March 23, 2017 general

Last Friday morning, while eating breakfast at La Madeleine, I happened to notice the plate of another diner. I just could not stop thinking about how pale her eggs were. You see, I’m just not a fan of egg white scrambles and omelets because egg yolks contain some wonderful nutrients. (I like to point out that an egg has every nutrient needed to build a chicken. Except for some protein, those are all in the yolk.) I was thinking that a lot of folks haven’t yet heard that eggs are off the no-no list. Some are still suspicious because there is a little cholesterol in the yolks. But, we need to remember that our liver makes as much as 80% of the cholesterol in our blood. If we eat more, the liver just makes less. Geesh, I really couldn’t just walk up to the lady’s table and start lecturing her about eggs. But, I also couldn’t let it go. So, I craftily decided to apologize for interrupting her meal with her husband to give her a radio card. I said that, seeing the egg whites, I guessed she was interested in heart health. She therefore might want to listen to Jim LaValle who would be talking about that the next day on our show.

Shirley (I now knew her name) said she was indeed being careful because her cardiologist said she had a blockage in an artery. I mentioned that sugar and starch are now thought to be the bigger threat for heart disease than dietary fat or cholesterol in foods. Most of the time I talk to listeners who already know at least the basics. So, I was a little surprised when she said that she had just read about that the day before. Oh, my. Dr. Atkins had been saying that since the 1970’s. It does take a while! (And, if what you know comes mostly from drug-dependent mainstream medicine, even longer.)

My new friend said it is just hard to change. Yes, it is. But, I’m sure you’ve heard that if we keep doing what we’ve been doing, we will keep getting what we’ve been getting. Shirley had been getting bypass surgery and prescriptions for multiple statin drugs to lower her cholesterol. Unfortunately, she could not tolerate the side effects of the drugs. I had already recorded the LaValle show and so Kyolic Reserve and #107 were fresh on my mind.  I told her about how they help reverse the most dangerous type of arterial plaque. Shirley was leaving when I remembered the remarkable results a listener, Dave, had with vitamin K2. It helped him reverse surgery-ready hardening of the carotid artery. Darn, she was already out the door. And even in the unlikely event she did listen to Dr. Lavalle’s interview, she would not hear about K2. I could not help myself, I chased her out into the parking lot to tell her about Dave’s experience. By now, I she must think I’m a crazy person. (I think I could hear my husband Bill roll his eyes.)

Shirley said that one of her arteries is 60% blocked. (I know of people reversing their arterial diseases from blockages of a much higher percentage.) She does not want another surgery and can’t tolerate the statins. Perhaps she could try a new type of drug, Repatha. But, she may not like the $15,000 a year price tag or the side effects that range from the flu and back pain to high blood pressure and dizziness to name a few. (Oh, by the way, the drug has not been shown to improve death rates from cardiovascular disease.) Why not try a lower carbohydrate diet, some Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract and Jarrow’s K-Right? There are hundreds of studies on aged garlic extract alone and they show fringe benefits, not side effects!