Caution: The “Best Route” to Good Health is Causing 106,000 Deaths/Year
December 31, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
By Dr. Mercola
Over the course of the past two decades, U.S. spending on prescription drugs increased from $40 billion to more than $230 billion.
Illegal drug company activities are one factor contributing to this inflated spending.
One 2010 study looked at trends in federal and state criminal and civil actions against drug companies in order to assess the impact of such shady activities.
Among other findings, the study showed that while the defense industry used to be the biggest defrauder of the federal government under the False Claims Act, the drug industry has now overtaken them.
Big Pharma: Biggest Defrauder of Federal Government
In fact, the drug industry now tops all other industries in the total amount of fraud payments for actions against the federal government under the False Claims Act.
Four companies stand out as the worst of the worst.
GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Schering-Plough accounted for 53 percent of all financial penalties imposed on pharmaceutical companies between 1990 and 2010.
Most recently, on November 3, the New York Times reported that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has settled another round of litigation against them to the tune of $3 BILLION. (The previous record was held by Pfizer, which in 2009 paid a fine of $2.3 billion for illegal marketing.) The charges against GSK included illegal marketing of the dangerous diabetes drug Avandia, kick-backs to doctors, and manipulation of medical research. Three billion dollars is no chump change, but it's still just a drop in the bucket when you consider the astronomical profits these companies rake in, which are significantly bolstered by their criminal activities.
For example, GSK has an annual revenue of about $28 billion, so how much of a deterrent can $3 billion really be?
The record over the past 20 years tells us that financial fines have done nothing to curb the criminal mindset within the pharmaceutical industry. On the contrary, it has increased in the past several years, despite larger fines being levied. This is largely due to the perversion of corporate influence on the government, as most eloquently explained by one of the most famous political lobbyists of all time who was able to freely spill the beans about the process in the 60 Minutes sequence below, after having served time in federal prison.
Please understand that the drug industry has the LARGEST political lobbying force in the United States.
"Over the past two decades, especially during the past 10 years, there has been a marked increase in both the number of government settlements with pharmaceutical companies and the size of the accompanying financial penalties. The reasons for these increases are likely related to a combination of increased violations by companies and increased enforcement on the part of federal and state governments.
The danger to public safety and the loss of state and federal dollars that comes with these violations require a more robust response than the government's current practices. Given the relatively small size of current financial penalties when compared to the perpetrating companies' profits, both increased financial penalties and appropriate criminal prosecution of company leadership may provide a more effective deterrent to unlawful behavior by the pharmaceutical industry."
Pharmaceutical Corporations Top the Corporate Criminals List
In August of last year, the Bureau of Investigative Journalists also shed some much needed light on the vast corruption within the pharmaceutical industry. A large number of pharmaceutical companies are guilty of fraud, cover-ups of fatal side effects, and huge kickbacks paid to doctors.
A total of 19 drug companies also made AllBusiness.com's Top 100 Corporate Criminals List for the 1990s. Charges run the gamut from international price-setting, illegal marketing, false claims, hiding serious problems with their drugs and, in one case (Ortho, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson), obstruction of justice and eight counts of persuading employees to destroy documents in a federal investigation.
Between those three sources alone, there's no longer a shred of doubt that the pharmaceutical industry is officially the most crime-infested and crooked industry on the planet—at least in terms of criminal activities that are actually being caught, pursued and prosecuted. (For a running list of the most recent news on False Claims Act cases, see the Taxpayers Against Fraud site.)
Yet toxic drugs designed, manufactured, and peddled by these top criminals are what the medical industry and government health agencies try to pass off as the "best" route to good health… despite the fact that pharmaceutical drugs, taken as prescribed, are also directly responsible for the death of at least 106,000 people annually, on top of everything else.
It would be funny if it wasn't so profoundly tragic.
Main Findings by the Public Citizen's Health Research Group
By scouring through comprehensive databases of all major criminal and civil settlements between federal and state governments and pharmaceutical companies occurring between 1990 and 2010, the Public Citizen's Health Research Group made some sobering discoveries.
For example:
"Of the 165 settlements comprising $19.8 billion in penalties during this 20-year interval, 73 percent of the settlements (121) and 75 percent of the penalties ($14.8 billion) have occurred in just the past five years (2006-2010).
… The practice of illegal off-label promotion of pharmaceuticals has been responsible for the largest amount of financial penalties levied by the federal government over the past 20 years. This practice can be prosecuted as a criminal offense because of the potential for serious adverse health effects in patients from such activities.
Deliberately overcharging state health programs, mainly Medicaid fraud, has been the most common violation against state governments and is responsible for the largest amount of financial penalties levied by these governments. This type of violation is also the main factor in the considerable increase in state settlements with pharmaceutical companies over time."
The Six Top Thugs of the Medical World
Last year, I also did some of my own research into the biggest wrong-doers. The chart below shows the type of criminal activity, lawsuits and fines or judgments I was able to find for each of the six drug companies featured in that report.
Keep in mind that these are conservative numbers as many records are not available without a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Also, many are not readily available online unless you know exactly what you're looking for, and what year.
| Type of criminal activity | Pfizer | GSK | Baxter | Merck & Co. | Roche | Johnson & Johnson |
| Guilty of fraud and/or Illegal sales activity | 9 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 14 |
| Federal and/or Civil lawsuits | 10,000+ Individuals or together in class action suits | 800+ | 226+ Unnamed number of persons w/AIDS | 100,000 Individuals or together in class action suits | 5,000+ Individual and/or class action | 500+ Individual and/or class action |
| Dollar Amount of fines, judgments as a result of criminal or civil litigation | $4 Billion+ | $5 Billion+ | $1.3 Billion+ | $5.5 Billion+ | $1.7 Billion+ | $1 Billion+ |
United States: 49th in Life Expectancy, First in Health Care Costs
Sadly, all of the statistics included in this article indicate that the pharmaceutical industry shows no signs at all of changing its ways. If anything, their behavior is getting more reprehensible as time goes on, as the price to be paid is never 'costly' enough to deter further malfeasance.
