Posts Tagged ‘cholesterol’

Cholesterol, Cafestol, Coffee, Cancer and Glutathione

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

What do cholesterol, cafestol, coffee, cancer and glutathione all have in common.

They are an example of how a little knowledge can get you in trouble. Yes, there are some health benefits from coffee.

If you heard about a study from the Netherlands (and others) that when the hot water hits the ground coffee beans, a chemical called cafestol is released. Here is the good and bad news.

One cup of coffee can contain 4 mg of cafestol which could make the cholesterol rise by as much as one percent. The simple solution is to use a paper filter. Paper totally blocks the cafestol. Thus no raise in cholesterol.

However, another study found that cafestol and kahweol, both found in unfiltered coffee, act as antioxidants and may have a cancer protective effect.

To Be Coffee or Not to Be Coffee, Filtered That Is?

In my travels, it seems that paper filters are mostly used in the US. Most of the world does not seem to use paper filters. (If you know of data on this, please let me know).

Drinking coffee (most likely unfiltered) has been associated with reducing the risk of liver injury and cirrhosis. This is a major pathogenic step on the road to liver related cancers. Increased coffee consumption around the world is associated with a reduced number of cirrhosis although it has not been proven to be the reason for this.

One thing we do know, cafestol kicks the glutathione system into high gear.

Before you do or do not filter your coffee, think about this.

If you carried the negative aspects of this to its logical conclusion, if you drank a cup of unfiltered coffee daily and every day it raised your cholesterol by one percent where would you be in a month. Two months. What about six months.

So although it raises the cholesterol level, those levels must also go down. So if your otherwise eating a healthy diet, this should not cause any harm. If your trying to reduce your cholesterol, only drink coffee made with paper filters.

Expresso Health Benefits vs Risks

Like wise, if you drink five cups of expresso a day (which is not filtered), the overdosing of the various otherwise protective chemicals could possibly predispose you to increased risk of some diseases like Parkinson’s. The Parkinson’s connection was discovered in an 18 year study. There needs to be more testing on it to confirm the findings but this should be enough to, at the very least, be cautious as to how much coffee you give to your pet lab rats or your husband (depending on how you feel about them tomorrow morning).

The bottom line, all things in moderation.

TIP For Paper Filter Users: I found that by using two paper filters and two scoops (like come with the coffee) per the 8 cup marking of water, the coffee will end up tasting a bit stronger with out having to put more coffee in the hopper.

To really amp up the taste by buying some of the more expensive coffee and bending one scoop of the expensive with the less expensive it provide a better taste at a reduced price.

Want the benefits of cafestol in your coffee maker. Get a screen. You will save on the cost of paper filters and save the environment form a tiny bit of trash.

Green Tip: Use the coffee grounds as fertilizer for both plants and your shrubs. Just dump the used grounds at the base directly on the ground. I know my rhodendrum love this.

Good health to you (and your shrubs)

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Posted in cancer, cholesterol, Fun Foods, Glutathione, Qutestions of Health | 4 Comments »

Cholesterol and Inflammation

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

An interesting questions was posted.

“In what way can cholesterol be blamed for circulatory diseases?

Can you get atherosclerosis in the absence of inflammation? (as in the case with someone with low inflammation markers)”

First I am not an expert on this. This is a multi-faceted health challenge. Everyone agrees that we have to invest in our health to have optimal health. The underlying way to invest in our health is through a good diet and limit toxins or detoxify if necessary.

As to atherosclerosis, literature does associate it with inflammation.

Our blood vessels have a Teflon like coating on the inside. The lining will prevent buildup of anything, be it cholesterol or even blood clots. That is, unless there is something that changes the nature of it. In this case, inflammation does just that. To protect the inflammation, should it happen to the lining of the blood vessel, the cholesterol comes to the rescue, unfortunately.

Once attached there, it can continue to build up. That is the theory.

Please note that this is the current thinking of the medical establishment. What is interesting is the relationship to inflammation and oxidization stress. The most important aspect about this is that it is on the frontiers of knowledge.

Below is one of the papers that made up part of my research. Note that it includes studies that looked at the Apo B and A-1. The point of the paper was there are no high level studies that associate cholesterol with with atherosclerosis growth.

Q J Med Q 2002 you can read the write up on the theory.

From the paper….

