Are your symptoms due to an under-active thyroid?

It is astonishing that so many health problems can be caused by a thyroid gland that is out balance. Listed below are just some highlights of the wide variety of things that can go wrong if the thyroid is not doing its job properly. Even that short list gives my interview this week with Bill Sardi much greater importance.

The thyroid system is very complex, and the testing can be misleading. That is why many doctors who practice integrative or natural medicine think that signs and symptoms are a better guide to thyroid function than lab tests. I encourage everyone to complete this thyroid quiz. That will give a more complete idea if it might be smart to look into thyroid as a potential problem. The following list gives an at least an indication of the many areas of health that might be affected by an under active thyroid:

• Low body temperature routinely
• Weight Gain (no obvious explanation)
• Water retention (e.g. puffy eye lids)
• Fatigue
• Depression
• Mental confusion
• High Cholesterol
• High Blood Pressure
• Constipation
• Thinning hair (including eyebrows and pubic hair)
• Dry or coarse skin and brittle nails
• Fibromyalgia
• Headaches including migraine
• Acid reflux
• Infertility and menstrual irregularities
• Loss of sex drive

Obviously, there is a drug designed to modify virtually all the symptoms on that list. But, doesn’t it make a lot more sense to address the thyroid malfunction? And better yet, solve the root cause of the thyroid disorder?

Keep inflammation friendly

It is easy to think of inflammation as being only a bad thing. But, nature has a beneficial use for inflammation. When we are injured or attacked by a pathogen, it helps healing by increasing blood supply to provide needed oxygen, nutrients and stem cells. It also attracts immune factors to kill invaders and “take out the trash”. Even annoying swelling can help by immobilizing the damaged area and that prevents further damage. When we are healthy, inflammation appears only in a crisis.

However, when inflammation becomes chronic, all heck can break loose. Inflammation is at the root of virtually any disease (heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, etc.) or chronic complaint (pain, rashes, allergies, etc.) that you can name. As we always say on our show, we are supposed to be Healthy by Nature and can be if we follow the two “prime directives” as they might say on Star Trek. Let’s see how those 2 basic rules apply to inflammation.

1. Give the body everything it needs for optimum function: Most nutrients are anti-inflammatory. (I’m guessing that they all are directly or indirectly.) Top of mind: anti-oxidants such as vitamin C and E, vitamin D, probiotics, omega-3 oils (e.g. fish oil), minerals such as magnesium, curcumin and resveratrol. Foods with the reputation of being anti-inflammatory are fish, dark green leafy veggies, nuts, olive oil, chocolate, green tea, garlic, and ginger as well as other herbs and spices. (Hmm, sounds like the Mediterranean diet)
2. Don’t gum up the works with things the body can’t handle: Unfortunately, this list has become HUGE in recent decades. There are the obvious factors like smoking, excess alcohol, pesticides, some medications and the heavy metals contained in most all vaccines. The situation is so much more challenging these days with 10’s of thousands of synthetic chemicals lurking about. They are in home and personal care products, tap water and the air. Foods contribute to inflammation when they contain excess sugar, food additives, and trans fats. Eating foods to which we are sensitive also adds to inflammation. We even make inflammatory substances inside our body if we are constipated or otherwise have an imbalance of microbes in the intestinal tract. Having the body out of structural alignment causes joint inflammation.

It is simple! The more you add from group #1 and subtract from group #2, the less likely you are to allow inflammation to run amok.

Yes, I realize that I said “simple” and that is not necessarily the same as “easy”. Change can be a pain. But, obviously, if we keep doing what we’ve been doing, we will keep getting what we’ve been getting. It can ease the strain to take one positive step at a time. A good place to start is by reading the fine print on food labels and avoid ingredients that don’t sound like food. Take a great multivitamin (not the mass market junk you hear advertised on TV). Have your vitamin D level checked and take at least 2,000 IU D₃ in the meantime. Gradually ease the harmful foods out of your meal plans while aiming toward a Mediterranean type diet of whole real foods. Eat as much of it organic as possible. (The EWG.org Dirty Dozen foods are the most contaminated.) Find natural substitutes for chemical-laden products and natural alternatives to harmful medications. Filter your water and so on. Good or bad, it all adds up.

