Supplements for Cholesterol: What Works? – Cholesterol – Health.com

Supplements for Cholesterol: What Works? – Cholesterol – Health.com.

The Super green List: Connecting Human and Ocean Health

According to seafoodwatch.org, seafood plays an important role in a balanced diet. It’s often rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which help boost immunity and reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and other ailments. Omega-3s are especially important for pregnant and nursing women, and young children. Unfortunately, some fish carry toxins that can become harmful when eaten frequently.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is releasing a “super green” list that ranks fish by sustainability and levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Species that make the list include farmed mussels and oysters, line- or pole-caught albacore tuna, wild-caught Alaskan salmon and Pacific sardines.
Combining the work of conservation and public health organizations, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has identified seafood that is “Super Green,” meaning that it is good for human health and does not harm the oceans. The Super Green list highlights products that are currently on the Seafood Watch “Best Choices” (green) list, are low in environmental contaminants and are good sources of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Read more…

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7 Causes Of High Cholesterol – Do you have high cholesterol? – Health.com

7 Causes Of High Cholesterol – Do you have high cholesterol? – Health.com

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Lowering Salt in Your Diet

Lowering Salt in Your Diet

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Preventable Health Problems

The United States spent about $2.2 trillion on healthcare in 2007. This accounts for 16 percent of our gross domestic product, and that’s projected to rise to 20 percent by 2017. Much of this healthcare spending can be tied to preventable health problems.

Here are some examples of preventable health problems:

The largest numbers of deaths in the United States are caused by two preventable causes – tobacco smoking and high blood pressure – killing an estimated 467,000 and 395,000 people respectively in 2005. Currently, one in three American adults (about 73 million people) has high blood pressure; one in every six Americans age 20 or older has high cholesterol. Anyone suffering from high cholesterol or hypertension is at heightened risk for heart disease, according to HealthBeat, a Harvard Publication. Heart disease is projected to cost more than $304.6 billion in 2009, including health care services, medications, and lost productivity (CDC).

Case for obesity: Excess weight is a significant factor in four of the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. Obesity has fueled a 45 percent rise in diabetes over the past 20 years; someone born in 2000 has a 1 in 3 chance of developing the disease (US News Jan’09).
Obesity increases a person’s risk of illness and death due to diabetes, stroke, heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, and kidney and gallbladder disease. Obesity may increase the risk for some types of cancer. It is also a risk factor for the development of osteoarthritis and sleep apnea (NY Times June’08)

Case for colon cancer: Statistics show that although the death rate from colon cancer has dropped in recent years – likely mostly because of screening efforts – colorectal cancer still strikes almost 150,000 Americans every year and kills about 50,000.
Disease prevention is a key part of health care reform and the U.S. needs to do a better job preventing deaths through improved screening technology and ensuring more people have access to the tests, such as colonoscopies, says gastroenterologist Dr. Jon LaPook. He has his own colonoscopy recorded (see video, courtesy of CBS NEWS) to remind people of the importance of regular screenings.

Here are some simple preventive measures:

Low-risk factors for hypertension include a Body mass Index (BMI) of less than 25; an average of 30 minutes exercise per day; a good diet as measured by the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) or a Mediterranean-style diet centered on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and fish instead of red meat and processed foods. Also beneficial is an anti-inflammatory diet that is focused on reducing saturated fat and trans fats and eating more foods rich in alpha-linolenic acid—like flax seed, walnuts, and canola oil—and omega-3 fats.

Lifestyle therapies are considered first-line interventions for managing both long- and short-term risks, including fat loss, increased physical activity, and adopting a healthy diet, including whole grains, fruits and vegetables, fish and lean protein, and low-fat dairy, fiber supplements; reduced intake of saturated fat and cholesterol. Many experts agree that whole grains are notably beneficial for maintaining vital markers of cardiovascular health like blood pressure, cholesterol levels, homocysteine levels and inflammation, in addition to aiding weight management.

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Omega-3: recommended dosage for prevention and treatment of heart disease

According to state-of-the-art review article published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, omega-3s have shown great promise in both preventing and treating heart disease. Researchers with the Ochsner Medical Center (New Orleans, Louisiana) and the University of Maryland School of Medicine (Baltimore, Maryland) conducted a review of studies on the effects omega-3 fatty acids had on cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Following evaluation of evidence from retrospective epidemiologic studies and from large randomised controlled trials, the reviewers recommended that the target eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) plus docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) consumption should be at least 500 mg /day for individuals without underlying overt CVD and at least 800 to 1,000 mg/day for individuals with known coronary heart disease and heart failure.
The most compelling evidence for cardiovascular benefits of omega-3s comes from 4 controlled trials of nearly 40,000 participants randomized to receive EPA with or without DHA in studies of patients in primary prevention, after myocardial infarction, and most recently, with heart failure.

The lead author of the review, Carl Lavie, medical director of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention at the Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, said that “there is now tremendous and compelling evidence from very large studies, some dating back 20 and 30 years, that demonstrate the protective benefits of omega-3 fish oil in multiple aspects of preventive cardiology,”

Reference: Journal of American College of Cardiology, volume 54, pp 585-594, 2009.

