Alternative Medicine News – April 8, 2013

The Cholesterol Myth

No matter what you hear on drug commercials, cholesterol is NOT your enemy.

How do we know this? Easy. Consider the following facts:

• Most heart attack patient do NOT have high cholesterol.
• LDL cholesterol is not dangerous if it is in the big fluffy form (subtype A). The small, dense LDL (subtype B) is dangerous. Which do you have? The common cholesterol tests won’t tell you. The expanded one will.
• Statins are not necessary if you have high LDL as long as it is subtype A. They don’t prevent heart attacks in the first place.
• Saturated fat is NOT dangerous. An extensive review of studies found no connection between saturated fat and heart disease.
• Carbohydrates are NOT healthier than fats. Refined carbs increase inflammation, a major cause of heart disease. Sugar is the worst of these.

I really like this Bottom Line article. It will give you the details on all of the above. Find the info here.

Omega-3 Lowers Macular Degeneration Risk

You probably know that Omega-3 fatty acids help your heart and brain.

Now research shows that these essential nutrients also lower the risk of macular degeneration. That’s great news.

Macular degeneration is a major cause of blindness in the elderly. Taking a simple nutrient to help protect against it seems like a no-brainer.

Note that they found the protection was strongest in older patients. However that doesn’t mean it won’t help younger folks. I suspect that it will have a protective effect if taken over time. And given the other benefits from Omega-3, it is what I recommend to my patients.

The details of the study are posted in this Life Extension article. You’ll find it here.

You’ll Never Guess What Your Body Needs To Keep You And Your Brain Healthy

Give up? It’s cholesterol.

Hmmm…

It turns out that cholesterol give the brain a crucial component that supports dopamine production. Dopamine affects thinking, memory, mood, sleep and movement. You don’t want to mess with those things.

Here is a quote from the study.

“Cholesterol is extremely important for the body, and in particular for the development and function of the brain.”

Right from the horse’s mouth. With all the other misinformation about cholesterol (see the first article in today’s newsletter), this is one more reason to doubt the hype.

As usual, the Health Sciences Institute article is amusing as well as informative. You can see it here.

Real Salt, Celtic Salt and Himalayan Salt

Regular table salt is about as healthy as refined sugar.

That’s a strong statement. But because refined salt is, well, refined, it lacks all the other basic minerals that normally come with it. Things like magnesium are lacking. And since magnesium acts to balance sodium, that’s significant.

But there are types of salt that are good for you. And since sodium is a crucial nutrient, you need to have enough of it. It regulates fluids. It supports nerve signals. It regulates blood pressure and helps muscles running smoothly.

Sodium also helps keep the body cool. Without it you couldn’t cool off after intense activity.

It also carries energy to muscles and nerves.

So what types of salt should you consider eating?

Celtic Sea Salt®, Himalayan Salt or Redmond Real Salt are good choices.

To learn more about each of these, including how they are gathered and what’ in them, see this Green Med Info article. The article is here.

Candida Treatment Protocol

Candida is a form of fungus. It is commonly called yeast. And, everyone has this in their body.

But for many people, their body can’t control the growth of this fungus. That’s when Candida overgrowth happens.

Symptoms of this can vary. They might include

• Vaginal itching or discharge.
• Thrush, which is a thick white coating on the tongue & throat.
• Bladder irritation.

There are events that can pre-dispose someone to have Candida overgrowth. They include:

• Use of steroid hormones.
• Pregnancy or taking birth control pills.
• High sugar & carbohydrate diets.
• Chronic exposure to molds in the environment.
• Taking antibiotics & sulfa drugs

If you want to know whether or not you might have it, I recommend this article. If you want to know what you might do to get rid of it, the article has some good advice.

I recommend you read it here.