Science may be closing in on a cure for Alzheimer’s

Our interview Saturday about a natural approach to Alzheimer’s disease was so important that I thought I’d better review some key points.

I probably don’t have to remind readers that Alzheimer’s erases lives, shatters families and threatens to bankrupt not only personal budgets, but also that of the country. Current drugs bring no more than minor short-term symptom relief at a high cost in dollars and side effects. The 104 drugs in the pipeline promise more of the same. (There were 105 in the works, but on September 26, Axovant Sciences Ltd announced that their Alzheimer’s drug failed the final stage test.)

Back to the Saturday topic, the fact that even a small study showed the first reversal of the disease process and used a vitamin is indeed incredible. Before I get to the details of the study that Bill Sardi called to our attention, I should review what we previously knew about the prevention of Alzheimer’s. It is known that some genetic types are at higher risk. (But, as with virtually all genetic links, not everyone with that type is affected, so all the other factors are still important.) According to the Mayo Clinic it is suspected that alcoholism, smoking, head trauma, lack of exercise, diabetes and high blood pressure may be risk factors. Of course, there are plenty of other reasons to avoid those issues. And everything we do probably has some effect. For example, high fructose corn syrup (in a wide variety of processed foods) and food colors contain traces of mercury. Mercury interferes with the mineral zinc. Low zinc is associated with Alzheimer’s.

If you didn’t hear the interview I urge you to listen to the ARCHIVE. Here are some highlights of the interview:

• Link to the pilot study. The researchers gave 300 mg a day of Benfotiamine (special B vitamin described below) to 5 subjects for 18 months. Subjects experienced marked improvement in brain activity shown in PET scans that are pictured at the bottom of this: Bill Sardi article. Memory test scores were also significantly improved. The improvements did not seem to be tied to the amount of amyloid plaque present. (That plaque is always discussed in the media, but many scientists think it is a result of Alzheimer’s, not the cause. However, it needn’t be there and resveratrol helps dispose of it.)
• A larger follow-up study is being conducted and they are looking for additional participants: Burke Study. Burke Website. Early indications are that there is improvement being seen in one of the study groups and I can’t imagine it is in the placebo half.
• It is not a study, but several regular folks who have given Benfotiamine to their dementia-affected loved ones report improvement in a matter of weeks. Of course, none of this means “proof”, but it has long been known that vitamin B1 is important for memory. So, it is likely very important for prevention of neurological problems.
• The vitamin, Benfotiamine, used in the study is a fat-soluble version of B1 (also known as thiamine). The type of B1 in most vitamins is NOT the same and has NOT been shown to help memory. Several vitamin companies make Benfotiamine supplements. Multivitamins typically have too little and in the wrong form for this purpose.*
• Allithiamine is another form of B1 that crosses the blood/brain barrier. Only tiny amounts are found in garlic, so as a supplement, you will likely see the synthesized version (Thiamine tetrahydrofufuryl).
• B1 is extremely safe (no toxic level known) and it is also helpful for issues like fibromyalgia, heart failure, Parkinson’s, infertility and irritable bowel.
• Diabetics are more prone to Alzheimer’s and to B1 deficiency. Americans are likely deficient in B1 because of their excessive intake of nutrient-depleted food, refined carbohydrates, lack of magnesium and taking medications that interfere with it. We also tend to kill off our friendly gut bacteria that help us absorb B1. Taking our vitamins near the time we drink coffee or tea may interfere.
• Vitamin B12 is also important because it helps to prevent brain shrinkage.
• Sardi mentioned the “smell test”. We may be a little worried if we cannot detect: peppermint, fish, orange, rose, and leather. Also, if a person cannot smell peanut butter as well on one side of their nose as the other might read this page.
• Coconut oil has been promoted as helpful for Alzheimer’s. That is understandable because it provides an alternate source for brains that can no longer process sugar as brain fuel. That is helpful for functioning, but is not a cure.

This astonishing information may save lives and certainly has no risk. I believe it should be circulated as widely and as fast as possible. Thank you for helping if you can.

