Cholesterol plaques are the culprits of heart disease. Plaques begin in artery walls and grow over years. The growth of cholesterol plaques slowly blocks blood flow in the arteries. Worse, a cholesterol plaque can suddenly rupture. The sudden blood clot that forms over the rupture then causes a heart attack or stroke.
Blocked arteries caused by plaque buildup and blood clots are the leading cause of death in the U.S. Reducing cholesterol and other risk factors can help prevent cholesterol plaques from forming. Occasionally, it can even reverse some plaque buildup.
Cholesterol Plaques and Atherosclerosis
Cholesterol plaques form by a process called atherosclerosis. Another name for atherosclerosis is "hardening of the arteries." LDL or "bad cholesterol" is the raw material of cholesterol plaques. Progressive and painless, atherosclerosis grows cholesterol plaques silently and slowly. The eventual result is blocked arteries, which places blood flow at risk.
The cholesterol plaques of atherosclerosis are the usual cause of heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral arterial disease. These conditions together are called cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer in America, causing more than 900,000 deaths each year.
Understanding Cholesterol Plaque
Cholesterol plaques start developing in the walls of arteries. Long before they can be called plaques, hints of atherosclerosis can be found in the arteries. Even some adolescents have these "fatty streaks" of cholesterol in their artery walls. These streaks are early precursors of cholesterol plaques. They can't be detected by tests. But researchers have found them during autopsies of young victims of accidents and violence.
Atherosclerosis develops over years. It happens through a complicated process of cholesterol plaque formation that involves:
Damaged endothelium. The smooth, delicate lining of blood vessels is called the endothelium. High cholesterol, smoking, high blood pressure, or diabetes can damage the endothelium, creating a place for cholesterol to enter the artery's wall.
Cholesterol invasion. "Bad" cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) circulating in the blood crosses the damaged endothelium. LDL cholesterol starts to accumulate in the wall of the artery.
Plaque formation. White blood cells stream in to digest the LDL cholesterol. Over years, the toxic mess of cholesterol and cells becomes a cholesterol plaque in the wall of the artery.
How Cholesterol Plaque Attacks
Once established, cholesterol plaques can behave in different ways.
They can stay within the artery wall. The cholesterol plaque may stop growing, or may grow into the wall, out of the path of blood.
Plaques can grow in a slow, controlled way into the path of blood flow. Slow-growing cholesterol plaques may or may not ever cause any symptoms -- even with severely blocked arteries.
Cholesterol plaques can suddenly rupture -- the worst case scenario. This will allow blood to clot inside an artery. In the heart, this causes a heart attack. In the brain, it causes a stroke.
Cholesterol plaques of atherosclerosis cause the three main kinds of cardiovascular disease:
Coronary artery disease -- Stable cholesterol plaques in the heart's arteries can cause no symptoms or can cause chest pain called angina. Sudden cholesterol plaque rupture and clotting causes blocked arteries. When that happens, heart muscle dies. This is a heart attack, also called myocardial infarction.
Cerebrovascular disease -- Cholesterol plaque ruptures in one of the brain's arteries. This causes a stroke, leading to permanent brain damage. Blockages can also cause transient ischemic attacks, or TIAs. A TIA has symptoms like those of stroke. But they are temporary and there is no permanent brain damage. However, patients who experience a TIA are at a much higher risk of a subsequent stroke, so medical attention and care is essential.
Peripheral arterial disease -- Blocked arteries in the legs can cause pain on walking and poor wound healing due to poor circulation. Severe disease may lead to amputations.
Preventing Cholesterol Plaques
Atherosclerosis and cholesterol plaques are progressive -- meaning they get worse with time. They are also preventable. Nine risk factors are to blame for up to 90% of all heart attacks including:
- smoking
- high cholesterol
- high blood pressure
- diabetes
- abdominal obesity ("spare tire")
- stress
- not eating many fruits and vegetables
- excessive consumption of alcohol -- more than one drink per day for women, or more than one or two drinks per day for men
- not getting regular physical activity
For people at moderate or higher risk from cholesterol plaques, taking a baby aspirin a day can be important. Aspirin helps prevent clots from forming. Ask your doctor before starting aspirin, as it can have side effects.
Shrinking Cholesterol Plaques
Once a cholesterol plaque is there, it's generally there to stay. With effective treatment, though, plaque buildup may slow down or stop.
