I have been writing for some time about the positive benefits of coffee. Coffee is not caffeine, it is a complex aqueous herbal beverage with flavanoids, bitters, chlorogenic acid, trigonelline, polysaccharides, ogliosaccharides, essential oils, 5% of the daily magnesium and 2% of the daily potassium needs, plus vitamin E and niacin. There is also caffeine, which varies range from 58 to 75 mg in a typical espresso, and from 70 to 130 mg in a small coffee. In boiled but not filtered coffee there are also the cholesterol-raising kahweol and cafestol. We know that the chlorogenic acid is significantly anti-inflammatory and two cups a day reduces C Reactive protein by approximately the same amount as a statin drug.
The American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference held December 6-9, 2009 in Houston was the site of a presentation of the finding that men with a high daily intake of coffee have a significantly lower risk of advanced and lethal prostate cancer. The beverage contains antioxidants and minerals as well as caffeine, all of which could impact cancer risk.
Postdoctoral fellow Kathryn M. Wilson, PhD of Harvard School of Public
Health and her colleagues at Harvard Medical School’s Channing Laboratory and McGill University in Montreal evaluated data from nearly 50,000 participants in the Health Professionals’ Follow-Up Study. Regular and decaffeinated coffee intake was assessed for 1986 and every four years thereafter until 2006. During this time period, 4,975 men developed prostate cancer.
While coffee drinking appeared to have a small protective effect on the
overall risk of prostate cancer, with those who consumed 6 or more cups per day having a 19 percent lower risk compared with those who did not drink coffee, when advanced and fatal cancers were separately analyzed, the risk of each was 59 percent lower in men who consumed the most coffee, and among men who had never smoked, the risk was 89 percent lower. Similar results were observed for both regular and decaffeinated coffee. “Few studies have looked prospectively at this association, and none have looked at coffee and specific prostate cancer outcomes,” noted Dr Wilson. “We specifically looked at different types of prostate cancer, such as advanced versus localized cancers or high-grade versus low-grade cancers.”
“Very few lifestyle factors have been consistently associated with prostate cancer risk, especially with risk of aggressive disease, so it would be very exciting if this association is confirmed in other studies,” she remarked.
In an analysis involving a subset of the current study’s subjects for whom blood samples were collected between 1993 and 1995, greater coffee intake was found to be associated with higher levels of testosterone and serum hormone binding globulin and with lower plasma levels of C-peptide.
“The strong inverse association between coffee consumption and risk of lethal and advanced prostate cancers is potentially important and should be confirmed in other populations,” the authors conclude. “The association appears to be related to non-caffeine components of coffee and may be mediated through effects on insulin metabolism and/or sex hormone levels.” more
Baking soda alkalizes the body and may prevent disease:
“In 1918 and 1919 while fighting the ‘Flu’ with the U. S. Public Health Service it was brought to my attention that rarely any one who had been thoroughly alkalinized with bicarbonate of soda contracted the disease, and those who did contract it, if alkalinized early, would invariably have mild attacks.”
The article below by Mark Sirius, OMD who has written a book on sodium bicarbonate, is drawn from the booklet that Arm and Hammer wrote on baking soda and disease. It also includes information on when best to take it. I suggest taking the baking soda on an empty stomach, as most people over the age of 30 have low stomach acid, even if they think they get acid reflux or acid stomach (which has the same symptoms but is worse with antacids.)
Mercola suggests using Bob’s Red Mill Aluminum-Free Baking Soda instead of Arm and Hammer. According to the product ingredients, only bicarbonate of soda is included in any baking soda. (Baking powder does sometimes contain aluminum salts.)
Mercola’s site also contains articles referencing baking soda as a
Few people realize that baking soda also has potent medicinal properties. Taken internally, it helps maintain the pH balance in your bloodstream without resorting to taking calcium from bones. This is likely the basic premise behind its recommended uses against both colds and influenza symptoms, and even cancer.
Alkalinized water is also suggested as a way of alkalizing the body as is eating a diet high in vegetables and fruits. But if you don’t get enough and can stomach the taste, then using baking soda is an inexpensive idea.
Over 150 years ago Dr. Austin Church formed a business to produce and distribute Baking Soda. ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda is derived from a natural occurring mineral called trona. It is 100% pure, safe, and natural. Baking Soda (also known as sodium bicarbonate) is a substance that is found naturally in all living things. Its purpose is to maintain pH balance in the bloodstream, which is necessary to sustain life. Due to its chemical and physical properties, sodium bicarbonate has unique medicinal capabilities that every healthcare practitioner, doctor and patient needs to know about.
The only problem is that Arm & Hammer Baking Soda can replace many more expensive medicines and this does not make the medical industrial complex happy.
In today’s modern world of medicine the FDA just will not let companies that sell products make medical claims about them unless they have been tested at great expense and approved as a drug. But this was not always the case and as we can see in the information in this chapter, which is from a 1924 booklet, [1] published by the Arm & Hammer Soda Company. On page 12 the company starts off saying, “The proven value of Arm & Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda as a therapeutic agent is further evinced by the following evidence of a prominent physician named Dr. Volney S. Cheney, in a letter to the Church & Dwight Company:
“In 1918 and 1919 while fighting the ‘Flu’ with the U. S. Public Health Service it was brought to my attention that rarely any one who had been thoroughly alkalinized with bicarbonate of soda contracted the disease, and those who did contract it, if alkalinized early, would invariably have mild attacks. I have since that time treated all cases of ‘Cold,’ Influenza and LaGripe by first giving generous doses of Bicarbonate of Soda, and in many, many instances within 36 hours the symptoms would have entirely abated. Further, within my own household, before Woman’s Clubs and Parent-Teachers’ Associations, I have advocated the use of Bicarbonate of Soda as a preventive for “Colds,” with the result that now many reports are coming in stating that those who took “Soda” were not affected, while nearly every one around them had the “Flu.”
Recommended dosages from the Arm and Hammer Company for colds and influenza back in 1925 were:
During the first day take six doses of half teaspoonful of Arm & Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda in glass of cool water, at about two hour intervals.
During the second day take four doses of half teaspoonful of Arm and Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda in glass of cool water, at the same intervals.
During the third day take two doses of half teaspoonful of Arm and Hammer Bicarbonate of Soda in glass of cool water morning and evening, and thereafter half teaspoonful in glass of cool water each morning until cold is cured.
“Well the sodium bicarbonate cure for colds and sore throats.
A friend called as I was reading about it, I told her to try it.
She is rapt! Relief in a few hours, and she went to work the
following day! And she was miserable and could hardly talk,[2]
had just woken with it full on, and was planning on missing work.”
