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Saturated Fats, Olive Oil, Cancer, Diabetes, Are You Fat? And, Much More (Con't)

"Most modern people are boiling pots of inflammation: Hot steaming, churning cauldrons of disordered, chaotic inflammatory responses." William Davis MD, from his book Wheat Belly: Total Health.

So why is anyone on statin drugs then? If it is well recognized that elevated cholesterol levels do not cause heart disease and that inflammation is the culprit, then the only reason I can think of is the market driven, multi-billion dollar reason. Here's the bad stuff about statins in a nutshell: "Pharmacological evidence and clinical trials support the interpretation that statins stimulate atherogenesis by suppressing vitamin K2 synthesis and thereby enhancing artery calcification. Statins cause heart failure by depleting the myocardium of CoQ10, heme A and selenoproteins, thereby impairing mitochondrial ATP production." (Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, 2015) Yes, you read that right. Statins actually cause your arteries to clog up thereby leading to a greater risk of heart attacks and heart failure.

EVOO: I'm sure you have all heard about how many olive oils which are labeled as "Olive Oil" aren't really from the actual oil of olives, but are another kind of oil (like sunflower or safflower) just billed as EVOO. Well, of course I worried a lot about this, and did some research online and found an Olive Oil expert who was just as concerned as I was, and, lucky for me, did my research for me. Here are some EVOOs that are real Olive Oil: Costco's, Toscano Signature Olive Oil; Trader Joe's Premium 100% Greek Kalamata, California Estate Olive Oil, and Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil; Whole Food's California, 365. I also found a wonderfully delicious and real Olive Oil from Vital Choice, the same place I send away for my wild caught salmon. It's about $21 per bottle plus shipping.

Maybe Linus Pauling was right: A new study (April, 2017) published by the journal Oncotarget, found that using vitamin C inhibited the growth of cancer cells in the laboratory. It also showed a potency that was 10X higher than an experimental drug (2-DG) that they were testing along with the vitamin C. According to researchers, vitamin C starves cancer stem cells by blocking a process called glycolysis thereby preventing the mitochondria of the cancerous stem cell from surviving. I have a great C from Perque: It is the only vitamin C I know of that is not made from corn, and we don't want to ingest corn anymore because of the GMO ramifications.

Cancer with a sweet tooth: Even though it has been long suspected that cancer cells thrive and multiply on sugar, a new study at the University of Texas at Dallas (May, 2017) has determined that certain types of cancers have more of a sweet tooth than others. They did the research with lung cancers and found that squamous cell carcinomas were far more dependent on sugar, "remarkably so." They also found that in addition to the squamous cell lung cancers, that sugar "remarkably" affected squamous cell cancers of the head, neck, esophagus and cervix. I'm not sure if that grody squamous cell thing I had removed from my right shoulder 2 years ago, necessitating 18 stiches, was fed by sugar intake, but am currently pretty much sugar free so feel safe now from the "squames."

Methylene Blue: Remember those words. And look for it sometime soon at your nearest Macy's cosmetic counter. It's a common, inexpensive and safe chemical that could slow the aging of our skin, it's a powerful antioxidant. (Jour Scientific Reports, 5/30/17) and it seems to make "fundamental, long term changes to skin cells." Sign me up. But, until we can get our little aging hands on this new magic cream, keep using your alpha lipoic. It is a wonderful fat and water soluble antioxidant and it works well on the skin.

Diabetes caused by a bacteria? Makes perfect sense to me, of course, since I have seen over many years how much unwanted bugs create havoc and illness in our bodies and especially the gut. (Jour Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2017). Seems that these critters penetrate the mucus lining of the colon, creating metabolic disease and inflammation. (Remember the word inflammation? It's now the cause of everything bad, from acne and autoimmune disorders to heart disease and cancer to, well, everything imaginable.)

And, to remind you, metabolic disease includes 5 factors: A large waist line, a high triglyceride level, low HDL, high blood pressure and high fasting blood sugar levels. Metabolic syndrome in turn leads to sugar dysregulation and diabetes type 2 which in turn could lead to many serious and life-threatening diseases including stroke and heart disease. The researchers have not yet identified the bacterial interlopers that are squatting in our colon membrane, but my advice to you is  stay on your probiotics and keep your colon as healthy as possible, and yes, stop sugar and crappy carbs which is the number one reason we get inflamed in the first place.

