Blood — Care and Cleaning

Where else to begin our discussion of the Heart and Circulatory System than with the life force that flows through that system, blood.

I’ve discovered Hebrew to be a most fascinating language, as all words come from a root word. The derived words might differ from the root, but by connecting back to the root word, we see the thought process in action; we see the evolution of thought.

Pronounced dahm. Meaning blood. This is the root word.

Pronounced ah-DAHM, or in English, Adam. The first human being. The word for human being, or person, in Hebrew means, literally, son of Adam.

Pronounced ah-d-MAH. Meaning earth, land, soil. According to the Hebrew Bible, Adam was made from the earth. The word is feminine.

Pronounced ah-DOME. Meaning red. Blood is red, no matter what color the skin.

We see here an intimate connection between humans and the earth; the connection is our red blood. In your biology class, you were probably taught that your blood comes from your bone marrow where it is manufactured. However, according to Chinese Medicine, your blood begins on the end of your fork; what you eat goes into the creation of your blood. All food begins in the earth; even if you are a meat eater, your meat fed on food that came from the earth.

Orthomolecular biology also affirms that we are what we eat. Dr Rath, author of Why Animals Don’t Get Heart Attacks, coined the term Cellular Medicine. Dr Rath was a colleague of Linus Pauling and they were so close that Pauling asked Rath to continue his life’s work. Thus the advent of Cellular and Nutritional medicine: caring for the nutritional well being of every cell in the body. This is where our blood begins, where heart disease begins: on the end of our forks. From the Hebrew above, the lesson here is that your food is only as good as the quality of the earth it came from. This is where factory farming comes in and disease begins. Our earth is no longer friendly.

We should note that animals do get heart attacks, especially when they are in studies and are fed a toxic diet. Animals in the world who live in pollution are starting to die early too. A polluted planet is no place to raise a pet, or a human for that matter.

In our initial article on cardiovascular care, The Heart of the Matter, many new immune system disorders and burgeoning heart disease began in the late thirties, early forties. There are many factors since then that have affected our soil. Factory farming got its start after WWII with the use of inorganic fertilizers from our leftover arsenal of bombs. We began taking from the soil and not replenishing what we took with what was needed. Instead we used what we manufactured and laid down what thought it needed. Not all nitrogen is created equal. At that same time our use of chemical pesticides and herbicides began, and even though it hasn’t been as successful as agribusiness would like us to think, we continue to poison our soils:

From the CRC Handbook of Pest Managment in Agriculture, Vol I, 2nd ed., 1991:

   

Keep this all in mind as you continue reading.

Also, in the next chapter, we’re going to introduce you to a 40-year study (conducted from 1959 to 1999) written up in a summary called Understanding Vulnerable Plaque. It is an amazing story, a who-done-it even more confusing than Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep starring good old Bogey. It involves nutrition, immune suppression, bacterial and viral infection (stealth viruses) and the big word hypercoagulability. Stay tuned.

Nutrition

Of all the factors affecting the quality of your blood, your food is the most important. Other factors, exercise, lifestyle, energy (Qi) flow, your thought process, and your connection to your higher power are also factors in cardiovascular wellness, because we are not our parts: we are not our hearts, we are not our blood vessels. We are body/mind/spirit.

So, before we begin our discourse, let us look at the basic nutritional factors set forth by those who’ve done the most work in the field.

In our research we discovered a paper by Linus Pauling and Dr Matthias Rath that described the process by which arteries become clogged (presented for you later on). The name Rath kept popping up around us and one of our internet readers sent me to his site. He’s an amazing physician and researcher and he is fighting the pharmaceutical interests in Germany who have somehow managed to make most vitamins and minerals off-limits to the average Joe. Many require a prescription from physicians.

When we were writing the first edition of Bypassing Bypass, the same thing was happening in Canada, pharmaceutical interests influencing the government. Some 4 years previous, we’d found articles on how Canada wanted to investigate “alternatives and various supplements” and published them at our web site. Eventually, this investigation led to a near total collapse of the vitamin/supplement industry in Canada as things like Co-enzyme Q10 and simple amino acids became available by prescription only.

We contacted Rath’s organization here in America and they sent us a copy of his book (which we highly recommend): Why Animals Don’t Get Heart Attacks — But People Do. Now this isn’t exactly the case (as with that book, Sharks Don’t Get Cancer by I. William Lane and Linda Comac). Animals must somehow get heart disease or we couldn’t create animal studies on heart disease. Any study involving animals and cardiovascular disease must factor in their biochemistry (as you will see later on) otherwise the results mean nothing to humans.

For one thing, all animals, except the guinea pig, manufacture their own vitamin C. One problem today is that the environment, the toxic environment created by tons and tons of industrial waste, not to mention the 75,000 chemicals released into the atmosphere since WWII, has created a situation in which even animals aren’t making enough vitamin C to avoid illness and they too now need supplementation. We’ve found articles by nutritional veterinarians recommending supplementing our pets’ diets with vitamin C.

We thank Dr Rath for allowing us to reprint anything we needed from his books anything, and since his research into the orthomolecular factors to heart disease, it is with his Basic Cellular Medicine Program that we will begin our discussion on nutrition and cardiovascular care. The only thing Rath seems to have overlooked in his early research were the Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs). His work today, however, does not overlooked these important lipids.