Some evidence shows that, with aggressive treatment, cholesterol plaques can even shrink slightly. In one major study, cholesterol plaques shrank 10% in size after a 50% reduction in blood cholesterol levels.
The best way to treat cholesterol plaques is to prevent them from forming or progressing. That can be done with lifestyle changes and, if needed, medication.
Drugs and Lifestyle Changes to Reduce Risk for Atherosclerosis
Reducing the risk factors that lead to atherosclerosis will slow or stop the process. Ways to reduce the amount of cholesterol in your body involves taking cholesterol and blood pressure medication, eating a healthy diet, getting frequent exercise, and not smoking. These treatments won't unclog arteries. They do, though, lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Various drugs can lower cholesterol levels including:
- statins
- fibrates
- niacin
- bile acid sequestrants
Procedures to Unclog Arteries
Using invasive procedures, doctors can see and unclog arteries, or provide a path for blood to go around blocked arteries. Treatments include:
Angiography, angioplasty, and stenting: Using a catheter inserted into an artery in the leg, doctors can enter diseased arteries. This procedure is called cardiac catheterization. Blocked arteries are visible on a live X-ray screen. A tiny balloon on the catheter can be inflated to compress cholesterol plaque in the blocked arteries. Placing metal stents helps to keep open blocked arteries.
Bypass surgery: Surgeons harvest a healthy blood vessel from the leg or chest. They use the healthy vessel to bypass blocked arteries.
These procedures involve a risk of complications. They are usually saved for people with significant symptoms or limitations caused by the cholesterol plaques of atherosclerosis.
This Poison is in Your Dinner… And You Didn’t Even Know it
Sumber – Institute Of Natural Healing
Though you may be doing your best to eat healthy, your food may be working against you.
Hidden food additives may sabotage your hard work. These additives can turn a food you thought was healthy into something you’d never want to eat.
But that’s not the worst part…
This one very common additive is in most foods. Its only job is to make your taste buds happy. Happy taste buds mean you’ll crave more later.
You already know you should stay away from it. The problem is, you might not even know you’re eating it. Food companies find ways to either hide it on a label or not include it at all.
They hide this additive because it’s toxic to your brain.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a form of glutamic acid. Glutamic acid is a naturally occurring compound. MSG, on the other hand, is made in a food or chemical plant. It also comes from fermented beets.
MSG is a common flavor enhancer. This doesn’t sound like a bad thing.
The problem is that MSG is an excitotoxin. Though excitotoxins enhance the flavor of food, they over-stimulate and deplete neuron receptors. Eventually, these neurons die. This can disrupt your immune system.
The official story from the FDA is that MSG might cause negative reactions, including headaches and nausea… But they can’t “conclusively” link these side effects to MSG. But according to Alfred Scopp, former head of the Northern California Headache Clinic, roughly 33% of migraine patients report symptoms as a result of consuming MSG.
Bottom line: MSG is bad… So your best bet is to simply avoid it. Only it isn’t that simple. Avoiding these foods may seriously improve your quality of life. In one study, 84% of participants with fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome on an MSG-free diet lost at least 30% of their symptoms.
There are certain ingredients that always contain processed MSG… That means that even though MSG may not be on the label as an ingredient itself, there still may be ingredients in the product that contain it.
Some known offenders include whey protein, soy protein, any form of hydrolyzed protein, soy sauce, gelatin, and anything fermented. These are ingredients that always contain MSG.
While that may seem like a pretty manageable list, those are only the ingredients that always contain MSG. There’s a whole other category of ingredients that often contain MSG. These include natural and artificial flavors, citric acid, or any sort of seasoning.
Certified organic may even contain MSG. All it takes is “natural flavors” or “citric acid” as an ingredient to just about guarantee the presence of MSG. This can really put a damper on your healthy eating and hard work.
Since MSG makes cheap food tasty, most companies will do everything they can to keep it in your food… And keep you from knowing about it!
It’s a risk that you don’t have to take. Instead, take the extra time and treat yourself to a home cooked meal with fresh ingredients. It’s the healthy choice that tastes better and doesn’t cause headaches or brain damage.
Drink THIS to lose fat & fix your digestion
by Dr. Kareem, Author of 14-Day Fat Loss Plan
The longer I've been in the healthcare industry, the more I realize that a 'balanced body' is the key to just about any health goal you might have. Whether you want to lose weight, reduce bodyfat, build muscle, or increase athleticism, the faster you balance your body the quicker you'll see results.
The first step is to balance your 'Macronutrient Ratio,' which is just a fancy way of saying that you have to balance the amount of carbs:proteins:fats you consume.
