The Nutrigenesis Approach To Lower Cholesterol

Who Should Use Nutrigenesis Approach To Lower Cholesterol?

If you meet one of the following descriptions:
• You have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, high LDL or high triglycerides, but you choose not to take chemical drugs.
• You are afraid of the long term consequences of anti-cholesterol drugs such as liver damage, skeletal muscle destruction and others.
• You have compromised liver functions, or you already have liver problems as a result of side effects of drugs. You believe it is time to replace the drugs with natural holistic approach.
• You do not want to take anti-cholesterol drugs for the rest of your life. You want to go the natural way.

Introduction:

The following is a common scenario in a doctor's office. A patient goes in for a check up and is told by the doctor after a blood test that his cholesterol level is too high. In order to avoid heart attack caused by high cholesterol level, he is prescribed a new medication to lower his cholesterol level. He is told this new medication is very effective, but he must go back to the doctor's office for liver function tests every 4 to 6 weeks for the first 3 months, then 6 to 8 weeks for the next 12 months, and periodically thereafter (approximately 6 months intervals). The patient feels the doctor is being cautious about the drug, but never fully understands whether or not it is absolutely necessary for him to lower his blood cholesterol with synthetic drugs nor the use of liver function tests. Many people have this attitude that "the doctor knows the best," and that these new "effective" cholesterol-lowering drugs are an acceptable substitute for a healthy diet.

Below the names of these popular new drugs to lower cholesterol levels are the warnings of liver damage and other adverse side effects. The only use of the liver function tests is to find out when your liver will suffer significant damage by those drugs. However, there are many alternative ways to lower your cholesterol. You might ask: why must doctors prescribe synthetic drugs? This is because the medical doctors are educated to "cure" with drugs. They are the only ones who are authorized to prescribe those drugs. Pharmaceutical companies want them to prescribe those drugs because it means huge profits, especially when they plan for you to take it for the rest of your life. Also, the mentality of most people is, "what is the use of going to see a doctor if you leave the doctor's office without some kind of prescription?"

If you don't mind to be the guinea pig for these new drugs, and eventually damage your liver in order to save your heart, then synthetic drugs are for you. Otherwise, you can choose safe alternative methods, such as water soluble fibers, natural herbs proven to be safe for hundreds of years, change of diet habits and exercise. You can actually find the advice to use dietary methods first to lower cholesterol before taking synthetic drugs in medical text books and in drug inserts of cholesterol-lowering drugs. Physicians often do not stress that to their patients.

You do not have to sacrifice your liver for your heart. You need both. Make the wise choice.

How Nutrigenesis Approach Helps To Lower Cholesterol:

Take Lean-N-Clean powder, mixed as directed on empty stomach between meals. Lean-N-Clean may also be taken as a meal replacement, in addition to a small light meal, and/or at night instead of snacking, especially helpful for people who want to lose weight at the same time. It may also be taken whenever you feel the sensation of heartburn one to four times a day. Individuals who do not need to lose weight should not worry because as your digestive functions improve, you may gain some weight if they want to.

Understanding Cholesterol In Simplified Terms:

People associate the word "cholesterol" with heart attack these days and yet cholesterol is an important steroid that makes up the structural basis of steroid hormones, vitamin D, plasma membranes and bile salts, which is needed in the digestion of fat. What is so wrong with high cholesterol level? Lets try to understand it in a simplified fashion.

About 15% of blood cholesterol comes from one's diet. The other 85% is made by the liver. Fats (lipids) and cholesterol are completely insoluble in water and therefore do not circulate free in the blood stream. They are transported to and from tissue cells in body fluids bound to small lipid-protein complexes called lipoproteins. Lipoproteins vary considerably in their fat-protein compositions. In general, the higher the percentage of lipids in the lipoprotein, the lower its density; and the greater the proportion of protein, the higher its density. On this basis, cholesterol is differentiated into high density lipoprotein (HDL's) and low density lipoproteins (LDL's).

The role of LDL's is to transport cholesterol to the peripheral tissues for hormone synthesis and for storage for later use. The major function of HDL's is to transport cholesterol from the peripheral tissues to the liver, where it is broken down and becomes part of the bile. It is not enough to simply measure total cholesterol. The manner in which the cholesterol is being transported in the blood is more important. As a rule of thumb, high levels of HDL's are considered as good because the transported cholesterol is destined for degradation. High LDL's level is considered bad, because when LDLs are excessive, potentially lethal cholesterol deposits are laid down in the artery walls.