What are the essential nutrients? Well again, from his book, we shall list Dr Rath’s Required Daily Allowances for a healthy heart. Afterwards, we will discuss the additional supplements/foods required for cardiovascular wellness. Rath’s theories and research are constantly being validated in clinical studies. Keep in mind that chronic, long-term cardiovascular disease can be stopped, but, according to Rath’s findings, only slightly reversed. It is best to catch it early because then it can be totally reversed.

From Dr Rath we received this short biographical note:

Matthias Rath, MD is a world-renowned physician and scientist who pioneered discoveries related to vitamin C and cardiovascular health. He developed nutritional formulations that help promote and maintain healthy cardiovascular function. He is the holder of US Patent Number 5,278,189 for just such a formulation.

Dr Rath developed the Cellular Health concept that relates healthy structure and function of cells to optimal supply of vitamins and essential nutrients. Dr Rath’s scientific publications have appeared in reputable scientific journals including the American Heart Association’s Arteriosclerosis, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and others.

Dr Rath is founder and head of an international research and development firm in natural health, the developer of the Cellular Health Programs. Major portions of the revenues from the sales of Dr Rath’s Cellular Health Formulas are reinvested into further research and clinical studies in natural health. Dr Rath’s Cellular Health Formulas are the first natural health products that were systematically subject to clinical studies, including double-blind placebo controlled trials.

Until 1992, Dr Rath was Director of Cardiovascular Research at the Linus Pauling Institute in California and published several landmark scientific publications together with the late Linus Pauling. Dr Rath’s commitment to implementation of his scientific findings and promotion of natural health was instrumental in his advocacy for natural health legislation (DSHEA and UN Codex Alimentarius). The details of his work are documented in his latest book Ten Years That Changed The Face of Medicine Forever. Dr Rath’s website www.dr-rath-vitamins.com is one of the world’s leading online sources for Cellular Health and natural health science.

Now Dr Rath is bringing from Europe the latest scientific advances in natural health in order to promote a new patient-oriented health care system with a focus on natural and preventive approaches.

Dr Rath’s Basic Cellular Medicine Program

VITAMINS

MINERALS

TRACE ELEMENTS

OTHER IMPORTANT NUTRIENTS

This cellular medicine health program can be found in Dr Rath’s very own product: Vitacor Plus. This is his foundation and you can call Matthias Rath, Inc at 800-624-2442 or go to his web site to order any of his products: www.dr-rath-vitamins.com.

A short note here on L-Cysteine: NAC or N-Acetylcysteine might be an even better choice. Dr Richard Passwater PhD, in a paper entitled, “N-Acetylcysteine (NAC): An Old Nutrient Attracts New Research” documents NAC’s ability to detoxify the body and battle free radicals at a much better rate than L-Cysteine alone, which first must go through a process in the human body to become NAC. Thus, taking NAC itself is recommended over L-Cysteine.

Now, for some of you, this looks like a pretty hefty trip to your local health food store. However, you can get most of the above from a proper diet with some supplementing. The amount of vitamin C the average human body needs, because of air pollution, water pollution, toxins in our food, and iron overload has increased dramatically over the years. Dr Garry Gordon (one of four physicians to start the American College for the Advancement of Medicine) recommends 8 to 12 grams of vitamin C daily. He’s also created a form of vitamin C that won’t give you diarrhea at that amount. Meat eaters will get almost enough CoQ10, but vegetarians will have to supplement. Better still, since every cell in the body creates CoQ10, exercise. Exercise produces CoQ10 and L-Carnitine in the levels recommended here.

If you are looking for the best CoQ1o, and this isn’t just our opinion. We’ve looked and looked. Here is one from Dr Al Sears, called: Accel.

One bioflavonoid that is absolutely required in our diets is resveratrol, and you can read about it here: Resveratrol, Pterostilbene, and Ellagic Acid.

You can get the amino acids listed under “OTHER IMPORTANT NUTRIENTS” from a healthy diet (eggs contain L-Cysteine) and Dr Schulze’s superfoods contain almost all the nutrients listed here. It is best to get your nutrition from your food and to supplement as little as possible, however, as we age, our production of CoQ10, Melatonin, and DHEA decline drastically.

Supplementation might be needed by us oldsters (over 40) though keep this in mind at all times: all superfoods are better than any form of supplementation: spirulina, algae, cholorella, Risotriene™, Dr Schulze’s superfood, you name it. A glass of carrot juice with a superfood stirred in is always better than supplementing.

There is a web site run by the Department of Agriculture, sort of a Nutritional Database.  You can type in a food and it will return an assay on the vitamin and mineral content of that food. The database is huge and also holds name brand packaged/canned/frozen foods.

However, always keep in mind that even though the Department of Agriculture will tell you there is no difference between conventionally grown foods and organically grown foods, there is a big difference. Plain and simple, organically raised foods have a higher nutritional value than conventionally grown foods and if anyone tells you differently, they’re either stupid or they’re lying. If they’re lying, they’re probably being paid off by a very lucrative food industry or they work for the government which is now controlled by lobbyists.

The above (Rath’s guide) is your new RDA for healthy living. These are the minimal requirements to maintain healthy bodies, healthy arteries and veins, healthy blood, and a healthy attitude. If you are an athlete, you work out regularly, or you are just very active, you will need more antioxidants than those who are more sedentary. Olympic athletes have terrible arteries. Long distance runners have terrible arteries. They are sure to get their carbs they need to complete a run, but they don’t get enough antioxidants to keep their arteries healthy. So, remember, these are the minimal requirements, and start from there.

