I've talked about fibrinogen before. It's a protein in your blood that makes it thicker, stickier, and more difficult to move through your veins. The more fibrinogen you have, the higher your risk is for blood clots. If this fibrous substance breaks off, it can cause a heart attack or stroke.
High fibrinogen also puts you at risk for deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a problem that can occur when you take long plane trips and don't move your legs around enough.
Fibrinogen levels rise over time because, as we age, our bodies manufacture less of an enzyme that slows down its production. This is why it's so important to have your fibrinogen level checked with a simple blood test if you're over 50. Doctors don't routinely do this because they don't know what to do about it. But I do. And soon you will, too.
Most doctors agree that fibrinogen levels should be between 200-350, although some doctors of integrative medicine say that around 200 is best. When my fibrinogen was checked nine months ago, it was 439. I was floored. I eat a healthy vegetarian diet and exercise five days a week for an hour or more. It turns out that my high fibrinogen was hereditary. My body just didn't produce enough anti-fibrinogen enzymes.
After doing some research, I began by using an excellent quality nattokinase, a nutrient made from fermented soy that numerous studies claim will lower fibrinogen. My fibrinogen shot up to 475! Some of my doctor friends weren't surprised. They had seen this phenomenon in some of their patients. Unlucky me.
Then I used a combination of Padma Basic, an anti-inflammatory blend of Tibetan herbs known to break down blood clots. I also took turmeric and bromelain. My fibrinogen slowly came down to 401. I knew that Padma took time to lower fibrinogen, so I looked more carefully at the other supplements.
Why did my fibrinogen drop so slowly? One reason was that there are conflicting studies on the quantity of turmeric, an anti-inflammatory, needed to lower fibrinogen. The high level I took, which should have worked, did nothing.
Another reason was that I found I had been taking a lower quality bromelain, an enzyme made from green pineapple stems that breaks down proteins. But it didn't work well at all. After three months of taking three tablets a day, my fibrinogen dropped only from 408 to 401. After I switched to a high-potency bromelain of excellent quality, my fibrinogen plummeted from 401 to 316 in two months. What a difference! Quality supplements are worth their price
It isn't always easy to determine the quality of supplements. After checking with several doctor friends, I decided to take bromelain from a company that I've used for decades - Thorne Research. Thorne primarily sells to physicians and other health practitioners. They have agreed to sell many of their supplements directly to individuals. Bromelain is one of them.
I spoke with one of its doctors and decided to use its Double Bromelain. It contains the same milligrams of bromelain as its regular product, but it has a higher potency. A two-month supply (one capsule, three times a day) costs $31.45 (208-263-1337).
I also continued taking high doses of Padma Basic (two tablets, three times a day) because it both reduces inflammation and breaks down fibrinogen. Now, I'm continuing with Padma and bromelain. I'll re-check my fibrinogen at two-month intervals. Once it's stabilized, I'll reduce the amounts of these two supplements (Padma: one tablet, twice a day; Double Bromelain: one capsule a day, and make sure that this is enough for maintenance).
My journey from high to low fibrinogen taught me a lot about what works and what doesn't. This update should save you money and could save your life.
Landmark Study Reveals the Cause of Chronic Diseases
I have big news for you. The results of the largest human scientific study in history are in, and they're astounding. In fact, they show you exactly how you can reverse almost every chronic illness, even diseases caused by genetics.
This study was impeccable, and its conclusions can't be ignored. It examined the health-related effects of diet on 6,500 adults and their families from 130 villages in China over seven years. The study found more than 8,000 statistically significant associations between diet and disease!
Why China? It was the perfect country to study. People tend to remain in the region where they were born all their lives. And while diets may differ from region to region, they don't vary within each area.
This project, led by a Cornell University professor and one of China's top researchers, is called The China Study. The researchers took each participant's blood, urine, and food samples, along with extensive questionnaires and dietary information. Then they looked for patterns associated with nutrition, lifestyle, and disease. The study concluded that you can protect yourself from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune diseases, and many other illnesses, by making a single dietary modification.