Animal products are usually high both in saturated fats and cholesterol. Based on the observation of the typical American diet, it is clear that the major cause of too much cholesterol in the body is the over consumption of high fat, high cholesterol foods. Other contributing factors to increased LDL levels and coronary artery disease are cigarette smoking, coffee drinking, excessive alcohol intake, refined sugar, and stress. Regular aerobic exercise lowers LDL levels and increase the levels of HDL's. Chronically elevated blood cholesterol leads to arteriosclerosis (hardening and thickening of the arteries), high blood pressure and risk of excessive clotting. Heart disease is very rare when the blood cholesterol level is at 150 mg/dl. The majority of heart attacks occur in people with cholesterol levels in the range of 200-250 mg/dl.

The expert panel of National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) has recommended keeping total blood cholesterol level less than 200 mg/dl and LDL level less than 130 mg/dl.

Relationship Of A High Fat, High Cholesterol, And High Protein Diet To Obesity And The Health Of The Heart, Liver, And Kidney:

Obesity is mainly caused by over indulgence in a high fat , high cholesterol, high protein and carbohydrate rich diet deficient in micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and trace elements), and the lack of exercise. Fat deposition simply occurs because energy intake exceeds energy expenditure.

As mentioned previously in this program, there is an erroneous belief that high protein intake will help build more muscle mass. If you are leading the lifestyle of a sedentary person, like most Americans, excess protein intake above your basic needs will never add any more muscle. High protein intake can actually be very dangerous. Excess protein intake will overwork your liver in order to turn it into uric acid resulting in the kidney working overtime to excrete the surplus uric acid in your blood stream. Epidemiological surveys have noted a trend towards increasing urate values in the United States in the recent decades. Obesity, alcohol consumption, and diuretic use are associated with high uric acid level in blood. Animal studies have shown that diets providing soya protein, a vegetable protein, instead of casein, an animal protein, may be more effective in retarding the progression of kidney failure.

A consistently high uric acid level in your blood will make you more prone to kidney stones and other kidney diseases. It will also pave the way for osteoporosis. Gouty arthritis is another painful disease related to high uric acid in blood. When uric acid level is too high in the blood stream, uric acid crystals start to form in kidneys and joints. It has been an old observation that drinking alcoholic beverages is associated with precipitation of acute gouty attacks.

In recent years, there is great enthusiasm in treating liver cirrhosis with vegetable protein based on the theory that vegetable protein contains less aromatic amino acids. High levels of these amino acids are responsible for disorder of the brain caused by a diseased liver. It has also been suggested that when vegetable protein is consumed, the shorter gastrointestinal transit time due to the higher fiber content and the activities of bacteria in colon, decrease the absorption and increase the elimination of the nitrogen waste which is a by-product of protein metabolism.

Limit your protein intake to recommended daily allowance (RDA) of 0.36-0.45 grams per pound (0.8-1.0 gm/kg) of body weight per day unless you have a daily strenuous exercise routine. Base your calculation on your ideal body weight, not on your actual weight if you are overweight. Example: If you weigh 150 lb., however, your ideal body weight is 120 lbs., your protein need will be 43-54 grams per day, which can be met with just 5 to 7 oz. of white chicken meat, equivalent to one piece of chicken breast.

High fat and high cholesterol diets can do the same damage to the kidney as high protein diets. This is also the leading cause of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The cornerstone of treatment is diet restriction and weight reduction. Relying on drugs to control your cholesterol level and high lipid (fat) level without reducing your intake of high fat, high cholesterol foods is an unwise decision. Prescription drugs that lower blood cholesterol can have numerous side effects, including inadequate absorption of fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K. Vitamin K deficiency will lead to bleeding problems. Folic acid absorption will also be reduced, leading to anemia. Other side effects include constipation, fecal impaction, rectal bleeding and pain, hemorrhoidal bleeding, gastrointestinal irritation and bleeding, pancreatitis, diverticulitis, gallstones and inflammation of the gall bladder.

The National Cholesterol Education Program of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute has recommended to keep cholesterol level less than 200 (mg/dl) and the LDL-cholesterol (bad cholesterol) level to be less than 130 (mg/dl). It is a good idea to check your cholesterol level annually.

Pitfalls Of Cholesterol-lowering Drugs:

Drugs for reducing high blood cholesterol levels can be grouped into three classes:

1. HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors (also called "statins")
2. Bile Acid Sequestrants
3. Others

HMG Co-A Reductase Inhibitors (Statins):

They are considered drugs of second choice. However, they are the most popular. Most of the new drugs for reducing high cholesterol levels are from this class.

Drug Names:

Mevacor (lovastatin), Pravachol (pravastatin), Zocor (simvastatin), Lipitor (Atovastatin), Baycol (cerivastatin), Lescol (fluvastatin).