The bacterial explanation of metabolic syndrome and inflammation is also why a product I carry called Berberine has been shown to bring sugar levels back to normal in type 2 diabetes: Berberine is an anti-microbial so it kills the aforementioned bacteria. Ergo, kill the bad bugs, lower your sugar levels. In many cases, Berberine has been shown to work as well as a wellknown, first line diabetes drug, Metformin.

News Short: Older people need more protein. Older people don't like protein all that much anymore, because not only have older people lost a lot of their ability to feel thirsty, they have also lost a lot of their digestive fire. In fact, 99.9% of all older people could use a good digestive aid, one which includes betaine hydrochloride. Then, because undigested protein isn't rotting in their gut anymore, they will want to eat it again.

Are you fat or not? Seems that instead of the BMI (Body Mass Index) which is the most common way of predicting obesity, the new way and presumably better way is the waist-to-height ratio. Sometimes the BMI does not take into consideration the person with abdominal fat, especially VAT (visceral adipose tissue) mass which is associated with insulin resistance and Cardio Vascular Disease. (Remember, fat around your middle is not good and is usually the result of too much sugar and crappy carbs.) So, do yourself a favor and do your math: Cut offs for predicting whole body obesity were .53 in men and .54 in women and for abdominal obesity was .59 in both sexes.

Why don't doctors question the value of the most heavily promoted drugs? You know how I always tell you to take the drug that's been around for 40 years, or at least the one that has made the grade (ie. not killed too many people) to be deemed generic? Top promoted drugs are less likely than top selling and top prescribed drugs to be effective, safe and affordable. The ads you see on TV - the handsome couple in side-by-side bathtubs holding hands, the sylvan/ocean background, the joyful/healthy faces, the older person spryly playing frisbee - yep, those are the ones to avoid.

And if your doctor mentions that you should take any prescription drug? First ask her why? Then, is it new? If it is new, then avoid it like the plague. Ask for (demand!) the generic. You know don't you that US physicians receive billions of dollars each year from drug companies as part of drug promotion? You have the right of refusal.

News Short: Diet sodas are now tied to dementia and stroke. People who drank 1-6 diet sodas per week, had twice the risk of stroke with weaker associations for dementia.

You CAN teach an old dog new tricks! Let's get rid of the following self-fulfilling prophecies: "One day, our brains will not work the way they used to, we won't be as sharp as we once were, we won't be able to remember things as easily." (Big ugly buzzer sound!)

Research shows that if adults would embrace the same "broad learning experiences" as we did as infants and children, then we may see an increase in our memory and cognitive health and not the scary picture of declining mental flexibility. There are 6 things we need to do to enhance our "broad learning" experiences: 1) Learn new patterns and new skills, exploring outside of our comfort zones. Exploring a new city? Learning a new language? Sky diving? Knitting a sweater? Learning the guitar?>/p>

2) Have access to teachers and mentors who may guide our learning in new fields 3) Having the belief that abilities can still be developed with effort. 4) Being allowed to make mistakes and even fail, in a forgiving environment. 5) Having a serious commitment to learning how to master essential skills and persevering despite setbacks.

6) Learning multiple skills simultaneously. So, maybe sky diving AND knitting? (The relaxing nature of the latter may offset the potential for serious heart attack in the former.) Learning the guitar AND how to operate your damned new Veggie Bullet? Walking AND chewing gum? "What I want adults to take away from this study is that we CAN learn many new skills at any age. It just takes time and dedication." (Rachel Wu, UC riverside, May 3, 2017)

Sitting is not really the new smoking: Researchers are saying now that it is the daily amount of physical activity that is crucial to a person's health, not the amount of time spent sitting. Women over 65 run a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease, but it has been found that at least one brisk daily walk or other physical activity requiring some exertion (get that heartbeat up!) is what counts to keep away heart disease. They mentioned nothing about how long the walk should be but I would suggest 30 minutes a day.

What I take away from this report is that "...getting up once in a while [off the couch] is naturally a good thing, but doing more exercise on a daily basis is better for our health." So, does this mean that we can lie or sit on the couch most of the day, mainlining Irish Breakfast tea with heavy cream and reading the latest Jo Nesbo and at some point get up and exercise a bit and be OK? If this is true, sign me up! At any rate, whatever this confusing and incomplete report says, get those walking shoes on and get out of breath at times on a 30 minute walk every day. (Or as a famous person once said: "Keep moving for death is very still.")

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