The China Study findings
The China Study found associations between a high animal protein diet and disease mortality for more than four-dozen different diseases. For instance, a diet high in animal protein raised cholesterol levels and heart disease in this study (which corresponds to findings in the large Framingham Study). A high-plant, protein-based diet had the opposite effect.
The very worst protein the researchers discovered was casein, the protein found in dairy products. It promoted cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses. It's difficult to hear that dairy is harmful. But this huge study, combined with many smaller studies I've read, convinced me to further modify my own diet.
In a 12-country study, the incidents of type-1 diabetes correlated almost perfectly with the amount of cow's milk children drank. There's also a strong association between dairy consumption and multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.
Cheese is a quick, easy snack food, as well as a tasty addition to many dishes. I now limit my intake of dairy and eat edamame (green soybeans), nuts, or whole- grain crackers for snacks. When I'm traveling, I may eat more dairy. But I don't expect to eat large quantities of it. It's not worth the risk.
Remarkably, fish filled with nutritious omega-fatty acids, free-range chickens, and organic beef (all thought to be very healthy) all contributed to disease when eaten in larger amounts than 5% of a day's total calories. Keep the amount down and they're fine. Eat two or three servings a day and you've increased your risk for health problems.
High protein causes cancer when combined with this substance ...
It might surprise you to find out that this study was conducted by a scientist who is also a meat-eating former dairy farmer. Dr. T. Colin Campbell was a professor Emeritus of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University and authored more than 300 research papers. His dual areas of expertise were in protein and in the study of aflatoxin.
Aflatoxin is one of the most carcinogenic substances ever discovered. It's commonly found in molds that grow on corn and peanuts. Dr. Campbell was on a team of experts looking for solutions to malnutrition in Filipino children. These children also were dying from liver cancer at exceedingly high rates. Dr. Campbell discovered that the liver cancer was coming from aflatoxin found in the peanuts and corn, two crops grown to solve the malnutrition problem.
Dr. Campbell was surprised to find that the children with the most liver cancer came from the most affluent families - people who ate a lot of meat as well as peanuts and corn. The children who ate very little animal protein didn't get sick, even though they were exposed to more aflatoxin.
High protein "turns on" cancer cells
Further studies revealed that the low-protein diet both inhibited the initiation of cancer cells and blocked their growth, while the high-protein diet turned them on. A low-protein diet protected against cancer - it actually blocks some of the aflatoxin from getting into cells. It also rapidly decreased an enzyme that activates aflatoxin, and it decreased aflatoxin's ability to attach itself to DNA and cause permanent damage.
When Dr. Campbell coordinated the China Study, he found that the developing clusters of cells that predict cancer development are almost totally dependent on the amount of animal protein a person eats. The amount of exposure to aflatoxin was irrelevant! Either high or low aflatoxin led to cancer only with high-protein diets, suggesting that a diet low in animal proteins is protective even after exposure to carcinogenic compounds.
The study also found that disease is not necessarily dependent upon genetics. In fact, a low animal-protein diet can override a genetic predisposition. You see, genes don't cause illness, they point to a weakness. Genes need to be activated before they can cause any harm. You may have to work hard to overcome a predisposition, but it can be done.
My recommendations
The China Study found that the best protein you can eat to prevent chronic disease is plant protein. It's high in protective antioxidants, high in fiber, and low in fat. This is not new information. But as Dr. Campbell told me, "I'm finding that the most useful and practical findings are usually those that are the oldest, not the newest." Nuts, seeds, whole grains, and beans are the foundation for a healthy diet. Eat them in small quantities throughout the day along with vegetables and fruits. This is the best way to protect against cancer.
I'm not suggesting you become a vegan (a vegetarian who eats no dairy or eggs), or even a vegetarian. But if you have any chronic illness, from arthritis to heart disease and cancer, eliminate all dairy products for three months. Stop eating cottage cheese, hard cheeses, sour cream, ice cream, yogurt, and creamy salad dressings. See how much your health improves and then decide if you want to continue eating a dairy-free or low-dairy diet.
