Posts Tagged ‘heart disease’

Homogenization causes artery damage has been known for quite awhile. This is from the journal Atherosclerosis (1989; 77:251-6).

“Homogenized Cow’s milk transforms healthy butter fat into microscopic spheres of fat containing xanthine oxidase (XO) which is one of the most powerful digestive enzymes there is. The spheres are small enough to pass intact right through the stomach and intestines walls without first being digested. Thus this extremely powerful protein “knife” XO floats throughout the body in the blood and lymph systems. When the XO breaks free from its fat envelope, it attacks the inner wall of whatever vessel it is in. This creates a wound. The wound triggers the arrival of “patching plaster” to seal off the wound. The “patching plaster” is cholesterol. Hardening of the arteries, heart disease, chest pain, heart attack is the results.” (As reported by Paul Pitchford, Healing With Whole Foods, p19)

The reason given for homogenization is to make the big fat droplets smaller for easier digestion. The reason not stated is the fat floats to top and does not look as pleasing to the eye. By homogenizing and releasing xanthine oxidase, it does make digestion simple, but by damaging the fat soluble vitamins it makes them harder to digest and absorb.

One reason milk is homogenized is for a longer shelf life. To homogenize milk it has to be put through a mechanical process. It is passed through pipes and fine filers at high pressure and a speed of 600 feet per second. The fat portion of the milk is broken up into very small globules. As a fine mist they become suspended in the liquid and do not rise to the top.

When milk is not homogenized, the fat and the xanthine oxidase (XO), which is a naturally occurring substance in the milk, are digested in the stomach and small intestine.  They are naturally converted into smaller molecules, which get used by the body or are excreted. Xanthine oxidase is an enzyme found in the liver. If any foreign XO enters the bloodstream it attacks specific targets within the arteries. Lesions in the artery walls are a result from this attack. Scar tissue and calcified plaques are a result of the healing phase. Atherosclerosis develops, and arteries lose their elasticity as this process continues.

The damage caused by this process takes a long time to show up. All milk in the dairy section is homogenized. Products that have homogenized milk as the base would be cheese, butter, yogurt, buttermilk, and ice cream. Cholesterol is not the problem; processed food is.

Cholesterol is a problem when it gets caught on the artery wall, and this only happens when there is something to get caught on. On a biochemical level processing food signals a self-destructive mechanism in the body. Tampering with Mother Nature is not a good ideal.

Heart disease has skyrocketed in the last fifty years, yet cholesterol was in foods for a long period before this dramatic rise. The cholesterol is not the problem, it is when it tries to fix the damaged arteries, and eventually causes the obstruction called blocked arteries. Homogenization causes artery damage that we blame on cholesterol.

Your Heart’s nutritional needs can be met by a diet of whole foods. The realization that our heart needs  vitamins, and minerals is not well understood. The overall consensus is that a heart condition such as a heart attack, heart failure, atrium fibrillation, stroke, heart valve problems, and infections are just circumstantial occurrences. The aging process is blamed, along with stress, and genes. What is left out is that healthy bodies are produced by good nutrition, our hearts are no different.

A healthy heart program is not that different than a healthy lifestyle. It is known among holistic practitioners that the heart and circulatory system is dependent on, and responds to nutrition. The energy dense foods, with high nutritional value are the ones that supplement and support muscular movement, nerves, cell health, and immune function. The heart is a muscle and can recover in the same way muscles do. Muscle strength is not a product of a pharmaceutical.  Pharmaceutical drugs can and do cause a loss of nutrients, that are vital to heart health.

Your heart is made up of cells that depend on nutrients. The low fat craze is worrisome, because eliminating healthy fats will cause more problems than it will fix. The type of low- fat foods on the market are high-tech, nutritional robbers, that will have the opposite effect. Low-fat diets are low in fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A and D, plus others. You need good fat for your body to be able to absorb the many nutrients from plant food. Healthy people around the world do not count the fat grams in every piece of food.