In order to secure the best results with Arm & Hammer Pure Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda) when taken internally, certain simple rules must be observed. Materia Medica, pharmacology and Therapeutics (Bastedo, Page 88) clearly outlines these rules to follows:
“The effect of an alkali in the stomach will vary according to the nature of the stomach contents at the time of administration. In the resting period (after food is digested) sodium bicarbonate merely dissolves mucus and is absorbed as bicarbonate into the blood, to increase its alkalinity directly.
“In the digestive period it reduces the secretion of gastric juice, neutralizes a portion of the hydrochloric acid, liberates the carminative carbon dioxide gas, and is absorbed as sodium chloride.
“In cases of fermentation or ‘sour stomach’ it may neutralize the organic acids and so result in the opening of a spasmodically closed pylorus (the opening between the stomach and the small intestine); while at the same time it acts to overcome flatulency (accumulation of gas in the stomach and bowels).
“The time of administration must, therefore, be chosen with a definite purpose. Usually for hyperchlohydria (excess of acid) one hour or two hours after meals will be the period of harmful excess of acid.
“In continuous hyperacidity and in fermentative conditions a dose an hour before meals will tend to prepare the stomach for the next meal; or sometimes a dose will be necessary immediately after eating, because of abnormal acid or base having been present at the commencement of the meal. (For the average person one-half hour after meals is recommended).
“A dose at bedtime tends to check the early morning acidity, or a dose on arising cleans the stomach of acid and mucus before breakfast.”
Whenever taking a bicarbonate solution internally the soda should be dissolved on cold water.
This is all very valuable information coming from the horses own mouth, the Arm and Hammer Baking Soda Company, which sells aluminum free baking soda. Clearly they knew what they had in their hands one hundred years ago; and its long use in medicine sustains the companies published medical views:
“Besides doing good in respiratory affections, bicarbonate of soda is of inestimable value in the treatment of Alimentary Intoxication, Pyelitis (inflammation of the pelvis of the kidney), Hyper-Acidity of Urine, Uric Acid disturbances, Rheumatism and Burns. An occasional three-day course of Bicarbonate of Soda increases the alkalinity of the blood, assists elimination and increases the resisting power of the body to all Infectious Diseases.”
Magnesium chloride is the only form of magnesium that has been reported to increase immune system strength though all forms of magnesium need to be counted in this regard. When one adds magnesium chloride to ones baths, puts it on the skin like suntan screen, or takes it orally with sodium bicarbonate one supercharges their defensive perimeter or what is called the anti-pathogen factor in Chinese Medicine. Add Iodine, Selenium, Vitamin C and some healthy sun exposure or Vitamin D and we have the heart of army we need to array against viral invaders. Magnesium Bicarbonate – Ultimate Mitochondrial Cocktail is the name of one of my chapters that explains why both these essential mineral ions need to be present in sufficient concentrations.
This is the season of holiday meals and parties, when indigestion raises its ugly head. There are a variety of causes and patterns, so not everyone will fit the same remedies. If you tend to feel excessive heat in your stomach and upward rising energy, go with cooling herbs like peppermint, gentian and artichoke leaf. If your stomach feels cold, unable to mount the fire to digest, then use something warming like ginger.
Untreated GERD (reflux) can cause erosions of the esophagus, so are quite dangerous. However most treatments are for high acid GERD while the majority suffers from low acid GERD. Killer indigestion may be associated with gallstones and should be monitored to prevent gallbladder disease. Excessive food and poor combinations can exacerbate gallbladder disease.
Usually people over 35 have low acid and people under 35 have too much acid. The symptoms are identical but you can take this quiz to see where you lie. When people who have low acid take a calcium carbonate antacid like Tums, it will make digestion worst. Proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec or Nexium also inhibit acid and should not be taken by older people who are more likely to suffer from hypochlorhydria. Similarly H2 Blockers like Zantac, Tagamet and Pepsid reduce acid production by blocking signals that tell the stomach to make acid. The long term use of these just blocks feedback from your body that your diet is not suiting your needs.
Dandelion greens
Start your meals with something bitter: bite down on a slice of lime in your water, have a salad with radicchio, endive or dandelion greens, or use an apertif/digestif like Angostura Bitters or Fernet Branca (best with a slice of ginger so it won’t be too energetically cold for your system). Bitters tell your liver to produce bile, your stomach to produce digestive juices and starts moving food down through the digestive tract.
Carminative spices
Use spices. Common culinary spices are carminative, that is they are aromatic in a way that enhances digestion. Fennel, anise seed, cardamon, cinnamon, ginger (especially!) and basil all help your body digest food. You can also make teas with the spices. This is especially good for people who feel like food is just sitting in their stomach, but some aromatic herbs could be a bit much for people with strong reflux.
In a similar vein, sushi ginger isn’t just for sushi. The pickled ginger is easier to digest than raw ginger and is less heating. It is good for anyone who has recurrent nausea. You can find it by the jar at your neighborhood fish store, greengrocer, health food store in the macrobiotics section or Asian market. Just eat it with your meal.
Don’t eat too much. Your body can better digest small amounts.
Don’t eat too fast, and chew your food. This allows you to avoid overeating, which creates indigestion and mixes your food with enzymes from your saliva and digestive juices.
Valerian
If you have a nervous stomach, chamomile with hops, catnip or valerian will help. Chamomile is also good for flatulent colic. Valerian and catnip are especially good for stress-based constipation.
While adding vinegar to a low acid stomach or baking soda to a high acid stomach will reduce symptoms of GERD, it won’t change the underlying condition.
Betaine hydrochloride, Ox Bile, may help break down fats especially if you have gall bladder disease. It can also retrain your stomach. To start, take 1 capsule fifteen minutes before your meal; the next meal take 2, 15 minutes before; the next meal take 3 as before. Keep doing this until you feel a peppery burning in your stomach,esophagus.Then back off one capsule.
Take care of your gut bacteria. If you have recently had antibiotics, take fermented foods like kefir, miso, full-fat yogurt, blue cheese, coconut kefir, kimchee, sauerkraut, olives and unpasteurized pickles. These help you digest. Probiotics help as well.
If your stomach is upset, rub a little essential oil of peppermint (cooling) or ginger (warming) over your stomach. The acupoint most useful for this is halfway between your sternum and belly button.
Acupuncture can stop indigestion. In a recent study of pregnant women with heartburn, average heartburn intensity fell by at least a half in 15 out of 20 (75%) women receiving acupuncture compared with seven out of 16 (44%) women not receiving it.
Bao he wan or Po Chai pills are remedies for food stagnation, when food seems to stagnate in your digestive tract. You usually take 24 tea pills a day of Bao he wan or a vial of Po Chai pills.