If you want a protective diet, reduce your animal protein to one small serving a day. By doing so, you're also cutting back on your saturated fat. Eat as much plant-based protein as you like. No matter how much plant protein anyone in the China Study ate, it didn't contribute to disease. It was protective.
If you have a health problem, this information could prevent it from worsening. When you want to make a serious attempt to improve your health, begin by first reading The China Study (T. Colin Campbell, PhD, Benbella Books, 2005). It's an excellent read. Then change the amount and type of protein you're eating.
Don't Overlook One of Your Best Defenses Against the Bird Flu and Other Viruses
I'm not an alarmist, but I've been reading reports in medical and scientific journals about a coming bird-flu pandemic for a number of years. I must tell you that I'm worried. And when I hear that the bird-flu virus keeps mutating, rendering existing anti-virals ineffective, I worry even more.
Once limited to transmission from one bird to another, the avian flu is now jumping from birds to other animals. Including humans! The next step is human-to-human transmission. That's the real danger.
Flu shots are less than 40% effective. That's not very good. You need more protection. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has managed to stockpile two million doses of a flu vaccine that it thinks will be effective against the current flu strains. But even if it works, it isn't enough to protect the more than 300 million people in this country.
As scientists around the world work furiously to find solutions in time, an answer is already available in sufficient quantities for all of us. At least one possible solution to the coming flu season - whether the dreaded avian bird flu or another milder virus - can be found in specific homeopathic remedies.
In my opinion, homeopathy is an excellent line of defense against this winter's viruses. In the past, I've talked about medicinal mushrooms and Usnea - immune-supporting supplements to take every fall, and to increase your dosage at the first sign of a cold or flu. (See the enclosed insert for details on my favorite medicinal mushroom formula.) But today I want to remind you that homeopathy - using tiny amounts of energy medicine to affect great changes - is a simple and inexpensive form of health insurance. Unfortunately, homeopathics are currently under attack.
The latest attack on homeopathy
A "scientific" article published in The Lancet announced last month that homeopathics don't work. It claims that homeopathics merely have placebo effects.
The World Health Organization (WHO) disagrees. So does renowned homeopath and author Dana Ullman, MPH. So do I. And, by the way, so do people throughout Europe, including the British Royal family, who regularly use the services of a number of homeopathic physicians.
Why would we all disagree? After all, The Lancet is a prestigious and well-respected British medical journal.
The first reason is, quite simply, bias. One of the authors of The Lancet study, Matthias Egger, MD, is a known critic of homeopathy. Not only was he involved in this anti-homeopathy article, he fed information to the doctor who wrote the editorial against homeopathy in the same issue.
Where were the experts who have found homeopathic effective? Where were the good studies that found it to be effective? Some of them conveniently disappeared.
You see, The Lancet article was based on an analysis of more than 200 studies. Half of the studies examined the effectiveness of homeopathics, while the other half concentrated on conventional drug therapy. The first analysis actually concluded that homeopathics work! So 85 the authors eliminated a bunch of these studies and looked at only 14 of them. Then they were able to conclude that homeopathics were worthless.
The Lancet knew better. In 1997, it published an analysis of a number of studies that showed the effectiveness of homeopathy. And, most pertinent, four large-scale studies found value in using various homeopathics to prevent flu. In fact, homeopathy has been used throughout the world since the 1800s for one reason: It works.
Choosing anti-flu homeopathics
Prevention: Although there's not a lot of research behind it, homeopath Dana Ullman has personally seen that Influenzium 9C prevents the outbreak of flu. There are two varieties of Influenzium 9C. The remedy with this exact name contains the energy from this yearbird flu, as well as other viruses. The viruses came from the Pasteur Institute and were made into a homeopathic formula.
A product made by Dolisos, called Dolivaxil, which may be available through the Internet, does not contain this year's flu strain, but a different strain. Both remedies come in one-dose tubes. Whichever one you decide to take, make sure you purchase five tubes for each person in your family. Each of you should take one tube once a week for four weeks. Then, wait one month and take the remaining dose.