Ditto for the American healthcare system as a whole, which of course is based on the drug paradigm with a pill for every ill... Is it any wonder then that our health statistics are so abysmal? Virtually every measurable index indicates that despite the ever-increasing amounts of money invested, if you live in the U.S., your chances of achieving optimal health through the medical system is only getting worse. While the U.S. spends more than twice the amount on health care as other developed nations, we rank 49th in life expectancy worldwide—lower than a dozen other developed nations!
That alone should tell you that the system is not working. But there's plenty more evidence showing that our health care system is in dire need of a complete overhaul, away from the drug paradigm and toward nutrition and preventive health measures.
In a June 2010 report in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, study authors said that in looking over records that spanned from 1976 to 2006 (the most recent year available) they found that, of 62 million death certificates, almost a quarter-million deaths were coded as having occurred in a hospital setting due to medication errors.
Many more are harmed by other types of medical mistakes. For example, an analysis in the New England Journal of Medicine published in November of last year concluded that, despite efforts to improve patient safety in the past few years, the health care system hasn't changed much at all. Instead, 18 percent of patients were harmed by medical care (some repeatedly) and over 63 percent of the injuries could have been prevented. In nearly 2.5 percent of these cases, the problems caused or contributed to a person's death. In another 3 percent, patients suffered from permanent injury. In all there were over 25 injuries per 100 admissions.
Surely, there must be a better way?
I believe there is, and it all starts with taking control of your diet, exercise, and overall lifestyle.
Optimal Health Can be Reached without Drugs
Most of you know that I rarely recommend pharmaceuticals, and in fact my mission is to catalyze a transformation of the fatally flawed health care system that uses expensive pharmaceuticals, and surgeries –as the primary strategy. We need to shift the direction and focus on treating and preventing the foundational underlying causes. In many cases, your health will actually improve when you stop taking drugs and are no longer subjected to their side effects.
Naturally, you should not stop any medications you are currently taking until you are working with a knowledgeable natural health care practitioner who can help guide you, but minimizing your use of drugs should be a goal if you want to achieve optimal health. Keep in mind, too, that many drugs are designed to create life-long dependency.
For instance, acid-reducing medications actually induce acid-related symptoms like heartburn and acid regurgitation once treatment is withdrawn. Headache drugs can also cause "medication overuse headaches" leading you to seek another drug to relieve the pain caused by the first one. It's all too common to have to take one or more additional drugs solely to treat side effects caused by your initial drug treatment, so the more you can stay away from this warped system, the better.
The desire to solve problems by taking drugs is a product of our culture, perpetuated by everyone, from drug manufacturers, to doctors, to government health officials, to you.
When you teach your child that the appropriate response to pain or discomfort is to take a pill, the result may be that he seeks comfort by taking drugs when faced with the challenges of adolescence and, later, as an adult. But you CAN take control of your health, and you can typically do so without using medications.
My site is chock full of free comprehensive recommendations that can serve as an excellent starting point. The tools I provide on this site will help you to reduce your reliance on the broken health care system, including its overuse of drugs and provide you with the tools and resources to Take Control of Your Health.
Chiropractors and Naturopaths – Are They Dangerous?
December 30, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
By Dr. Mercola
The medical profession has a long history of opposing alternative healing professions.
While always claiming public safety as its reason for the attacks, the true reasons often involve protecting their monopoly of the healthcare market.
Medicine's opposition to chiropractic was its strongest under the leadership of Morris Fishbein, Secretary of the American Medical Association from 1924 to 1949, who led a 50-year anti-chiropractic campaign in both professional publications and the public media.
Historical Antitrust Lawsuits Against Medical Societies
In 1975 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Goldfarb vs. the Virginia State Bar, that learned professions are not exempt from antitrust suits.
In 1982 the Court ruled that the FTC could enforce antitrust laws against medical societies.
These two suits paved the way for five chiropractors to file an anti-trust suit against the American Medical Association (AMA) and several other heath care agencies and societies in Federal District Court (known as the Wilkes Case).
Judge Susan Getzendanner found the AMA and others guilty of an illegal conspiracy against the chiropractic profession in September of 1987, ordering a permanent injunction against the AMA and forcing them to print the court's findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Even with success of the Wilkes Case and other anti-trust litigation, the AMA continues to this day to wage a campaign against chiropractic.
The American Medical Association (AMA) has maintained a decades-long battle against "alternative" healing traditions, dating back to the 1920s and arguably even earlier. The courts eventually ruled in favor of the chiropractors in 1987, finding the AMA guilty of a conspiracy to take down the chiropractic profession, as the above article recounts in detail.
But was this the end of it? Has the AMA resigned itself to the fact that chiropractic, as well as other forms of natural medicine, are here to stay? Not a chance.
The AMA's Bedfellows
Even with the success of the Wilkes Case, the AMA has continued to wage war against natural medicine for the past 20 years—but in more covert ways. It's the "Cold War" phase of this battle, but every bit as fierce. And now the AMA has rallied up a few significant allies, including:
- The American Dental Association (ADA)
- The American Cancer Society (ACS)
- The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and
- The American Psychiatric Association (APA)
… not to mention governmental regulatory agencies; all willing to march toward a common goal—a monopoly on medical care in this country. Together, they form a formidable lobbying force that controls just about every regulatory and legislative body in America. The truth is that chiropractic, naturopathic, and osteopathic medicine have PROVEN to be medically effective and cost effective for the patient, and the AMA can't stomach this, viewing natural medicine as a huge threat to their bottom line.
Federal Courts Rule AMA "Guilty as Charged"
In 1987, the federal courts found the AMA and several other medical groups guilty of seeking to create a healthcare monopoly. Specifically, they were found guilty of the following actions (published in the January 1988 issue of JAMA):
- Systematic defamation of naturopathic, chiropractic, and osteopathic physicians
- Publishing and distribution of propaganda specifically intended to ruin other healthcare professionals' reputations
- Forcing MDs to refuse collaboration with naturopathic, chiropractic, and osteopathic physicians in the co-management of patients
- Denying hospital access to naturopathic, chiropractic, and osteopathic physicians
The attack on osteopathic medicine has largely faded away since then, but chiropractic and naturopathic practitioners, as well as other legitimate natural medicine practitioners, continue to be the targets of suppression and misrepresentation. The war isn't over, but the rules of engagement have changed.
