Vitamin C with Bioflavanoids
L-Lysine
L-Proline
Omega-3s or Essential Fatty Acids
Curcumin
Inositol Hexaphosphate (IP6)
Resveratrol
Chromium Polynicotinate
Vanadyl Sulphate
Opti Zinc
Copper
Alpha Lipoic Acid (Preferably R-Lipoic Acid)
Acetyl-L-Carnitine
Benfotiamine
Pyridoxamine
L-Carnosine
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)
Taurine
L-Tyrosine
Coenzymated B Complex
High Gamma Vitamin E with Complete Tocopherols
Tocotrienols
Pantethine
Vitamin B12 Sublingual Methylcobalamin
Trimethylglycine (TMG)
Magnesium Malate
Calcium Citrate Malate
Vitamin A and Vitamin D
Melatonin
Digestive Enzymes
Probiotics
Cinnamon Tea
Folate relates inversely to the production in your body of homocysteine, a compound associated with increased risk of heart disease and cancer. Although folate is important in fighting such diseases, it is most commonly associated with preventing neural tube defects in newborns. In fact, in 1998 it became law to fortify cereal-grain products with folic acid (the synthetic version of folate) in hopes of decreasing the risk that women will have children with neural tube defects. Also at that time, the Institute of Medicine recommended that women capable of becoming pregnant consume enough folate through supplements, fortified foods, or both in addition to consuming food folate to achieve the recommended daily allowance of 400 micrograms.
A recent study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, reports on the effectiveness of this mandatory fortification and the recommendation of the Institute of Medicine. The authors reported that the prevalence of low serum folate concentrations decreased from 16% before, to 0.5% after, fortification; folate is a form of folic acid in your body. In elderly, who tend to have poorer nutrition habits, the prevalence of high serum folate increased from 7% before, to 38% after, fortification. The authors conclude that every segment of the U.S. population appears to benefit from the folic acid fortification. Other studies have shown that folic acid fortification has resulted in an approximate 15-50% reduction in the prevalence of neural tube defects in the U.S., Canada and Western Australia thus fulfilling the main goal of fortification.
Besides reducing the risk of neural tube defects, heart disease, and some cancers, there are other benefits of folic acid. A recently published study suggests the intakes of folic acid at or above the recommended daily allowance by older adults significantly reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. In this study, part of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, 579 men and women aged 60 and over were followed for up to 14 years. The authors carefully studied the diets of these volunteers and found that a high dietary intake of folic acid was significantly linked to lower rates of the disease. The authors note, however, that it is possible that other dietary factors could play a role in reduction of risk because people with high intakes of one nutrient generally have higher intakes of other nutrients. Furthermore, they may have healthier lifestyles. For example, smoking is associated with reduced concentrations of serum folate. Also, it is known that patients with Alzheimer’s disease, who are smokers, have serum levels of folate that are known to be associated with increased risk for vascular brain damage and impaired cognitive function.
Although there is considerable evidence suggesting that high intakes of folic acid are beneficial, there is concern. While folic acid is almost free of toxicity, high intakes can mask symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency, especially in the elderly. Thus, the best advice is to eat well balanced meals that contain plenty of fruits and vegetables (green leafy vegetables, dry beans and peas, and fortified cereals and grain products are good sources of folic acid). This diet will ensure that you receive the nutrients you need. Not smoking, a good diet, and regular exercise, is the best advice to offer and the best advice to follow.
Not many people think of oxygen as being toxic, but it’s true. Of course, we need oxygen to stay alive–that’s why we breathe. And we need more of it when we are doing physical work or strenuous exercise. That’s why we breathe harder and faster–to get more oxygen to enable our cells to produce more energy. But it turns out that some of the oxygen that we inhale is–through our own metabolism–turned into highly reactive forms that can interfere with essential functions within cells.
Research has shown that these reactive forms of oxygen are also necessary for certain essential functions. We use reactive oxygen to kill bacteria and to signal functional changes within blood vessels. But when produced in excess, reactive oxygen can also damage proteins, fats and DNA inside of cells. In this way, adverse effects of oxygen have been linked with cardiovascular disease and cancer, and also with aging, arthritis, cataracts, diabetes and impaired immune function. Because these reactions involve oxygen, they are called “oxidations”.
On the other hand, there are also ways to protect cells against such oxidative damage by blocking these oxidation reactions. Factors that do this are called “anti-oxidants”. Because blocking oxidative damage may lead to reduced risks of chronic disease, there is enormous interest in the health roles of antioxidants.
The most powerful antioxidants in cells are vitamins E and C, but other plant components also function as antioxidants. Because we obtain these antioxidants from foods, protection from oxidative damage depends upon what we eat.