* For many other reasons, husband Bill and I were already taking the multi-vitamin that Bill Sardi formulated. Now we are glad to learn that it contains two of the good forms of B1. That is probably fine for prevention, but just to make sure we don’t have catching up to do, we also take one Doctor’s Best 150 mg Benfotiame at a different time of day. (We can only absorb a small amount at one time.)

Bill Sardi, is a brilliant and prolific author, science investigator, and crusader for sanity in health care. He is also the sharpest supplement formulator I have found and created Molecular Multi 800-247-5731.

How science news often leads us astray

The medical buzz word is “evidence-based”. Freely translated, that means science has supposedly verified whatever practice is being discussed. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, “evidence” is not some unequivocal black and white fact etched in stone tablets. As it turns out, what constitutes “acceptable” evidence is in the eye of the beholder. The variables listed below apply not only to medications and surgical procedures, but also to dietary supplements. But do keep in mind that the health stakes are a lot higher when science misleads us into taking drugs or having surgeries that turn out to be problematic. Obviously, we are less likely to get in trouble with side effects if wobbly science pushes us to use olive oil, do Tai Chi or take resveratrol.

Lack of knowledge. Check out this shocking example of insufficient information used in research. A large randomized trial showed that selenium yeast (methylselenocysteine) cut the risk of dying of cancer in half. The supplement also dramatically reduced the incidence of some cancers (e.g. prostate down by 63%, colon by 58%, etc.). The National Cancer Institute then began what was billed as a study to “replicate” the results of that research. If they had really done that, it might have saved untold numbers of lives. Unfortunately, they used a different form of the mineral.  Other selenium pills (e.g. selenomethionine and sodium selenite) have not been shown to be comparable. What the poorly structured second study ended up accomplishing was to needlessly scare men worried about their prostates away from selenium and vitamin E. (We can hope it was just ignorance, not intent to impugn supplements. Listen to my interview with one of the original researchers and decide for yourself.)

Who is behind the study? Most often a pharmaceutical company directly or indirectly decides what gets studied. That is because there is a tremendous amount of money to be made using the results. Sure, supplement companies make money, but usually not enough to pay for the very high cost of clinical research. Even if they had the funding, most natural substances cannot be patented. Therefore, all the competitors could sell it without spending a dime. And, alas, the more impressive the results from tests on supplements, the more likely it is that the FDA will not allow them to ever speak about the results. If they do, they risk being prosecuted for imitating a drug. (Basically, “How dare you cure people without drugs?”)

Not asking the right questions. Most studies look at a tiny factor such as a change in a cholesterol number…assuming it makes a difference in the long run. To seldom do they look at what we really care about—e.g. does it help us live longer and better? If the prevailing idea is for instance, that fibromyalgia is all in all in someone’s head (and there is no drug for it), no study is done. Also, reviews show that a high percentage of everyday practices in doctor’s offices have never been proven to work. It is just assumed that they do until when they are finally studied and are proven ineffective or even dangerous.

Failure to control all the factors. Perhaps the most common flat out error is not controlling all the factors. An example would be comparing weight loss drugs without making sure one group wasn’t exercising more than the other. If the scientists haven’t heard of something or have been biased against it, they don’t even bother to ask the subjects about it. For example, if they have been taught that fluoride in the drinking water is safe and are unaware of the power of gut bacteria, they might not consider those factors while researching something like autism.  

Study subject issues. If middle-aged men were studied it is a mistake to assume the results necessarily apply to women, kids or seniors.

PREJUDICE IN PUBLICIZING STUDIES. This is the biggie. Pharmaceutical companies are permitted to hide negative studies and publish only the ones that make their drug look good. The news media, medical journals, agencies and organizations can pick and choose which studies to ignore and which to publicize. Human nature being what it is, they tend to reject results that conflict with their pre-existing world view. Also, with cutbacks in media, not much real reporting gets done, i.e. the kind where they dig into past studies looking for trends vs parroting dogma from “experts”. For example, recently it was not on the evening news where it should have been when a study showed over 7 times more miscarriages among women who got the flu shot two years in a row! (The information was known long before the study came out. Meanwhile, how many babies died?) The whole vaccine issue is one where contrarian views are not even allowed because of media prejudice. When the news is forced to publicize findings that run counter to their prejudices, they usually follow up with a rebuttal from the industry involved or at least say that “more study is needed”.