AMA Declares New War on Natural Medicine in 2006
In 2006, the AMA declared war on natural medicine by publicly stating on its website its intention to forcibly oppose licensure and practice of naturopathic physicians. Although they quickly removed this from their site, the following is a direct quote from that post, according to Naturopathy Digest:
"RESOLVED, That our American Medical Association work through its Board of Trustees to outline a policy opposing the licensure of naturopaths to practice medicine and report this policy to the House of Delegates no later than the 2006 Interim Meeting. (Directive to Take Action) Fiscal Note: Implement accordingly at estimated staff cost of $10,836."
Translation: Eliminate the competition.
According to The Integrator Blog, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) joined the battle with a statement that their goal was to "thwart the growing threat of expansion of scope of practice for allied health professionals" and included psychologists on the list of medical practitioners who needed to be "thwarted" (in addition to naturopaths, chiropractors, and midwives). The APA pledged their allegiance to the AMA in assisting them with "coordinating research to help medical specialty societies and state medical associations fight expansions in non-medical scope of practice, and improve information sharing among those groups."
Other medical associations have made similar pledges, such as the Minnesota Medical Association and the New York Academy of Family Physicians. They maintain that their position is based on concern for quality of care and patient safety, but the REAL agenda is just an attempt to destroy the competition.
As Chiropractor Louis Sportelli writes in his 2010 article in Dynamic Chiropractic:
"Just look around and you will see clear and compelling evidence that the long-standing war between the AMA and everyone else who does not come under the AMA umbrella is far from over. The names have changed, the venue has changed, but the intent has remained the same: to maintain monopolistic control over the delivery of health care."
Old Mission, New Tactics: AMA Learns How to Discriminate with Impunity
In 2010, the AMA House of Delegates introduced a resolution regarding scope of practice that contains limitations on who can be considered a legitimate physician, and who can medically diagnose. Specifically, the AMA's "Definition of a Physician" (H-405.969) contains the following language:
"The AMA affirms that a physician is an individual who has received a 'Doctor of Medicine' or a 'Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine' degree."
This is proof, without a doubt, that the AMA as well as individual state medical associations intend to continue doing everything they can to prevent you from accessing natural healthcare. Texas and Connecticut medical associations were the first to join the cause, and others will likely follow. Similarly, the AMA's "Comprehensive Physical Examination by Appropriate Practitioners" reads as follows:
"…the performance of comprehensive physical examinations to diagnose medical conditions [should be limited] to licensed MDs/DOs or those practitioners who are directly supervised by licensed MDs/DOs."
State Medical Associations Jumping on Board
In 2010, the Texas Medical Board of Examiners filed an action against the Texas Chiropractic Board of Examiners challenging the authority of DCs (Doctors of Chiropractic) to perform some of their medical procedures, and challenging their authority to diagnose. How can medical associations get away with such shenanigans now, when they were given such a clear message to back off in the injunction of 1987? After all, these are very similar tactics to what they were found guilty of back in 1987.
Well, according to Sportinelli, the AMA has learned some lessons about how to beat the law—loopholes that allow them to go on the attack while sidestepping "restraint of trade" or "illegal boycott" violations:
"It [AMA] now understands that government action is protected under the Constitution, as is action in petitioning the government. It can lawfully petition local, state and federal legislators and attempt to influence any legislation without fear of committing actionable restraint of trade or illegal boycott. (However, the AMA does seem to be getting dangerously close with its resolution regarding the "definition of a physician," in that it appears to involve hospital action without the intervention of government.)"
And what does one need in order to effectively influence the government? Money. This is something the AMA has—and piles of it. Sportinelli goes on to say that the medical industry is likely gearing up for a 50-state effort to put non-MD/DO physicians out of business. And this means fewer choices about your own medical care.
Profit Motives Cleverly Disguised as Concern for Your Health and Safety
According to Naturopathy Digest, the AMA and other medical groups justify their opposition to natural medicine on the basis of three areas of concern:
- Quality of patient care
- Patient safety
- Quality of education of medical practitioners
As the article so eloquently points out, none of these arguments holds up, and most are based on medical and pharmaceutical industry propaganda. If they were TRULY concerned about patient care and safety, they would not be targeting natural medicine, which has an incredibly low incidence of adverse consequences, but instead going after their own allopathic medical practices that are leaving a trail of death and destruction.
Drug "side effects", prescription errors, unnecessary surgeries, nosocomial infections, and hospital "errors" are a leading cause of death in the United States. In fact, one estimate is that allopathic medicine kills 493 American patients daily. The number of people who die each week as a result of medical treatments surpasses the number of deaths caused by the September 11th terrorist attacks.
Yes, each and every week!
Many of the drugs advertised in JAMA (the AMA's scientific journal) are the very same drugs that are killing tens of thousands of Americans each year. This massive funding of the AMA by drug companies is a blatant conflict of interest. If the AMA really cared about your safety, they'd be putting their substantial assets into overhauling the American healthcare system. The AMA is fond of lambasting the education and training of chiropractors, when in actuality, they should be more concerned about the educational qualifications of their own physicians. In their own publications, they have stated:
"Medical education is failing to prepare students adequately for their future practice… medical education is currently being held together with peanut butter and bubble gum."
At least four consecutive studies have documented that most MDs are incompetent when it comes to diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal problems, something at which chiropractors excel. Another example of an abysmal lack of education of Western physicians is in the area of diet and nutrition. The AMA itself has published research showing that dietary interventions should be used before drugs in the treatment of heart disease. Yet, medical students receive virtually NO training in nutrition. Naturopathic and chiropractic physicians, on the other hand, are usually well versed in the importance of nutrition and exercise.