“It is generally assumed that their effect on cardiovascular disease is mediated through the high cholesterol, but this may be a secondary phenomenon.(italics ours) Physical activity may benefit the cardiovascular system by improving endothelial function, or by stimulating the formation of collateral vessels; mental stress may have a harmful influence on adrenal hormone secretion, smoking increases the oxidant burden; in these all situations the high cholesterol may be an epiphenomenal indicator that something is wrong. This argument also explains why some studies found atherosclerotic growth to be associated with initial or on-study LDL-cholesterol, but not with {Delta}LDL or total cholesterol. If the amount of LDL-cholesterol in the blood were the determining factor, atherosclerotic growth should have been associated with {Delta}LDL-cholesterol as well and to a higher degree.”

“As shown here, this hypothesis appears to be falsified by the fact that degree of atherosclerosis, and atherosclerotic growth, were independent on the concentration or the change of LDL-cholesterol in almost all studies.”

Note: The focus of my post is that cholesterol is poorly understood and a poor marker to use as a basis for looking at cardiac health risk on its own. Also, Statins are shown to be ineffective for patients over 65. They do reduce cholesterol but are not shown to decrease adverse cardiac health events.

To answer the question…”Can I get atherosclerosis in the absence of inflammation?” the answer is unknown. What if someone does experience a period of inflammation at some point in their life?

It seems the course of wisdom would be to reduce cholesterol. The question would be how to best do this. Lowering cholesterol can be accomplished through a number of dietary changes or improvements. The benefit is that these provide other benefits in addition to just lowering cholesterol.

This is still a work in progress. There is still a lot of research to sift through and doctors to interview.

I am a two eggs a day for breakfast all of my life kind of guy. Yet, even though a bit overweight, my cholesterol was lower than my wife and both HDL and LDL were in the good to great ranges back when I had it done. I think to some degree, science is like five blind men all describing their part of a a pink elephant. Even with all they can describe, there is one big thing they just cannot see.

All of this is quite exciting and at the same time mind boggling.

This is not a Doctors do not want us to know thing. This is not a drug companies do not want us to know thing either. They are out to make a buck. They could care less about us becoming educated consumers. And that is the real issue.

Do not fire your doctor either. As the article above states, Statins have an anti-inflammatory effect. All is not known yet about this. A frank and open discussion and even debate can change all of this.

If your reading this, then you have taken that step, to become an educated consumer. If your posting here, then you have begun the debate to help improve health care.

Note: This reminds me of Dr. Goodenoug. He was one of the leading authors writing about those who refused blood transfusions being crazy. Now, he is one of the most prolific writers and speakers on bloodless medicine and surgery. Why? In his research he became an educated consumer. He will be the first to tell you that the transfusion you refuse may save your life.

Imagine this, a doctor who believed one way making a total 180 and now promoting the exact opposite. You have the power to make such changes yourself. If you question the common thinking.

Good health to you.

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Cholesterol Levels: 40% Accuracy in Predicting Risk
A Better Predicter: Apo B / A-1 Ratio

Friday, July 10th, 2009

Do you know what you don’t know? You probably do not know that cholesterol only predicts heart risk 40% of the time. There is a better way. The Apo b / A-1 ratio is a better predictor. Recent Danish studies further identify the Lp (a) as being associated with heart disease risk.

Further, there is a glutathione boosting alternative to statins that is safer and more effective with out the side effects of statins.

Take the information ride and learn more about the underlying cause and where to find an underlying safe and effective treatment. Read on….


Old Cholesterol Thinking

We all know that the desirable total cholesterol is Less than 200

We know that LDL or the Bad Cholesterol should be under 130

We know that HDL or good Cholesterol should be over 60

What you may not know is that the understanding of these numbers has changed.

The Apo B/A-1 Ratio

What is more important is the B/A-1 Ratio.

What is Apo B/A-1 A? It is a ratio. The ratio is of a smaller part of the cholesterol. One that, if your doctor does not practice evidence based medicine, he/ she will not know about.

It is considered the superior way to measure risk.

Forget everything you thought you knew about LDL and HDL. A 2006 Study: The apo B/A-I Ratio — A Stronger Predictor of Cardiovascular Events Than LDL, HDL, or Total Cholesterol, Triglycerides, or Lipid Ratios changes everything.

Wait, this has been out since 2006? How come we did not hear about this till now? There is some debate on the topic.

