and lets you decide what to believe based on the clear and irrefutable evidence. In this wild and crazy debate over the supposed dangers of having "high" levels of cholesterol, it's nice to douse the other side with a big ole heaping helping of a water tower full of cold, drenching truth to extinguish their flickering fire once and for all. I realize it's gonna take repeating this message over and over again for most people to start believing it (which is why this subject will come up again here at my blog), but the paradigm shift has already begun.
One thing I have noticed about writing here at my blog is that previous topics I have already addressed have a peculiar way of coming back around again and again as more and more new people suddenly discover this site for the very first time. If that's YOU, then let me officially welcome you to "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb." Feel free to browse through the archives in the lower right-hand side of the page to access the more than 1,600 blog posts I have written.
I certainly don't mind covering an issue over and over again as long as people are still asking the questions that they are most concerned about. Today I received a question from a concerned e-mailer that I am sure is on the minds of many people who are either on a low-carb diet for the very first time or are thinking about it. It's about cholesterol.
With the widespread prevalance of cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs such as Lipitor, Crestor, and Zetia (with that commercial featuring the fat female television cooking show host who is utterly annoying!), people have come to fear their cholesterol numbers like never before. Oh my gosh, am I gonna die if my cholesterol goes up above 200?! As absurd as that may sound to those of us who have educated ourselves about the cholesterol lie that exists, you have to realize that a great majority of people totally freak out when they perceive they have "high" cholesterol.
Here's the frantic e-mail I received from a new low-carber about her cholesterol:
Hello! I am in my second month of a low-carb diet. I am following a modified version of South Beach. To date, I have lost 14 pounds already and was feeling great...until this week. I had a physical and got my blood work done and the results were scary. My cholesterol is sky high:
Now I am afraid to continue on with my low-carb diet. My doctor only states that she "Does not trust the lab results....this profile does not make sense." Boy that really scares me to hear her say she is not trusting the results. Anyways, now I fear I'm gonna have a heart attack or stroke. Do you have any insight about this? It would be greatly appreciated.
Because this e-mailer is expressing a lot of issues that I believe may be on the hearts and minds of many other brand new low-carbers or potential ones, I'd like to share with you my thorough e-mail response including pertinent links to articles I have written about this subject before. Hopefully this will shed some light on the cholesterol issue and clear up the confusion and concern that apparently continues in the minds of many.
This was my response:
THANK YOU so much for writing to me today. CONGRATULATIONS on making livin' la vida low-carb your permanent lifestyle choice and I'm happy to address your cholesterol concerns.
First, let me calm your fears and ask you to try to relax about your blood test results. We have been conditioned by the medical establishment to assume certain things as it relates to health indicators (namely cholesterol) that people get in a tizzy when the numbers fall outside of the so-called "normal" parameters.
This may surprise you, but your lipid profile isn't all that different from mine actually. And it was about this time last year that I had many of the same feelings you did regarding my supposedly "high" cholesterol numbers. Check out just a few of the posts I wrote about it at the time:
Since I wrote all of those posts, I have become much more educated about cholesterol numbers for people who are on a low-carb diet. They should be measured quite differently than the traditional tests administered to people eating a high-carb diet. Respected physician and low-carb expert Dr. Mary C. Vernon has said that when your triglycerides are below 100 (as yours are), then your LDL numbers are not going to be accurate.
Dr. Vernon also added that elevated HDL (which you have and that's a VERY GOOD sign you are doing the diet correctly) and total cholesterol can happen "because intermediate density lipoproteins are being measured as LDLs." In other words, some of what is being measured as LDL is actually a false positive that could be LDL or could be HDL. It distorts the entire picture.
Those are the cold hard facts directly from the latest research!
In fact, coming up this Tuesday afternoon there will be a HUGE study that will shock the world of diet and health set to be published in a major medical journal about how low-carb diets have been found to be just as good or better on all the health indicators than high-carb, low-fat diets, including on cholesterol number. Be sure to look for my post about it then!