As mentioned, Dr Rath seems to have forgotten to include EFAs. He’s added them to his regimen since the original publication, and since Essential Fatty Acids are essential to proper health, we need to include them in our daily regimens also, and we will discuss this as you read on.

 Now on to the nutritional factors affecting your blood.

There are many studies on food consumption and the resulting condition of the blood, most of them comparing blood samples taken before and after eating. Shortly after eating at a fast food joint, the blood thickens, and platelets begin to aggregate (stick together). Studies have shown that taking antioxidants (specifically vitamin E, selenium, and beta-carotene) prior to a fast food meal keeps your blood normal. Then there is the microwaved food study from Europe that demonstrated clearly that no human should be eating microwaved foods. Microwaved foods put your blood into a pre-cancerous condition (the study, Hidden Hazards of Microwave Cooking is worth checking out).

Cooked foods cause platelets to stick together. Antioxidants can also help to keep your blood healthy when eating cooked foods, but, as you can guess, raw whole foods do not cause any significant changes or degradation to the blood. This is why the “cancer diet” consists of 70% raw vegetables.

The USDA released in 1999 the top ten fruits and vegetables that will help eliminate free radicals: prunes, raisins, blueberries, blackberries, kale, strawberries, spinach, raspberries, Brussels sprouts, and plums. If you are looking for number 11, I’d put my money on the kiwi fruit. It is the only fruit with Vitamin E, but you must eat the skin.  And make sure these are organic or you’ll be causing as many free radicals as you are cleaning up.

Recently we’ve discovered two super powerful antioxidant fruits (that soon rose to the stature of fads): Acai Berries & Goji Berries.

Organic foods change the blood less than inorganic foods. It seems the body just doesn’t like pesticides and inorganic compounds. Duh!

Do not skip breakfast. Not only does skipping breakfast put a strain on your adrenal glands, it causes platelet aggregation. This clumping, in someone with advanced atherosclerosis (which many have but few know for sure because heart disease goes undetected for so long), could be deadly. It also puts an added strain on the heart, which no one needs at the beginning of the day.

If you are going to skip breakfast, perhaps to work out, make sure you drink some water, or perhaps some beet juice. You have to keep the viscosity of your blood thin.

Water

Sixty percent of our bodies is water; thus sixty percent of our health is water.

The second most important factor to healthy blood is hydration: drinking enough pure water. Many subsist on soda pop, coffee, and alcoholic beverages, all of which contribute to dehydration. There are cases on record of people who began to reverse their cancer simply by drinking 8 to 10 glasses (8oz. glasses) per day. [Editor’s note: there are those who are now suggesting that not everyone needs this much water in their daily routine. However, no one can agree on how much we really need.]

Dehydration, because it can trigger and/or aggravate inflammation, is a contributing factors of aging, heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), cancer, and even asthma. In fact, an asthma attacks have been brought under control by drinking two glasses of water. Your water has to be pure. Most public water systems are filled with toxins, not to mention chlorine from the processing plants. Chlorine helps to destroy the good bacteria in your digestive system. It also causes weight gain, denatures your essential fatty acids, and rips up the lining to your blood vessels leading to arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Do not expect the EPA to tell you this, even though it was through their own studies that this tidbit was uncovered.

Many people ask us, “Which water filter is best?” The simplest answer is: any water filter is better than no water filter. Personally, we happen to like the reverse osmosis filter systems, though they can be spendy and they do make your water acidic.

We do want to make one thing perfectly clear: If you don’t have a water filter, you are a water filter.

So, if your water does come from a reverse osmosis filter, then its devoid of minerals and has an acidic pH.

Here is what I do (and yes, even my housekeepers will tell you that this is exactly what I do). I put 2 squeezes of Ionyte into my water jug. Ionyte is charged with (charged is a great word because these minerals are alive with an actual charge) minerals. Here is a list of those minerals:

Antimony, Barium, Beryllium, Bismuth, Boron, Bromine, Calcium, Carbon, Cerium, Cesium, Chloride, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Dysprosium, Erbium, Europium, Fluorine, Gadolinium, Gallium, Germanium, Gold, Hafnium, Holmium, Indium, Iodine, Iridium, Iron, Lithium, Lutetium, Magnesium, Manganese, Molybdenum, Niacin, Nickel, Niobium, Osmium, Palladium, Phosphorus, Platinum, Potassium, Praseodymium, Rhenium, Rhodium, Rubidium, Ruthenium, Samarium, Selenium, Silver, Sodium, Strontium, Sulphur, Tantalum, Thorium, Tellurium, Terbium, Thulium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Ytterbium, Yttrium, Zinc, Zirconium, Amino Acids: Alanine, Glutamic Acid, Glycine, Histidine, lsoleucine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Serine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Valine. Vitamins: A (Acetate), B (Thiamine), B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), B6 (Pyridoxine), B12 (cyanocobalamin), E (Tocopherol)

The only problem, today May 2002, is that the people selling Ionyte and AquaLyte have been closed by the FDA. Therefore, we recommend a good quality Fulvic Mineral product, and Coral Calcium sachets instead.

Here is an analysis of the 74 trace minerals in AquaLyte (coral calcium) [Analysis by Western Analysis, Salt Lake City, Utah]:

Oh, and as you can see, it also has some vitamins, just a touch (micro-amounts). You can find these, at the best price on the web (with free shipping) at Simply the Best.

