Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 HDL Booster." This is the product to look for in health food stores, and at the Enzymatic Therapy website. |
| It's just that a lot of these ingredients I put in there have been shown to raise hdl, like Policosanol or grape seed extract.
Mike: It's also nice to see a supplement positioned to support the body's own natural function, rather than suppressing something like an inflammatory response or suppressing the liver's production of LDL cholesterol. This is a supportive supplement.
Goodman: It's a strong antioxidant formulation. As you know, antioxidants are very good for the body. We have our own natural antioxidants. |
| The bottom line then, Mike, is it's hard to raise hdl. But when we can find natural ways to do it with a minimal side effect, and get all the other beneficial effects, then why not give it a try?
Mike: Why not? It's a great choice.
Goodman: The bottom line is we're trying to prevent disease. It's much better to prevent disease than have to deal with treatment. Of course, we have to do that. I'm on both sides of it now and I've realized that I can truly make a bigger impact, a much bigger impact out there if I'm working on prevention. |
| HDL Booster." We'll get to that in a minute, but first give our readers a little bit of your background and tell them how you got interested in the nutritional approach to cardiovascular health.
Goodman: Sure, Mike. I am originally from South Africa. I went to medical school at the University of Capetown, and then I came to the United States where I did residency at the Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Then I went to the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where I did my cardiology fellowship. That's where they have the cardiac surgery program of Michael DeBakey. |
| I'd ask them about cholesterol, hdl, LDL and they'd start showing me some things.
While I was there, I realized people were coming in and asking about their joints and asking about all sorts of things. One particular person was telling them what to take. They paid their money and they walked out.
That never happens in my practice. If I tell somebody, "You need a medication," they say, "Why must I take drugs? I don't want drugs. What are the side effects of that drug? It's going to mess up my liver."
Mike: Yes. The smart patients know that. |
| Say a 50-year-old man's hdl is 36. We get it up to 40, which is about a 10 percent increase. That would translate to a 20 percent reduction in risk.
Mike: That reduction in risk blows away a lot of prescription drugs in terms of efficacy, right?
Goodman: Absolutely. Now, we know that lowering LDL is very important, not to minimize that. It's very, very important. In people who've got heart disease, we want the LDLs down to the 60 to 70 range. The studies have shown us that.
For every one percent that you lower LDL, you get a one percent reduction in risk. |
Jack Challem
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 Although Liz's hdl remained about the same at 43 mg/dl, the ratio between hdl and other blood fats improved significantly, another good sign. And that wasn't all. Her HbA)c dropped down to 5.8, which was almost normal, and her fasting blood sugar decreased to 102 mg/dl.
Liz's prediabetes was better but not entirely gone. She understood that she could no longer take her health for granted and that she had to work to improve it. She was able to stop taking one of her blood pressure medications, and she felt much better than she had in years.
Essential Daily Habit #3. |
Andreas Moritz
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 By contrast, dozens of conclusive studies have shown that the risk of heart disease increases significantly in people whose hdl levels decrease. It would be much wiser to find out what keeps hdl levels normal than to inhibit cholesterol production in the liver and thereby destroy this precious organ. Elevated LDL cholesterol is not a cause of heart disease; rather, it is a consequence of an unbalanced liver, of a congested, dehydrated circulatory system, and of a poor diet and lifestyle. |
Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D.
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 Their good, hdl, cholesterol averaged 36.3 mg/dL, which is lower than the range generally accepted as normal. But it was sufficient to sustain the beneficial results. Our research strongly suggests, in fact, that lower than "normal" hdl levels are not worrisome as long as total cholesterol is well within the safe range—under 150 mg/dL—a finding that has been discussed by other researchers, as well.1
Angiograms. A coronary angiogram is a specialized X-ray of the coronary arteries. A flexible catheter is inserted into an artery, either at the elbow or the groin, and advanced toward the heart. |
James Dowd and Diane Stafford
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 LDL, triglycerides, and low hdl, and the heart and vascular diseases that can result. Although no one has established a direct relationship between cholesterol levels and vitamin D, many researchers believe vitamin D has an influence.
Dr. Stephen Wiviott of Harvard Medical School studied the effectiveness of two different lipid-lowering drugs and found that bad cholesterol (LDL) levels were about 10 percent lower in the summer and fall compared to measures in the spring. Good cholesterol (HDL) also was higher in the summer and lower in the winter. |
Jack Challem
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| Although Liz's hdl remained about the same at 43 mg/dl, the ratio between hdl and other blood fats improved significantly, another good sign. And that wasn't all. Her HbA)c dropped down to 5.8, which was almost normal, and her fasting blood sugar decreased to 102 mg/dl.
