reducing heart disease risk Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Support Coronary Health With THIS Amino Acid

AHA Publisher — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 08:00:48 +0000

Lori Alton via NaturalHealth365 – Every 34 seconds in the United States, somebody dies of heart disease. In fact, cardiovascular disease is currently the leading cause of death in the nation, claiming about 697,000 lives in 2020 alone. In coronary heart disease – the most common type of heart condition – arteries can’t deliver enough oxygen-rich blood to the heart. Lysine, a common amino acid, is believed to inhibit plaque build-up and promote heart health. Moreover, a this study suggests that lysine can lower high blood pressure – a known risk factor for heart disease. Let’s see what other health benefits this nutrient has to offer. Lysine Is a “Jack of All Trades” That Supports the Health of Multiple Systems First of all, what is lysine’s role in the body? A building block for proteins, it is vital for muscle growth and maintenance. And, as it helps to prevent the loss of lean muscle mass, it may be particularly beneficial in improving strength and mobility in elderly people. Lysine also helps to produce collagen – a protein needed for speedy wound healing, healthy skin, and flexible arteries. In addition, lysine contributes to bone health and wards off osteoporosis by supporting the absorption of calcium. It also supports the immune system by assisting the production of infection-fighting antibodies. As if that weren’t enough, this versatile nutrient is also involved in the creation of enzymes and hormones. One more surprising attribute of lysine is its ability to ease anxiety and lower levels of the “stress” hormone, cortisol. In one randomized, placebo-controlled study, a week of supplementation with lysine and arginine reduced anxiety and lowered cortisol in healthy adults with stress-induced anxiety. Finally, this amino acid is believed to help control outbreaks of “cold sores” resulting from the herpes simplex Type 1 virus. Clearly, when it comes to sustaining health, lysine “wears many hats.” Supplementation May Help Keep Blood Pressure in Healthy Range Some researchers maintain that lysine can reduce hypertension (high blood pressure) by preventing pressure buildup in the arteries. Recent research has shown that people with suboptimal lysine intake and high blood pressure experienced lowered blood pressure when supplemented with lysine. In a randomized, placebo-controlled study published in BMC Nutrition, 1,000 mg of lysine a day for 112 days significantly lowered systolic blood pressure (the top number, which measures the force of each heartbeat). In fact, this measurement dropped by an average of almost 20 points! The scientists concluded that the amino acid may be a “useful nutrient” when added to hypertension medications. Lysine May Promote Heart Health by Reinforcing Collagen Nobel prize-winning researcher Linus Pauling maintained that lysine may help promote heart health by strengthening collagen (“like steel rods in concrete,” in his colorful analogy), thereby helping to prevent collagen fracture and blood clots. When there are extra amounts of lysine and the amino acid proline in the blood, Pauling declared, the lipoprotein-a attachment sites are obstructed by lysine, creating a “Teflon-like” coating around the particles and preventing them from binding to the arterial walls. In this way, lysine is believed to prevent plaque buildup – reducing the threat of atherosclerosis and high blood pressure. Unfortunately, these findings have been generally greeted with indifference by many conventional cardiologists. Mostly due to the ground-breaking work of Linus Pauling (and others, such as Dr. Sidney Bush), some natural health experts advise a combination of vitamin C and lysine to reverse atherosclerosis and help prevent heart attacks. For example, the Dr. Rath Health Foundation’s Cellular Recommendations for Heart Health call for 100 to 500 mg of the nutrient a day, along with other amino acids, bioflavonoids, vitamins, and minerals. Boost Dietary Intake With Meat, Beans, and Nuts Lysine is an essential amino acid, meaning it is not produced by the body and must be obtained through diet or supplementation. It is found in animal products, including grass-fed beef, dairy products, cage-free eggs, and wild-caught salmon or sardines. For vegetarians and vegans, no worries: lysine is also found in wheat germ, beans, lentils, amaranth, buckwheat, and nuts. While most people get enough lysine through diet, supplementation may be advisable. People recovering from burns or other severe injuries – and those who perform frequent, high-intensity workouts – may require a higher-than-average intake. Natural healers typically recommend amounts of up to 3 grams a day – but consult your own integrative doctor before supplementing. Capable of promoting stable mood, bone health, heart health, and better immunity, lysine is clearly too important to take for granted. Eating a healthy diet can help ensure that you are consuming enough of this health-promoting amino acid. Sources for this article include: MedicalNewsToday.com DrRathFoundation.org NIH.gov CDC.gov Healthline.com To read the original article click here.

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Which Diet Works Even Better the Longer You Do It?