Also, if you haven't yet picked up a copy of Anthony Colpo's "The Great Cholesterol Con," then it is well worth the time to read all the research this Australian man has compiled about the truth regarding cholesterol. I also was able to interview him last year just before he released his book.
Are you starting to feel a little better now? I sure hope so. Like I said earlier, we have been so conditioned to worry about issues that really have no negative bearing on our health whatsoever and cholesterol is one of them. That's not to say you can't have cholesterol problems when you are on a low-carb diet, but it looks from your numbers like you are doing AWESOME with your blood test results. Your triglyceride/HDL ratio is an astonishing 0.75 (that's better than my 0.83)!
Be proud of what you are doing and confident that you are living a healthier life than you ever have before. THANKS again for writing and please feel free to contact me anytime! Take care!
Does anyone else have a thought, comment, or question to share about this issue?
3-5-07 UPDATE: One of my "lurking" readers who doesn't even have a Google or Blogger account sent me the following e-mail because she just HAD to share her appreciation for what I wrote in this post.
Hi Jimmy:
I wanted to thank you for posting this entry. I am one of those like you described who just believed everything about high cholesterol. I have to admit that while I have done the Atkins diet before, and it worked BRILLIANTLY for me, I have about 15 more pounds I wish I could lose but was a little concerned about doing it again because of the "high" cholesterol talk.
I know Atkins works and I know that those in the media who try to say it doesn't work or doctors who try to say it doesn't work and that it is bad for you for all kinds of reasons (not just cholesterol) have NO idea what they are talking about. It DOES work and I've actually never been healthier.
I get the feeling that many of these people have never read Dr. Atkins' books and just go around stating that if you eat a pound of bacon every day, you'll do your health bad. I don't quite recall ever reading that you can eat a pound of bacon in those books.
You may wonder how I could have read his books and know firsthand that those who speak poorly about the low-carb diet were wrong. Nevertheless, I fell into the trap of believing all the hype about cholesterol. Why did I do this to myself? That's a very good question.
So, let me say thank you. I appreciate that you put this issue out there and all the information you provide for us to read and educate ourselves. Not only have you done great for yourself, you DO make a difference for other people out there.
How about my feelings regarding the Atkins diet and my concerns over cholesterol now? I think I will start the Atkins diet again and lose that final 15 pounds that just will not come off any other way. I can exercise until I'm ready to pass out and I can try low-fat, low-this, low-that...but the only thing that works for me is low-carb.
Thank God for Dr. Atkins (and may he rest in peace), and thank you, Jimmy, for not being afraid to fight against the untruths while keeping us all informed.
Anyway, I'll go back to lurking now, but this entry just needed to be commented on. You've done a wonderful thing by writing it. Have a great week!
WOW, this is AWESOME! THANK YOU for writing this comment because it started off my week on the right foot. I'm always happy to share my experiences with my readers so that others can benefit from the truths I have learned. Keep up the fight and never give up! Take care! :)
"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 29 [12:16m]: Play in Popup | Download
This is the final show in my "Fact-Filled February" series today and we go out with a bang. There is a study using fruit flies that confirms WHY the Atkins, low-carb approach is so effective for weight loss and treating metabolic syndrome. Episode 29 gives you all the details about this particular research as well as some supporting research from two of the biggest names in low-carb science--Dr. Richard Feinman and Dr. Jeff Volek.
Tell us what you think regarding the subject of metabolic syndrome. It's funny, while I was recording this podcast on this topic, a reader wrote me the following e-mail over the weekend about her current circumstance looking for help with it:
I just stumbled on your Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show and it sounds like what I need. I have metabolic syndrome and I am pre-diabetic with high cholesterol. I am 5'6" and I weigh 229 lbs. I take 1000 mg of Metformin per evening. I'm currently taking fish oil supplements and chrominum picolinate supplements. I need a book, a diet, a menu or something so I can lose this weight and get off this medicine. I do and will exercise. I like DVD programs. I'm starting a 90-day exercise routine on Monday, its calesthetics, light hand weights and some yoga moves. I just finished a 10-week cycle of exercise about two weeks ago, it included yoga, ballet and hip hop dancing. Can you please give me some direction?
