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How to Avoid Jet Lag - A New Rule-of-Tum

Jet lag

Jet lagged
by Joey Berzowska

Avoid jet lag - According to a Harvard animal study, the sleep-wake cycle can be reset by fasting for 12-16 hours. So to avoid jet lag, the researchers offered this rule-of-tum...

Figure out when breakfast is served in the new timezone
Don't eat for 12-16 hours before that time

Avoid eating for 12-16 hours - The Harvard study suggests that delayed eating helps reset the sleep-wake cycle, which could help reduce jet lag or adjusting to working a swing shift.

How to Protect Knees When Hiking Downhill

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Walk backwards - IMO, walking backwards is the most effective way protect your knees -- though it's often the least practical and most dangerous approach. Walking backwards significantly reduces the strain on the knees during the descent, probably because walking backwards allows the knee to maintain a better ergo-dynamic angle during the descent. Walking backwards also shift effort away from a tired group of muscles. When it's safe to do so, I always descend backwards.

Take small steps - When walking forwards down hill, take short steps or "baby steps" as you descend. Short steps reduce the vertical distance traveled by the leg, which seems to reduce the impact on the knee.

Zig-zag down a hill - Instead of hiking straight down a hill, follow a zig-zag or switch-back pattern as you descend. This practice can decrease the pressure on your knee joints.

BPA - Biphenyl A - Research

Expose on the Journal: Chemicals In Our Food | Bill Moyers - PBS: Devastating report of industry and government cover-up of damning research on BPA.
JS Online: REI removes bottles with plastic additive chemical
JS Online: Are your products safe? You can't tell.
JS Online: WARNING: The chemical bisphenol A has been known to pose severe health risks to laboratory animals. AND THE CHEMICAL IS IN YOU.
JS Online: News: Chemical Fallout

Plavix Clopidogrel Research Review

Effects of Carbs and Sugars on Heart Disease - Research Review

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Blueberry Cinnamon Bowl

"" | I don't really like oatmeal, but I like this recipe. I add more than a dash of cinnamon, and add more walnuts. Very tasty.

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon freshly ground flaxseed
1/2 tablespoon ground walnuts
dash of cinnamon

Bring cup of water to a boil in small saucepan, then stir in oats. Cook for 4 minutes, then add berries and cook until piping hot. Mix flaxseed, walnuts and cinnamon.

Serves 1.

Grilled Sirloin With Garlic And Herbs

Really like this dish. Marinade is excellent. Very easy.

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4 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cherry concentrate
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
Freshly ground pepper
12 ounces sirloin steak

In mini food processor, mince garlic and parsley, then add soy sauce and cherry concentrate and process until combined. Pour mixture into shallow bowl and stir in rosemary, thyme, and black pepper. Put sirloin in bowl and coat well with marinade. Pleas in covered bowl in refrigerator and let marinate for 30 minutes.

Heat electric grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Spray olive oil on grill. Place sirloin on grill and cook 5 minutes each side or until medium. Remove and let sirloin sit for 5 minutes, then slice.

Serves 2.

Partners In Health - Making a Difference - Paul Farmer

60 Minutes to watch... and a lifetime to act: Watched this piece on 60 Minutes and was so impressed with Paul Farmer and the organization he co-founded Partners in Health (PIH). The stories literally moved me to tears--I sent a donation right after the segment.

Farmer is a smart determined guy who is making health care available in some really troubled parts of the world like Haiti and Rowanda. His approach is collaborative--he doesn't want these places to be totally dependent on foreign workers, so he's training natives to take care of their own people. He's also being smart about getting drugs to people in need at lower costs by negotiating with manufacturers to produce lower cost generics. He's treating people with AIDS in these countries, drug resistant TB. As he put it, the health care PIH can provide is better than some regions receive in the U.S. Indeed, some U.S. health agencies are using PIH as a model for inexpensive health care delivery. Tremendous impact. The dedication he has is obvious. These are our heroes. These people must be the examples our children follow and admire.

Korean Style Beef and Vegetables

3 tablespoons soysauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 cup fine chopped scallions
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons unsweetened pomegranate juice
8 ounces stir fry beef or flank steak
4 cups chopped bok choy, Napa cabbage, or green cabbage
3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 teaspoon sesame seeds for garnish

Make marinade, whisk together soy sauce and sesame oil in large bowl. Add scallions, garlic, and pom juice and mix well. Slice beef into 1/2 inch strips and put in bowl, coating beef with marinade. Cover and place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Heat nonstick fry pan. Place beef strips into pan and cook medium heat for 2-3 minutes until meat is done. Discard marinade. transfer meat to bowl. Put bok choy (or other) into heated pan and stirfry over medium heat for 4 minutes. Return cooked beef to pan and mix with bok choy, remove from heat.

Serve on bed of romaine lettuce. Sprinkle sesame seeds.

Serves 2.

Low-Carb Diet Plan - Gary Taubes

Low-Carb Diet Plan - Found this list in Gary Taubes' book Good Calories, Bad Calories to be about right. He culled it from Herman Taller and and Robert Atkins. More-or-less how I am eating. I'm basically avoiding any processed carbs, though I do eat Leo Galland's Omega Blast Granola in the morning. In fact, I really love many of the recipes from Leo Galland's Fat Resistance Diet.

Pomegranate Chicken

I was surprised at how tasty this dish is. The marinade provides an wonderful flavor and tenderized the chicken wonderfully.

2 skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup unsweetened pomegranate juice
juice of 1 lemon or lime
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper
olive oil spray
3 cups chopped romaine lettuce

Cut chicken into thin slices. To make marinade, mix pomegranate juice, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and parsely into large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add chicken and coat well with marinade. Cover bowl and place in refrigerator for 10 minutes to marinade.

Heat nonstick frying pan and coat with olive oil spray. Put chicken in pan and cook over medium heat for 7-8 minutes, turning occassionally, until cooked through. Discard remaining marinade (do NOT use marinade used to marinade the raw chicken again--throw it out!). Serve over bed of romaine lettuce.

Serves 2.

Good Calories Bad Calories - Gary Taubes - Bookmarks

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Why Fat People Always Feel Hungry

What My Body Screams

What My Body Screams
By 'Lexie'

Why Fat People Always Feel Hungry - I've been reading a lot about diets and obesity, and I've finally come to some conclusions which have been corroborated in Gary Taubes' paradigm-shattering book, Good Calories, Bad Calories.

The body regulates fat metabolism very precisely in ALL people--fat, lean, and in-between.

In a few sentences - Digestion of carbs and sugars leads to insulin secretion. Insulin secretion tells your body to store fat in fat cells. Insulin secretion also prevents your body from releasing fat from fat cells. You cannot lose weight (burn fat) with insulin in your bloodstream.

