The Cholesterol Dilemma

Free Range Egg By, Free 2 Be @Flickr

So, I am supposed to be studying for a big Final tomorrow in TCM Pathology (Traditional Chinese Medicine Pathology), but am getting seriously sidetracked.  It seems that when you have something you NEED to do, it’s so much easier to spend time researching things that have no time constraint at all and nothing to do with your tests… well at least it’s health related.  I just got an email from a good friend asking for a reference to an article on saturated fat intake, eggs and cholesterol and their importance and relation to the primal diet, sometimes referred to as the paleo-diet  (these two are very slightly different: the primal diet puts an emphasis on fats in the diet, whereas the Paleo just on Paleolithic foods).  Basically, without getting into too much detail and to give you an idea of what it’s all about; it’s a diet that is low in carbohydrates, has a moderate amount of proteins and is high in fats.  Sounds exactly the opposite of the typical  American diet we’ve all been taught to follow our whole lives right?  Well, for more information on this, I’m going to have to send you elsewhere, as I do still have to study for a huge Final this evening and this is a big topic of conversation that I love researching, but could easily get lost for hours in it.  

So, back to my original point; my friend has a client who just recently inquired about the idea of eating saturated fats and whether or not eggs (the concept of the whole egg) were something that could be considered healthy or would just raise cholesterol.  Well, I started researching and found all these studies and quotes; but I wanted to find the best research, the most up to date and most relevant on the topic so I could hand it off to her as well as keep all these informational gems bookmarked for myself to use as a quick reference.  Instead of spending hours on the topic, like I was starting to do, I figured why not just ask one of the most informed persons in the business of all things primal… 

The following information was passed on to me from Nora Gedgaudas, which I have the pleasure of knowing through my gym; Spinach, (and yes that is the name of the gym it’s not a Vegan restaurant in Downtown Portland).  She is a Certified Nutritional Therapist, as well as a Board Certified Holistic Nutritionist through the NANP & a Clinical Neuro-Feedback Specialist… and this is just the beginning of a long list of achievements and endeavors which you can read more about on her Bio.  While you are in the neighborhood, I highly recommend to check out the rest of her website Primal Body — Primal Mind; especially if you have an interest in the primal diet.  

So, I figured what better way to answer my friends questions by gathering all the best information on the subject together in one place; selfishly for my own referral and to share with others as a one stop shop for questions on the subject of “saturated fats & cholesterol in the diet:  good or bad”.   

Nora was generous enough to pass on to me her quick reference guide to the best available research as of now: 

• Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease
  • This link will bring you to the Abstract online, which will tell you the gist of it.  Basically, the study took 21 others studies (a meta-analysis) and looked at their outcomes as a whole.  This study was based on the previous idea that a reduction in dietary saturated fat will improve cardiovascular health.
  • They wanted to see if there was indeed an associated increased risk of CHD & CVD with dietary Saturated Fats & what they found was…
  • …”there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD”…
  • Here, CHD stands for Coronary Heart Disease & CVD for Cardiovascular Disease; both of which according to the study are inclusive of Stroke.

If this whole idea is boggling to you and this is the first you’ve heard of it, I urge you to check out this article FIRST before jumping head first into the debate.  It is a wonderful representation of how the body utilizes fats, what Saturated vs. Unsaturated fats are and how cholesterol plays a role in all of this:

• The Definitive Guide to Cholesterol

Or you can reference one  of my previous articles on cholesterol:

• So Easy A Caveman Can Do It

If you prefer instead to listen to a talk about this concept; here is a link to one of Nora’s Voice America: Health & Wellness episodes:

• My Big Fat Diet
  • On this particular show, Nora hosts a guest speaker Dr. Jay Wortman, who recently did a documentary on fats in the diet in a specific population of people in British Columbia over the course of a year.  The results were astounding and together a total of 12,000 pounds were lost through a low carbohydrate, moderate protein and high fat diet… The show is about an hour long; but it’s a good one!

If you already have a pretty good grasp on the idea and want to get a little more into the odds and ends of it all, here is another website, that I admit I haven’t gotten into yet; but looks like it would be very informative; if not only because of the name: 

• The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics  i.e. Thinc.org

And… just for a little more light reading, but more for my benefit to finally get all these little informational gems in one place; here is another article Nora shared with me, which covers the whole concept of Saturated fats in the diet, & the misconception our country has about cholesterol: 

• The Oiling of America

Now, onto the subject of the egg… 

Good or bad?  Whole egg or egg whites?  Well, I’m on team “Whole Egg” without question.  Eggs are by far one of the most awesome source of nutrition all wrapped up nicely in a cheap, easy and delicious little package.  They are a perfect balance of fats and protein and all its integral parts work synergistically with your body to pack a mean  nutritional punch!  