A high percentage of foods that cause problems are difficult to digest like beans or high sulfur vegetables like broccoli or cabbage. Milk products are difficult for most people to digest, whether they are allergic or not because the pasteurization crosslinks milk proteins.
High carbohydrate meals, especially those with sugar or flour are easily fermented by candida and can produce carbon dioxide. Avoid foods that can be fermented by yeast if you are prone to gas.
Avoid foods that create bloating, foggy headedness, skin rashes or digestive disturbances if you take too much. This is a sign that you may have a food allergy with signs that were too vague to identify.
To identify allergens, ask yourself what food would probably be allergenic for you and see what pops into your mind. It will probably be something you eat frequently or can’t imagine living without. Allergy tests are wildly inaccurate, with false positives and false negatives, so use total removal of allergenic foods like dairy, gluten, soy or corn for four to six weeks, then rechallenge and see if symptoms return.
The effect of Alcohol on Indigestion and Hangovers.
Alcohol generally increases indigestion. Beer and sparkling wines are especially hard on the digestive tract.
If you are going to be drinking, take some food with fat first: butter, olive oil, cheese, even whole milk. The fat helps coat your stomach and the food helps slow the alcohol absorption.
Don’t drink too much. That should go without saying. But if you are worried about the effects of clear spirits or wine, then you are taking too much.
If you do, consider the Chinese digestive remedy Bao He Wan. It comes in tea pills, which are taken at a daily dose of 24 (Check your bottle for any alternative dosing.)
Raw egg yolks can help you recover faster. The jury is still out on adding hot sauce.
Endometriosis is a painful condition where the tissue normally inside of the womb, the endometrium, is found in other parts of the body. The endometrial cells build up blood for pregnancy, which is shed during menstruation. However if this tissue is found outside of the womb, it can cause bleeding in areas where blood is not supposed to be shed and it can cause major pain and inflammation. Typically areas of endometrium are found near the ovaries or fallopian tubes, the anterior or posterior cul de sacs of the exterior uterus, the peritoneum of the pelvic wall, the sigmoid colon or ureters, but it can be found as far away as the diaphragm, the lungs or the nose. Surgical incisions can be populated with endometrial tissue as well.
The causes are largely unknown. In some cases, the endometrial cells may be shed along with the menstrual blood, only to migrate to areas where they can attach to other structures. It is widely believed in Europe, for example, that sexual intercourse during the menstrual period can cause the vaginal vault to expand, permitting endometrial cells to get into areas where they otherwise would not, pushed upward by the sexual act. In Chinese medicine, sexual intercourse is seen as an upward, yang act which should not take place during the powerful yin periods where the body is and should be focusing downwards.
Endometriosis in the Abdominal Cavity
However in other cases there seems to be parallel development of extra-uterine endometrial cells. It seems highly unlikely that endometrial cells in the nose, which result in menstrual nosebleeds or in the lungs, have migrated from the womb. Since most cells in the human body can differentiate into any necessary structure, it is likely that the instructions for differentiation were incorrectly expressed. The process is estrogen dependent and may even persist beyond menopause.
Approximately 10 to 15% of women during their reproductive years are believed to suffer from endometriosis, including approximately 20-50% of those with primary infertility and 60% of those with pelvic pain. Current estimates are that 30-47% of women suffering from this disorder are infertile. A 1988 survey conducted in the US found significantly more hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, autoimmune diseases, allergies and asthma in women with endometriosis compared to the general population. It seems to affect women with late pregnancies or no pregnancies worse, possibly because cysts can more easily build up.
Symptoms of endometriosis include pelvic pain, painful periods, pain between periods during bowel movements or other actions, painful sexual intercourse, nausea, dizziness, bleeding during menses in unlikely areas, blocked bowels, fever during menstruation and dysfunctional uterine bleeding. Current research has demonstrated an association between endometriosis and certain types of cancers, notably ovarian cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and brain cancer but not endometrial cancer. Complications of endometriosis include:
* Internal scarring which can lead to infertility
* Adhesions
* Pelvic cysts
* Chocolate cysts which are endometriomas filled with old blood
* Ruptured cysts where exit of the eggs from the ovaries is blocked
* Blocked bowel/bowel obstruction
* Infertility
Infertility can be related to scarring and anatomical distortions due to the endometriosis. However, endometriosis may also interfere in more subtle ways: cytokines and other chemical agents may be released that interfere with reproduction.
In Chinese medicine, endometriosis is seen as a kind of Blood or Phlegm stagnation. The main goal of treatment for endometriosis is to strongly move the blood to flush out stagnation. Herbs like dang gui, cyperus, red peony, safflower stamens, motherwort, ligusticum, persica seed, zeodary, red sage root and fennel seed may be used to strongly move blood. Pain killers like corydalis or Jamaica dogwood, frankincense and myrrh may be given.
There are five basic patterns that accompany blood or phlegm stagnation:
Qi Stagnation and Blood or Phlegm Stasis.
Kidney Deficiency and Blood or Phlegm Stasis.
Cold Retention and Blood or Phlegm Stasis.
Qi Deficiency and Blood or Phlegm Stasis.
Heat Obstruction and Blood or Phlegm Stasis.
In addition there may be patterns of Qi stagnation, Qi deficiency, Kidney deficiency, Cold stagnation or Heat stagnation. Different herbs are used for each condition. Common formulas, depending upon the pattern, include Shi xiao san, Shaofu zhuyu, Xue fu zhu yu tang, and Nei yi wan.
Western herbs that may help endometriosis focus on the liver, like dandelion and vitex. This helps normalize the estrogen dominance along with dietary change. In addition pain relief from Indian pipe, Jamaica dogwood or sweet melliot can be useful. Angelica and saffron may be used to move the blood, along with nutgrass tubers and frankincense or myrrh.
Uterine massage may be used to reduce stagnation in the pelvic area. This combines proper placement of the uterus, which can flop forward or backwards in its hammock of ligaments with flushing of the lymphatic ducts and blood vessels in the pelvis. Acupuncture is frequently used to move blood and treat the underlying pathology. Further acupuncture affects hormonal balance, which can help correct underlying conditions or at least moderate their effects.
Castor oil packs are a time tested way of getting relief from pelvic pain. A cotton or wool flannel cloth is soaked in castor oil, to which a few drops of clary sage essential oil may be added. The cloth is laid over the abdomen, covered by a piece of plastic to protect towels and bedding from oil stains, covered with a hot towel or a towel and heat source such as a hot water bottle or heating pad. This is mostly palliative although it will enhance pelvic circulation.