I sent her a transcript of Episode 29 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" and encouraged her to find a low-carb plan to get on and stay on. It will help her metabolic syndrome, obesity and diabetes all in one swell foop! :)
Looking for ways to listen to the show? Here's how you do it:
Share your reaction to this study and let us know what you think. Do you have metabolic syndrome or any of the symptoms of it, including obesity, insulin resistance, high cholesterol and heart disease? How are YOU treating these conditions? If it's low-carb, then how's that working for you?
Come back and listen to the podcast show on Thursday as I will very likely ruffle some feathers (yeah, so what else is new?) among the overweight and obese community with my opinions about the "fat acceptance" movement happening in America. You WON'T want to miss it! THANKS so much for listening and be sure to leave me feedback about the show. Or you can call the listener comment line anytime at (206) 203-4192.
Did you see the heart "attacked" in a Super Bowl commercial?
The biggest television event of the year annually is the Super Bowl and 2007 was no different. After the Indianapolis Colts triumphantly defeated the Chicago Bears by the score of 29-17 in the 41st edition of the National Football League championship game on Sunday night, the ratings were absolutely astonishing as always: 42.0 RATING/63 SHARE for CBS.
But it's not just the football game that attracts those tens of millions of people to tune in. There's also the pomp and circumstance of a over-hyped event (that's exactly what the Super Bowl is), the high-profile entertainment (well, Billy Joel and Prince haven't gotten this much publicity in nearly two decades), and, of course, the Super Bowl commercials!
That's right, admit it! Most of us watch the Super Bowl for the advertisements, not necessarily the football game (although last night's was a pretty good one despite the many turnovers that happened because of the pouring down rain throughout the game).
For the most part, the ads stunk to high heaven with only a few exceptions--the David Letterman/Oprah Winfrey one cracked me up. But I had to explain to my wife Christine who the woman was sitting next to Letterman. "It's OPRAH?," she asked. Yep, that was her! ROTFL!
I also liked the Blockbuster video ad with the little mouse that was...well, you can watch it for yourself...
TOO CUTE! In a sea of truly terrible commercials, though, there was another one that stuck out like a sore thumb in light of what I do here at my blog daily. It was the man bebopping around wearing a costume of a "HEART" who is stalked by various men wearing signs on their back such as "HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE," "OVERWEIGHT," "DIABETES," and "HIGH CHOLESTEROL." I kept waiting to see what exactly they were promoting because no product was ever mentioned during the ad.
At the end when the "HEART" has been thoroughly beat up and thrown against a brick wall, you are finally directed to go to BeatYourRisk.com to find out more information about how to keep your heart from being beat up like the one in the commercial did. In teeny tiny little print that you could only see in the last second of the commercial, you notice this convenient little "public service annoucement" about taking care of your heart is compliments of--WHAT ELSE!--a pharmaceutical company!
More specifically, it's from King Pharmaceuticals which has their Super Bowl ad proudly posted at their web site for all the world to see. In case you missed it or if you simply want to refamiliarize yourself with it, then watch it again RIGHT NOW...
Okay, interesting visual for people to take away from a thirty second spot, wouldn't you say? Here's the message: your heart is at risk of getting "beat up" by a series of criminal-like health villains which you need protection from. Is that about right? But it begs the question, what do you need to do to counter these attacks against your heart, hmmm?
So, I go there to check out the site for myself knowing full well it was funded by King Pharmaceuticals who must have some vested interest in a new drug they hope will help them to rake in tons of money on the perceived threat to your heart from having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes (even if there are ways to protect your heart naturally that doesn't involved expensive and risky prescription medications).
You also couldn't help but notice the other sponsors of the BeatYourRisk.com site: Omron, makers of blood pressure and other health indicator equipment (makes sense!), Coricidin HBC, an over-the-counter cold medicine without decongestants which is dangerous for people with hypertension because it can raise blood pressure (again, makes TOTAL sense!), and the BIGGEST BOY of them all among the sponsors--The American Heart Association (AHA)!