Influenzium 9C is available for $5.19 per tube through Homeopathic Educational Services (800-359-9051). Dolivaxil can be found on the Internet for as little as $10 per five tubes. For this year's flu protection, I'm using Influenzium 9C.
Treatment: The most popular and powerful homeopathic to use at the first sign of a cold or flu is called Oscillococcinum. Three good human studies found this remedy works if you take it within 48 hours of flu onset. Homeopathics keep for years, so stock up on five tubes of Oscillo. Take it if you even suspect you're getting a cold or flu. It's cheap insurance. Oscillo can be found in just about all health food stores.
More homeopathic flu treatments
Gelsemium 6x: If you have the flu and feel exhausted, you'll want this remedy. This is especially true if your arms and legs feel tired, the back of your head aches, and you're not particularly thirsty.
Bryonia 6x: Take this remedy if you have the flu accompanied by aches, especially if you feel worse when you move, or have a frontal headache. A dry cough, being thirsty for cold water, and dry lips are also signs that this particular remedy may help you.
Eupatorium perfoliatum 6x: If you have muscle aches and pains in your bones or eyes, try this. You may also have chills early in the morning and still want to drink cold beverages.
Rhus tox 6x: This is a well-known remedy for poison oak. But it also is effective for the flu if your muscles ache when you first begin to move, but then lessen with more movement. If you're restless, have a sore throat, crave water, but can drink only a little at a time, it's time to reach for Rhus tox.
How to take homeopathics
Dana Ullman usually recommends potencies from 6-30 (in either "x" or "C" potencies). "Use the higher potencies the more confident you are with your selection of the remedy," he advises. Unless otherwise indicated, homeopathics should be taken every other hour for the first three doses. Then repeat only once every six to eight hours until you're better.
If you don't feel much better by the second day, try a different remedy. For the most up-to-date information on homeopathics, read Dana Ullman's e-book, Homeopathic Family Medicine. All of his books are excellent additions to your library.
Nutrition Detective
Not Perfect, But on the Right Track
Recently, in an article on blood pressure, I told you that there aren't many healthy prepared foods for anyone on a low-sodium diet. I was wrong. One of my favorite companies, Amy's Kitchen, has a new line of frozen foods that are not only low in sodium, they're made with organic ingredients as well.
I tried several of their meals and want to report my findings to you. I definitely liked some better than others. Their bowl of brown rice, tofu, and vegetables tasted like a homemade dish. Its flavor was mild, and I happen to like stronger tastes. But all it would take to boost its taste without increasing sodium is to add a little more garlic. Easy enough.
Amy's vegetable lasagna, on the other hand, didn't lack flavor. But it was a little too light on the sauce. Either they'll remedy this or I'll add a tablespoon or two more of a low-sodium tomato sauce in the future.
Highest in carbs and lowest in protein of all the meals I tried was the veggie loaf. It looks remarkably like a slice of meatloaf with gravy and is accompanied by mashed potatoes, corn, and peas. However, the loaf and gravy lacked taste, and the side dishes are all high-glycemic vegetables that turn into sugar too quickly. I'll gladly try Amy's other low sodium dishes, but won't repeat this one.
Healthy food companies like Amy's are beginning to listen to our needs and are coming up with low-sodium products. Try them. Some may be quite palatable and just the ticket for those days when you don't feel like cooking, but still want a healthful meal.
How to Protect Your DNA
In a recent issue, I talked about repairing your DNA to improve your health and appearance. Here are four reasons why your DNA gets damaged, and how to protect it.
Oxidation is the main reason we age and get sick. When you have too many free radicals (unstable molecules) and not enough of the full range of antioxidants, these free radicals damage your DNA.
Glycation is a process that occurs when high levels of blood sugar damage protein molecules. This natural process is slowed down when your blood sugar is normal.
Chronic inflammation produces enzymes that damage joints and destroy connective tissues. You can reverse some of this by repairing your DNA.