Standard western treatment includes birth control pills which suppress but do not cure the condition, surgical removal of endometrial tissue although it frequently grows back, total hysterectomy and drugs. Drug therapy for endometriosis is often unsatisfactory. Most of the current drug therapy is aimed at altering the estrogen-based hormonal stimulus of the endometrial tissue, like progestins, testosterone or gonadatrophin-releasing hormone. The condition is not easy to treat with any modality, but treatment, diet and lifestyle changes can help manage it.
Diet plays a significant part in the treatment of endometriosis. This is one case where coffee is actually contraindicated. High fiber foods, sea vegetables, fruits and vegetables, and low levels of fish or lean pasture-raised meat are recommended. Dairy and soy should be avoided since they are estrogenic and may be aggravating to autoimmune conditions.
Anti-inflammatory supplements such as curcumin or turmeric, fish oil, evening primrose oil, and clary sage can be taken. Vitamin D levels should be brought up so that blood levels of 25hydroxy D3 are 50-100. Calcium and magnesium levels should be balanced and magnesium increased. You should also keep up antioxidants, flavanoids and adaptogenic herbs like astragalus, ginseng or holy basil.
Support groups and computer forums can offer significant support, as well as a group of people who have experienced different types of treatment. Check out http://www.mdjunction.com/endometriosis
Tansy hosted November’s herbal blog party. The subject was morning beverages…be it coffee, mate, or some herbal concoction. Herbalists share our morning beverage rituals. Here is the blogroll:
As someone who was around in the ’50s and ’60s when there was less obesity, I have to tell you that diets were not that good. TV dinners, Wonder bread, instant mashed potatoes, fish-sticks and whole milk predominated and vegetables tended towards the overcooked. Food was cooked in Crisco, full of trans fats, and cotton seed oils. Fresh vegetables came in during the late 60s, but predominated on the coasts. There was less soda and no high fructose corn syrup, and portion sizes were somewhat smaller, but the caloric difference may not be enough to explain why we have an epidemic of infant obesity today that we didn’t then. And I doubt that the babies today are doing any less exercise, although their older siblings may be indoors on computers more instead of riding bikes.
While diets included a lot more fresh vegetables after the 1960s and mothers showed an increased willingness to breastfeed, obesity rates increased. And not just in couch-potato adults or fast food addicts. The Harvard School of Public Health reported in 2006 that the prevalence of obesity in infants under 6 months had risen 73 percent since 1980. You need to look at more than calories in and calories out when infants start showing up obese.
One thing that has affected all of us, from the developing embryo to the adult is a category of chemicals named obesogens by researcher Bruce Blumberg of the University of California, Irvine. These chemicals mimic hormones and upset the body’s homeostasis and disrupt the endocrine system in a way that increases appetites and stores fats. There is evidence that they also affect developing fetuses. Levels have been increasing since the 1950s.
Paula Baillie-Hamilton, a doctor at Stirling University in Scotland wrote in a 1997 article in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, had risen in lockstep with the use of chemicals such as pesticides and plasticizers over the previous 40 years.
The obesogens have two previously unsuspected effects. They act on genes in the developing fetus and newborn to turn more precursor cells into fat cells, which stay with you for life. And they may alter metabolic rate, so that the body hoards calories rather than burning them. If you have an active life style and eat well, you may avoid turning these on, but if you live the “normal” life of 21st century Americans you are likely to end up obese.
The chemicals are fat soluble, which makes them very difficult to excrete, since we evolved to detoxify the water-soluble poisons found in nature. In what may be the only defensible use of Olestra, researchers have used the fake fat to increase excretion of a broad variety of toxins.
The most important obesogens are found in common everyday life and are difficult to avoid unless you really try:
The “plasticizers” phthalates for instance, are ubiquitous. An estimated 1 billion pounds are produced each year worldwide. The Environmental Working Group reports that phthalates are found in toys, food packaging, hoses, raincoats, shower curtains, vinyl flooring, wall coverings, lubricants, adhesives, detergents, perfumes, nail polish, hair spray and shampoo. Even vinyl ICU hoses used for premature babies have been found to contain phthalates.
PCBs have been added to plastics, inks, adhesives, paints, and flame retardants. as well as being used as coolants and lubricants in electric equipment. PCBs are in the air and water, and many people are exposed to them through eating certain fish — especially those highest on the food chain.
Bisphenol A (or BPA) is found in hard plastics, including baby bottles, food-storage containers, water coolers, dental fillings, canned food tins and in sunglasses.
It is estimated that 93 percent of the US population had bisphenol A, a chemical that can be found in canned goods, in hard, clear plastic items such as baby bottles and polycarbonate water bottles, in their body. Mice fed Bisphenol-A during early devolopment in University of Missouri studies grew up to be fatter than those who weren’t. Similar studies cited in a government report found fat, feminization of males and greater incidences of breast and prostate cancer. The fat research was replicated in rats at Tufts University. The industry group representing plastic manufacturers declares ” scientific evidence shows that bisphenol A . . . does not have any effect on body weight,” according to Steven Hentges, its vice president.
A trial in Maine found 100% of people studied had phthalates in their blood.
Blumberg also studied the antifungal agent tributyltin, used in marine paints to keep ship hulls free of barnacles. Female mollusks exposed to the chemical were seen to grow male sex organs. Lab mice exposed to tiny levels of tributyltin during prenatal development became fatter adults than those not given the chemical. “It predisposed them for life,” said Blumberg. This chemical gets into sea water and then into the seafood we eat.
The mechanism by which babies born underweight are likely to be fatter later in life, may be like that where undernourished fetuses learn to use fat cells more efficiently and that efficiency gets embedded in their physiology. Researchers suspect the same thing may be taking place with chemical exposures.
If you are pregnant, avoid plastics and pesticides. Use glass or unlined steel water bottles. Clean your house with vinegar or lemon slices. Eat organic food. Use organic soaps and shampoos free from phthalates and natural cosmetics. Leave the area if someone is spraying for insects. Walk away from traffic. Take responsibility for the prenatal environment of your child.
Afterwards, breast feed as long as possible. Use glass baby bottles instead of plastic. Look for phthalate-free and BPA-free plastics and cloth or wooden toys and teething aids. Eat organic and use organic shampoos (or just pure soap and water) to clean with.
Hypertension is a silent disease which can be lethal. An estimated 60 million Americans suffer from the disease. It causes strokes, heart attacks,heart failure, kidney disease, arterial aneurysm and varicosities, headaches, vision problems and has many secondary effects.