Liz's prediabetes was better but not entirely gone. She understood that she could no longer take her health for granted and that she had to work to improve it. She was able to stop taking one of her blood pressure medications, and she felt much better than she had in years.
Essential Daily Habit #3. |
Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D.
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| High-density lipoprotein, or hdl, is sometimes known as "good" cholesterol. Medical experts do not know precisely how, but it seems to offer some protection against heart attacks—by collecting excess cholesterol and carrying it away from the arteries to the liver, which can break it down and dispose of it. As total blood cholesterol rises, you need more and more of the hdl cholesterol to protect you against heart disease.
Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, is "bad" cholesterol. |
Dr. Abram Hoffer, MD, FRCP (C) and Dr. Harold D. Foster, PhD
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 Niacin is known to lower total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides, while elevating hdl. Perhaps these characteristics are what gives niacin its anti-aging properties, recently confirmed by the Women's Health Study presented at the Ninth International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease.^ Beginning in 1991, nearly 40,000 women 66 years of age or older were enrolled in this study, which established that those in the highest hdl quin-tile had the least chance of developing cognitive impairment. |
Bill Sardi
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 Red wine produced a significant increase (11-16%) in hdl "good' cholesterol, a reduction (8-15%) in fibrinogen (blood clotting factor), and had no effect upon blood pressure or total cholesterol. Surprisingly, the red grape extract tablets produced no significant difference in hdl "good' cholesterol and actually raised fibrinogen by about 10 % compared to water consumption. [European Journal Clinical Nutrition, January 2005]
Another study tells us why the red wine tablets didn't work. |
Tom Bohager
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 There are two components to cholesterol: LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and hdl (high-density lipoprotein). HDLs are often called "good cholesterol" because they perform key functions in the body. LDLs are often called "bad cholesterol" because when they are elevated, they collect on the inside of blood vessel walls, potentially leading to blocked blood vessels, heart disease, and stroke. |
Andreas Moritz
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 Only the small hdl molecules, which make up 80 percent of all lipoproteins, are small enough to pass through ordinary capillaries in different parts of the body. For this reason, hdl is hardly ever found to reach abnormally high levels in the blood. LDL and VLDL, on the other hand, may rise to levels that reflect an underlying disorder (congestion) of some sort.
Under normal circumstances, most of the cholesterol eaten in a meal is absorbed by the small intestine and sent to the liver. |
Dr. Steven R. Gundry
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 More importantly, his triglycerides and his LDL ("bad") cholesterol had dropped and his hdl ("good") cholesterol had doubled. Furthermore, the inflammation in his bloodstream had disappeared, and his elevated insulin level had dropped.
I listened to Omar's neck again. Much to my surprise, I couldn't hear the bruit. My patient concurred that he had noticed about a week earlier that the whooshing in his ear had disappeared. We decided to wait a month and recheck. A repeat scan showed the blockage was now only 30 percent, a perfectly safe level, and it remained like that for three years. |
Ray D. Strand
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 HDL cholesterol.
• decreased levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol.
• decreased levels of triglycerides (fats).
• increased strength and coordination, which leads to a decrease in the risk of falls.
• improved sensitivity to insulin.
• enhancement of the immune system.
• overall increase in one's sense of well-being.
One look at this list of health benefits is convincing: any individual who chooses to develop a consistent program of modest exercise is making an important choice to avoid developing many different diseases.
Healthy Diet
What about eating habits? |
| It is now common practice to routinely check both hdl and LDL cholesterol levels. Needless to say, we are all acutely aware of the importance of cholesterol and the detrimental effects of LDL cholesterol.
What I have shared with you so far is pretty common knowledge. Are you ready for the uncommon knowledge?
LDL cholesterol is really not "bad." God didn't make a mistake when He created it. Native LDL cholesterol, the kind that the body originally makes, is good. In fact it is essential for building good cell membranes, other cell parts, and many different hormones that our bodies need. |
Jacky Law
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 And although the patents that allow monopoly pricing on the statins will run out, a new class of drugs for raising levels of good (H-for-healthy) hdl cholesterol is now being prepared for launch.
Several experts are optimistic the strategy will provide a meaningful next step in therapy. 'The hdl area is very hot right now,' says Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic. 'We're hoping the treatment effect will be similar to the statins. If we could add another reduction [in risk of a heart attack], this would be a spectacular achievement ... |
Ray D. Strand
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| Interestingly, these studies did show that those taking HRT experienced a significant decrease in LDL (bad) cholesterol and a significant increase in hdl (good) cholesterol. So why did these patients have an increased risk of heart disease?