I have a much longer list, but you can now see why what the “experts” tell us today may be the opposite of what they said 10 years ago. To protect ourselves, I think it makes sense to review science news with (1) some common sense and (2) a historical / worldwide context. For example, if there are populations around the world that are healthier than we are and they do the opposite of what we are being told…maybe don’t jump on that bandwagon just yet.

Avoid serious health risks from GMO foods & Roundup

On last week’s radio show, my guest was Stephanie Seneff, PhD, a Senior Research Scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She gave us a wakeup call about the health risks from genetically modified foods and the Roundup-type weed killers that are now widely used even on non-GMO crops. There are many resources on her website. Her message was so important I thought I’d better review some key points.

GMO’s

What are we talking about? GMO is short for “Genetically Modified Organism”. These are also known as “Frankenfoods” because genes from animals, bacteria and viruses are inserted into plants. The goal is usually of commercial interest like making the plant produce its own insecticides or making the plant resistant to weed killers.

What is the problem? Even though 88 percent of the corn and 94 percent of the soy grown in the US is GMO, there has been little if any approval-related research done to prove there will not be allergic reactions, damage to our probiotic bacteria or other long-term health effects. For example, genes from bacteria are spliced into the DNA of certain food crops to release a certain insecticide. Animal studies show it damages the kidney, liver, heart, adrenal glands, spleen, and blood system. Since the toxin becomes part of the plant, our only escape is to avoid GMO corn, soy, and sugar beets. See Roundup below for what may be the most obvious risk.

Doesn’t the government protect us? In a word, No. Even though most countries do not consider GMO foods safe, in the US food labels are not even required to say if the product contains GMO ingredients. The big money players in the battle (think Monsanto, Dow and the cereal companies) spend a lot of money keeping the public in the dark about GMO’s.

ROUNDUP^® / GLYPHOSATE HERBICIDES

The purpose? Roundup is the most well-known in this class of potent weed killers. They kill ALL plants. That would obviously be bad for business if they killed the crops as well. That’s where the GMO’s come in. Varieties of plants were developed to resist the herbicide. The productivity benefit may be short-lived because, similar to the problem with disease-causing bacteria becoming antibiotic-resistant, weeds have developed resistance to Roundup. Money-motivated manufacturers have taught farmers to spray non-GMO crops to dry them out for a faster harvest.

Health effects. The World Health Organization says glyphosates is a probable cause of cancer in humans. Glyphosate has been responsible for thousands of deaths among farmers in India and El Salvador. It has been linked to breast cancer, leukemia, fatal kidney disease, liver damage, autism, reduced fertility, birth defects, Parkinson’s, digestive issues and so on. Steven Gundry, MD in his well-documented book The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in “Healthy” Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain says glyphosate disrupts metabolism, paralyzes some crucial liver enzymes, raises cholesterol, increases food sensitivities and causes chronic disease. There may be many more issues because the chemical damages our gut bacteria, resulting in thyroid trouble, weight gain and so on. Since these herbicides damage soil organisms, they create nutritional deficiencies in the food crops. That means we are less well nourished. (But who cares? No one in the food chain is responsible for nutrition—certainly not Monsanto.)

Our exposure. 93% of children tested had detectable metabolites of glyphosates in their bodies. How did they get there? Not only due residues of those toxic chemicals stay on the food we eat and find their way into the water, they remain on the grains fed to agricultural animals. Therefore, we get them secondhand just like we do antibiotics fed to farm animals. Glyphosate is even finding its way into drugs and vaccines.

What about regulation? Well, there isn’t much. Our US Department of Agriculture does not test for residues. Glyphosate is tested only short term, not in small doses over years. Worse yet, it isn’t tested with the “inactive” ingredients used in the actual products that increase its potency hundreds of times. So, glyphosate is conveniently considered “relatively safe”. It is supposedly at least better than the herbicides it replaced. (Should we be comforted if they are not killing quite as many of us as they used to?)

