Posts Tagged ‘cholesterol’

Extra virgin olive oil has many health benefits. There is growing evidence that olive oil may reduce coronary heart disease risk, and prevent some cancers, It also has been shown to modify immune and inflammatory responses. Extra virgin olive oil and its extracts protect against oxidative damage of hepatic tissue. That means it offers your liver protection from known toxins.

Extra virgin olive oil is recommended as part of a healthy diet and can be easily added to your diet. Olive oil is a natural juice which preserves the taste, aroma, and vitamins of the olive.

The beneficial health effects are due to its high content of monounsaturated fatty acids and its antioxidative substances. Olive oil has been shown to offer protection from heart disease by controlling LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels while raising the HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels.

Olive oil protective function means it has a beneficial effect on ulcers and gastritis. It is used to activate the secretion of bile and pancreatic hormones, and lowers the incidence of gallstone formation.

The Good Fat

Extra virgin olive oil makes getting nutrition easy. Extra virgin is the least processed and comes from the first pressing of the olives. Extra virgin olive oil, from the first pressing of the olives, contains higher levels of antioxidants such as vitamin E.  Brands that use high quality ingredients will choose olive oil. With the unlimited food choices extra virgin olive oil should be thought of as a one in a kind delicious ingredient.

Fresh organic herbs and herb blends placed in olive oil containers have blossomed in the market place.  These include basil, dill, chives, cilantro rosemary, sage, tarragon and other blends. While retailers look to exploit every category of spices, seasonings and condiments, none are as healthy and taste as good as those in olive oil.

Oils on the supper market shelves run the gamut in both price and quality. However we were designed to consume whole foods. Extra virgin olive oil is as near to a whole food that you can get.

Health Claims Running Rampant

The advancement of technology has given impetus to the marketing machine of major food manufactures. Their health claims are running rampant.

False Health Claims

Following a second action in 12 months by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for making false claims about a product, the leading cereal maker Kellogg has agreed to new advertising restriction.

They said the company has agreed to expand a settlement order reached after the Commission alleged that the cereal maker has falsely claimed there was clinical evidence that its Frosted Mini-Wheat Cereal improved children’s attentiveness by nearly 20 per cent.

Could it be the trans fats, sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, or sodium, that provides such a boost. Wow, all the kids in American should be real attentive.

Trans Fats

Food manufactures use trans fats in products to optimize taste, appearance, texture and shelf life. These fats are formed when liquid oils are made into solid fats like shortening and margarine during a process known as hydrogenation.

Kellogg defends their use of trans fats by saying trans fat is similar to saturated fat because it has also been found to raise low-density lipoprotein, or “bad” cholesterol, which can increase your risk of coronary heart disease.

What they left out is crucial: The trans fat molecule is different from the saturated fat molecule.

(1) Saturated fatty acids raise HDL cholesterol, the so-called good cholesterol, whereas the trans fatty acids lower HDL cholesterol;

(2) Saturated fatty acids lower the blood levels of the atherogenic lipoprotein [a], whereas trans fatty acids raise the blood levels of lipoprotein [a];

(3) Saturated fatty acids conserve the good omega-3 fatty acids, whereas trans fatty acids cause the tissues to lose these omega-3 fatty acids;

(4) Saturated fatty acids do not inhibit insulin binding, whereas trans fatty acids do inhibit insulin binding;

(5) Saturated fatty acids do not increase C-reactive protein, but trans fatty acids do increase C-reactive protein causing arterial inflammation;

(6) saturated fatty acids are the normal fatty acids made by the body, and they do not interfere with enzyme functions such as the delta-6-desaturase, whereas trans fatty acids are not made by the body, and they interfere with many enzyme functions such as delta-6-desaturase; and

(7) Some saturated fatty acids are used by the body to fight viruses, bacteria, and protozoa, and they support the immune system, whereas trans fatty acids interfere with the function of the immune system.

This is from the Ban Trans Fats website.

Another Problem

Food manufactures can list no trans fats on their label and still use it. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in this case the fake disappearing agenda; guidelines specify that percentages should be rounded up if over 0.5 grams per serving or down if under. If the amount of tras fats is less than half a gram(0.5) per serving, FDA labeling guidelines state that the Nutrition Facts label must show the total amount of trans fats per serving as zero grams (0 grams).

This amounts to 1/20 of a teaspoon of trans fat per serving. What’s the problem with this? One serving is stated to be a cup, how many kids snack on sweet cereals and go over a cup. If you have a diet of packaged foods and they all claim no trans fat, you can be ingesting a good amount.

Now for kids the issue is this will be for a lifetime, add it up, and they will be consuming too much trans fats.

Last But Not Least

 The label ingredients from the strawberry Mini-Frosted Wheats

WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT, SUGAR, STRAWBERRY FLAVORED CRUNCHLETS (SUGAR, CORN CEREAL, CORN SYRUP, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED AND/OR SOYBEAN OIL, CITRIC ACID, GLYCERIN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, RED #40, BLUE #2), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL STRAWBERRY AND CREME FLAVOR, SORBITOL, GELATIN, REDUCED IRON, NIACINAMIDE, ZINC OXIDE, RED #40, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), FOLIC ACID, BLUE #1, AND VITAMIN B12. TO MAINTAIN QUALITY, BHT HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE PACKAGING.

Make better decisions, these are empty claims, and a marketing campaign that seems like pure baloney.

Type 2 diabetes treatments for both cholesterol and high blood pressure fail to save lives.

Diabetes Type 2 Treatment

Key results from a landmark federal study shows that adding drugs to drive blood pressure and blood-fats lower than current targets, does not prevent heart problems, and in some cases causes harmful side effects.

Study

The study involved people with Type 2 diabetes. Diabetics have more than double the risk of being a heart attack or stoke statistic. Researches led by Columbia University’s Dr. Henry Ginsburg studied more than 5,500 diabetics who also had another health risk, such as high blood pressure or cholesterol.

All were given statin-cholesterol-lowering pills sold as Lipitor and Zocor. Half were also given Abbott Laboratories’ TriCor, and the rest got placebos. TriCor is a drug that lowers fats called triglycerides while boosting “good” cholesterol. People with very high blood fats seemed to have some benefit from TriCor.

Women taking TriCor appeared to have a higher chance to have heart problems compared to the women taking the placebo.

The blood-pressure part of the study was led by Dr. William Cushman, preventive medicine chief at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee. About 4,700 diabetics were treated with different medicines to keep their systolic blood pressure-the top number-either below 140 or below 120.

The intense treatment did not reduce the number of heart attacks, although it prevented more strokes, a less common problem. Side effects were greater with the intense treatment.

North Chicago, Illinois-based Abbott makes TriCor and a newer version, Trilipix. The drugs had more than $1.3 billion in U.S. sales last year.

The Natural Way

There are natural ways to combat type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Natural healing is an underutilized intervention. It is both potent and convenient.

The optimal defense is a lifestyle makeover. Lifestyle changes are unmatched and have the potential to turn around chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes. This is a modality that physicians have not tapped into. This has the ability to prevent drug induced serious conditions. The pharmaceutical companies are still looking for a little green pill, the color of a dollar bill.