In other words - Insulin prevents your fat cells from releasing fat. So if you reduce your blood insulin levels (through low-carb eating), you enable your body to burn fat. But if you keep insulin levels high (through high-carb eating), you absolutely CANNOT burn fat.

The model ¹ below explains why people get fat and why fat people constantly feel hungry.

Omega Blast Granola - Plus

I made so changes to the Omega Blast Granola recipe, mostly in the form of more nuts, cinnamon, and vanilla. This has become a morning staple for me; just top with blueberries and milk. Yummy!

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup steel cut oats
1 cup oat bran
1 1/2 cup chopped raw walnuts
1 1/2 cup chopped raw almonds
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup ground flaxseed

3 generous tablespoons cinnamon

1/2 cup pomegranate juice
2 tablespoon walnut oil or olive oil
2 generous tablespoons vanilla

1-2 cups of raisins (depending on taste)

In large bowl, add oats, bran, nuts, and flaxseed and mix thoroughly. Add cinnamon and mix thoroughly again. In a separate small container, add wet ingredients (juice, oil, vanilla) and stir thoroughly. Slowly add wet mix to dry mix while stirring and mix thoroughly. Add raisins and mix again. Let mixture sit in open container for about an hour (so alcohol in vanilla can evaporate). Stir mixture every ten minutes or so during the hour. Place in glass container in refrigerator.

Makes about 7-8 cups. Serve 1 cup granola with 1 cup plain yogurt, milk, or unsweetened soymilk per person. Add blueberries or other berries (fresh or frozen)...YUM!!

Five Rules for Mastering Leptin

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Five Rules for Mastering Leptin - I found this a ready summary of Byron and Mary Richards' book Mastering Leptin. The book itself contains an enormous amount of detail, as the authors present their findings from a thorough research review on the recently discovered appetite controlling hormone leptin.

Chicken Parmigiano

Very yummy, easy to fix. Might put on the mozzarella cheese about 10 minutes into cooking. Fresh basil makes all the difference. Deeelissshhh.

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Olive oil spray
1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoon. low fat ricotta cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup shredded low fat mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Preheat oven to 375 F. Rinse chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towel. Spray a nonstick baking pan with olive oil. Arrange breasts on pan, then cover with tomatoes and ricatta. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with garlic, mozarella, and basil. Bake for 35 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through, the ricotta is bubbling hot, and the mozzarella turns golden brown.

Serves 2+.

Omega Blast Granola

Family favorite for breakfast. Not low carb (due to oats), but hearty and good.

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup oat bran
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup pomegranate juice
2 teaspoon walnut oil or olive oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

After toasting
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup freshly ground flaxseed

Preheat oven to 325 F. In big bowl mix everything except raisins. Spread mixture over nonstick baking pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until nice and brown, stirring occasionally to cook evenly. Remove from oven and toss in raisins and flaxseed. Let cool and put in glass container; store in refridgerator. Makes about 5 cups. Serve 1 cup ganola with 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt, nonfat milk, or unsweetened soymilk per person.

Fat Resistance Diet - Recipes

There are simply not enough meals in the day to enjoy all the great recipes in The Fat Resistance Diet book. Even if I were not on a low-carb diet, I would eat these meals. Absolutely delicious!

Fat Resistance Diet - by Leo Galland - Review

Pomegranate

Pomegranate - A Fat Resistance Diet favorite
by Peter Forster

Fat Resistance Diet by Leo Galland - After working with the Rosedale Diet - High Fat, Moderate Protein, Minimal Carb Eating Plan, I found that I loved Rosedale's ideas but felt something was missing. Then I bumped into the Fat Resistance Diet by Leo Galland, M.D. Fat Resistance Diet focuses on recovering leptin sensitivity by avoiding systemic inflammation in the body. Leptin is a key hormone in the body that controls appetite, among other things. Like insulin, many people are insensitive to leptin levels in their blood due to chronic inflammation. The Fat Resistance diet is designed by Galland to reduce that inflammation and recover leptin (and insulin) sensitivity.

The book is well written and quite profound in its analysis of the diet's own principles and those of other, competing diets. The meals and recipes included in the book are excellent, and the diet as a whole seems much more sustainable than Atkins, South Beach, Rosedale, etc. The focus is on whole foods as a way to obtain good proteins, good fats, AND good carbs, as well as many micro- and phyto-nutrients. The more I read Galland, the more he made sense and further he refined what I had read before. Control systemic inflammation and you control leptin, insulin, and health.

Nutola

From comments on post from Diet Blog.

Based on the nutola in Rosedale book.

I don't bother to roast the nuts - too much work. Just put a few pecans, pine nuts, cashews, almonds, and blueberries in a small bowl and sprinkle with about a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Then I pour just a little heavy cream over the mixture. It is a great breakfast or snack. I use the heavy cream because it contains fewer milk proteins, just fat, which is what we are after on this diet.

The cinnamon is for taste and improving blood sugar levels - I think it has a chemical that makes cells more responsive to insulin. This has been proven and I believe cinammon is recommended to diabetics now.

Ron Rosedale, M.D. - Metabolic Effects of Insulin

Found this transcript of Ron Rosedale talk on the metabolic effects of insulin. Totally blew me away. Note that it's a talk, and the transcript is filled with typos, but the essence sounds right on. I've copied the transcript here because the site that's hosting the content doesn't look particularly stable, and I don't want to lose the info.

Maya Kaimal Indian Coconut Curry - with Broccoli & Cauliflower

Maya Kaimal Indian Coconut Curry is awesome! Just cook up some chicken, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, and mix everthing sauce and simmer--super! And very low carbs, though technically Rosedale isn't a fan of coconut oil (contained in sauce). I'm not so picky.

Rosedale Diet - Recipes

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Rosedale Diet - Staple Foods

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Nuts and nut butters

Preferably raw, unroasted, unsalted

almonds
brazil nuts
cashews
hazelnuts
macadamia nuts
pecans
pine nuts
pistachios
walnuts
NO PEANUTS - they are not nuts (they are legumes)

Fruit

avacado
olives

Oils

Almond oil
avacado oil
olive oil

Fish highest in omega-3

halibut
herring
mackerel
orange roughy
sardines
tuna

Eggs

omega-3 enriched eggs (from algae or flax-fed chickens)

Tofu

plain
herb
flavored (Italian, Oriental, Thai)

Protein powder

egg protein
vegetable protein
whey protein

"A" list carbohydrate sources

Vegetables

asparagus artichoke hearts arugula bamboo shoots bell peppers (all colors) bok choy broccoli brussel sprouts cabbage cauliflower celery chard chives cilantro cucumbers endive eggplant fennel greens (collard, turnip, mustard,chard) hot peppers kale kahlrabi lettuce (all varieties except iceberg, which is low in nutrients) leeks mushrooms okra onions parsley radicchio radishes rutabaga scallions seaweed snow peas spinach sprouts string beans turnip watercress zucchini