Yes, that's the same AHA that has been wishy-washy on dietary recommendations especially regarding fat intake as well as pretending they want to do something about childhood obesity by pushing for removing junk food from public schools. Hmmm, I wonder what they are going to recommend people need to do to improve the health of their heart?
Well, let's just see for ourselves.
When you click on the "LEARN YOUR RISK" button at BeatYourRisk.com, you get taken to a separate screen that assesses your risk factors based on the blood pressure information you provide them about your gender, age, height, weight, and BMI. They give you a preliminary diagnosis about your specific health risks tied to your blood pressure.
Then, in the next section you are asked to input certain lifestyle changes you would be willing to make to try to lower your blood pressure and, thus, any associated heart health risks. They include weight loss, increased physical activity, and then there's this one--"Eating a 'healthy' diet."
Do you know what they mean by that? Here's a direct quote:
"A 'healthy' diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products. It is low in total fat, saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol."
ARGH! The neverending fixation on reducing and eliminating total and saturated fat intake as part of a "healthy" diet is why I have described it as subjectively senile! There are so many health benefits to consuming fat that I have blogged about so often, I won't bother repeating them all again now. If you want to learn more about it, then go Google it!
Obviously, trans fats should be avoided, but dietary cholesterol is not necessary to avoid since it has not been found to raise cholesterol levels. That is another one of those commonly-held beliefs that people have been suckered into believing. It's just not true as has been explained many times before by many of the leading voices in the low-carb community.
Additionally, there were two other "lifestyle changes" to allegedly lower your blood pressure--limit alcohol use to no more than 2 alcoholic drinks per day for men and 1 alcoholic drink per day for women and eating a "lower-salt diet."
Here's what they had to say about reducing salt intake:
"A lower-salt diet means eating less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day, including sodium in prepared foods. That is the same amount of sodium as found in 1 teaspoon (6 grams) of table salt."
Sigh. Unless you are salt-sensitive (and it just so happens that I am!), there is no reason why you should watch your salt intake. An overwhelming majority have no reason to cut down on their salt intake. NONE! The fact that a minority of the population has sensitivity to salt should not make this a universal recommendation.
And yet it is.
If you included information that you would not lower your salt intake or change to their idea of a "healthy" diet, then the recommendation is for you to consider taking a prescription medicine (Ah ha, now we see the King Pharmaceuticals connection!). When you click on the link provided for suggested drugs to consider taking to lower your blood pressure, then you will be taken to the homepage for ALTACE®, an ACE inhibitor designed to lower blood pressure in senior citizens who have diabetes and another risk factor, heart disease, a previous heart attack, a previous stroke, or peripheral vascular disease.
What are the known side effects to this drug ALTACE®?
- swelling of the mouth, tongue, or throat, which could cause extremely serious risk and requires immediate medical care - low blood sugar in patients taking it with diabetes medicines for diabetes - persistent dry cough, dizziness, and light-headedness due to low blood pressure
EEEK! So, your speech will be slurred from the swollen tongue, you'll pass out from the self-induced hypoglycemia this drug causes, and stay dizzy from lowering your blood pressure too much. UGH! Somebody help me understand why you would want to do this to yourself?
Guess who makes this latest wonder drug? It's King Pharmaceuticals--gee, what a surprise! So why didn't they just come out in their Super Bowl ad and tell the public they were peddling ALTACE® rather than this cutesy little fake PSA for heart health? They aren't all that interested in educating people about improving their risks for heart disease as much as they are in selling another drug.
They absolutely have a right to market their drugs however they see fit and I'm sure the drug can help some people who have extraordinarily high blood pressure that will not come down through natural means. But how many people will be prescribed this medicine who don't really need it? That's what drives me bonkers about any new drug introduced to the market--everybody and their momma can take it!
To me, this is yet another pitiful attempt to bamboozle the public under the guise of showing people how to "beat your risk." Perhaps companies like King Pharmaceuticals should start with telling the truth about what they are doing in something as prominent as a Super Bowl ad and then people may be more apt to trust the information you are trying to communicate! Hiding who and what you are does not help with your credibility one bit.
(2004) and 