AHA Publisher — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 07:00:32 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – The most well-published community-based lifestyle intervention in the medical literature is also one of the most effective. CHIP, the Complete Health Improvement Program—now known as Pivio, may be “the most well-published community-based lifestyle interventions in the [medical] literature.” It is also one of the most effective, with clinical changes “approaching those outcomes achieved in [live-in] residential lifestyle programs.” As I discuss in my video The Weight Loss Program That Got Better with Time, CHIP encourages people to transition toward a more whole food, plant-based diet, and the “average reductions in blood pressure were greater than those reported with the DASH [Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension] study and comparable with the results” of blood pressure-lowering drug trials. If we’re going to reverse the worldwide chronic disease epidemic, though, we’ve got to scale this up. To make CHIP more accessible to a wider audience, each of Hans Diehl’s live presentations was videotaped. Then, a “trained and certified” volunteer facilitator got people in a room to watch the videos and helped foster discussion. When it comes to safe, simple, side effect–free solutions, such as a healthier diet and lifestyle, you don’t need to wait for a doctor to show up and give a lecture. Sounds great, but does it work? Those individuals who were the worst of the worst and participated in the program, finishing all the videos, had a 20-point drop in blood pressure, a 40-point drop in bad LDL cholesterol, and more than a 500-point drop in triglycerides, as you can see below and at 1:08 in my video. Of those who came in with diabetic-level fasting blood sugars, about one in three left with nondiabetic-level fasting blood sugars. Remember, all of this was achieved simply by empowering people with knowledge. Just encouraging people “to move toward a whole-food, plant-based diet” led to these remarkable benefits. What was the effectiveness of this volunteer-delivered lifestyle modification program on 5,000 participants? The same kind of significant reductions in weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugars were found. Most studies giving “dietary advice to free-living subjects can be expected to reduce blood total cholesterol by only 3-6%…[but a] sustained reduction in blood total cholesterol concentration of 1% is associated with a 2-3% reduction in the incidence of heart disease.” So, on a population scale, even small differences matter. Put thousands of people through just one month of CHIP, however, and you get an 11 percent drop on average and up to a nearly 20 percent drop among those who need it most, as you can see below and at 2:12 in my video. Do the participants maintain their healthy habits, though? Doctors can’t even get most people to take a single pill once a day. How effective can a volunteer-led video series be at getting people to maintain a change of eating habits? Researchers looked at the CHIP data to find out. How were participants doing 18 months after completing the program? Most were able to maintain their reductions of meat, dairy, and eggs, though some of the junk food had started to slip back in. Their fruit and veggie consumption dipped, though not back to baseline. Ready for the huge shocker? Even though the participants had been told explicitly to eat as much as they wanted without any calorie- or carb-counting and without any portion control, just by being informed about the benefits of centering their diets more on whole plant foods, by the end of the six-week program, they were eating, on average, about 339 fewer calories a day without even trying. Instead of eating less food, they were just eating healthier food. But that was right at the end of the six-week program when they were all jazzed up. Where were they 18 months later? Anyone familiar with weight-loss studies knows how it works: You can excite anyone in the short term to lose weight using practically any kind of diet, but then after six months or a year, they tend to gain it all back—or even more. The CHIP participants were eating about 300 fewer calories a day during the program, but 18 months later, they were eating about 400 fewer calories. What kind of diet can work even better the longer you do it? A whole food, plant-based diet. “Many weight loss programs restrict energy [calorie] intake by limiting portion sizes, which often results in hunger and dissatisfaction with the eating regime, thus contributing to low compliance and weight regain,” but the satiety-promoting all-you-care-to-eat plant-based, whole-food dietary approach may be the secret weapon of sustainable weight loss. Key Takeaways The Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP) encourages transitioning to a more whole food, plant-based diet and may not only be the most well-published community-based lifestyle intervention in the medical literature, but also one of the most effective. Its clinical changes may be on par with outcomes achieved in live-in lifestyle programs, and the average drop in blood pressure achieved with CHIP exceeded reports by the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study and was comparable to results from trials with blood pressure–lowering drugs. To make CHIP more widely accessible, each live presentation delivered by Hans Diehl, the developer of the program, was videotaped so volunteer facilitators, each trained and certified, could screen the lectures and foster discussion among participants. Participants who completed the facilitated video program had a 20-point drop in blood pressure, a 40-point drop in bad LDL cholesterol, and more than a 500-point drop in triglycerides. Most of those who started CHIP with diabetic-level fasting blood sugars left with nondiabetic levels. Typically, studies giving dietary advice to participants not in a live-in setting may get cholesterol reductions of 3 to 6 percent, and sustained reduction of 1 percent is associated with a 2 to 3 percent drop in heart disease incidence. Just one month of CHIP achieved an 11 percent drop on average and up to a nearly 20 percent drop among those participants most in need of intervention. Eighteen months after completing the volunteer-led video series, most CHIP participants maintained their reductions of animal products, though some began eating more junk food and less fruits and vegetables (though not back to baseline quantities). Importantly, they were eating about 400 fewer calories a day than before they started CHIP. (At the end of the six-week video program, they were down only 300 daily calories.) Unlike many weight-loss programs that count calories and limit portion sizes, an all-you-care-to-eat plant-based, whole food dietary approach appears to be more sustainable. To read the original article click here.

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