It's Not Just the AMA
Perhaps it's time to take a real look at medical associations, and the concern that they may be doing more harm than good. For groups who claim to exist in order to protect your health, they inevitably end up sabotaging it. It isn't just the AMA. Other medical associations that claim to exist for the betterment of public health include the following:
- American Dental Association (ADA): Continues to support the use of mercury fillings and demonizes biological dentists who oppose the use of mercury in dentistry; continues to support fluoridation, in spite of the evidence it does more harm than good.
- American Cancer Society (ACS): This charity has close ties to the mammography industry, the cancer drug industry, and the pesticide industry; has rampant conflicts of interest; consistently promotes drugs and screening procedures while ignoring environmental causes of cancer.
- National Cancer Institute (NCI): Has spent billions of taxpayer dollars promoting treatments while ignoring strategies for preventing cancer; abundant ties to the cancer drug industry (for more information, read Samuel Epstein's new book, National Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society: Criminal Indifference to Cancer Prevention and Conflicts of Interest)
- American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Claiming to be protecting your children, the AAP is largely funded by vaccine manufacturers but refuses to disclose just how much money it gets from them; partners with Congress to protect pediatricians and drug companies from liability for vaccine injuries, while preventing you from getting truthful vaccine information.
Actions Speak Louder than Words
When someone's words differ from their actions, chances are that their actions more accurately reflect their values—and this is true for organizations, as well as individuals. Although medical associations claim to have your best interests at heart, their actions tell a different story. It's time to begin holding them accountable for their behavior and stop letting them hide behind the same old tired rhetoric.
You have a right to make your own choices about your healthcare, be it allopathic or naturopathic—whether you see an MD, an ND, or a DC should be YOUR decision and yours alone.
References:
The Worst Possible Thing to Ignore if You Have Arthritis
December 29, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
By Dr. Mercola
About one in five adults, or nearly 50 million Americans, have been diagnosed with arthritis, the most common form of which is osteoarthritis.
If you have osteoarthritis, the cartilage within your joints is progressively being damaged, and the synovial fluid that keeps your joints lubricated and cushioned is typically reduced as well.
The pain and joint stiffness that you feel is a result of your bones starting to come into contact with each other as cartilage and synovial fluid is reduced, and if you don't take action it can become progressively worse until you are unable to carry out your normal daily activities.
More than 21 million Americans have trouble climbing stairs, getting dressed and staying active due to arthritis, a number that has jumped from 19 million just a few years back.
If you are one of the millions struggling with osteoarthritis, or want to avoid becoming one of them, one of the simplest and most powerful steps you can take is adding animal-based omega-3 fats to your diet. The research continues to pour in that these healthy fats have exciting potential to prevent and treat arthritis.
Omega-3 Fats Incredibly Important to Treat Osteoarthritis
According to the latest animal study, a diet enriched with omega-3 fats reduced the majority of disease indicators among guinea pigs prone to developing osteoarthritis. This included both cartilage and subchondral bone changes, and the lead researcher noted that the evidence was strong that omega-3 fats may help prevent the disease and also slow its progression in those already diagnosed.
Omega-3's impact on joint health, arthritis, and inflammation is an active area of research, as they're known to produce compounds called resolvins and protectins, which help quell inflammation before it can do too much damage to your tissues. Several studies have been published on the remarkable effectiveness of the animal-based omega-3 fat krill oil in combating inflammation-related disorders, including arthritis. Three notable examples are:
- A 2007 study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition investigated krill oil's ability to reduce inflammation. Researchers found that 300 mg krill oil per day significantly reduced inflammation, pain, stiffness and functional impairment after just 7 days, and even more profoundly after 14 days.
- A study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology in 2005 showed similar findings with respect to reducing inflammation and arthritis symptoms, for both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis sufferers.
- A study in Advances in Therapy found participants with moderate-to-severe hip or knee osteoarthritis who received 1,500 mg of glucosamine sulfate along with 200 mg of omega-3 had greater pain reduction and fewer osteoarthritis symptoms (morning stiffness, pain in hips and knees) than those who took glucosamine by itself.
Omega-3 is actually anti-inflammatory in a very general way, which seems to be good for most people in general, even if you're interested in preventing a variety of diseases. For more information about the various health benefits of omega-3 fat, please review the following links:
Are You Deficient in Omega-3 Fats?
Ideally, everyone really needs to aim for a lifetime of high omega-3 levels to reap all the health benefits that it has to offer, including protection from arthritis. However, the average American diet is seriously deficient in the animal-based omega-3 fats, DHA and EPA, as except for certain types of fish, which I don't recommend eating because of pollution concerns, there are very few sources of these crucial fats.
As a result, many are deficient and omega-3 deficiency has actually been called the sixth biggest killer of Americans,
You can now measure the omega-3 level in your blood, thanks to the research of Dr. William Harris, a research professor at the Sanford School of Medicine in South Dakota, and an established authority on omega-3 fats. Dr. Harris' research led to the development of an assay that measures your omega-3 level, which is referred to as the "omega-3 index."
Make Sure You Include a High Quality Animal-Based Source of Omega-3
Most people today are deficient in omega-3 fats and consume far too many damaged omega-6 fats, which are found in vegetable oils and processed foods. The ideal ratio is probably close to 1:1, but the average American's ratio is more like 20:1, or even 50:1 in favor of omega-6. Because of this severe imbalance, I recommend you supplement your diet with a source of high-quality omega-3 fats, while simultaneously reducing your omega-6 intake to bring this ratio into balance.
There are both plant and animal sources for omega-3 fats, and there are differences between them. All have different ratios of three important omega-3 fatty acids—ALA, EPA and DHA. DHA is the most important for your brain. EPA is also required by your brain, but in smaller amounts.