What can we do? Learn more and find sources of non-GMO foods at NonGMOproject.org. Buy organic foods. (Remember “natural” does not mean organic.) Look for a Certified Organic seal or a seal with a butterfly that states “Non-GMO Project Verified.” Note that conventional (not organic) whole grains may have greater herbicide residues on them because their outside hull is still attached. Buy pasture-raised meat and dairy products to avoid secondhand glyphosate. Dr. Seneff recommended this book as a source of information about what is most contaminated: Poison Foods of North America: Guide to navigating the glyphosate mine field in our food web (Kindle Edition)

Support non-profit groups like JustLabelIt.org that lobby for clear labeling of GMO foods and The Environmental Working Group that work to protect us from toxic chemicals. Don’t use RoundUp® or the like at your home. Check out several natural alternatives offered by the Dirt Doctor on this page of his site.

Are the effects of some sleep aids worse than the sleeplessness?

On the show last Saturday, we spent the last half talking about the importance of sleep and natural ideas for getting restorative rest. I briefly mentioned the side effects of medications for sleep and said that I’d put more information in the newsletter this week.

Over the counter. There are side effects listed for all medications, even ones that do not require a prescription. I am especially concerned about sleep medications found on drug store shelves that contain diphenhydramine. That chemical is in a class of pharmaceuticals known as “anticholinergic”. They interfere with an important neurotransmitter (brain chemical) and for that reason their continued use has been strongly associated with increased risk of dementia!

Here is a partial list of brand names that contain that diphenhydramine chemical. I copied it from RXList.com. Benadryl, Benadryl Allergy Dye-Free LiquiGels, Children’s Benadryl Allergy, Children’s Triaminic Thin Strips Allergy, Alka-Seltzer Plus Allergy, Nytol, PediaCare Children’s Allergy, Simply Sleep, Sominex, QlearQuil Nighttime Allergy Relief, Tranquil Nighttime Sleep Aid, Unisom SleepGels, Unisom SleepMelts and ZzzQuil. There are many more drugs with that chemical in them. Tylenol PM is an example and we need to assume that any with “PM” in the name do as well. You may have noticed allergy meds on that list…and, yikes, products for children!

By prescription too. The People’s Pharmacy radio show has led the way in educating consumers about the variety of anticholinergic drugs including prescriptions that they may be unaware they are taking. In this article on their website they mention other kinds of anticholinergic drugs such as those for “irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulitis, diarrhea…overactive bladder, and incontinence, motion sickness, dizziness, symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and breathing problems like asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)…for anxiety, depression, allergies, pain, high blood pressure, mental illness, heart failure and heartburn.” Like diphenhydramine above, these interfere with brain function.

Obviously, the risk of dementia will be greater the more of these medications a person takes and the longer he or she takes them. The natural combination of herbs and amino acids contained in Jarrow’s Sleep Optimizer sounds better and better, right?

Photo is from Medical News Today

Weather Emergency Suggestions

Photo from NY Times

See ways to help at the bottom of the page. The things below came to Bill Sardi’s mind because of the disaster in Houston. I want to do a show soon on preparedness. Those currently most affected probably have no way to access this information, but just in case you are in touch with someone there who can benefit:

• Dietary supplements during hurricanes, when doctors and emergency rooms may not be accessible. (Since Dr. Ohhira’s Probiotic is a first line defense and doesn’t need refrigeration, that should always be in your grab and go bag.)
• Garlic is a good anti-bacterial, because the water and food may be contaminated.
• For more severe infections, oil of oregano 3 times a day.
• If you can’t get to the health food store, your kitchen cupboard spice rack may have good antibiotics like allspice and cloves.
• Pepto Bismol. It is good to know if you get diarrhea, it keeps the bacteria from clinging to the wall of the digestive tract.
• Vitamin D is not only key for the immune system, but because you are likely trapped indoors away from the sun.
• Vitamin C helpful in dealing with the stress
• Water flooding in homes can bring fungal growth and toxic mold; this cannot be eradicated with chlorine or anything else; wallboard must be removed. Some groups have volunteers to help with that. Samaritan’s Purse is an example.
• If flooding is high and you must wade through water, remember it will most likely have sewage in it, so clean off as soon as possible.