This Is How The Statins Work:

They inhibit the enzyme - HMG Co-A Reductase, which catalyzes cholesterol synthesis. They increase the HDLs and decrease the LDLs. However, the effects of these induced changes in lipoprotein levels on heart diseases and resulting death rate has not been established.

Warnings:

Liver damage: Including hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and cholestatic jaundice, more severe when taken by people who consume substantial quantities of alcohol. Liver function tests are recommended every 4 to 6 weeks during the first 3 months of therapy, every 6 to 8 weeks during the next 12 months and periodically thereafter (approximately 6 month intervals).

Note: Liver function tests only tell you when you are starting to suffer detectable liver damage. They serve no purpose in correcting the problem created by these drugs. Usually our livers can suffer extensive damage before they will show abornormalities in tests.

Skeletal muscle effects: Destruction of skeletal muscle with abnormal kidney function has occurred to some patients taking the statins. A small percentage of patients may develop myopathy (i.e., myalgia - muscular pain or muscle weakness.)

Carcinogenesis/Fertility impairment: A study in mice has shown a statistically significant increase in liver cancer although the dosage was over 300 times the maximum recommended human dose.

Other warnings and adverse effects include, but are not limited to: Central nervous system vascular lesions, characterized by hemorrhage and edema, renal function impairment, impotence, loss of libido, and hair loss.

"Statins" Anti-cholesterol Drugs On The News:

1. On August 8, 2001, FDA announced that Bayer Pharmaceutical Division is voluntarily withdrawing:

Baycol (cerivastatin) from the U.S. market because of 31 deaths connected to its use. The patients died from a severe side-effect called rhadbomyolysis, where the muscles in the body can break down, releasing proteins and chemicals into the blood stream that overwhelm the kidneys and cause them to shut down.

Rhadbomyolysis has been seen in the five other "statins". The rates of this complication were much higher in patients who were taking Baycol alone or a combination of Baycol with another lipid-lowering drug called Lopid (gemfibrozil). Baycol was initially approved by FDA in 1997.

On November 18, 2004, experts warned against 5 FDA-Approved drugs. One of these drugs is Crestor (Rosuvastatin), the newest "statin" anti-cholesterol drug. Food and Drug Administration reviewer David Graham testified before the Senate Finance Committee. He said the government should evaluate the occurrence of renal failure and other serious side effects among people taking Crestor.

Graham contended that FDA has an inherent conflict of interest that triggers "denial, rejection and heat" when safety questions emerge about products it has approved. Graham said he fears continued intimidation. "I was frightened before," he told reporters after the hearing. "Senior management at the FDA did everything in their power to intimidate me prior to my testimony," he said.

From this excerpt from the testimony, you can sense how much politics plays in the process of new drug approval and its lifetime on the market. Meanwhile, consumers become guinea pigs for years. If you think drugs are safe and effective just because the FDA has approved them, think again.

2. Bile Acid Sequestrants: (bile acid sequestering resins): They are considered drugs of first choice.

• Drug names:
• Questran (cholestyramine)
• Colestid (colestipol HCl)

This is how these drugs work: During normal digestion, bile acids are secreted in the bile from the liver and gall bladder into the intestines to emulsify the fat materials in food, thus facilitating absorption. A major portion of the bile acids secreted is reabsorbed from the intestines and returned to the liver. Bile acid sequestering resins bind bile acids in the intestines to form insoluble complex which is excreted in the feces. The increased fecal loss of bile acids leads to an increased oxidation of cholesterol to bile acids and decrease in LDL's ( the bad cholesterol).

Precautions: The major drawback of these drugs is malabsorption. Because they tie up the bile acids which are responsible for normal fat digestion and absorption, they prevent absorption of fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D. E and K as well. Deficiency in Vitamin K will increase bleeding tendency. Reduction of folic acid in blood has been reported over long term use of cholestyramine. Folic acid is needed for the formation of new red blood cells. These drugs may produce or severely worsen preexisting constipation. Fecal impaction may occur and hemorrhoids may be aggravated.

3. Others: Lorelco (probucol), Choloxin (Dextrothyroxine Sodium) Atromid-S (clofibrate), Lopid (gemfibrozil)

All these drugs have various adverse effects involving different organs of our bodies. Impotence seems to be one of the common side effects of most drugs for reducing high cholesterol levels.

Have you ever wondered why the new drug Viagra is so popular amongst middle-aged and older men? Many of them are taking drugs for reducing high cholesterol levels and drugs for high blood pressure, which also have the common side effect of impotence. When they are taking Viagra, they are actually trying to treat the side effects of the other drugs.

There are natural remedies such as Lean-N-Clean® to lower cholesterol. Why suffer drug side effects unnecessarily?