Plant-based omega-3 sources like flax, hemp and chia seeds are high in ALA, but low in EPA and DHA. Although ALA is an essential nutrient, the key point to remember is that the conversion of ALA to the far more essential EPA and DHA is typically inhibited by impaired delta 6 desaturase, an enzyme necessary for you to convert the ALA into the longer chain EPA and DHA. Elevated insulin levels impair this enzyme, and more than 80 percent of the U.S. population has elevated insulin levels. So from that perspective alone, it is important to include animal-based sources of omega-3 fats in your diet.
The Three Types of Animal-Based Omega-3 Fat
When it comes to choosing between the animal-based omega-3 options, the primary sources are fish, fish oil, or krill oil. As I'll explain, I believe krill oil is the far superior choice on this list.
- Fish: In a perfect world, you would be able to get all the omega-3s you need by eating fish. Unfortunately, the vast majority of our fish supply is now so heavily contaminated with industrial pollutants and toxins like mercury, PCBs, heavy metals and radioactive poisons that I just can't recommend most fish any longer. However, there are suppliers, like Vital Choice, that do harvest the fish from less polluted areas of the world and they clearly are less contaminated.
- Fish oil: I used to recommend that you take fish oil to enhance your intake of omega-3 fats, and high-quality fish oils are certainly great products with many important health benefits. However, fish oil is weak in antioxidant content.
This is a major drawback for fish oil, because as you increase your intake of omega-3 fats by consuming fish oil, you actually increase your need for even more antioxidant protection.
This happens because fish oil is quite perishable, and oxidation leads to the formation of unhealthy free radicals. Therefore, antioxidants are required to ensure that the fish oil doesn't oxidize and become rancid inside your body. So, you need to consume additional antioxidants both for your health in general, AND for your increased need for antioxidants when using fish oil. Dr. Rudi Moerck expounded on these risks at great length in a previous interview.
- Krill oil: Last but certainly not least is my preferred choice for animal-based omega-3 fats. I believe krill oil is superior to fish oil because it contains phospholipids that dramatically improve DHA and EPA absorption. It also has a very powerful antioxidant called astaxanthin, and omega-3s bonded together in a way that keeps them protected from oxidation. Many popular fish oil brands are already oxidized before you open the bottle. Krill oil is also 48 times more potent than fish oil and contains vitamin E, vitamin A, and vitamin D.
Additionally, as Dr. Harris confirms, krill oil is also more potent gram for gram, as its absorption rate is much higher than fish oil. According to his research, you get somewhere between 25 to 50 percent more omega-3 per milligram when you take krill oil compared to fish oil.
"You actually get more omega-3 from eating krill," he says.
Krill is also a completely sustainable and environmentally friendly source of omega-3. Not only is krill the largest biomass in the world, but krill harvesting is one of the best regulated on the planet, using strict international precautionary catch limit regulations that are reviewed regularly to assure sustainability. You can read more about why krill oil is completely environmentally friendly here.
If You Have Arthritis, You Need to Know About Astaxanthin
It is likely that astaxanthin may be even more powerful in helping people with arthritis symptoms than omega-3 fats, as this antioxidant is leaps and bounds more powerful than beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, lycopene and lutein, other members of its chemical family. It exhibits VERY STRONG free radical scavenging activity and helps protect your cells, organs and body tissues from oxidative damage and inflammation.
Specifically, astaxanthin is a carotenoid antioxidant produced only by the microalgae Haematoccous pluvialis when its water supply dries up, forcing it to protect itself from ultraviolet radiation. It's the algae's survival mechanism -- astaxanthin serves as a "force field" to protect the algae from lack of nutrition and/or intense sunlight.
There are only two known sources of astaxanthin -- the microalgae that produce it, and the sea creatures that consume the algae (such as salmon, shellfish, and krill). One of the reasons why I recommend krill oil is because it naturally contains astaxanthin to protect it from oxidation. Adding the antioxidant astaxanthin to fish oil reduces its susceptibility to oxidation while making its immunomodulatory properties more potent, which is the beauty of krill oil, which has this natural protection built in.
But although I don't recommend many supplements, I believe many could enjoy even MORE benefits by further increasing your astaxanthin, even if you are already taking a krill oil supplement. If you decide to give astaxanthin a try on its own, I recommend a dose of 8-10 mg per day. If you are on a krill oil supplement, take that into consideration, as different krill products have different concentrations of astaxanthin, so check your label.
Arthritis Doesn't Have to be a Debilitating Disease
Osteoarthritis can be extremely painful and debilitating disease. By losing weight, exercising, making changes to your diet and lifestyle, and using natural anti-inflammatory relief measures you can potentially overcome this disease, or at least significantly decrease pain associated with it.
- Healthy Diet: Arthritis rates are more than twice as high in obese people as those who are normal weight, because the extra weight puts more pressure on your joints. This can not only lead to osteoarthritis, it can also make the condition exponentially worse.
So if you are suffering from arthritis and are overweight or obese, losing weight is an essential form of treatment. You will want to jumpstart your weight loss by eating a healthier diet based on the principles of my nutrition plan. Limiting your fructose intake to below 15 grams a day will be an essential part of this program.
- Exercise: Most people have little appreciation for how powerful exercise can be in preserving bone density and joint function, which can help prevent and alleviate osteoarthritis as you age.
The notion that exercise is detrimental to your joints is a misconception; there is no evidence to support this belief. Instead, the evidence points to exercise having a positive impact on joint tissues -- if you exercise sufficiently to lose weight, or maintain an ideal weight, you can in fact reduce your risk of developing osteoarthritis.
My most highly recommended form of exercise is Peak Fitness, and this program can be used by virtually everyone. However, if you've already developed osteoarthritis in your knee, you'll want to incorporate exercises that strengthen the quadriceps muscle at the front of your thigh. And, rather than running or other high-impact exercise, you may be better off with non-weight-bearing exercises like swimming and bicycling.
People with arthritis must be careful to avoid activities that aggravate joint pain. You should avoid any exercise that strains a significantly unstable joint.