High fiber starches

"La Tortilla Factory" tortilla (really?)
"Manna from Heaven" bread (1/4 inch slice-8 grams protein, counts as protein)
low card fiber crackers (2-3/day)

Legumes

black soybeans
hummus (as condiment, not meal)

Rosedale Diet - High Fat, Moderate Protein, Minimal Carb Eating Plan

"" | Rosedale Diet was created by Ron Rosedale, and M.D. centered in Denver, Colorado. Ron Rosedale, M.D. - Metabolic Effects of Insulin. I like the principles of this diet, and I think it's a healthy one to follow. However, I find myself favoring The Fat Resistance Diet by Leo Galland. The Fat Resistance Diet contains some wonderful recipes, though it does permit (even encourage) more carbs like fruit. Even so, I find I'm still losing weight and feeling quite good on the Fat Resistance Diet. Rosedale is a lot more disciplined about carbs, striving for a continuous ketosis state.

Cholesterol Myth - Evidence Refuting Cholesterol Causes Heart Disease

Cholesterol Myth / Heart Disease Myth - I've become suspicious of the current model that high blood cholesterol (LDL) is directly related to coronary heart disease risk (CHD). Operating from this belief, doctors prescribe drugs which reduce blood LDL levels thinking this effect also reduces the heart disease risk (CHD). Specifically, I'm referring to the widespread acceptance of statin drugs (Crestor, Zocor, Lipitor, etc.).

Statins clearly reduce LDL, but they carry with them other effects that may be more relevant to reducing CHD risk than their impact on LDL levels. It's like thinking that if we can stop gray hair, we can stop aging. Gray hair is a symptom of aging, but not likely a cause. Similarly, LDL may be a symptom of CHD risk, but NOT likely a cause.

However, as I make clear below, I don't think high LDL is necessarily a symptom of high CHD risk.

Work in progress. I hope to have study citations to support each assertion listed below in what I hope will be a more comprehensive model of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Why the Low Fat Diet Is Stupid and Potentially Dangerous - Anthony Colpo

The Great Cholesterol Con
by Anthony Colpo

This article by Anthony Colpo contains only part of his critical (scathing) review of research into low-fat diets and the goal of low cholesterol for reducing heart disease risk.

Why the Low-Fat Diet is Stupid and Potentially Dangerous

Anthony Colpo, February 23, 2006

On February 8, 2006, the Journal of the American Medical Association delivered a huge blow to advocates of low-fat 'nutrition' by publishing the results of the huge Women's Health Initiative trial. The results of the trial clearly showed that a low-fat diet failed to prevent cardiovascular disease or cancer in women even when followed continuously for eight years. In women with pre-existing CVD, the low-fat diet increased the risk of CVD by 26 percent!

Since the publication of the WHI results, low-fat diet supporters have been working overtime manufacturing excuses for the failure of their beloved regimen. Foremost among these is that the women in the low-fat group did not reduce their fat intake sufficiently. I even had one sadly misguided soul write to me the other day telling me I did not "understand" low-fat diets, that the only reason they frequently fail is because people following them don't lower their fat intake enough.

Such stupidity makes my head spin�

First of all, I understand low-fat diets only too well! Much to my regret, I followed one throughout most of the nineties, and the result was nothing short of disastrous.

My low-fat nightmare began in my early twenties, after a doctor told me that my cholesterol, at 213, was "moderately high" and placed me at increased risk of heart disease (something I now know to be nonsense). Following the prevailing dietary wisdom at the time, I soon adopted a low-fat diet. This wasn't your average low-fat diet--it was a VERY low-fat diet, with the kind of anemic fat intake that would have made lipid-phobes like Ornish and Pritikin proud.

For years, I ate only the leanest meats; in fact, to this day, the thought of eating another skinless chicken breast, kangaroo steak, or low-fat fish makes me want to puke! Fuelling the high energy demands of my daily workouts in the face of a low fat intake meant eating carbohydrates--lots of them! In keeping with the common advice still given to athletes to eat lots of 'healthy' complex carbohydrate foods, I consumed copious amounts of rye bread, brown rice, sweet potato, wholemeal pasta, rolled oats, buckwheat, and millet.

My dedication to the low-fat mantra was nothing short of religious, and my low-fat brainwashing so thorough that when I sat down and calculated the average amount of fat calories I was taking in, I was actually proud when I realized I was consistently consuming less than ten percent of my calories as fat every day!

Halfway through the nineties, reality began to bite--hard. Despite my 'healthy' diet, and my daily strenuous training regimen, my blood pressure had risen from 110/65, a reading characteristic of highly-conditioned athletes, to an elevated 130/90. I noticed it was becoming increasingly harder to maintain the lean, "ripped", vascular look that I had always prided myself on. Instead, my physique was becoming increasingly smooth and bloated. My digestive system became progressively more sluggish, my stomach often feeling heavy and distended after meals. I frequently felt tired after meals. I showed signs of leaky gut syndrome, racking up a rather impressive list of irreversible food sensitivities. I had never been much of a coffee drinker, but I was now frequently trying to fight off increasing fatigue by sipping a strong black or two before training sessions. My fasting blood glucose level was below the normal range, indicative of reactive hypoglycemia.

Basically, I felt like crap!

It wasn't until I abandoned the whole low-fat charade, and adopted a diet that went against everything preached by the reigning diet orthodoxy, that I began to reverse these symptoms. When I ate more saturated fat and meat than ever before and subsequently felt better than ever before, I quickly realized that most diet 'experts' actually had no clue what they were talking about. I quickly realized that they were mere parrots repeating an official party line. When I look back on my fat-fearing days, where I really believed that dietary fat was some sort of heinous toxin, the first thought that comes to mind is "What a wanker!" I then think of the sad legion of brainwashed folks all around the world who still follow the idiotic low-fat paradigm. "Poor folks," I think to myself, "they really have no idea just how badly they've been had�" While I feel sorry for many of these folks, I have nothing but utter contempt for those who write me in defense of the low-fat paradigm. To be fooled is one thing, but to vigorously defend those who have mercilessly deceived and shafted you is beyond pitiful--such self-destructive stupidity is an absolutely repugnant thing to observe!

Let's now find out why the participants in the diet group of the WHI trial should be glad that they did not lower their fat intake any more than what they did!

