Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Today we are going to discuss how statin drugs impact essential nutrients in the body. If you are on a statin drug to help lower your cholesterol, it is important to know that specific nutrients in your body are being depleted.
Not all foods are created equal. Here, we expand on the topic of cholesterol and nutrition – offering you information on foods to include in your diet, according to numerous studies and journals.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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Heart disease is extremely dangerous. When most people think of heart disease, they are referring to the clogging of arteries in the heart by cholesterol which leads to strokes and heart attacks. But many factors contribute to heart disease and Aged Garlic has been proven to lower many of these other contributors substantially.†
Heart Concerns
Coronary artery disease occurs when the arteries within the heart muscle become stiffened and narrowed. This is a result of plaque build up which is mostly made out of LDL-cholesterol. This is very dangerous because the arteries inside the heart are much narrower than other arteries to begin with and this narrowing is a major risk for stroke and heart attack.
In studies of risks that contribute to developing heart disease such as elevated LDL-cholesterol, low-HDL the good cholesterol, high blood pressure, or elevated triglycerides, garlic leads to improvements but Aged Garlic consistently offers better results than other forms of garlic.
What is Aged Garlic?
Garlic belongs to the Allium family and is closely related to the onion, scallion and shallot. It has been used all over the world in many foods and added as a flavor for cooking. But traditionally garlic has been used for a variety of medicinal reasons especially in Ancient Egypt to promote a healthy immune system, heart function, borderline blood pressure, borderline LDL-cholesterol, and circulation.
When garlic is aged, some of its health-preserving constituents are augmented, making it more powerful for the immune system and in the support of health health without the odor, stomach upset, or gassiness. The aging process converts unstable “allicin” to even more powerful properties. Aged garlic is odorless and richer in health-promoting compounds than fresh garlic or other forms of garlic preparations, more effective in boosting immunity, and more beneficial in protecting the body than other garlic forms.
So how do you make Aged Garlic? You start off with high quality, non-GMO garlic that has not been sprayed; you wash it to clean off any dirt, slice it thin and cover it with water for at least 18 months. Then you dry it, check it for purity, make it into a powder, and check it again.
Evidence of Aged Garlic At Work
In terms of blood fats, one breakthrough study performed by UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), research found that adding Aged Garlic to Statins decreased plaque build up an additional 50%.
A separate study published in the journal Atherosclerosis studied the benefit of garlic supplementation over four years in men and women. Garlic supplementation actually reversed plaque buildup in their arteries by 4.4 % in men and by 4.6% in women. Meanwhile, study participants on placebo had an additional 15.6% increase in plaque buildup. All subjects had advanced plaque buildup in their arteries and other issues such as high blood pressure, obesity, or diabetes.
In a review of eight separate meta-analyses (a group of similar studies that can add to results by large numbers of participants, research, etc..) by researchers at the University of Saskatchewan and at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Garlic lowered total cholesterol up to 29.8 points. In their review of 4 additional meta-analyses and two original studies the researchers found that in people with hypertension, Garlic (especially Aged Garlic) reduced SBP up to 16 points. It also reduced DBP by up to 9 points. The review also showed that Aged Garlic lowered hs-CRP.
Many things are shown to be cardio-protective; a healthy diet including lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, exercising, and cutting back on sugar and salt. But Aged Garlic demands respect for its clinically proven ability to substantially lower the risk factors that contribute to heart disease.
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
In Episode 6 of the Invite Health Podcast, Jerry Hickey, Ph., discusses what cholesterol is, its impact on your body, and the effectiveness of sterols in lowering cholesterol levels.
The American Heart Association reports that metabolic syndrome affects about 23% of adults. A new study now says that eating within a certain time window – intermittent fasting – can help tackle that.
A study performed by the University of Eastern Finland has found a link between higher serum Vitamin D levels and lower plasma cholesterol levels in primary school children.
Vitamin D, commonly called the ‘sunshine vitamin, is an essential nutrient that plays a major role in many of the body’s functions, including in the skin, hair and bones. Vitamin D has been shown to promote calcium absorption, support healthy cell growth and healthy immune function. Sources of vitamin D include the sun, some foods like fatty-fish and cheese (though small amounts), and supplementation.
Could a Vitamin Deficiency be to Blame for Your Hair Loss?
It has been estimated that approximately 70% of North Americans have Vitamin D deficiencies. This is due to a combination of factors: low levels of sunlight for most of the year, obesity, sun avoidance, and low consumption of foods high in Vitamin D such as fatty fish (salmon, tuna, sardines). Inadequate Vitamin D in the body often leads to conditions such as rickets and osteomalacia, which bring on symptoms like bone and muscle pain, enlarged joints, and easily fractured bones. Given the high prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency, this could be the most essential of all the conditionally essential vitamins.
Essential for bone health, recent studies have also shown low levels of vitamin D to be linked with higher rates of respiratory tract infections, auto-immune diseases and cardiovascular diseases.
Part of the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) study, a lifestyle intervention study in the Institute of Biomedicine at the University of Eastern Finland, a total of 512 children ages 6 to 8 years old participated in the baseline measurements from 2007 – 2009. The PANIC study produces scientifically valuable information on children’s lifestyles, health and well-being.
Children whose 25-hydroxyvvitamin D levels exceeded 80 nmol/l had lower plasma total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels than children whos serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were below 50 nmol/l, which is often regarded as a threshold value for vitamin D sufficiency. 25-hydroxyvitamin D is the major circulating form of Vitamin D. These finding were reported in one of the leading journals of endocrinology, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.