In 90-95% of high blood pressure, the American Heart Association says there is no one identifiable cause. This kind of high blood pressure is called primary hypertension or essential hypertension. It is usually a combination of factors, such as:
Weight. This can affect both high and excessively low blood pressure but is not simple. The greater your body mass, the more pressure there is theoretically on your artery walls. That’s because more blood is produced to supply oxygen and nutrients to tissues in your body. However in many sedentary heavy people, there is insufficient blood pressure to perfuse tissues, leading to brain fog and fatigue. Still there are many obese people who have strong artery walls and normal blood pressure.
Sleep. The average American in the 1920s slept 9 hours a night, and we have not evolved to need less. Lack of sleep raises cortisol, the stress hormone, which in turn raises blood pressure.
Diet. Hypertension is associated exclusively with western diet and lifestyle; it is virtually unknown in undeveloped areas of the world following traditional diets
Low Vitamin D levels. Serum 25 Hydroxy D3 levels should be around 50, but show some protection around 30.
Low fiber diet. Fiber helps carry out fats through the intestines so they are not reabsorbed in the gut and thus keeps them out of circulation where they can block arteries, allowing pressure to build up.
Activity level including weight training as well as aerobic activity. Lack of physical activity tends to increase heart rate, which forces your heart to work harder with each contraction. Interval training where aerobic and anaerobic activities such as weight training are interspersed is perhaps the best type of training to reduce hypertension.
Tobacco use. Chemicals in cigarettes and tobacco can damage artery walls.
Heavy metal toxicity reduces antioxidant availability and sets of free radicals which contribute to inflammation and hence cholesterol build up. Chelation can reduce heavy metals if properly done.
Sodium and Potassium intake. Excessive sodium in the diet can result in fluid retention and high blood pressure, especially in people sensitive to sodium. Low potassium can result in elevated sodium in cells, because the two balance one another.
Magnesium and Calcium Intake. Magnesium has dropped over a third in our soils since the mid 1970s as hypertension has risen. Magnesium also reduces hypertension in pregnancy. Calcium is less depleted but works in synergy with magnesium to reduce blood pressure.
Stress. Stress is well known to raise blood pressure, either temporarily (labile or white coat hypertension) or more permanently. Stress induces the adrenal glands to produce cortisol.
Alcohol consumption. Excessive alcohol intake can, over time, increase the risk of heart disease.
Age. The risk of high blood pressure increases as we get older.
Genetics. High blood pressure often runs in families and is more prominent in African Americans. This may be because melanin binds cadmium, lead and copper and heavy metals affect hypertension.
So what do we do? Weight loss, exercise, lower sodium to potassium ratios, and lower stress are all important. We can be tested for heavy metal toxicity and see if treatment is likely to be useful. But there are a number of herbs that are quite useful at rebalancing our bodies to lower blood pressure.
Garlicis well known to lower blood pressure, as well as blood sugar which may indirectly affect pressure by reducing inflammation and cholesterol deposit. (Cholesterol is the body’s bandage for inflamed tissue, but in excess can restrict the blood vessels.) Garlic increases antioxidant levels in the blood. A meta-analysis of garlic and hypertension studies found that it was superior to placebo in the treatment of hypertension.
The volatile oils that are found in fresh garlic are likely important for cardiovascular effects, although dry preparations do have some cardiac effect. My favorite way to take garlic is to mince a clove finely while holding it in place, coat it with honey on a spoon, and to place the spoon upside down in the mouth (which for some reason helps you swallow it) followed by a chaser of water or juice. Take with parsley to kill the odor.
Hawthorn berries and flowershelp nourish the heart which is a category of treatment that no western cardiac medicine fulfills. Hawthorn is a trophorestorative to the heart, which means it tonifies the heart through deep nutrition that rebuilds the organ. Hawthorn can be used for functional or structural problems with the heart and there is a great deal of research to back up traditional uses.
According to David Winston, hawthorn can be used for myocarditis, arrhythmias, palpitations, angina, other ischemic heart diseases, recovery from heart attacks, for congestive heart failure (Pittler, et al, 2008) when combined with Lily of the Valley, Selinocereus grandiflorus (one of the night blooming cereus cactuses- check the Latin name), for mitral valve prolapse with Night blooming cereus and Collinsonia, and with atrial fibrillation when combined with Scotch Broom and Night blooming cereus. Regular use helps prevent arteriosclerosis and peripheral insufficiencies and lowers blood pressure (Asgary, et al, 1998) as well as triglycerides and LDL and VLDL cholesterol levels. It is also useful for grief-related heart/shen issues when combined with rose petals and mimosa bark.
Not all hawthorns are the same. Chinese hawthorn, Cratageus pinnatifida is used for food stagnation, and may have some effect on the heart but is generally inferior to European hawthorn, C. monogyna in terms of cardiac effect. There are American hawthorns that are very good, while others are fairly inert, according to Winston.
Linden flower or Tilia is a mild hyptoensive herb, a nervine and an herb that loosens the pectoral area. The European linden flower is most effective. It is also good for headaches caused by “white coat” or labile hypertension.
European mistletoe, Viscum album can be used to treat mild hypertension with a red face, vascular headaches, fatigue, dizziness and irritability. Do NOT use American mistletoe which is highly erratic in its effects and can be dangerous. In fact this herb should be handled by an experienced practitioner. Mistletoe first elevates blood pressure then lowers it. For vascular headaches due to hypertension, it can be mixed withFeverfew, Corydalis and Peony root. For hypertension William Miller uses it with Rauwolfia and Linden. Mistletoe is a low dose herb.
The real Night blooming cereus, Selinicereus grandifolia, is an epiphyte with narrow cactus-like leaves that blossoms rarely, in the evenings. It is used for angina, a heartbeat with a feeble irregular presentation and the person usually has anxiety and depression. There are a lot of substituted species around which don’t do the same thing, so I usually use Herbalist and Alchemist or Herb Pharm Cactus Grandiflorus Extract“>HerbPharm which use the real thing. It combines well with hawthorn. Winston suggest it for mild to moderate congestive heart failure, precordial oppression, mitral valve prolapse as above, decompensation of the heart caused by nicotine toxicity and Klinefelter’s syndrome (athlete’s heart.) For hypertension I use it with Collinsonia and Hawthorn.
Collinsonia is used to strengthen blood vessels, so is useful when someone has hypertension, although it does not itself lower the blood pressure. Still it should be added to prevent blood vessel failure. It combines well with horsechestnut.
Dandelion leaf is a potasium-sparing diuretic useful for edema and can be used in lieu of Lasix or other diuretics for hypertension or mild congestive heart failure. The whole herb is used in Chinese medicine to reduce Liver heat or Liver yang rising, which is a source of hypertension. Dandelion leaf is also anti-inflammatory and anti-infective.