Magnesium, Calcium, iodine, and B complex are important to the heart muscle, and normal heartbeat. These are not the ones that come in a capsule, because those are not going to be assimilated. What supplies the body with what it needs comes from whole foods. The thyroid is dependent on iodine, but so is the body both dependent on thyroid function and iodine. Remember it takes awhile before the body shows signs of poor nutrition, and that is one of the reasons it appears as if heart disease increases with age.

Irregular heartbeats can be caused by a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium can be obtained from wheat brand, wheat germ, cashews, sesame seeds, millet, wild rice, brown rice, greens, and dried figs etc. It is referred to as a natural calcium channel-blocker. Magnesium can lower blood pressure, and helps the heart function.

Vitamin P available from citrus fruits, aids in absorption of vitamin C from our food supply. Capillary health is promoted by the action of this nutrient. Vitamin P flavenoids have the ability to decrease inflammation, improve blood flow, and strengthens blood vessels. They aid in the prevention of coronary disease because they also combat free radicals, and improve immunity. A diet high in vitamin P may decrease the chance of heart disease. Citrus fruits are full of Flavonoids, which are known help with conditions from hay fever to cancer. By reducing cellular damage caused by free radicals, they are a holistic therapy.

This is a list of some of the foods that contain flavonoids: grapefruit, oranges, apples, apricots, pears, peaches, tomatoes, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, red plums, strawberries, red cabbage, onions, parsley, prunes, and rhubarb. Bioflavonoid helps lower cholesterol levels. Bioflavonoids have an antibacterial effect and promote good circulation.

Omega-3 fatty acid found in fish oil, has an effect on heart function, including decreasing the risk of arrhythmias, decreases triglyceride levels, and reduces the growth rate of atherosclerotic plaque, and may slightly lower blood pressure. We are talking about substances that help you stay both active and healthy, when we are talking about your heart’s nutritional needs.

COOKING

Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AEGs) are typically formed when sugars are cooked with proteins or fats. Temperatures over 120°C (~248°F) greatly accelerate the reactions, but so do lower temperatures with longer cooking times. These compounds are digested with about 30% efficiency. Browning reactions are evidence of pre-formed glycations. Indeed, sugar is often added to products such as french fries and baked goods to enhance browning. Exogenous glycations and AGEs are contributors to inflammation and disease states.

AEGS

AGEs are known to initiation retinal dysfunction, cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes, cancer and many other age-related chronic diseases. Food manufacturers have added AGEs to foods, especially in the last decades, as flavor enhancers and colorants to improve appearance. Foods with significant browning, caramelizing, or with directly added AGEs can be exceptionally high in these pro-inflammatory and disease initiating compounds. A list of foods with high exogenous AGEs includes: donuts, barbecued meats, cake, and dark colored sodas.

AGING

This root causes of the multi-system degenerative diseases of aging are linked to this. AGEs that come from the fusion of sugars with fats or protein. Here is the part that is fascinating, fructose and galactose have about ten time the glycation activity of glucose. Some AGEs are implicated in age-related chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.

The endothelial cells of the blood vessels are damaged directly by glycations, implicated in atherosclerosis. Atherosclerotic plaque tends to accumulate at areas of high blood flow (such as the entrance to the coronary arteries) due to  increased presentation of sugar molecules, glycations and AGEs at these points. Damage by glycation results in stiffening of the collagen in the blood vessel walls, leading to high blood pressure. Glycations cause weakening of the collagen in the blood vessel walls, which can lead to micro- or macro-aneurysms; causing strokes if in the brain.

FOOD SUPPLY

Today’s battleground should be over the state of our food supply, and the versions of health that the U.S. supports. While listening to debates over public or private insurance, we should be thinking of identifying the real health threats. They come from the corrupt system of both healthcare, and our reliance on chemical solutions.

Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AEGs) are dangerous, and have no place in our food chain. These can naturally occur, but it should not be in our processed food. What this means is each generation is exposed to a greater quantity of foods containing Advance Glycation Endproducts (AEGS). Accelerated aging is beginning in pre-adolescents. This generation is showing signs of diabetes, hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure, and metabolic syndrome. The integrity of our nation is at stake. Public or private does not address all our healthcare issues.