Why the Low-Fat Diet is a Big Fat Fraud

One of the first priorities of healthy eating is to consume the most nutrient-dense foods possible. Cutting your fat intake strongly impedes this goal via at least three mechanisms: 1) Directly slashing your intake of important vitamins and fatty acids;2) Reducing the absorption of crucial fat-soluble vitamins;3) Decreasing the absorption of important minerals. You probably think you're being "enlightened" when you trim the fat from your meats and ditch your egg yolks down the sink. What you are really doing is lucidly demonstrating what a mindless, brainwashed dolt you've become. You are effectively throwing away nutrients that your body needs to survive and thrive!

The fatty portions of meat, dairy and eggs are where one finds the highest concentrations of fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and beta-carotene. Stripping the skin from your chicken breast not only makes it less tasty, but reduces its vitamin A content by seventy-eight percent!(1) Throwing away your egg yolks is equally dumb. While one large egg yolk contains 245 IU of vitamin A, 18 IU of vitamin D, and 186 mcg of lutein plus zeaxanthin, along with small amounts of other carotenoids and vitamin E, a large egg white contains none of these nutrients. Egg yolks, along with beef liver, are also an especially concentrated dietary source of phosphatidylcholine (lecithin) and choline, which the body requires for healthy liver function and for the formation of the key neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Lower levels of acetylcholine are associated with memory loss and cognitive decline(2).

The last time you chose skim milk yogurt instead of the whole milk variety, you nutritionally short-changed yourself; skim yogurt contains 93 percent less vitamin A than whole yogurt! And if you chose non-fat yogurt, then congratulations--you received no vitamin A whatsoever!(1) Data from national nutrition surveys consistently show that American children have lower than recommended intakes of vitamin E, and this is reflected in below-average serum levels of the vitamin. Reduction in dietary fat further exacerbates the low vitamin E status of children(3). The consequences of low dietary vitamin E intakes may include impaired immune responses, and an increased susceptibility to cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Willingly reducing your consumption of important vitamins and carotenes is not smart--it's downright stupid!

Absorb This!

Low-fat eating doesn't just decrease your intake of certain crucial nutrients. As researchers have shown time and time again, it will also dramatically reduce the absorption of whatever fat-soluble vitamins and carotenes remain in your diet!(4-7).

When subjects ingested equal amounts of lutein--a carotenoid that may protect against age-related macular degeneration and cataract--from either whole eggs, spinach or supplements, it was observed that lutein absorption was significantly higher during the period of whole egg consumption(8).

In another study, researchers compared the absorption of carotenoids from salads that contained either 0, 6 or 28 grams of canola oil. There was no increase in blood carotenoid concentrations after the fat-free salad, while the reduced fat salad produced markedly lower blood carotenoid elevations than the high fat version(9).

The addition of 150 grams of fat-rich avocado to salsa enhanced lycopene and beta-carotene absorption by 4.4 and 2.6-fold, respectively, compared to avocado-free salsa. In the same subjects, adding either twenty-four grams of avocado oil or 150 grams avocado to salad greatly enhanced alpha-carotene, beta -carotene and lutein absorption by 7.2, 15.3 and 5.1 times, respectively, compared with avocado-free salad!(10)

Only a true dumbass would think that reducing absorption of healthful fat-soluble nutrients is somehow beneficial. Don't be a dumbass.

Making a Bad Situation Worse

The mineral status of the typical Westerner is atrocious. Take magnesium for example, a substance vital for healthy heart function, blood sugar control, bone formation, and muscular contraction(11-16). A recent survey of U.S. adults found that the average daily intake of magnesium among Caucasian men is only 352 milligrams, and a mere 278 milligrams among African American men. Caucasian women consume an average of 256 milligrams per day, while African American women take in only 202 milligrams daily(17). The lower amounts of magnesium ingested by African Americans have been posited as a possible contributor to their increased susceptibility of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease(18).

The situation isn't much better for zinc. Overt zinc deficiencies are common to Third World countries where animal protein consumption is low, while milder, 'sub-clinical' zinc deficiencies appear to be common in modernized nations. Nationwide food consumption surveys by the USDA have found that the average intake of zinc for males and females of all ages is below the recommended daily allowance (RDA). This is especially worrying when one considers that RDAs are generally based on the amount of a nutrient required to prevent obvious, well-recognized deficiency diseases (such as stunted growth and hypogonadism in the case of zinc), not sub-clinical deficiencies that may damage one's health over the longer-term.

Those who follow low fat diets are at even greater risk of zinc deficiency(19,20). Not only do low-fat diets discourage the consumption of zinc-rich foods like red meat, but a low dietary fat intake itself acts to impair mineral absorption.

It's ironic that red meat is typically denigrated for its saturated fat content, because saturates are the very fats that improve mineral absorption!(21-24).

A pilot study by researchers at the USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center examined the effect of different fats and carbohydrate on performance and mineral metabolism in three male endurance cyclists. During alternating four-week periods, each subject consumed diets in which either carbohydrate, polyunsaturated, or saturated fat contributed about fifty percent of daily energy intake. Endurance capacity decreased with the polyunsaturated fat diet. The polyunsaturated diet also resulted in increased excretion of zinc and iron, while copper retention tended to be positive only on the saturated fat diet(25).

Optimal health is next to impossible to achieve with sub-optimal mineral status. Low-fat diets, most notably those low in saturated fats, encourage sub-optimal mineral status. Yet another reason why these diets suck the salsiccia, big time!

Low-Fat, Low Omega-3

Unless you've been living on a distant planet for the last few years, then you have no doubt heard about omega-3 fats and their pivotal role in maintaining good health.

Unlike low-fat diets, clinical trials utilizing the sole intervention of increased fatty fish or fish oil intake have produced significant reductions in CHD and overall mortality. The benefits of EPA and DHA-rich items like fish and fish oil are not confined to the cardiovascular system. In epidemiological studies and animal experiments, increased intakes of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids have been associated with lower rates of cancer, depression and mental illness, adverse pregnancy outcomes, infectious disease, osteoporosis, lung disease, menstrual pain, cognitive decline in the elderly, eye damage, childhood asthma and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder(26-51). In clinical trials with human subjects, researchers have observed benefits from long-chain omega-3 supplementation in the treatment of asthma, alzheimers, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, schizophrenia, infant health, pregnancy outcomes, kidney disease, menstrual problems, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and cystic fibrosis(52-73). Hell, even the fat-hating vegetarian Dean Ornish recommends the use of distinctly non-vegetarian fish oil supplements! (Gee, can anyone see a contradiction there?)

So what has this all got to do with low-fat eating? Everything!

Similar to fat-soluble vitamins, the absorption of EPA and DHA increases when consumed with a high fat meal(74).

Again, not just any old fat will do when it comes to improving one's omega-3 status. Saturated fat improves the body's conversion of plant-source omega-3 fats into the longer-chain varieties EPA and DHA, while omega-6-rich fats impede the conversion process. In young males, elongation of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA) to DHA, EPA and AA was reduced by forty to fifty percent when dietary LA intake increased from fifteen to thirty grams per day(75).