• Smart Fuel: Eggs
  • Eggs are an excellent source of protein and have all 9 essential amino acids.  They are also an excellent source of Choline; a vitamin that has a function in cell membranes and a particular affinity to brain cells; improving overall brain health and development.
• Superfood of the week:  Eggs
  • Eggs have been shown to improve vision, heart health, baby health and even help with weight loss… just to name a few!
• Go Ahead Eat The Yolk
  • The egg yolk contains all the good stuff!  When you eat the yolk, you get all the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E & K) along with Zinc, Folate and Calcium.  Not to mention that the balance between the egg yolk and the egg white essentially balances the amino acid profile of the whole egg.  So, by cutting out the yolk, you miss out on the good stuff… now why would you want to do that?

I realize that this concept may be new to some of you, but I urge you to inform yourself before you just accept one idea over another.  There is plenty of research out there, you just have to take the time and find trusted sources that give you good up to date information. 

Whew… now, where did the time go, see I knew I’d end up spending hours on this… good thing I love learning, and sharing information with the masses!  Hope you enjoy and learned something 🙂 

Until next time, I’m off to get studying & be well~ 

Erin 

Sources: 

Enig, M. PhD & Fallon, S.  The oiling of america.  Retrieved June 16, 2010, from http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/525-the-oiling-of-america.html 

 

Gedgaudas, N., & Wortman, J. (2009). Primal Body — Primal Mind Radio. Retrieved June 16, 2010 from Voice America: Health & Wellness: http://www.voiceamerica.com/​voiceamerica/​vepisode.aspx?aid=44932. 

Rao, N. ND.  Go ahead eat the yolk.  Retrieved June 16, 2010, from http://www.wellwire.com/health/nutrition-health/go-ahead-and-eat-the-yolk 

Rao, N. ND.  Superfood of the week:  eggs.  Retrieved June 16, 2010, from http://www.wellwire.com/food/superfoods-food/eggs

Resko, E.  So easy a caveman can do it.  Retrieved June 16, 2010, from https://essentialhealing.wordpress.com/?s=cholesterol

Siri-tarino, P. W., Sun, Q., Hu, F. B., & Krauss, R. M. (2010). Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular . The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 91(3), 535-546. 

Sisson, M.  Smart fuel: eggs.  Retrieved June 16, 2010, from http://www.marksdailyapple.com/eggs/ 

Sisson, M.  The definitive guide to cholesterol. Retrieved June 16, 2010, from http://www.marksdailyapple.com/cholesterol/ 

  

  

  

“So Easy A Caveman Can Do It?”

By, Bhimbetka on flickr.com

The theme of the week seems to be cholesterol; good fats and bad fats; eating a healthy diet and living a healthy life-style.  But what does that mean?  It could mean a number of things to different people.  According to the American Heart Association we should decrease the amount of Saturated Fats in our diet, eat whole grains and maintain a low-fat regimen.  Then, there’s the other perspective… decrease grains all together, increase your fat intake (good fats – no trans, hydrogenated etc.) and maintain a moderate protein intake complete with wild-caught fish, grass-fed beef and wild-game. 

So which is the “right” one… well, I’ll let you choose for yourself, but hopefully I will get you thinking and give you a little information to do the right thing. 

It’s simple, if you didn’t have the daily conveniences of grocery stores, pre-packaged meals, microwaves & refrigerators, what would you eat?  Yes, our world would look a whole lot different than it does today.  Just think how much you rely on the grocery store to supply you with what you assume to be humanely harvested, healthy food choices… yes, ignorance is bliss… but is it?  I’m guessing that if we didn’t have somebody packaging our food up in pretty boxes, claiming “natural”, “heart healthy”, & “fresh”, half of us would starve and the other half would go, well crazy!  If we didn’t have these pretty boxes and shopping carts, we would have to supply for ourselves… just like the hunter, gatherer’s that are our ancestors.  Farming, hunting and seed, fruit and nut gathering were a daily routine to sustain a healthy diet.  There were no trans-fats, hydrogenated oils, highly processed, or super sugary foods in our diets… so whatever happened to these real, whole foods?  Well, it seems to me, we got sugar happy and lazy and with it; we got heart disease and obesity!