Cayenne is a blood mover, which helps explain why it can help reduce blood pressure. It is diaphoretic, which helps remove some of the extra fluid by increasing sweat, depressurizing the system, is anti-inflammatory (a cox 2 inhibitor), increases circulation, is antioxidant and enhances the vascular integrity of the blood vessels.
Rosemary is anti-inflammatory, diuretic, moves blood and is a nervine. As such it can reduce blood pressure mildly. It is a vasodilator, and is also useful for vasoconstrictive headaches. Its flavanoid diosmin is more helpful than rutin in protecting capillary integrity. It has a somewhat regulating effect on circulation and can be used for either hypertension or hypotension when properly combined with other herbs in formula.
Arjuna is an Ayurvedic cardiovascular herb that has shown some mild effect on hypertension, as well as reversing impaired endothelial function in smokers. It is more often used for mild congestive heart failure, stable angina and palpitations. It also lowers LDL and triglycerides which can block blood vessels and raises HDL.
Dan shen is a peripheral vasodilator and hypotensive herb, so can help lower blood pressure. This root of Salvia miltorrhiza is a premier cardiovascular herb which is used for angina pain, hypertension, palpitations, irritability and to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Both Chinese Angelica (Dang gui, Dong quai) and Angelica archangelica can be used for hypertension. They move stagnant blood so can prevent thrombosis when blood is under pressure. They also help build the quality of blood. Dang gui is stereotyped as a woman’s tonic because it helps the blood in menstruation, but is a premier cardiovascular herb.
There are other herbs like foxglove and lily of the valley that have been used for cardiac conditions, but I would not be comfortable using them unless assayed as they were in the late 19th and early 20th century.
However adaptogens, like ginseng, reishi, ashwaganda, holy basil, astragalus and raphonticum are useful to reregulate the HPA axis and get the blood pressure back to normal, especially when in formula with blood pressure lowering herbs. Similarly anti-inflammatory herbs like turmeric and ginger can help reduce the heat and I use the proper individual herb in formula or New Chapter Zyflamend which contains both adaptogenic and anti-inflammatory herbs.
Diuretics like Fu Ling (poria), Ze Xie (alismatis), Bai zhu (atractylodes) or Zhu Ling (polyporus) make up formulas like Wu Ling San, or Zhu Ling San, formulas used in Chinese medicine used to drain dampness or damp heat. This can be quite useful in lowering blood pressure, provided that potassium is replenished and other parts of the disease are addressed.
Magnesium, selenium, coenzyme Q10, folic acid, fish oil supplying a gram of DHA daily and nattokinase are also helpful, but are fodder for an article on supplements and hypertension rather than herbs. Still hypertension is best addressed with lifestyle changes, rebalancing the diet and sensible weight loss as the core of treatment, with herbs and supplements being used to supply missing nutrients and to nudge the organ systems of the body towards a state of health.
Sources:
Asgary, S., Naderi, G., et al, Anti-Hypertension Effect of Iranian Crataegus curvisepala Lind: A Randomized Double-Blind Study, Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Center, 1998
Bharani, A., Ahirwar, L.K., et al, Terminalia arjuna Reverses Endothelial Function in Chronic Smokers, Indian Heart J,2004, Mar-Apr; 56(2): 123-8
Bharani, A., Ganguli, A. et al, Efficacy of Terminalia arjuna in Chronic Stable Angina: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Study Comparing Terminalia arjuna with Isosorbide Mononitrate, Indian Heart Journal, 54(2):170-5, 2002
Mar-Apr.
Pittler, M.H., Guo, R., et al, Hawthorn Extract for Treating Chronic Heart Failure, The Cochrane Library, 2008, Issue 1
Tankanow, R., Tamer, H.R., et al, Interaction Study Between Digoxin and A Preparation of Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha), J Clin Pharmacol, 2003 Jun;43(6):637-43
Upton, R. [Ed.], American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and Therapeutic Compendium, Hawthorn Berry, Santa Cruz, CA, 1999
Upton, R. [Ed.], American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and Therapeutic Compendium, Hawthorn Leaf With Flower, Santa Cruz, CA, 1999
In the 1920s, when electricity was not nearly as prevalent (but sources of artificial light were common), Americans were surveyed on sleep habits. The average American slept 9 hours a night, which meant that many slept more. Today the average American is believed to sleep 6 1/2 hours a night. We have not biologically evolved to need less sleep.
There are many types of insomnia: trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, waking too early and sleeping at too superficial a level. People with sleep apnea may believe they sleep like a log, but they have hundreds of micro-awakenings from not being able to breathe, which send their adrenals into fight or flight mode and which leave them exhausted throughout the day. Sleep problems can be occasional, transitory (for short periods of time) or chronic. But the problem I see the most in practice is that people aren’t spending enough time in bed.
Why is this a problem? In a nutshell, it makes you fat, stupid and sick. We know that driving with insufficient sleep makes you as prone to accidents as drunk driving. Almost 1/4 of 18 to 29-year olds report they have fallen asleep at the wheel at some point during the past year, according to the National Sleep Foundation. And half of U.S. adults admit to driving while they are tired. Their judgment is impaired, their reaction times are reduced and they can’t think straight.
Sleep is very important for your immune system, both in terms of disease resistance and even in terms of resistance to parasites.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology have shown that species that sleep more have greater resistance against pathogens. They found evolutionary increases in mammalian sleep times to be strongly associated with a better immune defense as measured by the number of immune cells circulating in peripheral blood. This relationship was detected in 4 of the 5 immune cell types and in both main sleep phases.
Insomnia
How many of us awaken refreshed? Most stay up too late, exercise and eat late, watch television or use computers before bed (which activates parts of the brain that we need to turn off,) or we sleep with light in the room (even those LEDs can interfere with melatonin.) We don’t go to bed at a consistent time every night.
Aside from sleep hygiene, there are a number of conditions that can interfere with sleep. Restless leg syndrome, painful joints or nerves, hiatial hernia, or even getting up to urinate with prostatic enlargement can all interfere with sleep. Many medications disrupt sleep. Sleep apnea ensures that the sleep you have isn’t effective. Similar disruption can occur if you sleep in a room that is noisy or that has artificial light coming in through a window or from appliances including your alarm clock. It helps to sleep with blackout curtains or a blindfold.
In Chinese medicine, when your heart qi is upset, from emotional problems or liver yang rising, or if your blood is insufficient to cool the heart, you will get insomnia. People suffering from the condition Liver Yang Rising can also have insomnia, especially if the heart is disturbed. Treatments with acupuncture, including points on the toe or head, and herbs can be quite effective for this.