When rats were supplemented with linseed oil, their serum and tissue content of the all-important omega-3 fatty acids increased, and omega-6 levels decreased, to a far greater extent on a saturated fat-rich (beef fat) diet than on a linoleic acid-rich (safflower oil) diet(76). Cutting fat--as in saturated fat--worsens your omega-3 status. If you think that's a good thing, then low-fat nutrition has already scrambled your brain. My advice: Eat some fat before you become totally brain dead!

Speaking of scrambled brains�

Nature's Anti-Depressant: Fat!

Feeling moody? Irritable? Always snapping at your kids for no good reason? Are you known around the office as "Attila the Grump"? If so, eating a low-fat diet isn't going to help the situation. In fact, a low-fat diet may actually be the cause of your mental funk! In 1998, U.K. researchers reported the results of an important experiment involving twenty healthy male and female volunteers. One group was placed on a 41% fat diet, while the other group consumed a 25% fat diet. After 4 weeks had passed, the groups were swapped around so that those originally on the low-fat diet were now consuming the high-fat diet, and vice-versa. Throughout the study, all meals were prepared by the university conducting the study and supplied to the participants. Both diets were specially designed to be as palatable and similar in taste as possible.

At the beginning and end of each diet period, every subject underwent a battery of psychological assessments, including various mood state questionnaires and an interview by a psychiatrist who was blinded to the participant's dietary status.

The study was tightly-controlled and adherence to the diets appears to have been high. HDL cholesterol levels declined during the low-fat period, a typical response on low-fat, high-carb diets, indicating that subjects ate the foods as supplied.

The researchers found that, while ratings of anger-hostility slightly declined during the high-fat diet period, they significantly increased during the low-fat, high-carb diet period!

Tension-anxiety ratings declined during the high-fat period, but did not change during the four weeks of low-fat, high-carb eating.

Ratings of depression declined slightly during the high-fat period, but increased during the low-fat, high-carb period, mainly due to two of the low-fat subjects reporting significantly greater depression-dejection ratings.

What is particularly alarming about this study is that the low-fat diet produced these symptoms in mentally healthy subjects. As the researchers emphasized, the participants were "a psychologically robust group who had never previously suffered from depression or anxiety, and who were not going through any 'stressful' events during the study." They further stated that "The alterations in mood observed in the present study may have been greater if subjects were feeling more stressed or were more susceptible to mental illness."(77)

Low-fat diets should be approached with extreme caution by those with a history of depression, anxiety, overly aggressive behavior or mental illness. Such individuals may be especially vulnerable to the nutritional inadequacies of low-fat diets.

The UK researchers' observations raise some interesting questions. Could the low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets that have been so heavily promoted over the last thirty years be at least partially responsible for increases in anti-social behavior witnessed during the same period? If studies with our primate cousins are anything to go by, the answer to this question could well be affirmative.

Low-Fat Diet Makes Monkeys Go Ape

For almost 2 years, adult male monkeys were fed a "luxury" diet - (43% calories from fat, 0.34 mg cholesterol/Calorie of diet) or a "prudent" diet (30% calories from fat, 0.05 mg cholesterol/Calorie of diet).

Researchers observed that the low-fat diet monkeys were more irritable and initiated more aggression than the "luxury" diet animals.

The prudent diet resulted in lower total serum cholesterol levels, something that our absent-minded health authorities automatically assume is a good thing. The researchers, however, noted: "These results are consistent with studies linking relatively low serum cholesterol concentrations to violent or antisocial behavior in psychiatric and criminal populations and could be relevant to understanding the significant increase in violence-related mortality observed among people assigned to cholesterol-lowering treatment in clinical trials."(78)

A research monkey after discovering he was going to be placed on a low-fat diet for almost 2 years.

Fatless Shrugged

It was Ayn Rand who once said that the most noble and productive goal for a person to engage in was the pursuit of their own happiness. If the achievement of your own happiness is important to you, then kick the low-fat diet's sad, sorry, melancholy butt right out of your life--it's a loser.

Low-Fat Diets Lower Testosterone

Testosterone is abhorred by politically correct weenies, who like to blame it for every instance of disagreeable male behavior, in much the same way menstruation was once cited as the catch-all explanation for uncharacteristically aggressive or irritable female behavior.

Of course, scientific reality is of little concern to the politically correct. The fact is, testosterone is an extremely important hormone for both men and women. Sex drive, muscle and bone health, immune function, cognitive function, mood, and cardiovascular health are all negatively affected by declining levels of testosterone. Testosterone levels typically decline with age, and, along with the decline of other key hormones, falling T levels are believed to be a major contributor to many of the deleterious changes seen during the aging process. As such, aging individuals should be looking at ways to preserve and even boost their testosterone status, rather than engaging in self-defeating habits that will speed the decline in T levels. Alcohol abuse, recreational drug use, pharmaceutical drugs, stress, and poor sleep habits can all lower testosterone levels.

So too can low-fat diets.

Research shows that reducing fat intake from around forty percent to 20-25 percent of calories decreases testosterone output. Low fat diets also increase levels of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), a protein which binds to testosterone, thus reducing the amount of bioavailable, or 'free', testosterone in the body. It is free testosterone that is responsible for this hormone's favorable effects on growth, repair, sexual capacity and immune function(79-81). Again, not just any old fat will suffice when it comes to optimizing testosterone levels. A study with weight-training men showed higher saturated fat and monounsaturated fat consumption to be positively associated with testosterone levels. In contrast, higher dietary levels of so-called "heart-healthy" polyunsaturated fats relative to saturated fats were associated with lower testosterone levels (82).

It's highly ironic that athletes and bodybuilders will take all manner of expensive, esoteric and often dubious testosterone-boosting concoctions--not to mention anabolic steroids--yet will follow hormone-damping low-fat diets with religious fervor. It's a little like putting on a weighted vest before a big race and expecting to run at full speed.

Hormones like testosterone play a fundamentally important role in stimulating and regulating growth and metabolism. Don't go throwing a low-fat monkey wrench into your metabolic engine!

Low-Fat Diets and Immune Function

Diet 'experts' assure us that a low-fat diet is the key to good health. The published research does not support such claims.

Despite the virulent ranting of anti-fat activists, trials comparing sedentary adult volunteers fed low-fat diets with those receiving higher fat diets has shown no improvement in immune status in the former group(83,84).