Then there is Willard Water®. This acts like a surfactant. It aids in delivering the water to your system faster, along with anything you take with it from that hot-dog to your vitamins, and that antibiotic. Everything will get into your system faster, so you have to be careful. Willard Water® (this link is to our article) is also alkaline, which, for some, makes water sweeter. And you can get it from Swanson’s cheaper than from the inventor’s site. Additionally, here is the FDA’s analysis of the minerals in Willard Water® Dark (and Willard Water® Ultimate):

Boron is one of those minerals that fights arthritis, prevents osteoporosis, increases energy, clears up brain fog, aids memory, and assists the body in handling other minerals like magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium by helping to produce digestive enzymes. Additionally, boron aids in fighting yeast infections and allergies of all sorts. [Boron Uses — Boost Bone Density and Much More]

The suggested daily requirement for adults, is 20 mg. I did the math and that’s two tablespoons of Willard Water®. The mixing instructions are 2 tablespoons of Willard Water® to a gallon of water.

Alkaline waters are some of the best for us, and trace minerals are the building blocks of life. There are a few water filters and systems out there that turn your water alkaline, though most turn your water acidic. The Bawell Ionizers are some of the best (we’ve tried them), and hundreds of dollars cheaper than the Kagen water machines.

Skeptics on the internet abound. They love to attack alkaline water saying that there are no studies, so don’t waste your money. The thing is, there are studies, most of them from Japan. Additionally, skeptics tell us that if we drink alkaline water, it goes into an acidic stomach. They would have to neutralize each other. Except that’s not what happens, and the skeptics don’t know a thing about the biology of the stomach.

For one thing, there is no pocket of hydrochloric acid in the body. Were there, it could rip a hole in whatever contains it. Hydrochloric acid is made on an “as needed” basis, and the more alkaline the substance is inside your stomach, the more HCL is made.

Don’t let the chemistry scare you off. I’ll explain it very clearly.

The things that make up HCL are: NaCl (sodium chloride or salt) or KCl (potassium chloride), H20 (water), and CO2 (carbon dioxide). What comes out is HCL + either sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate.

NaCl + H2O + CO2 = HCL + NaHCO3 (sodium bicarbonate)
KCL+ H2O + CO2 = HCL + KHCO3 (potassium bicarbonate)

Even in the body, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, or as author and electrical engineer Sang Whang puts it:

By looking at the pH value of the stomach alone, it seems that alkaline water never reaches the body. But when you look at the whole body, there is a net gain of alkalinity as we drink alkaline water. Our body cells are slightly alkaline. In order for them to produce acid, they must also produce alkaline. And vice versa: just as a water Ionizer cannot produce alkaline water without producing acid water, since tap water is almost neutral. [Alkaline Ionized Water and Stomach Acid – This page no longer exists.]

So, we see that the net result, in the body’s natural design (natural intelligence) to maintain homeostasis, is a rise in pH.  And it’s here where we can also talk about free radicals because, according to Sang Whang [The Fallacy of the ‘Free Radical Theory’], what we’ve been taught for years is just hogwash and we have to look at what’s going on as an acid/alkaline imbalance instead:

If we substitute “free radicals” with “acidic wastes” and “anti-oxidants” with “waste removing alkaline substances”, all the published articles on “free radicals” make more sense scientifically. We get old because of our “waste mismanagement”. Understanding the fact that waste products are acidic, and not free radicals, we are on the right path to finding the solution to anti-aging.

As long as we’re talking about anti-oxidants, and what we’ve been led to believe, this short digression won’t take us too far off the path.

When it comes to what we know about anti-oxidants, all the research has been done in laboratories. Research into what goes on inside the human body has barely scratched the surface. Nothing we know from these laboratory studies can be translated into real, lifetime results. The research just isn’t there.

So, here is a paper that says just that (but uses a lot of big words).

Application of the in Vitro Assays in Clinical Research.

Although the limitations of these assays have been mentioned throughout this paper, it is necessary to emphasize that the assays described herein are strictly based on chemical reactions in vitro [in a laboratory]. They bear no similarity to biological systems. The validity of the data is limited to a strict chemical sense with context interpretation. Any claims about the bioactivity of a sample based solely on these assays such as ORAC, TEAC, and FRAP etc., would be exaggerated, unscientific, and out of context. Moreover, these assays do not measure bioavailability, in vivo [in an actual living being] stability, retention of antioxidants by tissues, and reactivity in situ [at the original site].

The role of dietary antioxidants is to help fight excessive ROS [Reactive oxygen species] in our bodies. By doing so, antioxidants will be sacrificed to protect the biomolecules from being oxidized (as the antioxidant definition states), and thus the antioxidant has fulfilled its function. It is of importance to study whether there is a correlation between the intake of high potent antioxidants and the level of oxidative stress. The in vitro nature of these assays should not compromise their value in guiding clinical research. On the contrary, a valid in vitro assay is an invaluable tool for clinical studies if it is combined with bioavailability data and valid oxidative stress biomarker assays. In fact, many studies apply these assays to study the impact of antioxidant consumption on reducing oxidative stress markers [Serafini, M.; Bugianesi, R.; Maiani, G.; Valtuena, S.; De Santis,S.; Crozier, A. Plasma antioxidants from chocolate. Nature 2003,424, 1013]. In addition to the assay validity itself, special attention has to be paid to confounding factors from sample matrix when biological samples are measured, such as blood plasma, tissues, or urine. In this regard, valid sample processing procedure is critical. The synergistic effects of such a combination assays [must be a valid assay or disputable results can be gathered ((a) Halliwell, B. Plasma antioxidants (communication arising): Health benefits of eating chocolate? Nature 2003, 436, 787. (b) Schroeter, H.; Holt, R. R.; Orozco, T. J.; Schmitz, H. H.; Keen, C. L. Nutrition: Milk and absorption of dietary flavanols. Nature 2003, 426, 787. (c) Serafini, M.; Crozier, A. Nutrition: Milk and absorption of dietary flavanols. Nature 2003, 426, 788.)] will allow us to investigate the impact of antioxidant in reducing oxidative stress and thus the implication for disease prevention.