I just went to a little seminar with Nora Gedgaudas, author of Primal Body – Primal Mind (Empower Your Total Health the Way Evolution Intended & Didn’t).  She gave a nice presentation on good fats and bad fats in the diet and what nature intended for us and what it didn’t.  She made a good analogy with the following experiment:  “Put a block of butter outside in the yard, next to a tub of margarine and see which gets eaten first”.  She then went on to say how a client of hers went ahead and tried this, and you know what happened, the butter was gone in under an hour and the margarine, remained untouched for somewhere near a month!  Interesting isn’t it, that even scavenging animals that pick at the trash won’t even touch something so overly processed and preserved, yet we lather it on our food everyday by the bucket-load.  Another good point she made was that the rise of Heart Disease almost exactly correlates to the addition and increase of vegetable oils into the diet.  These along with all the hydrogenation, processing and sugar-coating could just be the deadly killers we’ve been trying to ignore all along. 

Anyway, the big point here is that our bodies rely on good fats from the diet.  By cutting out fats in the diet and maintaining a low-fat diet regiment, we send a signal to the hypothalamus that tells our bodies we are starving… in turn, the body starts storing fat every chance it gets to survive (it’s an instinctual mechanism).  By increasing the glucose intake (carbohydrates from simple sugars etc.) in the diet we essentially throw more fuel on the fire, propogating more of our calories to be stored as fat in the body.  Cholesterol is a necessary part of our bodies and is essential in neurological processes and all basic cellular function.  The cells in our body are essentially made up of fats, that’s what keeps them together & functioning properly.  In addition a high amount of blood cholesterol, should be used as an indicator that there is something else going on in the body.  Western drugs (statins) are good at removing the cholesterol, and lowering your blood levels on paper, but what does that mean?  Basically, by doing so, you take away the fire-fighters @ the scene of the crime and let the fire run rampant… the downside is, that the fire in this case is silent and will subsequently keep burning until it hits the pilot light and the whole place blows up. 

Enter Chinese herbs, Acupuncture, Qi-Gong or some form of Meditation, diet and lifestyle!  All together, these modalities can work wonders and support the natural processes of the body, lower blood pressure, decrease inflammation, decrease body weight and therefore; body mass index. 

So, just to add the convenience of this topic, I went on the computer this evening to order myself some more Krill Oil from Dr. Mercola.com and the first article on his home page read:  Saturated Fat is NOT the Cause of Heart Disease… coincidence?  I think not! 

I could keep going on and on about the benefits of good fats in the body and why they should be a major part of our diet, but you have to remember that everything in moderation is a key component as well as the way in which foods are harvested and processed (but hopefully not).   Make sure you read the labels, eat as many whole foods as you can; meaning vegetables, fruits and healthy proteins.  No matter what diet you decide to eat, make sure you always buy “wild” salmon & “grass-fed” beef.  Try to eat local and organic, sustainable foods; farmer’s markets are a great source and alternative to store-packaged goods.  For more information on the “Primal Living”, check out Nora’s website and her awesome book:

• Primal Body – Primal Mind
• Also, check out the Primal Radio Station, there is a sound bite about me!  Nora just interviewed Michael Skogg; owner of Elite Kettlebell Gym in Tigard, OR; Spinach Gym in downtown Portland, OR & is the face of Weider Powerbells & X-Factor Home Gym

Since I mentioned it, this brings me to a good point!  I am currently also a trainer/coach at Elite Kettle-Bell Gym in Tigard OR, as well as Spinach in Portland, OR and it has been one of the best things I could have brought into my life.  As you may know I used to be a competitive Freestyle skier back in the day, and love athletic ventures of all kinds.  Kettlebells have definitely made it to the top of my list as far as awesome workouts that get great results without a lot of time and if you are in the Portland/Tigard, OR area, I highly recommend you check it out!  It’s great for all people of ALL athletic abilities, it’s fun and there is always a great group of people with smiling faces around!  The new gym in downtown is amazing, they just opened it up and classes are running Monday through Saturday pretty much all day.  You can check out the schedule on Elite Kettlebell Gym’s website (the link is above) for more information.   Plus it is a great addition to “Primal Living” and any kind of exercise regimen in that case!