Here's a simple rule that I like to follow, as a general theme to healthy eating and high energy output:
9 grams of carbs: 7 grams protein: 4 grams fat
Assuming you're eating a large amount of veggies, that means a good portion of those carbs will be indigestible fiber, and the caloric ratio will end up almost equally balanced between slow carbs, protein, and healthy fats.
Next, consider the 'Nutrient Density' in everything you eat. Not all calories were created equally, not even from the same macronutrient classification or category. Eating animal fats usually means more dietary cholesterol, but this isn't necessarily a problem like most people think...
Cholesterol is actually normal and healthy for your body -- it's something your body naturally produces because it's required to sustain life. However, inflammation combined with high levels of LDL cholesterol can result in a very dangerous situation.
'Triglycerides' are often a root cause of inflammation and heart disease as a result of poor diet. High triglycerides are often caused by eating too much sugar and refined carbs and poor insulin sensitivity.
If you eat sugar, you're inflaming. If you eat cookies, crackers,bread, cereal, or estrogenic products like soy and non-organic fruits and vegetables (pesticides are estrogenic), you're inflaming.
Ultimately, this means that your body will have a harder time processing the carbs it consumes. Your body's relationship with a normal macronutrient changes, and it will affect you differently.
If you have a lot of inflammation in your body, fix this first, then adjust your diet for increased nutrient density. Get rid of any trans fats, most of the grains you consume, and any food category that you're particularly sensitive to. Alongside, take a careful look at your environment -- if you are in a stressed-out situation, take time each day to calm your mind through meditation, positive self-talk, and visualization of happier circumstances. I recommend at least 15-20 minutes, as this seems to be an accepted time by HeartMath.org, which is the leading organization for battling depression through natural means.
Once you address the inflammation in your body, you can hone in on eating the "right" foods, even if they have things like cholesterol in them that scares you. Now its time for the grass-fed beef, free range organic chickens, and the eggs they produce (yolks included!)
Last, but certainly not least, it's important you balance your micronutrients and hydration. These are the 'invisible' aspects of your daily health rituals that need to exist. Hydration is pretty easy, unless you have some extreme reason for dehydration -- just drink half your bodyweight (pounds) in ounces of water each day.
Micronutrients, on the other hand, are an uphill battle. To derive all of the micronutrients your body needs simply from the food you consume is very difficult. For example, you'd have to eat a variety of about 25 different fruits and vegetables, but just small pieces of each one. This is how you'd get the proper mineral balance, natural vitamins (not artificial), and antioxidants you need for optimal health.
In addition, the health of your digestive tract determines how well your body will respond to any of the information above. Digestive enzymes that target ease of digestion and enzyme release specifically designed to break up difficult to digest substances, can make a game-changing difference in the balance of your overall health.
Again, you can do a lot for your gut by consuming 'probiotics' in the form of plain (non-sweetened) kefir and yogurt, and strengthen your digestive tract significantly. However, this is only part of the equation, and it would have to be daily habit.
For the fastest and most reliable (daily) solution to micronutrients, digestive enzymes, probiotics, and electrolyte balance, I simplify my life with a unique smoothie each morning (actually, my wife makes it for me -- she's awesome!) -here's exactly what goes in this daily digestive system healing smoothie:
*2 heaping tablespoons Athletic Greens (essential ingredient teeming with every micronutrient you need, digestive enzymes, probiotics, and powerful antioxidants)
*1 tbsp chia seeds (healthy omega-3 fats, lots of fiber)
*1 scoop protein powder (this protein contains no deadly artificial sweeteners)
*Frozen wild blueberries (handful)
*8 to 10 ounces of water (or use half water and half kefir if you want extra probiotics)
Drink this superfood-smoothie daily and watch your body balance out. You'll be losing fat in no time, and you'll watch your digestion and overall health improve substantially.
The Spice That Can Dissolve Deadly Brain Plaques
Discover the Simple Natural Solution to Lifelong Cognitive Health
Are you concerned about maintaining the health of your brain as you age? You're not alone. Losing one's memory and mental abilities to cognitive decline is something we all fear, and the current statistics on the prevalence of cognitive decline in this country are not pretty. By age 65, sadly 1 in 8 Americans will suffer from severe cognitive decline, and by age 80, an astonishing 1 in 2 will.