In children, whole milk consumption is associated with fewer gastrointestinal infections than consumption of low fat milk (85). Rats consuming diets high in milk fat show a significantly greater resistance to Listeria infection and higher survival rates than those whose diets were low in milk fat(86). Similar results have been observed in mice fed diets high in saturate-rich coconut oil(87)

In athletes, who are constantly pushing their immune systems to the edge with strenuous training, adherence to the commonly-recommended low-fat high-carbohydrate diet (15-19% of total calories) increases pro-inflammatory immune factors, decreases anti-inflammatory factors, and depresses antioxidant status when compared to higher fat diets (30-50% of total calories)(88,89). Such changes may leave athletes on low-fat diets with a lowered resistance to infection and a higher risk of chronic illness. This may be due to difficulty in obtaining sufficient calories from low-fat diets to meet the energy demands of exercise; increasing dietary fat intake and total caloric intake to match energy expenditure appears to reverse the negative effects on immune function reported on calorie-deficient, low-fat diets. Diets comprising 32% to 55% fat also improve endurance capacity compared to diets with 15% fat(90).

It was Scandinavian researchers who, in the 1960s, performed research showing that using extremely high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets for short periods could enhance athletic performance. This was achieved by using these diets as part of a "depletion-repletion" carbohydrate-loading strategy, which helped temporarily elevate muscle glycogen stores to higher than usual levels. One of the pioneers in this area, Dr. Jan Karlsson, points out that such diets were never intended to be applied for more than 3-4 days. Karlsson and his colleagues openly lament that these diets are now employed for extended periods of time, and refer to the prolonged use of very high-carbohydrate/low-fat diets by athletes as "voluntary malnourishment". They note that in Scandinavia, researchers use the term "Carbohydrate Trap" when referring to the widespread belief that these diets are required for optimal performance. These researchers consider a 50-55% carbohydrate, 35% fat diet to be eminently more sensible and nutritious than the >60% carb, <25% fat diets commonly used by athletes(91).

For athletes and non-athletes alike, the low-fat diet is a sick (pun intended) joke.

The Low-Fat Diet Does Not Protect Against Heart Disease, and May Actually Worsen It

The WHI trial confirmed what well-read cholesterol skeptics have known for a long time: The low-fat diet is a big fat fraud when it comes to preventing heart disease. Among the 48,835 women participating in the trial, no significant differences in CHD or stroke incidence, CHD or stroke mortality, or total mortality were observed(92). Nor were there any reductions in the incidence or mortality rates of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, or total cancer(93,94). There was however, one very ominous finding to emerge from the WHI trial. Among the 3.4 percent of trial participants with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, those randomized to the low-fat diet experienced a 26% increase in the relative risk of non-fatal and fatal CHD!

Low-fat advocates have remained deafeningly silent on this inconvenient finding, and would no doubt like to believe this was just a 'freak' occurrence. However, this is hardly the first time that low-fat eating has been shown to worsen the prognosis of women with existing cardiovascular disease.

In 2004, the world's most prominent nutrition journal, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, published the results of a very, very interesting study. Harvard researchers had taken 235 postmenopausal women with established coronary heart disease, and divided them into four categories according to their level of saturated fat intake. They then performed coronary angiographies at baseline and after a mean follow-up of 3.1 years, analyzing over 2,200 coronary artery segments in the process.

After adjusting for multiple confounders, a higher saturated fat intake was associated with less narrowing of the arteries and less progression of coronary atherosclerosis. Compared with a 0.22 mm narrowing in the lowest quartile of intake, there was a 0.10-mm narrowing in the second quartile, a 0.07 mm narrowing in the third quartile, and no narrowing in the fourth and highest quartile of saturated fat intake!

Following a low-fat diet means adopting a high-carbohydrate diet by default. After all, it is exceedingly difficult and highly unpalatable to achieve the bulk of one's caloric needs by eating lean protein foods. It is of no small concern then, that carbohydrate intake was positively associated with atherosclerotic progression, particularly when the glycemic index was high. The intake of so-called 'heart-healthy' polyunsaturated fats was also positively associated with progression of atherosclerosis, but monounsaturated and total fat intakes were not associated with progression (it must be noted that the major sources of polyunsaturates in Western countries are refined vegetable oils which are rich in the omega-6 fat linoleic acid. The polyunsaturated omega-3 fats, which are underconsumed by most Westerners, have actually been shown to lower CVD).

After examining the baseline data for the study subjects, it is apparent that the results can not be explained away by otherwise healthier lifestyles among those eating the most saturated fat; the high saturated fat group, in fact, had the greatest number of current smokers! Women eating the most saturated fat were also less likely to take blood-thinning medications like aspirin(95).

If this study had found saturated fats to be associated with cardiovascular disease, its results would have been trumpeted in headlines around the world. Instead, they were largely ignored by the mainstream media and our ever-so responsible 'health' authorities. It appears only studies that support the cherished dogma of our health orthodoxy are considered suitable as press release fodder�

A major factor in the progression of cardiovascular disease--and most major diseases--is free radical damage. It is well-established that saturated fatty acids, because of their lack of vulnerable double bonds, are the least susceptible to free radical damage; polyunsaturates are the most vulnerable. We also know that increased carbohydrate consumption, especially of the refined variety, does an outstanding job of raising blood sugar and insulin levels, which accelerates glycation, free radical activity, blood clot formation, and arterial smooth muscle cell proliferation.

It should also be noted that increasing heart disease incidence throughout the twentieth century has been accompanied by increasing polyunsaturate consumption, while a marked increase in refined carbohydrate consumption during the last three decades has been accompanied by spiralling obesity and diabetes incidence. Animal fat consumption, in contrast, has remained stable over the last 100 years.

So what we have is two studies that show that women with pre-existing heart disease will experience WORSE outcomes if they shun saturated fat and opt for a low-fat/high-carbohydrate diet! Furthermore, the validity of these results is supported by basic biochemistry and epidemiological data. So will low-fat advocates stop recommending this pattern of eating to women with heart disease? Does their concern for human life override their need to defend their precious low-fat dogma at all costs?

I truly doubt it�

If low-fat advocates won't be straight with you, then I will. Let's be perfectly clear on this: If you are female, and suffer cardiovascular disease, the published, peer-reviewed scientific evidence indicates that adopting a low-fat diet could be DEADLY.

The WHI is not the only dietary intervention trial to demonstrate the worthlessness of the low-fat diet in preventing CVD. In 1965, the prominent journal Lancet published the results of a trial conducted by the UK Medical Research Committee. In this study, 264 men under 65 were assigned to either a low-fat diet or their usual diet. Dietary records show that those in the low-fat group averaged 45 g/day of fat throughout the trial, while those in the control group actually increased their average fat intake from 106 to 125g. The average serum cholesterol measurement of the low-fat group was 25 points lower than that of the control group at 4 years. Despite nonsensical claims that "every 1mg/dl drop in cholesterol equals a 2% drop in CHD risk", there were no differences between the two groups in CHD incidence or mortality after 4 years.