Many churches even far outside the afflicted area are collecting basics. Money works to help provide necessities. (Check to see if your employer will match donations.) Here are some good options:

The Salvation Army

The Red Cross

Save the Children

Pioneering concepts in health and nutrition—Part 1

My trip down memory lane in preparation for our 20^th anniversary radio show reminded me of concepts that we covered long ago and that are worth a second look. I’m listing older shows in part to demonstrate that what may seem like brand new information today might have been available to our listeners a decade or two ago. I could go back much further in some cases, but I wouldn’t be able to provide links to the very old shows. (They are still on tape.)

Estrogen dominance. Concerns over excesses of the estrogen hormone may come up in a discussion of breast cancer. However, there is more to the story…even for men. Guys can suffer prostate trouble and enlarged breasts due to estrogen. In 1999, John Lee, MD (now gone) made his first appearance on Healthy by Nature (HBN) to discuss estrogen dominance. The effects of this imbalance include endometriosis, abnormal menstrual periods, fibrocystic breast disease, sexual dysfunction, weight gain, infertility and much more. (Here is a responsible site with a more comprehensive list.) Excess body fat, stress and a poor diet can increase estrogen. But, Dr. Lee also pointed out that estrogen dominance can result from too little of the balancing hormone progesterone. (Note, the synthetic progestin drug that has historically been given in hormone replacement therapy interferes with the function of natural progesterone.)

Natural approaches to Heart Disease prevention. Twelve years ago, in this May 21, 2005 interview, the late great Jay Cohen, MD talked about his issues with statin drugs and his belief in magnesium’s importance for heart health. Prolific author and all-around genius, Sherry Rogers, MD made many, many appearances on HBN. As a good example, on June 6, 2009, she talked about her book, Is Your Cardiologist Killing You? Since at least 1994, cardiologist Peter Langsjoen, MD has been talking about the importance of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) for the prevention of heart trouble. We interview him on this May 5, 2007 show. (One of the serious problems with statin drugs is that they interfere with the body’s production of CoQ10.)

Underappreciated nutrients:

• Vitamin D₃ – There finally seems to be a growing awareness of the crucial role of Vitamin D for not just bone and immune health, but the prevention of a wide variety of other health problems. John Cannell, MD, founder of the non-profit Vitamin D Council made his first appearance on HBN, September 29, 2007. Too many physicians still fail to test for vitamin D or accept lab results that are far below optimum. Sadly, this oversight disproportionately affects African Americans who are then much more susceptible for example to cancer.
• Vitamin K₂ – Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue, a naturopath is the author of Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox: How a Little-Known Vitamin Could Save Your Life. We first interviewed her in 2013, but I think this 2014 interview might cover more territory. One listener has credited this interview with saving him from dangerous carotid artery surgery.
• Vitamin B₁₂ – Low levels of this key nutrient are responsible for a bunch of symptoms that are often diagnosed as something else. That includes misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and dementia. Sally M. Pacholok (one of those names I had trouble pronouncing) and her doctor spouse are the authors of Could It Be B12?: An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses. Her interview five years ago was inspiring. (By the way, acid-blocking heartburn drugs interfere with our production of B₁₂.)
• Magnesium – Carolyn Dean, MD / ND, author of The Magnesium Miracle simply added to my longstanding admiration for this mineral. (I learned in the early 1980’s that one reason for my migraines was inadequate magnesium). Listen to her September 1, 2007 Interview.

Whoa! That is more than enough for one sitting. In a future blog, I will continue the theme with at least: Toxins, Cancer, Diabetes and Mental Health.

Twenty years of guests that were ahead of their time

As we celebrated Healthy by Nature’s 20^th Anniversary show last week, I hoped to pack in more content than the hour would allow. When reality sank in, I promised to follow up this week with some of the clips (in bold) and other information that we didn’t get to.

As I scoured the archives and converted old cassette tapes to digital (with the help of Jim Barto at Salem Broadcasting) I was amazed that information we broadcast in 1997 is still so important today. Next week I will list more of the game-changing guests and topics (and some links to interviews) that it has been my privilege to showcase. Studies show that it typically takes 40 years for a scientific breakthrough to get from the laboratory into everyday practice. I guess that is why our long-time listeners often tell me how they have benefited from hearing those guests and being ahead of the curve.