- Vitamin D: Low levels of vitamin D are associated with cartilage loss in your knees, and this is one of the hallmarks of osteoarthritis. The remedy, to make sure your vitamin D levels are optimized, is simple. It involves getting your blood levels tested, then optimizing them using safe sun exposure or indoor tanning on a safe tanning bed (safe tanning beds have electronic ballasts and produce less UVA than sunshine). LINE BREAK As a last resort, you can supplement with vitamin D3; recent research suggests the average adult needs to take 8,000 IU's of vitamin D per day in order to elevate their levels above 40 ng/ml, which is the bare minimum for disease prevention.
To find out the details, watch my free one-hour vitamin D lecture.
If you need pain relief, which is typically an important component of osteoarthritis treatment, think long and hard before choosing anti-inflammatory drugs like non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) and analgesics, like Tylenol. NSAIDs kill some 30,000 people every year due to bleeding ulcers, and the oral drugs have been linked to a host of problems including heart failure -- Vioxx and Celebrex are prime examples of these very real dangers.
There are safer, natural anti-inflammatory alternatives available, including:
- Boswellia: Also known as boswellin or "Indian frankincense," this Indian herb is one treatment I've found to be particularly useful against arthritic inflammation and associated pain.
- Hyaluronic acid (HA): Hyaluronic acid is a key component of your cartilage, responsible for moving nutrients into your cells and moving waste out.
- Astaxanthin: As mentioned above, astaxanthin is one of the most powerful lipophilic antioxidants yet discovered and is the most abundant carotenoid pigment found in crabs, salmon, trout, shrimp, and krill. Studies have found that it can help support joint health and mobility.
- Eggshell membrane: Elastin, collagen and glycosaminoglycans are three nutrients found in eggshell membranes, which can help support the stability and flexibility of your joints by providing your joints with the building blocks needed to build cartilage.
- Ginger: This herb is anti-inflammatory and offers pain relief and stomach-settling properties. Fresh ginger works well steeped in boiling water as a tea or grated into vegetable juice.
- Bromelain: This enzyme, found in pineapples, is a natural anti-inflammatory. It can be taken in supplement form, but eating fresh pineapple may also be helpful.
- Cetyl myristoleate (CMO): This oil, found in fish and dairy butter, acts as a "joint lubricant" and an anti-inflammatory.
- Evening primrose, black currant and borage oils: These contain the essential fatty acid gamma linolenic acid (GLA), which is useful for treating arthritic pain. It is reasonable for many to take these as a supplement, particularly if you struggle with dry skin in the winter, as this is a strong indicator that you are deficient in these fats. I prefer the use of GLA supplements from evening primrose oil but borage oil contains a higher concentration of GLA, which means you need fewer capsules, and it tends to be less expensive.
- Cayenne Cream: Also called capsaicin cream, this spice comes from dried hot peppers. It alleviates pain by depleting the body's supply of substance P, a chemical component of nerve cells that transmits pain signals to your brain.
Eat More of this Fat and You Might Slim Your Waist Size in One Week
December 29, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
By Dr. Mercola
Many still believe that saturated fats like coconut oil are "fattening" and bad for your heart -- a pervasive myth that began in 1953 following the publication of a seriously flawed study by Dr. Ancel Keys.
But the truth is, coconut oil is actually one of the healthiest oils you can consume, especially for cooking, which is why it is one of only two oils you'll find a gallon container of in my kitchen.
Many are initially surprised when they learn coconut oil is actually good for you, but indeed it is -- and it may even help you attain your weight loss goals as well.
Why is Your Waist Size so Important?
As you may know, your waist size is not only a matter of aesthetics, but also a powerful indicator of a build-up of visceral fat, a dangerous type of fat around your internal organs that is strongly linked with type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Your waist size is a far more accurate predictor of your heart risks than even your body mass index (BMI), Your waist size is also a powerful indicator of insulin sensitivity, as studies clearly show that measuring your waist size is one of the most powerful ways to predict your risk for diabetes.
If you want to determine if your waist size is in a healthy range, use a tape measure to figure the distance around the smallest area of your abdomen below your rib cage and above your belly button. Then compare your measurements to this general guide:
- For men, between 37 and 40 inches is overweight and more than 40 inches is obese
- For women, 31.5-34.6 inches is overweight and more than 34.6 inches is obese
Coconut Oil Shrinks Your Waist Size
When 20 obese men added coconut oil to their diets for four weeks, their waist circumferences got significantly smaller, with a mean reduction of 2.86 cm. Researchers noted:
"[Virgin coconut oil] is efficacious for WC [waist circumference] reduction especially in males and it is safe for use in humans."
A similar 12-week-long study on women, published in the journal Lipids, also found that dietary supplementation with coconut oil may result in a reduction in waist circumference, among other benefits, compared to supplementing with soybean oil. Divided into two groups of 20 participants each, the women received a daily supplement of 30 ml (about two tablespoons) of either soybean oil or coconut oil. They also followed a balanced low-calorie diet, and walked for 50 minutes per day. The end result?
The coconut oil group presented:
- Increased levels of HDL (good cholesterol)
- Decreased LDL/HDL ratio
- Reduced waist circumference/abdominal obesity
The soybean oil group presented:
- Increased total cholesterol
- Increased LDL (bad cholesterol)
- Increased LDL/HDL ratio
- Decreased HDL (good cholesterol)
- No reduction in waist circumference/abdominal obesity
Many of coconut oil's benefits may be due to its content of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs), also called medium-chain triglycerides or MCTs, rather than the long chain fatty acids found in vegetable oils like soybean oil and animal fats such as lard. The authors concluded:
"It appears that dietetic supplementation with coconut oil does not cause dyslipidemia [an abnormal amount of cholesterol and/or fat in your blood] and seems to promote a reduction in abdominal obesity."
Why Coconut Oil's Medium-Chain Fatty Acids are so Good for You -- and Your Weight
Coconut oil is nature's richest source of healthy MCFAs. By contrast, most common vegetable or seed oils are comprised of long chain fatty acids (LCFAs), also known as long-chain triglycerides or LCTs. There are several reasons why these long-chain fatty acids are not as healthy for you as the MCFAs in coconut oil: Additionally, many LCFAs are from genetically engineered vegetable oils that are loaded with omega-6 fats. Not only do you want to avoid the genetically engineered foods, but even if they were organic these vegetable oils should be avoided as they are high processed and also distort you fragile omega 6/3 ratio.