Researchers have been working for years to develop an effective treatment. But one "miracle" drug after another has failed to live up to its promises, and it's becoming more and more apparent that pharmaceuticals are not the solution. Unfortunately, the medical establishment is so narrowly focused on finding an elusive "cure" that scientifically proven prevention strategies are often ignored.
I'm Joshua Corn, Editor-in-Chief of Live in the Now, one of the fastest growing natural health publications in the nation. My passion for natural health drives me to seek the truth about the causes of health problems and to educate people on alternative solutions that are both safe and effective.
Nature's Brain-Protecting Miracle
There are a number of natural brain protectors out there, but did you know that one herb has shown more promise when it comes to supporting your neurological system than any other medical finding to date? It's a scientific fact that curcumin, an antioxidant compound found in the root of the turmeric plant, is one of the most powerful natural brain protecting substances on the planet! It continues to amaze scientists with its remarkable cognitive health benefits.
You may be familiar with turmeric as the bright yellow spice that is commonly found in curry powder. Turmeric has a long history as a healing herb and culinary spice in India. Interestingly, India has the highest per capita consumption of turmeric AND the lowest incidence of cognitive decline worldwide.
Your Brain on Curcumin
The hallmark process associated with certain types of cognitive decline is the formation in the brain of abnormal protein structures called beta-amyloid plaques. That's why I was excited to read about a landmark clinical trial involving people with severe cognitive decline that measured the effects of curcumin. Amazingly, the participants taking curcumin had significantly higher levels of dissolved plaque in their blood compared to those in the placebo group.
This study showed that curcumin has the ability to effectively pass into the brain, bind to beta-amyloid plaques and assist the body in their breakdown Curcumin is one of the only substances known to have such a profound protective effect on the brain.
The Incredible Health Benefits of Curcumin:
- Protects brain cells from aging
- Boosts overall cognitive function
- Promotes healthy cardiovascular function
- Supports healthy mood balance
- Boosts detoxification and liver health
- Increases memory retention and clarity
- Supports joint and muscle health
- Fights body-wide inflammation
- Promotes a healthy digestive system
- Supports natural weight loss
You may have heard about the dangers of "silent" chronic inflammation. It's been discussed by Dr. Oz and has made headlines in publications such as Newsweek and Time. It's important for you to know that slow-growing, body-wide inflammation is rapidly becoming recognized as the root cause of the development of cognitive decline, as well as a wide range of serious health problems.
Unfortunately, most people don't do anything until the initial symptoms, such as muscle aches and joint discomfort, appear. When this happens, their gut reaction often is to go see a doctor, who is unlikely to correctly diagnose the problem, and more than likely will prescribe drugs that are far from safe and only provide short-term benefits.
But the initial symptoms of pain are just the beginning. If left unchecked, chronic inflammation can damage your body in many ways. One of the worst examples of this is cognitive decline, which can ravage your memory and severely impact your quality of life in what should be your golden years.
Here are 7 ways chronic inflammation can damage your body:
- Memory loss and cognitive decline
- Increased cardiovascular risk
- Joint pain and loss of mobility
- Abnormal growth of healthy cells
- Accelerated skin aging and wrinkles
- Compromised digestive function
- Weight gain and loss of muscle tone
How to Get the Most Out of Curcumin
Although you may be able to find high quality turmeric powder at your local market, it's very difficult to verify its purity and potency. Plus, it's almost impossible to incorporate therapeutic amounts of curcumin into your diet on a daily basis as a spice. So, to put it simply, a high-quality curcumin supplement is your best bet!
However, not all curcumin supplements are created equal. Unfortunately, most supplements out there don't have the necessary doses and components to get the job done. If you take the wrong supplement, you'll end up not only wasting money, but missing out on an incredible opportunity to protect your brain and keep harmful inflammation at bay.
There are 3 major factors to consider when deciding on a curcumin supplement:
Standardization and Dose: Standardization is the process by which the active ingredients in a plant are concentrated and brought to a consistent level. The active ingredients of turmeric are called curcuminoids, and there are actually three components: curcumin, demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin. Any good curcumin supplement should include all 3 of these curcuminoids and be standardized to at least 75%. Also, the minimum recommended daily dose is 1,000 mg per day.
Absorption: One problem with curcumin is that it's not easily absorbed. However, it was discovered that an extract of black pepper, called piperine, significantly enhances absorption of curcumin. In fact, one study found that the addition of a piperine increased bioavailablity by 2,000%! So make sure that any curcumin supplement you take contains this important extract.