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Fish oil plus red yeast rice compared to statins in cholesterol lowering

Natural supplements health news: A combination of fish oils, red yeast rice coupled with lifestyle changes reduced cholesterol levels by the same amount as a daily statin pill, according to a randomized-trial research findings from the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

David Becker, MD, and coworkers at UPenn recruited 74 people with hypercholesterolaemia and randomly assigned them to receive a daily statin dose of simvastatin (40 mg/d) or the fish oil (EPA 2106 mg/d, DHA 1680 mg/d, N3 Oceanic) and red yeast rice (N3 Oceanic). The red yeast rice contained a total monacolin content of 5.3 mg, with 2.53 mg in the form of monacolin K (lovastatin). After 12 weeks of intervention, the researchers found statistically significant LDL reductions in both groups, but no difference between the groups. LDL-cholesterol levels were reduced by 42.4 per cent following consumption of the fish oil and red yeast rice combination, compared to reductions of 39.6 per cent in the statin group.

In addition to the LDL reduction, the fish oil/ red yeast rice combination also produced significant reductions in triglyceride levels of 29 per cent, compared to a non-significant nine per cent reduction in the statin group. The researchers attributed the triglyceride-lowering effects to the fish oil based on other reports pointing to similar effect.

Highlights about Red Yeast Rice (RYR):

• RYR is the product of yeast grown on rice; a dietary staple in some Asian countries.
• RYR reportedly contains several compounds that inhibit cholesterol production.
• Speculating on a mode of action of their findings, Becker and co-workers indicated that RYR contains naturally occurring lovastatin and nine different substances called monacolins that could inhibit 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase.
• The dose of RYR in the study (2.4-3.6 g/d) was equivalent to a daily lovastatin dose of 10 to 15 mg, less than the established therapeutic dose (20-40 mg).

“Lifestyle changes combined with ingestion of red yeast rice and fish oil reduced LDL-C in proportions similar to standard therapy with simvastatin,” the researchers conclude.

The full text is published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Reference: D.J. Becker, R.Y. Gordon, P.B. Morris, J. Yorko, Y.J. Gordon, M. Li, N. Iqbal, “Simvastatin vs Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes and Supplements: Randomized Primary Prevention Trial”; Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2008, Vol. 83 (7) Pages 758-764.
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Gum Disease and Heart Disease Association Revealed

The association between gum disease (periodontitis) and coronary heart disease (CHD) has been known for years, but a genetic link between the conditions hadn’t been confirmed until now. German scientists at the University of Kiel found that the two diseases share a genetic variant on chromosome 9. This discovery helps explain association between the two illnesses. Dr. Arne Schaefer and his colleagues verified this genetic association in groups of 180 periodontitis patients and 1,100 CHD patients. “We think that periodontitis should be taken very seriously by dentists and diagnosed and treated as early as possible,” Schaefer said. He further noted that periodontitis and CHD share risk factors such as smoking, diabetes and obesity.
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How do walnuts and fish compare in protecting against heart disease?

Lifelong Supplements™ health news! High blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels are risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). It is well known that increased consumption of omega-3 fatty acids decreases the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the question consumers often ask is whether plant- and marine-derived omega-3 fats work similarly in prevention of CHD.
A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that including walnuts and fatty fish in a healthy diet lowered serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, respectively, which affects CHD risk favorably. These findings show that walnut (a rich source of plant-derived omega-3) and fatty fish (a rich source of marine-derived omega-3), although both types are cadio-protective, target different risk factors when consumed in amounts recommended for primary prevention of CHD.
Here is a brief description of the study. In a randomized crossover feeding trial, 25 normal to mildly hyperlipidemic adults consumed 3 isoenergetic diets (about 30% total fat and <10% saturated fat) for 4 weeks each: a control diet (no nuts or fish), a walnut diet (1.5 oz walnuts/day), or a fish diet (4 oz salmon, twice/week). Fasting blood was drawn at baseline and at the end of each diet period and analyzed for serum lipids. The results showed that the participants who followed the walnut diet had a 5.3% lower serum total cholesterol level and a 9.5% lower LDL (bad) cholesterol level when compared to the control diet. Those who followed the fish diet decreased their triglyceride levels by 10.7%, and increased their HDL (good) cholesterol by 3.4% compared to the control diet. The reference for the study is: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 89, pages 1657S-1663S, 2009.
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Lifelong Supplement™ News: Increased Potassium Intake may Lower Blood Pressure

Lifelong Supplements™ health news! A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine 2009, volume 169, pages 32-40 shows that the ratio of sodium-to-potassium in subjects’ urine was a much stronger predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than sodium or potassium alone. The researchers determined average sodium and potassium intake during two phases of a study known as the Trials of Hypertension Prevention. The researchers collected 24-hr urine samples intermittently during an 18-month period in one trial and during a 36-month period in a second trial. The 2,974 participants, initially age 30–54 and with blood pressure readings just under levels considered high, were followed for 10–15 years to see if they would develop cardiovascular disease. The study concluded that higher sodium to potassium excretion ratio is associated with increased risk of subsequent CVD, with an effect stronger than that of sodium or potassium alone.

To lower blood pressure and cut the effects of salt, adults should consume 4.7 g of potassium per day. According to an Institute of Medicine report, most American adults aged 31–50 consume only about half as much as recommended.

In the United States where people consume diets high in processed foods and large amounts of sodium, 1 in 3 persons have hypertension. An increase in potassium with a decrease in sodium is probably the most important dietary choice (after weight loss) that should be implemented to reduce cardiovascular disease.
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