FOOD – The 2-minute audio clip from an interview with Sally Fallon, author of Nourishing Traditions is remarkable. She talks about the work of a pioneering dentist who traveled the world. He found that populations eating their native diets (which contained prized fats) were healthy and did not need braces or other dental work. When those folks moved to cities, they acquired Western diseases and their children had dental issues. We did air the clips from Robert Atkins, MD about bread and the one from Paul Stitt (the food industry whistle-blower) about the 23 appetite stimulants added to some processed foods. But they are worth repeating.

MEDICAL CARE – We didn’t have the 3+ minutes this clip from Gary Null, PhD would have taken, but it is a shocker. It is just one highlight of a show about a report, Death by Medicine, that this health guru and his cohorts compiled. It details and substantiates statistics from scientific studies about problems in modern medical practice. The combination of side effects of drugs given in hospitals, medical mistakes, unwarranted surgeries, hospital-induced infections and malnutrition plus others add up to an astonishing number. The total makes medical problems the number one cause of premature death in the US. In the whole interview with Gary Null, he also discusses the shocking lack of science to support chemotherapy for many types of cancer.

GRATITUDE. I thanked a lot of folks who have helped make the show possible. Of special note are sponsors Dr. Ohhira’s Probiotics, Jarrow Formulas, Kyolic Aged Garlic, Lily of the Desert, The Kotsanis Institute and Bill Sardi, who while not a sponsor in the usual sense has been very supportive.

NONSENSE. These clips were just for fun: The train that came right beside our studio in the first year. Me mispronouncing a guest name and another. Gary Null making it clear he could handle the interview without me. (He clearly could.)

Our friend cholesterol?

As we all know, there has been long standing concern and confusion over the actual vs supposed health risk from high levels of cholesterol in the blood. Recently, it has been suggested that virtually all older persons should be on statin cholesterol-lowering drugs. (Which by the way are said to damage stem cells.) I worry that too often these discussions make it sound like cholesterol is an enemy. And they fail to mention why we have it to begin with. Therefore, I list the following just to provide some context for the debate which I guarantee will not end any time soon.

• Big picture, nature’s original plan always makes sense. Why would we be given this waxy, fat-like substance in every cell of the body if it was designed to kill us?
• About 75-80% of our blood cholesterol is made in the body…because we need it. If you eat cholesterol (e.g. in eggs), the body turns down its own production. Eating poorly (e.g. sugar and fake foods) can confuse the body into making too much cholesterol.
• Cholesterol is required for us to make vitamin D.
• We make hormones (including testosterone and estrogen) from cholesterol.
• Cholesterol helps protect nerve fibers and is needed for proper brain function.
• Bile that helps us digest fats is made from cholesterol. (Inadequate bile flow as one might have with gall bladder trouble or a low fiber diet is one reason for elevated cholesterol.)
• Cell membranes depend on cholesterol. Membranes don’t just hold cells contents together. They also make sure that nutrients get in and wastes get out.
• Cholesterol may be in the plaque in arteries because it is there to help repair damage. We need to be wary of things that damage arteries.

Sometimes I hear pronouncements that make it sound as though the “lower the cholesterol the better”. Given the important roles of cholesterol listed above, common sense says we would get in trouble if it is too low. In fact, with very low cholesterol there are more deaths from “all causes”, including cancer, violence, accidents, suicide (article) and even cardiovascular disease! Another study. Check this out: A study found that elderly folks with cholesterol lower than 189 had a doubled risk of dying early.

Cholesterol can irritate the lining of arteries when it becomes oxidized (e.g. rusty) due to either toxins or lack of protective antioxidants like vitamin E. Irritated arteries can build up plaque (which does contain cholesterol along with calcium.) Very high levels of cholesterol are associated with cardiovascular problems. That means they often appear together. However, the issue isn’t so black and white. I’m not sure it has been proven that the high levels themselves are the cause of the heart disease or have just become elevated in response to some other problem that also causes heart disease.