Methylation turns genes on and off. Damaged DNA can cause the wrong genes to be turned on, while overlooking the beneficial ones.
Prevention begins with diet and supplements. Genes need specific nutrients to function properly and help repair themselves. By giving your body enough of the right nutrients, you can help protect the DNA within your cells. You can get some, but not all, of these nutrients from a high-potency multivitamin, mineral, and essential oil formula, such as Vitality Plus (800-728-2288). And you can get some from a healthy diet.
High-potency B vitamins are essential to help repair and regulate the function of DNA. They also "turn off" cancer-promoting genes. Antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and E help prevent free-radical damage to DNA and calm down stress-response genes generated by free radicals.
In addition to a good multi, there are many anti-inflammatory nutrients. These include turmeric, AC-11, and Avatar 8, which protect against DNA damage. For more information on these and other protective nutrients, read The Anti-Aging Solution, (Giampapa, Pero, and Zimmerman, John Wiley & Sons, 2004) and my article on DNA repair in September's issue.
Ask Dr. Nan
Q: I have ringing in my ears and have seen an herbalist, chiropractor, two ENT specialists, and an acupuncturist. What can you suggest? - R.M.B., Hamilton, OH
A: Tinnitus (a constant ringing or hissing in the ear) can be caused by an accumulation of earwax, a blocked Eustachian tube, or an auditory nerve that's not functioning properly. Sounds like you've ruled these out. It's also associated with Meniere's disease, smoking, trauma, exposure to loud noises, aspirin, and an excessive drug use. Tinnitus is not unusual in older adults, since it also can be caused by poor circulation around the ear.
If none of these apply to you, be sure you consult with your doctors to rule out TMJ (temporomandibular joint syndrome), anemia, atherosclerosis, and hypertension. They, too, can cause tinnitus.
You need to know the cause of a problem before finding a solution. Oftentimes, that's the hardest part. But once you find it, you will usually find the solution.
Q: I'm being watched for possible autoimmune diseases. Both my sister and father have already developed them. What kind of vitamin/mineral support can I take without making my symptoms increase? A multi I tried seemed to bring on severe joint pain. - J.H., e-mail
A: Autoimmunity is a condition that occurs when our immune system begins to attack our body. The issue, as I see it, is not a matter of finding supplements you can take that don't cause side effects, but rather to find a way to tame down an overactive immune system.
Genetics is certainly a factor in autoimmune diseases, but it's not the only one. Viral or bacterial infections, stress, and heavy metal toxicity are all potential triggers of autoimmune diseases. Plants contain substances called sterols and sterolins that help regulate the immune system. Lorna Valnderhaeghe and Patrick Bouic, PhD, talk about them in their book, The Immune System Cure (Kensington Books, 1999).
I'd suggest you begin by removing heavy metals with PectaSol Chelation Complex (available by calling 800-728-2288) for six months, then read this book and try taking plant sterols. After this, you may find you can tolerate more vitamins and minerals.
Q: What is the difference between the omega-3 oils in fish oil and flaxseed oil? - B.B., West Lafayette, IN
A: Simply put, omega-3 and omega-6 fats are two different types of fatty acids. Within each type are various nutrients. Flaxseed oil contains alpha linolenic acid (ALA), linoleic acid (LA), and oleic acid. Fish oil, on the other hand, contains eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahetaenoic acid (DHA). Each has its own function and helps make other substances. But no source of essential fats covers all areas. We need a balance of the nutrients found in both flaxseed oil and fish oil.
If you enjoy grinding flaxseed, great! Use three tablespoons of the ground meal a day. You also should add several fish-oil capsules to your supplements. Please make sure that the company that sells it guarantees that it's free from mercury and pesticides. All fish oils are not safe. One formula that's guaranteed to be safe is the Women's Preferred Mixed Fatty Acid formula that contains all three essential fats. This formula is the same one that's included in the Vitality Plus packets. Both products are available by calling 800-728-2288.