- LCFAs are difficult for your body to break down -- they must be packaged with lipoproteins or carrier proteins and require special enzymes for digestion.
- LCFAs put more strain on your pancreas, your liver and your entire digestive system.
- LCFAs are predominantly stored in your body as fat.
- LCFAs, when oxidized, can deposit within arteries, contributing to both blood vessel inflammation and plaque build-up.
On the other hand, the MCFAs in coconut oil are more health promoting, because:
- MCFAs are smaller. They permeate cell membranes easily, and do not require lipoproteins or special enzymes to be utilized effectively by your body.
- MCFAs are easily digested, thus putting less strain on your digestive system. This is especially important for those of you with digestive or metabolic concerns.
- MCFAs are sent directly to your liver, where they are immediately converted into energy rather than being stored as fat.
- MCFAs in coconut oil can actually help stimulate your body's metabolism, leading to weight loss.
There are numerous studies showing that MCFAs promote weight loss, including one study that showed rats fed LCFAs stored body fat, while rats fed MCFAs reduced body fat and improved insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. Yet another study found that overweight men who ate a diet rich in MCFAs lost more fat tissue compared to those eating a high-LCFA diet, presumably due to increased energy expenditure and fat oxidation from the MCGA intake.
"Thus, MCTs may be considered as agents that aid in the prevention of obesity or potentially stimulate weight loss."
Additionally, a very exciting discovery is that coconut oil may even serve as a natural treatment for Alzheimer's disease, as MCT's are also a primary source of ketone bodies, which act as an alternate source of brain fuel that can help prevent the brain atrophy associated with dementia. Coconut oil is also rich in the medium-chain fatty acid derivative lauric acid, which converts in your body to monolaurin -- a compound also found in breast milk that strengthens a baby's immunity and has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-protozoa properties.
How Coconut Oil Was Miscast as a Dietary Villain
Saturated fat like coconut oil has been wrongfully vilified as the cause of high cholesterol and heart disease for the last 60 years, when in fact the converse was true all along. You can read the details of how this widely perpetuated myth became conventional medicine's dietary dogma here, but basically it was spawned from a series of flawed studies that snowballed the theory out of control.
Coconut oil, in particular, continued to be demonized by the vegetable oil industry throughout the ensuing decades. The soybean industry was especially ruthless in their condemnation of the use of tropical oils, and I'm sure you realize the reason why – competition ... and millions and millions of dollars.
Unfortunately, the tropical oil industry, centered in poorer nations like the Philippines and Indonesia, could not afford to counter the negative propaganda spread by rich American industrial conglomerates. And in the United States coconut oil largely disappeared from the radar, except among small groups of health-seekers who had examined the research for themselves and/or experienced positive results firsthand.
Through it all, however, the healing properties of coconut oil were apparent for anyone who was willing to see them. Back in the 1930's, a dentist named Dr. Weston Price traveled throughout the South Pacific, examining traditional diets and their effect on dental and overall health. He found that those who consumed diets high in coconut products were healthy and trim, despite the high fat concentration in their diet.
Similarly, in 1981, researchers studied populations of two Polynesian atolls. Coconut was the chief source of caloric energy in both groups. The results, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, demonstrated that both populations exhibited positive vascular health. There was no evidence that the high saturated fat intake had a harmful effect in these populations.
Why Coconut Oil is the Superior Choice for Cooking
Whether you're trying to lose weight or not, using coconut oil as your primary cooking oil is important because it is the only one that is stable enough to resist heat-induced damage. Extra-virgin olive oil, while great as a salad dressing or for other non-heated uses, should not be used for cooking. Due to its chemical structure (it's one double carbon bond per fatty acid), heat makes it susceptible to oxidative damage.
And polyunsaturated fats, which include common vegetable oils such as corn, soy, safflower, sunflower and canola, are absolutely the worst oils to use in cooking. These omega-6 oils are highly susceptible to heat damage because of their multiple double bonds.
Coconut oil is far superior to any other cooking oil and is loaded with health benefits, not to mention flavor. Make sure you choose an organic coconut oil that is unrefined, unbleached, made without heat processing or chemicals, and does not contain genetically engineered ingredients.
Eat More of this Fat and You Might Slim Your Waist Size in One Week
December 29, 2011 by admin · Comments Off
By Dr. Mercola
Many still believe that saturated fats like coconut oil are "fattening" and bad for your heart -- a pervasive myth that began in 1953 following the publication of a seriously flawed study by Dr. Ancel Keys.
But the truth is, coconut oil is actually one of the healthiest oils you can consume, especially for cooking, which is why it is one of only two oils you'll find a gallon container of in my kitchen.
Many are initially surprised when they learn coconut oil is actually good for you, but indeed it is -- and it may even help you attain your weight loss goals as well.
Why is Your Waist Size so Important?
As you may know, your waist size is not only a matter of aesthetics, but also a powerful indicator of a build-up of visceral fat, a dangerous type of fat around your internal organs that is strongly linked with type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Your waist size is a far more accurate predictor of your heart risks than even your body mass index (BMI), Your waist size is also a powerful indicator of insulin sensitivity, as studies clearly show that measuring your waist size is one of the most powerful ways to predict your risk for diabetes.
If you want to determine if your waist size is in a healthy range, use a tape measure to figure the distance around the smallest area of your abdomen below your rib cage and above your belly button. Then compare your measurements to this general guide:
- For men, between 37 and 40 inches is overweight and more than 40 inches is obese
- For women, 31.5-34.6 inches is overweight and more than 34.6 inches is obese
Coconut Oil Shrinks Your Waist Size
When 20 obese men added coconut oil to their diets for four weeks, their waist circumferences got significantly smaller, with a mean reduction of 2.86 cm. Researchers noted:
"[Virgin coconut oil] is efficacious for WC [waist circumference] reduction especially in males and it is safe for use in humans."