Price: Some people mistakenly believe if you pay more you get better quality. My advice is that you don't need to pay more than $30 for a one month supply. Many companies are taking advantage of the hype surrounding curcumin and charging more than double this.
HealthBeat News: Sugar More Addictive Than Cocaine According To New Research!
08/23/07
Yet More Good Reasons To Stop The Pop Habit
Dr. Myatt has written and warned and ranted about the dangers of Soda Pop consumption over and over and over - most recently in our HealthBeat article Poisonous Pop . Well, the bad news about pop just keeps rolling in... this article from one of the many medical journals that we read each day for you:
The Choice of a Metabolic Syndrome Generation: Soft Drink Consumption Associated With Increased Metabolic Risk
A study suggests that middle-aged adults who drink more than 1 soft drink (diet or regular) daily have a higher risk of developing adverse metabolic traits as well as the metabolic syndrome.
Medscape Medical News 2007
For those who are a little hazy about what is "metabolic syndrome", the article defines it thusly:
Metabolic syndrome was defined as the presence of three or more of following risk factors: excess waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol levels, and high fasting glucose levels. [high fasting glucose levels = diabetes]
So, the long and short of this is that Pop drinkers are far more likely to develop "Metabolic Syndrome" and diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Cool, huh? And we let our kids drink this stuff ???
But Wait! There's More!
This just in from a research paper out of France:
Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward
Yup, you read correctly - according to this study sugar is more addicting than cocaine!
Here is the conclusion of the research (edited slightly for brevity):
Our findings clearly demonstrate that intense sweetness can surpass cocaine reward, ... We speculate that the addictive potential of intense sweetness results from an inborn hypersensitivity to sweet tastants. In ... humans, sweet receptors evolved in ancestral environments poor in sugars and are thus not adapted to high concentrations of sweet tastants. The supranormal stimulation of these receptors by sugar-rich diets, such as those now widely available in modern societies, would generate a supranormal reward signal in the brain, with the potential to override self-control mechanisms and thus to lead to addiction.
Here's the short-course, plain English translation: Because our distant (and not-so-distant) ancestors developed without mounds of sugar available to them we don't handle sugars well, and sugars turn out to be actually more addictive (in the truest sense of addiction) than cocaine. Further, it is not the sugar, but the intense sweetness that is the addictive thing - the researchers used saccharine as a sweetener as well as sucrose (sugar) and the results were the same. Sweet beat out cocaine for the lab rats in the study.
Yikes! It boggles the mind, doesn't it!
Still gonna go out for that six-pack of soda-pop or that mega-slurpee at the convenience store? Why not try some alternatives? Plain ol' water has been a perennial favorite since the days of Alley Oop the caveman - I've heard it called "Adam's Ale"... but if water just doesn't cut it for you, how about iced green tea with a little lemon, or if you really need an energy drink, try some Red Alert - 10 Servings of Fruits & Vegetables in One Delicious Drink, with minimal sugar.
HealthBeat News: The Most Dangerous Food You Can Eat
07/26/07 Issue 26 Volume 7
10 Dangers of Carbohydrates
The US Food Pyramid advises us to eat 5-10 servings per day of carbohydrates, but high carbohydrate diets are the primary causes of our current overweight/obesity epidemic. 66% of adult Americans are overweight and 33% of these are obese. Diets high in carbohydrates (grains, beans, sugary fruits--- anything that quickly turns into sugar in the blood stream) are making Americans some of the fattest people on Earth.
Here are 10 reasons why carbohydrates --- “carbs” --- are so dangerous.
I.) Carbs are not "essential" and high consumption displaces necessary nutrients. "Essential" means that a certain food is absolutely required by the body (like gasoline or diesel in a car), is not manufactured by the body, and so must be consumed in the diet.
Have you ever heard of an "essential fatty acid"? (EFA)? Some types of fats --- Omega 6's and Omega 3's --- are absolutely required by the body.
Have you heard of "essential amino acids"? Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. There are 8 amino acids that are "essential." Without them, muscles, hormones and the heart (a muscle) cease to function properly. Muscles have a high protein requirement.
Have you ever heard of an "essential carbohydrate"? I hope not, because there's no such thing!
Of the three calorie containing molecules --- proteins, fats and carbohydrates --- only certain fats and proteins are "essential." When the diet is high in carbohydrates, it is often deficient in the necessary essential fats and proteins. Deficiencies of essential fats and proteins causes all manner of diseases, from mood disorders (neurotransmitters are made from essential fats and proteins) to muscle weakness (muscles have a high protein requirement), hormone imbalances, heart disease and premature aging.
