Tea and Vitamin C -- Two Natural Ways to Help Fight Heart Disease

 Endothelial dysfunction may not yet be a household term. But considering the risk that it now poses to many of us, it’s none too soon for us to start familiarizing ourselves with it. It’s a disease of the blood-vessel linings that contributes to heart disease, angina, and peripheral vascular disease -- conditions that over half of Americans will experience in their lifetime.

Fortunately, two studies conducted this year and published in very prestigious cardiology journals, have shown how we can naturally combat endothelial dysfunction. 

The solution to the problem of endothelial dysfunction is to drink tea and receive intravenous vitamin C.  Both were shown to have the ability to reverse this disease of the blood-vessel wall.  In fact, intravenous vitamin C was able to alleviate endothelial dysfunction by more than 50 percent. The mechanism that enables vitamin C and tea to reverse vessel disease is likely the antioxidant properties of both treatments. Both studies, it should be noted, were placebo controlled and double blinded.

Although this study tested black tea, green tea is likely to have similar if not greater benefits for the endothelium. 

This research may help explain why chelation therapy, which is comprised of intravenous vitamin C and other antioxidants is so highly beneficial for patients with heart disease.  In mainstream medicine, chelation therapy still remains unaccepted and controversial.  However, the results of more than 75,000 chelation treatments administered at our center over the past 15 years have convinced us of the benefits of chelation. 

To learn more about this innovative therapy and its applications, we suggest you attend one of our free educational seminars on either January 16th or February 13th.         

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Spice Up Your Life While Protecting Your Brain

A spicy ingredient of many curries may help prevent Alzheimer's disease.  A team from the University of California at Los Angeles believes that turmeric may play a role in slowing down the progression of the devastating disease.  The finding may help to explain why rates of Alzheimer's are much lower among the elderly in India than in the United States.  

Previous studies have found that Alzheimer's affects just one percent of people over the age of 65 living in some Indian villages. 

Turmeric is found in everything from mild kormas to the hottest vindaloos. The crucial chemical is curcumin, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound found in the spice. 

Alzheimer's is linked to the buildup of deposits in the brain called amyloid plaques.  Turmeric may be able to reduce the number of these plaques by half.  In the study, middle-aged and aged rats were fed a diet rich in curcumin. All the rats received brain injections of amyloid to mimic progressive Alzheimer's disease.  Not only was there less evidence of plaque buildup in the curcumin-fed rats, but they outperformed rats on normal diets when carrying out maze-based memory tests. Curcumin also appeared to reduce Alzheimer's-related inflammation in the brain tissue.   

For those of us who are not fans of Indian cuisine, tumeric is also available in supplement form.  It comes in 500 mg. capsules and can be taken daily -- but watch out for diarrhea at higher doses.  In addition to reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease, other studies have shown tumeric to benefit cases of cancer and heart disease.  So go ahead and spice up your life with this natural anti-inflammatory spice. 

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Over the past year, the role of soy in breast-cancer prevention has become more controversial.  While a historical analysis of Asian people who consume large amounts of tofu and miso shows they have an 80% lower risk of breast cancer compared to Americans, newer studies have hinted that other forms of soy may be dangerous.  The latest information, presented at the 4th International Symposium on the Role of Soy in Preventing and Treating Chronic Disease, represents an important step forward in demonstrating the role soy protein may play in the promotion of better breast health. 

Using a sophisticated new breast-imaging test, researchers have found initial confirmation of soy protein's ability to reduce inflamed breast tissue. The study data demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in breast inflammation among 25 women who followed a daily regimen of soy protein for six months. Study investigators used B.E.S.T. (Breast Enhanced Scintigraphy Test) imaging, a sophisticated new test that combines heart- and breast-imaging technologies into a single test that yields diagnostic information about breast function and distinguishes among normal breast tissue, inflammatory breast tissue and cancer of the breast. B.E.S.T. imaging does not require breast compression and allows doctors to diagnose breast cancer at an earlier stage.   Although B.E.S.T. imaging is more accurate than mammography, it is not yet widely available for use in this country. 

But soy supplementation, as we noted, does indeed have a  ‘down side’ – as reflected in the following item.  

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If you have a history of kidney stones, soy may not be the best food for you to consume.  New research indicates that soybeans and soy-based foods may promote kidney stones in those prone to the painful condition. The researchers measured nearly a dozen varieties of soybeans for oxalate, a compound that can bind with calcium in the kidney to form kidney stones.  Oxalate, however, cannot be metabolized by the body and is excreted only through urine. The compound has no nutritional value, but binds to calcium to form a mass (kidney stones) that can block the urinary system. 

The amount of oxalate in the soy products surpassed the American Dietetic Association's 10 milligram-per-serving recommendation for patients with kidney stones, with some foods having levels 50 times higher than the suggested limit. 

During their testing, the researchers found the highest oxalate levels in textured soy protein, otherwise known as tempeh, which contains up to 638 milligrams of oxalate per 85-gram serving.  Soy cheese had the lowest oxalate content, at 16 milligrams per serving. Other health compounds are also known to contain oxalate such as spinach, were shown to have 543 milligrams per one-cup serving. 

In addition to increasing the risk of developing a kidney stone, soy may also interfere with the actions of thyroid hormone medication. However, with studies already showing that soy can help build bones and prevent both heart attacks and breast cancer, we must individually weigh the risks and benefits of soy. 

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A food chemical known to cause cancer in rats has been discovered in human breast milk, according to a group of Canadian researchers. The study represents the first time that the chemical, mostly associated with grilled meats, has been found in human breast milk. The cancer compound called PhIP, may increase the risk of  breast cancer in women as well as increasing the risk of cancer in nursing infants. It is a member of a chemical class of highly mutagenic compounds known as heterocyclic amines.  PhIP is found in high concentrations in charbroiled or grilled meats. 

So the next time you eat at a steak house, think twice about saying "well done steak" as your choice of meat.  In women who did not eat meat, no PhIP was detected. 

(Many other toxic chemicals have been found in human breast milk, including PCBs, dioxin, nitrosamines, ethanol and nicotine.) 

There are many ways to reduce heterocyclic amine levels in meat. Most involve cooking meat at lower temperatures. Baking, roasting and microwaving of meat -- processes that produce less heat -- may significantly reduce levels of PhIP, according to recent studies. Cooking methods that involve liquids, including boiling, steaming, and poaching, generally do not produce significant amounts of the chemical. When grilling, turning the meat frequently or marinating the meat before cooking is thought to significantly reduce PhIP as well as other cancer-causing agents.  The cooking of vegetables and fruit, regardless of the process used, produces little or no PhIP. 

Men – in case you feel that you can go on firing up the backyard grill without risk to your own health, studies have suggested that increased exposure to PhIP may be linked to an increased incidence of colon and prostate cancer in males. 

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