The paper is called: “The Chemistry behind Antioxidant Capacity Assays“and you can download it by clicking that link.

The purpose of this “field trip” was to drive home Sang’s point above, that we’re looking at antioxidants all wrong, and that we need to focus on inflammation as the cause of aging. This is something we will drive home as you read further (in our articles/chapters on cardiovascular wellness).

And not everything we drink hydrates!

For every cup of coffee, for every 8 oz of caffeinated soda pops, for every ounce of hard liquor, glass of wine, or 8 ounces of beer, your body needs twice that amount in water. These drinks are all dehydrating.

One Final Note on Water

No one should ever put chlorinated water into their body. Chlorination attacks your arteries, and destroys your essential fatty acids.

“Putting chlorine in the water supplies is like starting a time bomb. Cancer, heart trouble, premature senility; both mental and physical, are conditions attributable to chlorine treated water supplies. It is making us grow old before our time by producing symptoms of aging, such as hardening of the arteries.”

~Dr. Herbert Schwarts, Biological Chemist

Fats

The types of fats you consume affect the viscosity (density) of your blood and the amount of platelet aggregation (stickiness).

False. This has never been proven. What we do know is that oxidized fats are toxic and must be cleaned up.

The condition of your arteries is comensurate with the oxidized fats and your inflammation index with a nod to your vitamin C intake (and other anti-oxidants).

Having said this, nearly all oils sold in your supermarket are deadly and are a leading cause of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, and mental dysfunction (ADD, ADHD, etc.). Your processed polyunsaturated oils (touted for years to be so “Heart Healthy” and STILL recommended everywhere we’ve looked) contain trace amounts of heavy metals and chemicals used in their extraction. They have been heated (actually burned) and are already oxidized by the time prior to bottling. Perfumes (that smell like fresh corn oil), created in a laboratory off the Jersey Turnpike, are added to keep you from smelling how badly oxidized (rancid) they really are.

Do you remember our initial discussion concerning when heart disease rates began to climb in the US? Here we have one of the culprits.

The food industry, in order to get more oil from corn, began processing the leftover corn mash (what’s left after you’ve squeezed most of the oil from corn) with chemicals (like benzene). Next, those chemicals have to be burned off (there is no allowable limit of benzene in food), thus the high temps. The clean clear polyunsaturated oils found on your grocer’s shelves are pure poison. Add to this the knowledge that our corn oils are the omega-6s that, when proportionately way higher than our omega-3s, lead to chronic inflammation, and you have a direct route to cardiovascular disease.

Additionally during this same time (WWII), because of a butter shortage, partially hydrogenated oils were re-introduced in the form of margarine. Partially hydrogenated oils, or trans-fats, as some call them, have a ridiculously long shelf life. The food industry loves this. Look for an expiration date on your bag of taco chips containing trans-fats. You’ll be surprised. Additionally, it was discovered that trans-fats are flavor enhancers. The fats coat your mouth and tongue and draw the flavors into your taste buds. Oxidized fats attack your arteries, and trans-fats clog them. With their increased use (and continued support by the American Heart Association funded by the food industry), heart disease in America has climbed to monumental heights. In Europe, they refuse to eat our junk foods and are limiting the use of trans-fats with many countries having outlawed the sale of margarine already. On January 1, 2010, in California, a law went into effect virtually banning trans-fats from being served in restaurants.

On July 25, 2008, California’s Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law Assembly Bill 97, commonly called “the Trans Fat Bill,” which required restaurants to reduce the amount of trans fat in their margarine, oils, and shortening to less than half a gram per serving by January 1, 2010.  Starting 2011, this law applies to deep-fry oil as well, for use in bakeries and donut shops. However, packaged foods will still be exempt.

Your naturopath will recommend the use of olive oil in your kitchen. Cold pressed (virgin) is probably the best, and the organic brands are even better. Although, if you wan to cook with olive oil, the lesser quality versions have a much higher “smoke point,” 460°F. Oils should not be heated to the point where they begin to oxidize, thus for a stir-fry, most naturopaths recommend peanut oil (smoke point: 440°F), with refined safflower oil coming in really hot (smoke point: 510°F). Personally, I don’t like to cook at high temperatures and have started frying with coconut oil (smoke point: 350°F) and macadamia nut oil (smoke point: 390°F). [Figures attained from the Baseline of Health Foundation]

Someone once asked me “What about canola oil?” I responded, “I never put it in my body.”

Coconut oil studies conducted in the fifties labeled it dangerous to your arteries. However, the coconut oil used in these studies was partially hydrogenated. Coconut oil acts as an antihistamine, an anti-infective, anti-diabetic, and an anti-cancer agent. It contains lauric acid, the antiviral substance found in mother’s milk. Find it at your local health food store. It’s great for cooking and for salads, but like butter, never cook with it over 350 degrees.