I believe the answer appeared in other studies that have shown women who take synthetic HRT had a tremendous increase in their C-reactive proteins, which you may recall is a measure of the inflammation in the artery. It is a much better predictor of future heart attacks than is cholesterol—especially in women. |
| Glucagon utilizes fat, lowers blood pressure, decreases triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, and raises hdl cholesterol. This is eating for hormonal control rather than calorie control. I tell my patients that they are eating a healthy diet that has the side effect of fat loss.
Exercise
Modest exercise has tremendous health benefits. And exercise is especially critical for the patient with Syndrome X or diabetes mellitus. Why? |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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 More sophisticated testing as needed or desired: homocysteine, alpha-lipoprotein (a), fibrinogen, C-reactive protein, hdl subtractions, LDL subtractions.
• Heart disease, and especially heart disease earlier in life, is a preventable disease; appropriate diet and exercise, emotional balance and stress management, and herbal and nutritional supplementation may substantially reduce CVD risk.
• Benefits and risks of hormone replacement therapy need to be discussed with a health-care provider familiar with up-to-date research on this topic. |
Hyla Cass, M.D.
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 Actions: These drugs work reduce "bad" LDL and raise "good" hdl.
Side effects: Side effects include headache, rash, nausea, heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, gas, urinary tract infection, joint and muscle pain; changes in mood and thinking ability. For details on this last side effect, see the inset "Statins' Potential Effects on Mood and Thinking Ability" on page 66.
Nutrient depleted: Statins deplete the body of CoQi0, causing some of their more worrisome side effects. The consequences of that deficiency are broad. It can translate to:
Heart failure. |
Ray D. Strand
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| Gerald Reavens has labeled Syndrome X:
• significant inflammation of the arteries, which can cause heart attack and stroke
• elevated blood pressure (hypertension)
• elevated triglycerides—the other fat in the blood beside cholesterol
• lowered hdl (good) cholesterol
• increased LDL (bad) cholesterol
• increased tendency to form blood clots
• development of significant "uncontrolled" weight gain—usually around the middle (called central obesity)
When all of the Syndrome X factors are combined, our risk of developing heart disease actually jumps twentyfold. |
Hyla Cass, M.D.
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| Niacin
Niacin or nicotinic acid, one of the water-soluble B vitamins, namely B3, improves levels of cholesterol ("bad" LDL drops by 10 to 20 percent and "good" hdl rises by 15 to 35 percent) and triglycerides (lower by 20 to 50 percent) when given in doses well above the basic vitamin requirement.
Niacin helps change other risk factors for heart disease. Levels of a very heart-toxic blood fat, apolipoprotein (a), were significantly reduced (20 percent) by niacin, but were not altered by the drug used in the study (gemfibrozil, a fibrate drug). |
| Research conducted at Harvard showed that high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets may actually increase the risk of heart disease by reducing the levels of the protective or "good" hdl (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol in the bloodstream.
There is strong supporting evidence that the low-fat boom led to the current obesity trend. Just look at the numbers. According to the Center for Health Statistics, the American obesity epidemic started in the early 1980s—at the same time that the market was being flooded with low-fat products. Suddenly, the rate of overweight in adults went through the roof. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 Blood cholesterol went up a bit, but hdl ("good") cholesterol went up far more than LDL ("bad") cholesterol, resulting in an improved cholesterol ratio. As an added benefit, subjects on the high-shrimp diet saw a significant lowering of their triglycerides (a significant risk factor for heart disease). Bottom line: For the overwhelming majority of people, the cholesterol in shrimp and related species isn't a problem.
Note: As with mollusks, there is a potential for allergic reaction that you need to be aware of. |
| Other studies have indicated that red wine can raise hdl ("good" cholesterol). Red wine may help prevent blood clots and reduce the blood vessel damage caused by fat deposits. Indeed, studies showed that people from the Mediterranean region who regularly drink red wine have lower risks of heart disease.
Recently, the British Medical Journal published a famous paper on the "Polymeal" in which researchers proposed a perfect meal that, if eaten daily, would substantially reduce the risk for heart disease as much as or more than many medications. Wine was a part of it. |
| The fat in olives (and olive oil, see page 302) is largely the monounsaturated fat oleic acid, which has been associated with higher levels of protective hdl ("good") cholesterol. A number of studies have shown that people who get plenty of monounsaturated fat are less likely to die of heart disease. o-ao Tho icn HoalfhiPQt FnnHc nn Farth
Sauerkraut
(nonpasteurized)
*
Sauerkraut combines one of the healthiest foods on the planet (cabbage) with one of most healthy forms of processing on the planet (fermentation). The resultant food is a consistent winner in the health promotion sweepstakes. |
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