In Search of the Elusive 'Negative Fat Intake'!

The hysterical anti-fat vitriole that spews forth from some anti-fat faddists leads me to believe that if these clowns could eat a 'negative-fat' diet, they would! As for their argument that the above trials didn't lower fat enough, one has to wonder how creating even greater deficiencies in valuable nutrients, and predisposing one to greater risk of depression and anger--all of which low-fat diets have indeed been clinically documented to do--will in any way help prevent heart disease! Maybe these folks have been eating low-fat so long that it's started to drain their brains; healthy human brains, after all, are 60% fat by weight!

The authors of the MRC trial concluded that: "A low-fat diet has no place in the treatment of myocardial infarction." Despite being written over forty years ago, these words have largely been ignored by a medical and health hierarchy which seems to earnestly believe that if only it keeps flogging the dead low-fat horse, it will one-day magically spring to life. In Australia, this is known as engaging in a 'wank', which means that people who push low-fat diets despite no proof whatsoever of their efficacy are wankers. This might be stating the obvious, but�you really shouldn't listen to wankers!

But the Japanese Eat a Low-Fat Diet�Don't They?

Supporters of low-fat nutrition cite the Japanese ad nauseum, claiming that their low-fat/high-carbohydrate diet is the reason for their low rate of heart disease. It is ironic that many of these same commentators exhort the benefits of whole-grains and tell us that the only 'bad' carbohydrates are those that come from refined sugars and grains. These folks need to get their story straight---a major source of carbohydrates in the Japanese diet is white rice--a refined grain! That means that if the high-carbohydrate Japanese diet is cardio-protective, then refined grains must be good for one's heart! Well, which is it? You can't have it both ways; either refined grains are heart-friendly, or they're not!

The truth is, the longevity and low CHD incidence of the Japanese owes nothing to carbohydrate intake, refined or otherwise. During the 1960s and 1970s, industrialization underwent rapid growth in Japan. This period of marked economic change bought with it greater consumption of animal protein and fat. This increased animal food consumption in Japan has been accompanied by a marked decline in both the overall incidence of and the mortality from one of that nation's biggest killers--stroke. This increase in animal protein and animal fat consumption has also occurred alongside Japan's rise to the top of the longevity ladder.(96,97)

If you're tempted to write this off as merely a consequence of improved living standards and medical technology, keep in mind that long-term follow-up studies with both native and migrant Japanese populations show that those who eat the most animal protein and animal fat enjoy greater longevity and a lower incidence of stroke than those who eat lesser amounts(98-101).

OK, So What About the Mediterranean Diet?

A diet low in saturated fat is purportedly a major factor in the low rates of CHD observed in Southern European countries. Just one wee problem: France, the Mediterranean country with the lowest CHD rates of all, is also the Mediterranean country with the highest saturated fat intake!

Oops!

Health 'experts' have tried to brush off this embarrassing observation as a 'paradox' (orthodoxy loves applying the 'paradox' label to uncomfortable contradictions) by claiming that red wine explains this difference. If that were true, then the Italians, who drink a similar amount of red wine, should have CHD rates even lower than France. But they don't; their CHD rates are similar to those of other Southern European countries where far less red wine is consumed(102).

Conclusion

I could go on, and on, and on�but I'll just close by saying that the low-fat diet has NEVER been demonstrated to do all the wonderful health-fortifying things claimed for it. The only trials showing favorable effects in people following low-fat diets are those that simultaneously employed other truly useful interventions, like exercise, stress management, increased fruit and vegetable intake and decreased processed food intake, and weight loss. However, there is absolutely no law whatsoever stating that low-fat eating is required for the implementation of any of these strategies. In fact, given the available evidence, one can only conclude that the inclusion of higher fat intakes in these trials may even have improved the results!

The bottom line: Not only is low-fat eating a boring way to go through life, it is a useless and often counterproductive hoax.

References and Assorted Disclaimers: DISGRUNTLED WORSHIPPERS OF THE LOW-FAT RELIGION SHOULD READ THE FOLLOWING:I have not stated anything in this article that cannot be verified by published, peer-reviewed research. Nonetheless, my inbox will no doubt be flooded with angry emails from those who have been brainwashed by the low-fat paradigm, and who violently object to the thought that something that they have believed in so strongly for so long might actually be false. In other words, malevolent dimwits who want to shoot the messenger! For those of you who fall into this category, my suggestions are as follows: 1) GROW UP!; 2) Start placing a premium on discovering the facts, as opposed to doggedly defending what you have already decided you want to believe; 3) Instead of attacking me, start questioning the motives of those who profit greatly from the fallacious anti-fat, anti-cholesterol paradigm. This includes the food and drug conglomerates that make BILLIONS from the sale of low-fat foods and cholesterol-lowering drugs, the health and dietetic 'associations/organizations/institutes/foundations/etc' who receive millions in 'donations' from these very same companies, and the executives of these so-called 'non-profit' organizations who enjoy six-figure incomes and extensive perquisites.

To attack the owner of a non-commercial web site, who has nothing to gain financially by either supporting or opposing the low-fat paradigm, while defending those WHO DO, is so bloody stupid that it defies comprehension. Unfortunately, there are a lot of bloody stupid people in the world! If you are one of them, and decide to write me, please note that unless your email contains valid references to the scientific literature, it will be deleted immediately. After having established yourself as an ignorant goofball, your email address will also be added to my spam filter and any further emails will be delivered straight to my trash. Sorry, but I really am extremely busy and have no time or patience for ignorant, time-wasting twits.

NOTE: I have no problem with people reprinting this article on other web sites for non-commercial purposes. Heck, you can post it on the side of the Empire State Building for all I care (just be sure to seek permission from the owners first)! However, PLEASE ENSURE that you give full credit to the author, whether you reproduce the article in whole or part. A hyperlink to www.TheOmnivore.com would also be greatly appreciated! Those wishing to reprint this or any other article on TheOmnivore.com for commercial purposes should email: ac.theomnivore@gmail.com

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Dietary linoleic acid influences desaturation and acylation of deuterium-labeled linoleic and linolenic acids in young adult males. Biochim Biophys Acta, Aug 4, 1994; 1213 (3): 277-288. 76. Garg ML, et al. Dietary saturated fat level alters the competition between alpha-linolenic and linoleic acid. Lipids 1989 Apr;24(4): 334-339. 77. Wells AS, et al. Alterations in mood after changing to a low-fat diet. British Journal of Nutrition, Jan, 1998; 79 (1): 23-30. 78. Kaplan JR, et al. The effects of fat and cholesterol on social behavior in monkeys. Psychosom Med. 1991 Nov-Dec; 53 (6): 634-642. 79. Hamalainen EK, et al. Decrease of serum total and free testosterone during a low-fat high-fibre diet. J Steroid Biochem. Mar 1983; 18 (3): 369-370. 80. Reed MJ, et al. Dietary lipids: an additional regulator of plasma levels of sex hormone binding globulin. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab, 1987; 64: 1083-1085. 81. Dorgan JF, et al. 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Animal Protein, Animal Fat, and Cholesterol Intakes and Risk of Cerebral Infarction Mortality in the Adult Health Study. Stroke, 2004; 35: 1531. 102. Food intake data from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Statistical Database. CHD mortality data from World Health Statistics Annual, 1961, 1966 and 1997-1999 editions.