Again, most organic oils found in your health food stores are great. Expensive, but great. However, there is an essential oil, consisting of two essential parts necessary for life, that you must consider in your program for a healthy heart: Essential Fatty Acids, or the omega-3’s (found in flax and fish).

Johanna Budwig was once the leading authority in the world on fats and oils. In her book, Flax as a True Aid Against Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer, and other Diseases, (Dr Johanna Budwig, Apple Publishing Company, 1992), she points out that essential fatty acids have proven to decrease blood platelet aggregation, while keeping saturated fats mobile in the blood stream (which reduces their tendency to stick to the arterial muscle walls) and decrease blood viscosity, thus reducing the work load on the heart and arteries. Additionally, flaxseed oil ensures balanced prostaglandin production, thus regulating proper arterial constriction and relaxation.

Budwig goes on to tell us that essential fatty acids are necessary in delivering oxygen from hemoglobin (the oxygen carrier in red blood cells) to every one of our one hundred trillion cells. The heart is an electrically driven organ. Without electrical conduction, the heart will cease to contract. Unadulterated essential fatty acids carry an electrical charge expressed in their electron cloud. Dr Budwig contends that these bio-electric dynamos enhance all life functions, including the electrical conduction and contractile strength of the heart muscle.

Budwig’s Recipe

Three tablespoons of flax oil mixed with cottage cheese. According to her research, the flax oil must be bound to a sulfurated protein in order to become water-soluble. When an oil/lipid is water soluble, it is more bioavailable. It is absorbed faster and used better.

However, this recipe tastes, to most Americans, terrible [although I have received one letter from a reader who loves the taste of flax oil]. You can modify this recipe the way I do, by adding a bit more cottage cheese, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, chopped celery, carrots, red pepper, and a little kelp powder (a salt substitute with many minerals) or some Celtic Sea Salt. Dr Budwig recommends eating this at least once a day (twice a day is optimal), if you have cancer, heart disease or an immune system disorder (the oils are not called essential because they are optional—they are essential), and at least once a week for prevention.

Budwig began using this recipe in Germany in the fifties and with it has reversed cancer, heart disease, type II diabetes and childhood disorders such as ADD and ADHD.

It is the essential oils that have led Dr Ornish’s patients to better heart health, only his recommendation is to consume fish oils. Salmon, sardines, and even anchovies are a wonderful way to get your omega-3 fatty acids. Sushi lovers live longer. Just look at the Japanese.

The actual fatty acid inside Flax Oil is called Alpha Linolenic Acid (LNA). Our research points to 2.2 grams of LNA per day as being the optimum amount. To get this amount you could eat:

2.5 cups of Wheat Germ; 40 cups of Alfalfa Sprouts; 9 cups of Mixed Nuts and Peanuts; 3.5 cups of Soybeans; 157 slices of Whole Wheat Bread; 1/3 cup English Walnuts; 56 Big Apples; 3.5 cups of Tuna Salad; 51 Eggs (6 Free-Range Eggs!); 7.75 quarts of Milk 2%; 244 Tomatoes; 56 Granola Bars; 72 Canned Sardines; or 81 cups of Frosted Mini-Wheats.

Budwig’s diet, created for people who are not well, gives the individual approximately 4 grams of LNA, so you’ll want to double the above numbers, or take Budwig’s mixture of flax oil and cottage cheese.

We have invented a Salad Dressin based on Budwig’s recipe. One can thin it out with a bit of yogurt, or keep it thick as a veggie dip.

Another solution is Omegasentials™. In all our years of research, this is the best food product we have ever found, bar none. It was invented by a genius named Stan Mann. The product is processed in a unique manner that stabilizes the oils (ground flax can go bad in fifteen minutes at room temperature) and makes them, like Budwig’s recipe, water soluble. To make the essential fatty acids even more bioavailable than Budwig’s recipe, Stan Mann researched co-factors that helped increase the uptake and utilization of these lipids.

We’ve received hundreds of testimonials about how people love their Omegasentials™. It is one product I never run out of in my kitchen, and when I travel, I always take some with me. We have posted a few recipes using Omegasentials by searching for Omegasentials at this site.

Special Note: Stan and his partner Bill Rezmerski both passed away and the formula was lost forever. However, yours truly is an investigative journalist and after lots of legwork, I established myself as the legal owner of the company that made the product. I then approached the companies supplying the formulas, and Omegasentials™ is once again on the market. However, it is being made by myself, in small batches, at our local organic food co-op’s commercial kitchen on Sundays. So, you can now purchase Omegasentials™ at Simply the Best (where I am also the volunteer shipper).

One last note. If your gut contains a good supply of good bacteria, you’re in luck. You see, these good bacteria will consume some of the flax oil you take in, and they will excrete DHA and EPA, the oils found in fish.

Salt

Our bodies need salt. We are told that too much salt thickens our blood. Actually, it’s too much sodium that thickens our blood. Heart patients are told to avoid their salt shakers. Well, we’ve got news for you, and this isn’t the last time we will tell you.

First off: table salt is poison. It is 98% sodium and 2% chemicals from the processing (and a hint of iodine added back). Natural salt is charged with minerals. The salt companies make their profits by extracting these minerals and selling them back to you at premium price. If you think sea salt is any better, think again. Most sea salts have been processed and are no different from your ordinary table salt. Salt, once processed, is salt.

The composition of our blood is very much like the composition of seawater. Salt is needed by our bodies for many chemical/hormonal processes. Vegetarians don’t get as much salt as meat eaters do. Salt is needed to stimulate digestion.