Chinese medicine has seven categories of insomnia with a dozen standard formulas, and of course a Chinese herbalist would individualize those formulas for any patient presenting with insomnia. The causes range from digestive disturbances which affect the Spleen and Stomach, Liver heat which rises to harass the heart, Phlegm heat, Heart yin, yang, blood or qi deficiency or disturbances of the Seven Emotions. Different formulas would be given for each and it is best to be diagnosed so that the proper formula can be adapted to your needs.
Herbs and Supplements
There are many herbs or combinations for insomnia, and most of them are better for one type than another. For instance, valerian helps many people to sleep, but keeps others wired up. The people who benefit the most are those who are pale and deficient, with a pale tongue and who tend to take their anxiety out on their digestive tract. People who show overt sleep signs are more likely to get heated from the valerian and it will make insomnia worse. This is especially true if the valerian product is made of dried root, since volatile compounds that help you sleep have evaporated. I prefer valerian in a formula with herbs chosen from passionflower, zizyphus, hops, chamomile or skullcap.
Passionflower is very good for insomnia that comes from mental chatter, where you cannot easily quiet your mind. Combine passionflower with a hypnosis tape or progressive relaxation, feeling the sun come in through the head and relax each part of your body down to your toes.
Hops is better for insomnia combined with a nervous stomach. It can be taken in tea, tincture, beer, infused into hot baths, or made into dream pillows. It combines well with passionflower and valerian.
Zizyphus, known as Suan Zao Ren, nourishes the heart and calms the mind. It is good for insomnia with irritability, insomnia, nightmares or stress induced hypertension. It is especially good for people with deficient heart blood, a Chinese term that includes anemia but is not identical to it. It is used in the form of Suan Zao Ren tang, a traditional Chinese sleep formula.
Chamomile is especially good for children, with insomnia due to growing pains, teething, irritability, nightmares and stomach problems. It works just as well for adults. Tea is probably the best way to take it, but chamomile baths are good for spasms, muscle pain and anxiety, so would also be good before bed.
California Poppy is a mild sedative and mild painkiller and does not have the addictive potential of opium poppy. It is especially good for Yang rising type insomnia, with anxiety and headaches. It mixes well with Corydalis for insomnia due to pain.
Lavender is best known as a sedative when used as an essential oil. A few drops on a pillow or inhaled will help you sleep. In a peer-reviewed British study, when the sleeping room was perfumed with lavender, elderly nursing home residents with insomnia slept as well as they did when they took sleeping pills and better than they did when they were given neither sleeping pills nor exposed to lavender fragrance. Similar results were found with Korean college students, and depression was reduced as well. In fact lavender is very good for people with black moods who suffer from insomnia, although it is not restricted to them. Infants given lavender baths cried less and slept more in a University of Miami study. Lavender pillow inserts and lavender tea or tincture will address insomnia as well.
Kava has been found to reduce stress-induced insomnia. Kava seems to be more safely ingested in traditional water based and fermented forms than from standardized capsules. I suggest that people take a tea, tincture or glycerite form. Kava is especially helpful to women who are experiencing sleeplessness due to hormonal fluctuations or to people suffering from insomnia due to spasms. It can enhance dreaming.
Chinese polygala, Yuan zhi, is quite useful for insomnia with anxiety, bad dreams and stress-induced palpitations. It mixes well with zizyphus seed and gambir spines (Gou teng). It works well as a decoction.
Melissa, or Lemon Balm, is a mild sedative but does not have significant study. It makes a delightful tea or tincture. It is a mild antidepressant as well. Taken with St. John’s wort, lemon balm is useful for those who can’t sleep due to seasonal depression.
The dietary supplement tryptophan can be useful to induce sleep. Serotonin, a neurotranmitter which helps the sleep/wake cycle is manufactured by the body from the amino acid tryptophan. Herbs and foods high in tryptophan that help restore proper serotonin levels in the brain are St. John’s wort, quinoa, spirulina, and soy products.
Melatonin sold as a dietary supplement in the US, is a naturally occurring hormone that regulates the circadian cycle of several body processes. There are no foods known to raise melatonin levels significantly. In humans, melatonin is produced by the pea-sized pineal gland located in the center of the brain but outside of the blood-brain barrier. The melatonin signal forms part of the system that regulates the sleep-wake cycle by chemically causing drowsiness and lowering the body temperature. Light stimulates the gland, inhibiting melatonin, which is why it is better to sleep in the dark. Some people wear blue-blocker eyeglasses which prevents the light from strongly inhibiting this important sleep hormone. As a supplement, melatonin works to induce sleep, but I question whether it is a good idea to rely upon taking hormones instead of producing them.
Magnesium has declined precipitously in our diet. Between 1975 and the early 1990s, the USDA nutrient analyses of food showed an approximate 30% decline in magnesium levels, most likely due to industrial farming methods that have depleted topsoil. Magnesium is one of the most abundant elements in the human body. Its ions are essential to all living cells, where they play a major role in manipulating important biological polyphosphate compounds like ATP, DNA, and RNA. Hundreds of enzymes thus require magnesium ions in order to function. Spasms, constipation, depression and insomnia are four important problems caused by a lack of magnesium in the diet. Since dry forms are not easily absorbed, colloidal magnesium can most rapidly help many sleep disorders.
Foods and Insomnia
It is a good idea to avoid stimulating foods if you suffer from insomnia. Coffee, black tea, and chocolate have caffeine or caffeine-like compounds that can reduce sleep in many people. (Others of us have been known to drop our coffee cup as we nod off.)
Foods high in protein provide necessary amino acids. There is no evidence that eating turkey actually increases tryptophan, although a heavy Thanksgiving meal may induce sleep by causing a spike and drop in blood sugar. Generally amino acids need to be given alone to have specific attributes like inducing sleep.
Sea vegetables, herbs like nettles made into an overnight infusion and dark greens like kale can provide some of the missing minerals that will enhance rest. Alcohol can induce sleep, but it does not allow for the proper types of sleep so can make problems worse, and will generally not permit restful sleep.
Sleep deprivation is a major problem in contemporary America and contributes to chronic and acute diseases. We tend to underestimate what sleep deprivation can do. Unless sleep problems are resolved, it is unlikely that chronic disease can be successfully addressed.
Several studies in different parts of the world have shown that there is a benefit to a baby when the mother takes Vitamin D in excess of the amount in prenatal vitamins. This shows that there is a benefit to pregnant mothers in reducing the complications of pregnancy. While the study only looked at a fairly low dose of Vitamin D, probably from cod liver oil and diet, it indicates that supplementation reduced pre-eclampsia by 25%. Based upon Finish studies, I wonder how much less pre-eclampsia would be found if blood levels were raised to 50.
Increased intakes of vitamin D during pregnancy may reduce the development by about 25 per cent, suggests a study with over 20,000 Norwegian women.