Statin Dangers - Control Cholesterol

Get the Most From Your Statin

Get the Most from Your Statin - Everyday Health reports that when and how you take your statin can influence its effectiveness and absorption.

Mevacor - Take with food. This almost doubles the amount of medication absorbed into bloodstream.
Mevacor, Pravachol, Zocor, Lescol - Take with your evening meal. These statins block a one of the liver's key cholesterol-making enzymes, and that enzyme is most active at night.
Crestor, Lipitor - Take at any time, as these statins stay in the body and bloodstream long enough that you can take them any time.
Pravachol - If on other medications, try Pravachol, which is less likely to interact with other medications than other statins.

South Beach Heart Health Revolution - by Agatston - Notes

Calcium score - Also called Agatston score, measures the amount of calcified plaque inside the coronary arteries. Higher the calcium score, the higher the chance of heart attack. Excellent predictor of future heart attack risk.

Computed tomography (CT) or electron beam tomography (EBT) - used for imaging heart. Scans provide a calcium score?

Atherosclerosis - When artery walls gradually filled with plaque (cholesterol, inflammatory cells, scar tissue). Different kinds of plaque. Heart attack caused when soft cholesterol rich plaque bursts, resulting in blood clot. Blood clot blocks blood flow to heart. News to me. I thought plaque, not a blood clot, that caused artery blockage and heart attack. But this clot model makes sense, given sudden nature of heart attack. A slowly developing plaque blockage should give the heart time to grow collateral vessels.

Better model of heart attack - Heart attack not caused by plaque blockage in the tube of the vessel (old school). The culprit is plaque depositing in the inner lining of vessel walls, like pimple filled with cholesterol. When pimples bursts, an injury site is created. To heal the injury, a clot will form. If the clot is big enough, it blocks the artery, causing heart attack.

Open-Heart Surgery Recovery - Research

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Dropping Hemoglobin - Anemia: Anemia (low hemoglobin) can be caused by many things, but the three main bodily mechanisms that produce it are: excessive destruction of RBCs, blood loss, inadequate production of RBCs.

Avoid Hospitals on Weekends!

Hospital room

Photo by 'beob8er'

Avoid Hospitals on Weekends!

In the past decade, studies have found that patients treated at hospitals on weekends have inferior outcomes when compared with those receiving care on weekdays. In some cases, researchers have found, that can also mean a higher death rate.
~ If Possible, Avoid Hospitals on Weekends

Red Bull with Alcohol - Can It Kill You?

If you drink Red Bull with alcohol, can it kill you?

Yoga Anatomy - by Leslie Kaminoff - Review

Extreme Yoga by Allison Caterall

Extreme Yoga
by Allison Caterall

Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminoff lets you literally see under the skin of common yoga poses. But the strength of this book lies in how it infuses lessons on anatomy with a core focus on breath and gravity. Through wonderfully detailed illustrations and easy-to-understand text, Yoga Anatomy depicts the skeletal and muscular anatomy of many common yoga asanas.

From breathing to standing poses, Kaminoff (with illustrator Sharon Ellis) helps you see how each muscle is used--and how slight alterations can enhance (or reduce) the effectiveness of a pose. With these images and explanations, it becomes clear how the spine, breathing, and body position are all fundamentally linked in the journey to find a balance point between breath and gravity.

Reversing Heart Disease

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Atherosclerotic plaques deposit in response to injury
Mechanical stress causes heart disease in vitamin-C-starved tissues
In 1989 it was discovered that Lp(a) binds to form plaque, not LDL
Ordinary cholesterol cannot and does not cause heart disease
Ten-year experience shows Pauling Therapy is effective, and safe as long as vitamin C is increased.
Pauling's therapy is so safe, and the medical condition so grave, there is no plausible reason for any physician resisting it, especially in otherwise hopeless cases
Vitamin C Lowers (LDL) Cholesterol More than Statin Drugs
Artifical statin drugs increase Lp(a) and lower CoQ10 causing myopathies
Nearly 60 million Americans are diagnosed with Cardiovascular disease
Retinal photos confirm chronic scurvy, reversals and Pauling/Rath theory
Pharmacology experts cite numerous errors in vitamin C RDA research
Bizzaro World: No published clinical studies!?

MRSA - Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus - Research

Photo by 'No-Frills Marilyn'

MRSA - Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - Saw a 60 Minutes piece on MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant strain of staph. It's spread by person-to-person contact, and vulnerable to only one antibiotic--the antibiotic of last resort--vincomycin. And doctors expect this "superbug" to soon develop a resistance to that sole, remaining weapon. What do we do? More research. They hope for a vaccine, and other antibiotic treatments are expected on the horizon. Will this happen fast enough?

Unheathly Restaurant Food - Surprise Winners

Photo by 'SixyBeast'

Worst Unhealthy Restaurant Food - I was shocked with some of the "winners" from Men's Health's 20 Worst Foods In America. Below are some of the surprises.

Worst Mexican Entree

Chipotle Mexican Grill Chicken Burrito

1,179 calories
47 g fat
125 g carbs
2,656 milligrams (mg) sodium

Sadly, I really like this chicken burrito. I don't have cheese with it, which helps. I guess nixing the tortilla and cheese and going for the chicken bowl instead would be better. Chipotle tortilla is 330 calories.

Coenzyme Q10 - Research

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Coenzyme Q10: Ubiquinone, or coenzyme Q10, is an important nutrient. 2 of its primary uses are for those who are taking high cholesterol pills (the statin drugs in particular). Certain lipid-lowering drugs, such as the 'statins' - lovastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin - and gemfibrozil as well as oral agents which lower blood sugar, such as tolazamide and glyburide, cause a decrease in serum levels of coenzyme Q10 and reduce the effects of coenzyme Q10 supplementation (7,8). These drugs inhibit the production of coenzyme Q10 by the liver and will cause serious complications unless one supplements coenzyme Q10 back into the diet. A prescription for lipid-lowering statin drugs should always be accompanied with a recommendation to take coenzyme Q10, because if a person is deficient in coenzyme Q10, heart failure is more likely.
Coenzyme Q10 - Share The Wealth: CoQ10 is an esse