The most important dietary sources of vitamin E are vegetable oils. Wheat germ oil is among the richest sources as are foods such as margarine and baked products made from these oils. To a lesser extent, nuts and cereal grains can be sources of vitamin E.
Fruits and vegetables are generally the best sources of vitamin C–some berries have particularly high levels, and citrus fruits and juices are important sources. Meats in general contain little vitamin C, but organ meats such as liver and kidney can be good sources of this antioxidant.
Plant foods also contain other types of antioxidants. These include pigments in brightly colored fruits and vegetables such as citrus, yellow squash, sweet potato and tomato; compounds that repel insect feeders in broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and mustards; and other compounds in onions, apples, chocolate, grapefruit and tea.
This large and varied group of food antioxidants has one property in common: they all block or interrupt the damaging oxidation reactions in our cells, preventing adverse effects of unchecked production of reactive forms of oxygen. These antioxidant effects are thought to explain the observation that, in general, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is associated with a lower overall mortality rate, and lower death rates to cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer.
For this reason, contemporary dietary guidelines emphasize the importance of fruits and vegetables–key sources of antioxidants–in healthy diets. You can learn more about these rich sources of antioxidants, and get help in creating such a balanced diet containing them by going to MyPyramid.gov, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At this website, you can enter information about yourself to get a personalized guide in pyramid form, showing the amounts of various food types to include in your diet.
Some of the real causes of the heart disease are
- Inflammation
- Problems with Nitric Oxide Production
- Lack of Collagen Integrity
- Inadequate Methylation and High Homocysteine Levels
- Oxidative Damage
- High Sugar Diet
- Insulin Resistance
- Improper Digestion
- Poor Liver Function
- Imbalanced Omega 6 to Omega 3 Ratio
- Trans Fats and Hydrogenated Oils
It may be surprising to see that cholesterol may not even figure in one of them. Total obsession and unwarranted fixation on cholesterol as the main cause of the heart disease for several decades side tracked the whole set of issues that need more attention to build a healthy life style for the humanity. Cholesterol is a life sustaining substance, forms part of the cellular membrane, is the basic raw material for all the hormones, is used for repair and rebuilding and Vitamin D is made from it. Almost 80% of the cholesterol is manufactured by the liver, so one can see the importance of it. While cholesterol in itself may not be a culprit, an oxidized cholesterol can initiate the damage, but oxidative injury is not just limited to cholesterol alone, but to all components of the body.
Cholesterol is C27H45OH with a hydroxyl group, four hydrocarbon rings and a hydrocarbon tail. Cholesterol is an alcohol because of its hydroxyl group (Ethanol is C2H5OH) and is a steroid because of its four ring structure making it a sterol in the end. Cholesterol is a fat like waxy substance to which liver mixes lipoproteins called VLDL (very low-density lipoproteins) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) to make it mix in blood for circulation. VLDL becomes LDL in the bloodstream. In addition to producing cholesterol, liver also clears cholesterol through receptors and this clearing can get into issues if the liver is congested when regular flushing is not happening properly. Liver also participates in a feedback loop to adjust its production of cholesterol if there is excess dietary cholesterol coming in. As per the flawed theory of heart disease, cholesterol combines with cellular waste products, calcium, fibrin etc. and deposits itself on the surface of the artery walls there by constricting them and an increase in cholesterol can pose bigger threat. This theory fails to explain why there are no extensive blockages all over the body if there is an excess of cholesterol.
A sensible analysis of the problem of why heart disease occurs in the first place does not have much of a role for cholesterol. Arteries near the heart are mechanically strained every second by contracting and expanding and have high amounts of muscle tissues to meet this mechanical stress, which is not the case with rest of the veins in the body. A lot of things can go wrong with arteries making them injured and inflammed. Body uses cholesterol to patch the injury sites as a means to save our lives without which we would be bled to death internally without even knowing it. Cholesterol in fact is a savior of sorts. A high cholesterol itself is not the issue here. The injury process of the arterial wall is the main issue in heart disease and not the high cholesterol by itself. There are no short cuts to fixing heart disease by just taking cholesterol lowering pills. Though statins may be useful because of their anti inflammatory component to a certain extent but not because of their cholesterol lowering effect, there are several other much safer ways to achieve anti inflammatory benefits. Unless arterial wall injury process is addressed in a comprehensive fashion by taking several healthy steps as outlined in the beginning of this post, true relief from heart disease cannot be obtained.
Rest of the posts in this series will take a comprehensive look at addressing the real causes of heart disease as outlined at the beginning of this post.