The risk of pre-eclampsia was 27 per cent lower in women who consumed vitamin D supplements with daily doses of 10 to 15 micrograms, compared to women who did not take supplements, according to researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
However, a correlation between vitamin D intake and omega-3 fatty acid intake was observed, and the researchers noted that “further research is needed to disentangle the separate effects of these nutrients”.
Pre-eclampsia, affecting two to three per cent of all pregnancies, occurs when a mother’s blood pressure rises to the hypertensive range, and excretion of protein in the urine becomes too high. It is estimated to be responsible for about 60,000 deaths worldwide.
It is not known why some expectant mothers develop pre-eclampsia, although oxidative stress has been proposed to play a part. The role of antioxidants to reduce oxidative stress had been supported by a small clinical trial that linked vitamin C and E intake to fewer biomarkers for pre-eclampsia for predominantly low-risk participants.
However, subsequent studies, including a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (Vol. 354, pp. 1796-1806) and a Cochrane Systematic Review (2007, Issue 4), found that vitamins C and E had no effects on the risk of pre-eclampsia.
The new study, published in Epidemiology suggests that vitamin D supplementation may reduce the risk of developing the potentially fatal condition.
Led by Helle Margrete Meltzer, the researchers examined the relationship between vitamin D intakes during pregnancy and the risk of pre-eclampsia in 23,423 would-be first time mothers participating in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.
The women answered a general health questionnaire at the fifteenth week of pregnancy and again at the thirtieth week, while a food frequency questionnaire was administered at week 22.
According to the Norwegian findings, women with a daily intake of between 15 and 20 micrograms of vitamin D from diet and supplements had a 24 per cent lower risk of developing pre-eclampsia compared to women who consumed less than 5 micrograms per day.
The overriding benefits were observed for vitamin D from supplements, with a daily dose of 10 to 15 micrograms linked to a 27 per cent reduction, compared to women who did not take supplements.
“These findings are consistent with other reports of a protective effect of vitamin D on pre-eclampsia development,” wrote Meltzer and her co-workers.
“However, because vitamin D intake is highly correlated with the intake of long chain omega-3 fatty acids in the Norwegian diet, further research is needed to disentangle the separate effects of these nutrients,” they concluded.
Source: Epidemiology
September 2009, Volume 20, Issue 5, Pages 720-726, doi: 10.1097/EDE.0b013e3181a70f08 “Vitamin D Supplementation and Reduced Risk of Preeclampsia in Nulliparous Women”
Authors: M. Haugen, A.L. Brantsaeter, L. Trogstad, J. Alexander, C. Roth, P. Magnus, H.M. Meltzer
As those of you who read my blog are aware, I am not a big fan of statins. The first reason is that cholesterol is not really the problem. The second is that statins depress the body’s own anti-inflammatory compound CoQ10. But recent research shows that, against our logical assumptions, Vitamin D levels may rise when statins are taken.
Cholesterol is good? Yes. Cholesterol is the building block of hormones, and it is the body’s own bandage for inflamed arteries. When the inflammation is high, cholesterol rises and if it isn’t enough to lower you get cardiovascular disease. It doesn’t get rid of the inflammation to remove the body’s bandage, you need to look at diet and stress and other causes of inflammation. Besides if you block cholesterol with statins, you block the body’s formation of CoQ10 which is our natural antioxidant. And that can cause a painful disease called rhabdomyolysis where the muscles ache and cramp.
But isn’t it helpful to prevent heart disease? Sort of. You are less likely to get a second heart attack, but not a first one. You may be less likely to die from a heart attack but no less likely to die from other causes within a normal study period. And it probably isn’t because it reduces cholesterol, but because it is anti-inflammatory (replacing your body’s own anti-inflammatory coenzyme with its own effect).
How about Red Yeast Rice? Red Yeast Rice is a kind of statin, and is the source for lovastatin which it contains. Red Yeast Rice is somewhat less dangerous- it spreads itself out among liver detoxification pathways without clogging a few important pathways. And the dosage is lower, which is common in a whole herb and does not impair its action. But it still reduces CoQ10, and adds some liver taxation I use it rarely.
The information about Vitamin D and statins is a surprise. Vitamin D and cholesterol have the same precursor, and those of us in the natural medicine field assumed that statins would reduce absorption of Vitamin D if you took a medication that reduced the precursor. In a Turkish cardiology study, 91 patients with high blood lipids were tested before and after an eight week course of Rosuvastatin (Crestor). Their blood levels of Vitamin D (25 hydroxy D) went from 14 to 36 on average, and a number of other measures of Vitamin D improved. Why? Well we don’t know, but it could have to do with the breakdown products of the drug and the precursor fitting into the receptors.
Do I recommend asking your doctor for Crestor to build Vitamin D? No. There are several formulations of high value D3 on the market, from drops to fast-dissolving dry pills. They go from a tiny pill with 5000 iu to capsules of 50,000 iu. If one doesn’t work well to increase your serum (25 Hydroxy D) Vitamin D levels to a level of 50, look at others. You may build up your dose to a higher level. And you should consider supplementing your D3 vitamins with even a little midday sun exposure without sunscreen because sunlight energy can’t be reduced to one isolated vitamin. (Your body will not make too much.)
If all else fails, then I would try taking the Vitamin D with some Red Yeast Rice for a period of up to two months while you load Vitamin D. Red Yeast Rice has not been studied like the Rosuvastatin so you are experimenting on yourself but chances are good that it will work. Add extra Co-enzyme Q10 to protect your liver and your muscles. And when you get your levels up, stop the Red Yeast Rice.
I have been writing for some time about the positive benefits of coffee. Coffee is not caffeine, it is a complex aqueous herbal beverage with flavanoids, bitters, chlorogenic acid, trigonelline, polysaccharides, ogliosaccharides, essential oils, 5% of the daily magnesium and 2% of the daily potassium needs, plus vitamin E and niacin. There is also caffeine, which varies range from 58 to 75 mg in a typical espresso, and from 70 to 130 mg in a small coffee. In boiled but not filtered coffee there are also the cholesterol-raising kahweol and cafestol. We know that the chlorogenic acid is significantly anti-inflammatory and two cups a day reduces C Reactive protein by approximately the same amount as a statin drug.
While coffee drinking appeared to have a small protective effect on the
“>HerbPharm which use the real thing. It combines well with hawthorn. Winston suggest it for mild to moderate congestive heart failure, precordial oppression, mitral valve prolapse as above, decompensation of the heart caused by nicotine toxicity and Klinefelter’s syndrome (athlete’s heart.) For hypertension I use it with Collinsonia and Hawthorn.
which contains both adaptogenic and anti-inflammatory herbs.