The only salt you should ever use is unprocessed salt. Of all the unprocessed salt, Celtic Sea Salt (click the link to read about it) is the best. Celtic Sea Salt is 85% sodium and 15% minerals. Studies conducted in prisons have shown that Celtic Sea Salt can reverse some of the most aberrant behaviors; simply because the subjects in the studies got the basic minerals they needed to maintain biological homeostasis and promote proper brain function. It has been said that the difference between a raving maniac and a normal human being is two cents worth of lithium. Lacking proper minerals can lead to a host of mental problems. There are cases on record of people suffering from depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and a variety of cognitive dysfunction who have significantly improved their condition simply by replacing their table salt with Celtic Sea Salt.

And here is a preview for you of the Hypertension (high blood pressure) section coming up: in many cases, adding Celtic Sea Salt to your diet can help to reverse hypertension.

If you don’t know, then you should: the best price on the web for Celtic Sea Salt is at Simply the Best.

So, there you have it: proper nutrition, 8 glasses of pure water per day, the proper salt in your diet and your blood will remain healthy. In the chelation section you will learn how to cleanse heavy metals from your organs and blood and possibly scrape some of the plaque off your arteries.

Rebuilding Your Blood

Deficiencies in your blood can have many causes, parasites being a major factor. There are very many products available to battle parasites. However, if your blood is weak, platelet count low, or iron deficient, there is one perfect way to rebuild your blood: juicing.

We found on the web an interview with Dr Richard Shulze conducted by Sam Biser. Here is a part of it (the person speaking is Dr Schulze):

People have said to me, “What do I do for this particular disease?” Juice fasting. “What do I do for degeneration?” Juice fasting. “What do I do for heart disease?” Juice fasting.

Juice fasting is for the incurables. Juice fasting is the answer, because it allows your body to rest and it lets your body choose what it wants to heal.

One of my first learning experiences was a woman patient who was undergoing a surgery, a female surgery. The doctors nicked an artery, and she had tremendous hemorrhaging and bleeding. By the time they got her patched up, she was in intensive care, and had lost a tremendous amount of blood.

The doctors wanted to do a transfusion. She was scared to do a transfusion and the doctor said, “You’re very anemic and your hemoglobin count is at the lowest end for a woman.”

She said, “Is there anything you can do?”

And I said, “Sure,” and I got the juicer out and juiced some juices. I made some carrot juice and some beet juice. I took it to the hospital and said, “Just let the doctors give you 24 hours.”

They did, and in 24 hours on juices, they said that her hemoglobin count was over the top end of the scale for a man, not even a woman, and men’s hemoglobin counts are higher.

I had a man who had a colon cancer and he basically refused to do anything, but he said he would stop eating and go on juices. This was early on in my practice, too. These were learning experiences.

He started on a multitude of fruit and vegetable juices and, I remember it was about a month later into his long juice fast, he pooped his cancer right out. It was 18” long.

Juices are flushing and cleansing to organs of the body.

Juices are enzyme therapy.

Juices contain gigantic amounts of enzymes. And a lot of people nowadays are taking enzymes because of the benefits, but you don’t have to, they’re in the juices.

Enzymes are heat sensitive, meaning that when you cook food, you destroy all the enzymes. Now, when you eat that food or juice, it’s okay. Your body will produce enzymes in order for you to digest that food. But when your body does that, it can’t do something else. It has a limited amount of energy.

So, one of the things that juices do, because they are loaded with enzymes, is they give your body a vacation.

Most of us live enzyme-free diets. If all we eat is cooked food, there are no enzymes in it. By supplying your body with high doses of enzymes, it gives many of your organs like your pancreas, your liver, your digestive system a holiday, because they don’t have to try to manufacture chemicals that are coming in through your juices.

When juicing, it is also recommended to add some superfoods (although the word superfood has become sort of an industry buzzword for any nutritionally dense food, such as blueberries). Dr Schulze has created a wonderful superfood that can be ordered from his company, The American Botanical Pharmacy (800.437.2362), www.herbdoc.com. There are many, many types of “superfoods,” and here are still more: Superfoods from Swanson.

Note also that Vitamin B-12 is needed for the proper formation of blood cells. Vitamin B-12 is found in animal products and nutritional yeast. Some sea vegetables contain vitamin B-12, but these are vitamin analogs and there is a bit of a controversy as to whether these analogs are as good as the actual vitamin or not. Additionally, your good bacteria in your digestive tract excrete vitamin B-12.

Forty percent of Americans are deficient in vitamin B-12. They lack it and they cannot absorb it because they lack intrinsic factor or are taking antacids or they simply do not produce enough stomach acid. They require sublingual (under the tongue) forms. One of the best forms of B-12 is Methylcobalamin (it can rebuild nerve tissue).  NOW Foods has a B-12 with methylcobalamin lozenges, and there is another that is liquid [this liquid is the best form we’ve ever found with cofactors and folate to fight homocysteines which are a huge cause of cardiovascular disease]. Each goes under the tongue for the best absorption.