A similar 12-week-long study on women, published in the journal Lipids, also found that dietary supplementation with coconut oil may result in a reduction in waist circumference, among other benefits, compared to supplementing with soybean oil. Divided into two groups of 20 participants each, the women received a daily supplement of 30 ml (about two tablespoons) of either soybean oil or coconut oil. They also followed a balanced low-calorie diet, and walked for 50 minutes per day. The end result?
The coconut oil group presented:
- Increased levels of HDL (good cholesterol)
- Decreased LDL/HDL ratio
- Reduced waist circumference/abdominal obesity
The soybean oil group presented:
- Increased total cholesterol
- Increased LDL (bad cholesterol)
- Increased LDL/HDL ratio
- Decreased HDL (good cholesterol)
- No reduction in waist circumference/abdominal obesity
Many of coconut oil's benefits may be due to its content of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs), also called medium-chain triglycerides or MCTs, rather than the long chain fatty acids found in vegetable oils like soybean oil and animal fats such as lard. The authors concluded:
"It appears that dietetic supplementation with coconut oil does not cause dyslipidemia [an abnormal amount of cholesterol and/or fat in your blood] and seems to promote a reduction in abdominal obesity."
Why Coconut Oil's Medium-Chain Fatty Acids are so Good for You -- and Your Weight
Coconut oil is nature's richest source of healthy MCFAs. By contrast, most common vegetable or seed oils are comprised of long chain fatty acids (LCFAs), also known as long-chain triglycerides or LCTs. There are several reasons why these long-chain fatty acids are not as healthy for you as the MCFAs in coconut oil: Additionally, many LCFAs are from genetically engineered vegetable oils that are loaded with omega-6 fats. Not only do you want to avoid the genetically engineered foods, but even if they were organic these vegetable oils should be avoided as they are high processed and also distort you fragile omega 6/3 ratio.
- LCFAs are difficult for your body to break down -- they must be packaged with lipoproteins or carrier proteins and require special enzymes for digestion.
- LCFAs put more strain on your pancreas, your liver and your entire digestive system.
- LCFAs are predominantly stored in your body as fat.
- LCFAs, when oxidized, can deposit within arteries, contributing to both blood vessel inflammation and plaque build-up.
On the other hand, the MCFAs in coconut oil are more health promoting, because:
- MCFAs are smaller. They permeate cell membranes easily, and do not require lipoproteins or special enzymes to be utilized effectively by your body.
- MCFAs are easily digested, thus putting less strain on your digestive system. This is especially important for those of you with digestive or metabolic concerns.
- MCFAs are sent directly to your liver, where they are immediately converted into energy rather than being stored as fat.
- MCFAs in coconut oil can actually help stimulate your body's metabolism, leading to weight loss.
There are numerous studies showing that MCFAs promote weight loss, including one study that showed rats fed LCFAs stored body fat, while rats fed MCFAs reduced body fat and improved insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. Yet another study found that overweight men who ate a diet rich in MCFAs lost more fat tissue compared to those eating a high-LCFA diet, presumably due to increased energy expenditure and fat oxidation from the MCGA intake.
"Thus, MCTs may be considered as agents that aid in the prevention of obesity or potentially stimulate weight loss."
Additionally, a very exciting discovery is that coconut oil may even serve as a natural treatment for Alzheimer's disease, as MCT's are also a primary source of ketone bodies, which act as an alternate source of brain fuel that can help prevent the brain atrophy associated with dementia. Coconut oil is also rich in the medium-chain fatty acid derivative lauric acid, which converts in your body to monolaurin -- a compound also found in breast milk that strengthens a baby's immunity and has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-protozoa properties.
How Coconut Oil Was Miscast as a Dietary Villain
Saturated fat like coconut oil has been wrongfully vilified as the cause of high cholesterol and heart disease for the last 60 years, when in fact the converse was true all along. You can read the details of how this widely perpetuated myth became conventional medicine's dietary dogma here, but basically it was spawned from a series of flawed studies that snowballed the theory out of control.
Coconut oil, in particular, continued to be demonized by the vegetable oil industry throughout the ensuing decades. The soybean industry was especially ruthless in their condemnation of the use of tropical oils, and I'm sure you realize the reason why – competition ... and millions and millions of dollars.
Unfortunately, the tropical oil industry, centered in poorer nations like the Philippines and Indonesia, could not afford to counter the negative propaganda spread by rich American industrial conglomerates. And in the United States coconut oil largely disappeared from the radar, except among small groups of health-seekers who had examined the research for themselves and/or experienced positive results firsthand.
Through it all, however, the healing properties of coconut oil were apparent for anyone who was willing to see them. Back in the 1930's, a dentist named Dr. Weston Price traveled throughout the South Pacific, examining traditional diets and their effect on dental and overall health. He found that those who consumed diets high in coconut products were healthy and trim, despite the high fat concentration in their diet.
Similarly, in 1981, researchers studied populations of two Polynesian atolls. Coconut was the chief source of caloric energy in both groups. The results, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, demonstrated that both populations exhibited positive vascular health. There was no evidence that the high saturated fat intake had a harmful effect in these populations.
Why Coconut Oil is the Superior Choice for Cooking
Whether you're trying to lose weight or not, using coconut oil as your primary cooking oil is important because it is the only one that is stable enough to resist heat-induced damage. Extra-virgin olive oil, while great as a salad dressing or for other non-heated uses, should not be used for cooking. Due to its chemical structure (it's one double carbon bond per fatty acid), heat makes it susceptible to oxidative damage.
And polyunsaturated fats, which include common vegetable oils such as corn, soy, safflower, sunflower and canola, are absolutely the worst oils to use in cooking. These omega-6 oils are highly susceptible to heat damage because of their multiple double bonds.
Coconut oil is far superior to any other cooking oil and is loaded with health benefits, not to mention flavor. Make sure you choose an organic coconut oil that is unrefined, unbleached, made without heat processing or chemicals, and does not contain genetically engineered ingredients.