Another good source of information on “eating primal” as well as “living primal” is Mark Sisson’s Webpage and Blog:

• Mark’s Daily Apple – He’s got easy to access information on diet, nutrition exercise and all sorts of primal living details!  Check it out!

Well, that’s enough out of me, I hope you read, listen and link to these sites! 

Happy living and be well,

Erin

Sources:  

Gedgaudas, N. (2009). Primal body-primal mind: empower your total health the way evolution intended (…and didn. Portland OR: Primal Body – Primal Mind Publishing.

Mercola, . (2010, February 25). Saturated fat is not the cause of heart disease. Retrieved from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/02/25/saturated-fat-is-not-the-cause-of-heart-disease.aspx

Alternative Medical Therapy Works?!

Echinacea Flower By, Roddh

So I subscribe to a bunch of email list-serves and end up getting tons in my email inbox, tending to just pick some out at random and read them every once in a while.  Today, I decided to read one and came across this article that I just had to share with you.  If you are at all interested in Alternative Medicine of any kind, or (& especially) if you consider it all a bunch of ‘hocus pocus’ I highly recommend you continue reading.

A few times throughout the article I found myself going “right on… take that you skeptics”… but in my more appropriate, non-partisan mind, I’m thinking “this is just a good heads up to everyone that we should always remember to consider the source; the person’s intention, background, and underlying benefactors or motivations when reading any kind of information or research”.

Dear Reader,

Marilynn Marchione got it exactly right.

This Associated Press medical writer has been working on a series of articles about alternative medical treatments. Each piece begins with this note: “Ten years and $2.5 billion in research have found no cures from alternative medicine.”

She’s talking about the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. And I agree completely. For the most part, NCCAM has been cranking out lame studies that test absurdly low doses of herbs or supplements, or use poor forms of these treatments.

For instance, a 2003 study showed that Echinacea was ineffective in treating upper respiratory infections. One problem: Researchers used Echinacea mostly extracted from the flower of the plant. As any herbalist will tell you, roots contain the most potent concentration of medicinal agents, while flowers tend to be the least potent.

So that $2.5 billion that was largely wasted by NCCAM turns out to be a pretty sweet gift for people like Marilynn who take great delight in alt med “failures.”

In the most recent article in her series she spotlights the placebo effect. You can just imagine how she applies this to alt medicine.

Marilynn: “The placebo effect looms large in alternative medicine, which has many therapies and herbal remedies based on beliefs versus science.”

{and… here it comes, my favorite part…}

Well…not really. Those beliefs are based on centuries of trial and error conducted by generations of doctors and scientists. That’s how they did it back then. And it’s both naïve and arrogant to dismiss all that knowledge just because it doesn’t conform to a modern idea of “gold standard” research.

Marilynn also enlightens us with this note: “Many alternative medicine studies have not included a placebo group…”

Here’s my note to Marilynn: This isn’t 1980. You MUST be aware of the thousands of randomized, double blind, placebo controlled alt med studies over the past decade. And you must also be aware that sometimes a study’s design just doesn’t require a placebo group.

For instance, a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine tested a supplement of niacin (vitamin B-3) against Merck’s Zetia, a drug that reduces cholesterol absorption in the digestive tract. More than 200 patients with heart disease or heart disease risk were randomly selected to receive either the supplement or the drug for 14 months.

Results: LDL cholesterol and triglycerides were reduced in both groups. HDL cholesterol increased in both groups (mostly in the niacin group). But two important things happened in the niacin group that DID NOT happen in the Zetia group: 1) Thickness of the carotid artery walls was reduced in the niacin group, and 2) Incidence of major cardiovascular events was lower in the niacin group.

Fewer heart attacks and a reversal of arteriosclerosis. Not too shabby! We may not have enough evidence yet to actually say that niacin might “cure” arteriosclerosis. But it’s not too soon at all to point out to Marilynn that as placebo effects go, the reversing of narrowed arteries and prevention of heart attacks is pretty impressive.

In fact, it’s almost too impressive. Why…it’s almost as if this alternative medical therapy actually works!

Hopefully you’ve taken the time to read through this article and taken a little insight into the ability of some to misconstrue information if that’s what they intend to do.  Be smart, get all the facts, expand your reading material (read information from people you don’t necessarily agree with).  There is always something more to be learned, and gained from a different perspective and arming yourself with the information is crucial especially when it comes to your health!

~Be Well~

Erin

Source:  The Health Sciences Institute, Dec. 2nd 2009 *This article was taken from an email subscription sent to me*