II.) Carbs cause overweight. What do we feed cows to fatten them up quickly? Carbohydrates, especially corn. "Corn fed beef" is wonderful --- loaded with marbled fat. Cows don't eat meat, so obviously the vilified eggs, butter and meat aren't what is putting weight on these animals.
And pigs? Although pigs are omnivores (like humans, they’ll eat anything), they are fed carbohydrates including corn, soybeans and barley for maximum weight gain. A piglet can go from 60 pounds to 250 pounds in 3 months on a diet high in carbohydrates.
III.) Carbs cause adult-onset diabetes and "syndrome X" (pre diabetes). Fats and proteins have very little effect on blood sugar. Carbs have a BIG effect on blood sugar, causing rapid spike in glucose followed by a rapid rise in insulin. In the near-absence of carbohydrates, nearly all type II diabetics will fully recover from the "disease" in under three months. (I put type II diabetes in parenthesis because I don't consider it a disease so much as a dietary imbalance. When the diet is corrected, the diabetes goes away).
IV.) Carbs cause high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. Look at the name of this molecule: carbo - "hydrate." Hydrate means to combine with water. Each molecule of carbohydrate draws eight molecules of water to itself. This means that carbs cause water retention.
Many cases of high blood pressure are caused by simple water retention. This is why one of the first drugs given for blood pressure is a diuretic --- something that makes you urinate and hence, eliminate fluid.
Congestive heart failure is caused by the body retaining too much water and literally "water logging" the heart, impeding it's ability to beat. Eliminate the carbs, and blood pressure drops --- often dramatically --- in as little as a week.
V.) Carbohydrates harbor deadly fungus and yeasts. Yeasts and fungus (which are really different forms of the same organism) feed on sugar. Many carbohydrate foods have a high propensity to become infected with fungus. What’s the danger of fungus? Please read Fungus, Yeasts and Molds: Hidden Cause of Many "Unexplained" Diseases elsewhere in this issue.
VI.) Carbohydrates cause nutrient deficiencies. Carbs require B complex vitamins for their utilization in the body. Unfortunately, it is the B vitamins that are removed during the processing of grains. Because refined grains are low in B vitamins and yet require high B vitamins for their utilization, they lead to B complex vitamin deficiencies.
Problems associated with B vitamin deficiencies include depression, memory loss, heart disease, insomnia, cataracts, atherosclerosis, fatigue, muscle cramps, allergies and GI symptoms to name just a few.
VII.) Carbs suppress the immune system. The immune system requires protein and certain fats to function normally. Sugar suppresses the immune system. (Remember, carbohydrates turn into sugar in the body). Three ounces of sugar in any form (can you say "fruit juice" or "soda pop" or "sports drink"?) suppress the activity of white blood cells for up to 5 hours.
VIII.) Many carbohydrates are allergens. Although a person can be allergic to any type of protein or carbohydrate, grains and beans are some of the most allergenic of all foods.
Subtle allergies to grains and carbs can cause GI problems ("tear up the gut") and result in increased intestinal permeability, where toxins are allowed to leak into the bloodstream from the colon.
IX.) Carbohydrates fuel cancer cells. Cancer cells use glucose --- blood sugar --- as their "food." Unlike normal cells, they are not equipped to burn ketones (the product of fat breakdown) for fuel.
Carbs suppress the immune system, making a person more susceptible to cancer. Then, the high blood sugar provides fuel for the cancer, like throwing gasoline on a fire. If you want to avoid cancer, limit your intake of carbohydrates.
X.) Carbs are addictive. When you eat carbs, your blood sugar rapidly rises. You get a temporary "high" when your blood sugar is high. Next, a blast of insulin from the pancreas causes a precipitous drop in blood sugar. At this point, feelings of weakness, fatigue, shakiness and even anxiety set in. In order to feel good again, a person will "self medicate" by eating another blast of carbs. This vicious cycle is exactly what happens to drug addicts, who must continue to have repeated "fixes" of their drug in order to feel good. No such addiction occurs with fats and proteins.
When a person is addicted to carbs, they repeatedly eat them. This results in overweight or obesity, decreased immunity, increased risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure and depression to name just a few.
Isn’t it time you “got hip” and switched to a luxurious, low carbohydrate, high-health diet? Lose weight and reclaim health fast with the Super Fast Diet!