Here are some questions to ask.

How can two people with the same cholesterol values have one who gets atherosclerosis and the other does not? How can athletes in better shape than us die of heart attacks?

Most importantly, if there were a better way to manage cholesterol, would you be interested?

The answer lies in managing the Apo B A-1 ratio.

Individuals with seemingly acceptable LDL cholesterol levels may in fact have high apo B values, revealing the presence of many small, dense LDL particles, thus indicating substantial risk.

Now factor in the Lipoprotein(a) also known as Lp(a), a lipoprotein subclass. Studies have identified Lp(a) as a putative risk factor for atherosclerotic diseases such as coronary heart disease and stroke.

According to a Danish study, high Lp(a) in blood is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular disease (CVD), atherosclerosis, blood clots (thrombosis), and stroke.

Lp-a concentrations may be affected by disease states. Here is the important part. It is only slightly affected by diet, exercise, and other environmental factors. The same is true of Lp(b).

Statins, the common prescribed lipid-reducing drugs have little or no effect on Lp(a) or Lp(b) except to increase their ratio. The B vitamin Niacin (nicotinic acid), aspirin, NAC and Cysteine are known to significantly reduce the levels of Lp(a) in some individuals with high Lp(a).

But wait, it gets worse. If our LDL is high and we do not have a lot of Apo B, then by taking a cholesterol lowering drug, we can potentially raise the Apo B / A-1 Ratio and increasing the risk.

If the doc says you need to start a Statin or cholesterol lowering drug, the question to ask, “Have you done the VAP test?”

The old cholesterol measurement and ratios are only 40% accurate according to literature.

But….

There are three more things you need to know.

One, there is an even better way to fight cholesterol. One with out the side effects of statins, one of the most debilitating being amnesia / loss of memory.

Research has found that cysteines are the safest, most effective nutrient known to lower Lp(a) levels. One form of cysteine reduces Lp(a) by almost 70%.

In the interest of disclosure, you should know that I am a distributor of two such cysteine products.

The second: What is the risk benefit ratio for those taking Statins who are over 65. This will be in another post. However, I can tell you that the benefit according to one study is NO benefit. Oh it will lower your cholesterol. But the benefit of decreasing cardiac risk is not there.

Do not stop taking your medicine just because your reading this. However, if it touches a nerve, you need to be proactive in your health care. You need to become an educated consumer.

Third: cholesterol and in particular the ones we are discussing here are associated with middle age memory loss and risk of Alzheimer’s in old age. What would it be worth to prevent your memories from being stolen in your old age?

Using cysteine to boost your intercellular glutathione may help in other ways. Talk with your doctor. If he is not knowledgeable on complimentary alternative medicine, find a doctor who is.

Incidentally, the cysteine products I use are mainstream medicine. One is medicare approved. Both can be found in the Physicians Desk Reference.

There is a section on GlutathioneDiseaseCure.com looking at this topic. It is a work in progress so please come back. Your patience is appreciated.

One more thing…2 carrots a day. Yes, eating just 2 carrots a day can help improve the numbers. To get the best benefit, only eat your 2 carrots three days in a row and two days do not have any carrots.

It has long been known that boosting your Glutathione helps maintain your cholesterol at safe levels. Now it is known that it helps keep the bad cholesterol and parts there of at bay as well.

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Fiber Does Not Lower Cholesterol, Well, Technically.

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008

Do you want to lower cholesterol?

Have you heard fiber will? Well actually it is not the fiber on its own rather the lipids in the fiber. However, it still needs to be in combination to get the ulterior benefit of lower cholesterol.

If you like the geeky part, go to the site an read the full abstract. Just cut and paste.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 81, No. 1, 64-68, January 2005
2005 American Society for Clinical Nutrition

Rice bran oil, not fiber, lowers cholesterol in humans

Objective: The objective of the study was to find out if it was the bran or the oil in the bran had any effect on American blood lipids in those moderately hypercholesterolemic (too much bad cholesterol) persons.

Design: Study 1 used bla, bla, bla.

Conclusions: It was the rice bran oil and not the fiber that lowers cholesterol in moderately hypercholesterolemic adults.

It was felt that the reduction of cholesterol was due to other components present in the rice bran oil.

Don’t rush out and buy the next pill that is touted. Just make sure bran is part of your diet.

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