The Cholesterol Myth. The Answer!

So far we have seen that statin drugs are not the answer to purportedly enhanced cholesterol levels. So what is the answer? How do we avoid heart disease and strokes?
• If you are a smoker, stop!
• Escape from the homocystine trap. Homocystine according to a report published by the American College of Cardiology in 2006 is a key factor in heart attacks and strokes.
• In healthy individuals, homocystine, itself a product of amino acid metabolism, is easily converted to harmless methionine. But in less healthy cases the situation is very different.
• Homocystine can create havoc in the Cardio-Vascular system. Why? It likes collagen. Collagen plays an important role in healing and re-building tissue. The key here is inflammation.
• Homocystine builds up in inflammatory sites because of its affinity to collagen. This can lead to a narrowing or even blocking of arteries. Here’s the danger.
The Solution: Folic acid, part of the B vitamin group, is the answer to this problem. Folic acid aids in the conversion of homocystine to methionine. It is found in most if not all multi-vitamin formulations. Even the British Medical Journal pointed out that a small drop in homocystine levels lessened the chance of a heart attack by 15% and a stroke by 24%. An optimistic Chinese study had these levels at a staggering 60%.
How to increase folic acid levels?
• The first step is to increase the intake of alkaline rich green leafy vegetables. You need at least five servings per day.
• Decrease the consumption of wine.
• Stop taking over the counter medications like analgesics (aspirin, ibuprofen, birth control pills, etc).
• If you are on anti-diabetic, anti-convulsant and anti-psychotic drugs, rest assured your homocystine levels are too high. You will need to supplement.
All vitamins are not the same. Pharmaceutical companies would have us believe that synthetic vitamins and minerals are just
the same as naturally occurring substances. This is not true. It will also provide the basics for another set of blogs on this site at a later date.
Brewer’s yeast has been around for years. It was proved to be the answer to anemia as long ago as 1931. This is the best source of naturally occurring B Vitamins, including Folic Acid. The dose needs to be in the region of 400mgs per day and it should be taken with meals for maximum effectiveness.
Peace of I
Alister