Because, B vitamins are so important to a healthy heart, here is a wonderful way to get them even if your digestive system is not working properly. We got this from Dr Garry Gordon’s office, passed on to us by his bright and shining office staff person, Janet Williams, in an email:

The name of the doctor that recommends a raw egg in organic concord grape juice is Dr Alexander Beddoe who teaches the Biological Theory of Ionization which is the nutritional teaching based on Dr Carey Reams. The reason for suggesting the raw egg in “organic concord grape juice” (do not use store bought eggs, unless they are fresh organic ones) is that it stimulates Vitamin B-12 uptake in the body when it seems to be resistant. “There are enzyme reactions between the raw egg and the Concord grape juice that are very valuable. This mixture is the closest thing to a natural blood transfusion. There are remedial agents that will feed the liver when almost nothing else will. It has been shown that the enzymes in the grape juice will kill any bacteria for people who are concerned about disease. If someone is concerned about bacteria with the raw egg, they can use 1/8 tsp. of 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide. However, it is suggested for people who know they have poor B-12 uptake or have acid pH ranges.” This is taken from The Biological Ionization in Human Nutrition written by Alexander F. Beddoe. Yes I believe it would benefit people who lack intrinsic factor as it goes right into the blood stream.

Since we first discovered this, we found that raw egg whites pull biotin from the body. Ironic, since biotin is considered one of the B vitamins. So, if you are going to make up this little drink, and let me tell you, it’s quite delicious, use just the egg yoke of a healthy, organic egg.

Note: later you will discover the healing power of concord grape juice, and pomegranate juice.

Schulze was called Dr Cayenne for many years because of his penchant for using it in every one of his herbal remedies. Cayenne pepper purifies your blood and potentiates (increases the effectiveness of) everything that is taken with it. It is an antioxidant (contains vitamin C and beta-carotene) and an anticoagulant. It helps improve circulation and controls your triglycerides and cholesterol levels.

Pycnogenol® seems to reduce the risk of phlebitis, helps to build red and white blood cells, and improves red-blood-cell membrane flexibility. Shark Liver Oil, a recent addition to many people’s list of supplements also stimulates and helps form healthy red and white blood cells.

Clotting

The chief causes of blood clotting (thrombosis) are injuries to blood vessel linings, blood disorders that result in thickened blood, and restricted blood flow (until recently, that is; as you will see shortly).

Obesity seems to be a major factor in restricting blood flow. Deep vein thrombosis strikes people with poor circulation: the elderly, bedridden and obese people. When a clot forms near the surface, it leads to thrombophlebitis, which causes swelling and inflammation. If you have varicose veins you are at a particularly high risk for thrombophlebitis.

Clotting can lead to heart attack and strokes. It’s that simple. Birth control pills have been linked to blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes, and anyone using them should be checked regularly.

It is thought by many that blood clotting is most likely to occur in places where the arterial walls are roughened and constricted by plaques (read on).

Magnesium dilates blood vessels, aids in the absorption of potassium into cells (to prevent heart arrhythmia—irregular heart beat), acts as an anticoagulant (blood thinner), and stops platelet aggregation that can lead to clotting. Unless specifically instructed by your physician or naturopath, avoid more than 200 mgs of magnesium daily because it can flush your system of needed minerals.

Women on Tamoxifen should note that one of the major side effects of this drug is dangerous blood clots.

A small French study linked long travel to blood clots. Sitting for a long period of time seemed to increase the likelihood of deep vein thrombosis. So, if you are traveling for long periods, whether by car or train or plane, stand and stretch once in a while. Move about. Take a time out for your health.

And this goes for sitting. I’ve heard it said that “sitting is the new smoking.”

Blood clots lead to heart attack and stroke, so let’s take a look at some supplements that will help: Garlic helps to block the clotting mechanism. Vitamin B6 and bromelain (an enzyme from pineapples) both inhibit platelet aggregation. Vitamin C helps to decrease the formation of clots. [We’ve found two great forms of vitamin C at our best affiliate program Swanson Health. The both come with a battery of bioflavonoids:  Vitamin C with Bioflavonoids – Featuring PureWay-C, and Ultra C Formula.] Study after study after study show that vitamin E cuts the risk of strokes and yes, the risk of clots. Vitamin E in large doses (800 IU or greater) will thin your blood as well as anything a physician can give you and is better for you. (The standard blood thinner Coumadin/Warfarin is the same active ingredient found in rat poison.)

Curcuma (tumeric) is a cooking spice that contains a bioflavonoid called curcumin that has been shown to inhibit platelet aggregation and even reverse atherosclerotic plaque. Many vitamin and supplement companies make a curcumin supplement (and it seems to be protective against Parkinson’s disease). Ginkgo too helps decrease the stickiness of platelets. Ginkgo also helps arteries and veins relax. Two more things to decrease the formations of clots are green tea and quercitin, a bioflavonoid found in many fruits and vegetables. [Conquering Coronary Heart Disease by Ronald G. Waling, NMD Bellevue, Washington]  Dr Sears’ Triple Burn Curcumin

Garlic’s allicin (a pungent oil in garlic) reduces platelet aggregation and is anti-atherosclerotic (fights plaque on your arteries). If you are going to cook garlic, crush it or chop it up and let it sit ten minutes before cooking. Crushing garlic starts the chemical process by which all of the good chemicals found in garlic are created. Cooking garlic right after crushing it does not allow enough time for all these healthful phytochemicals to be generated. Check here for aged garlic.

Red clover blossoms contain coumarins that inhibit the vitamin K clotting factor and thins the blood. This should be used only with a very chronic condition and only if under supervision.

We learned from a naturopath that the best combination of herbal products for your circulation is capsicum and ginger. Capsicum comes from cayenne and habanero peppers. It has been used for centuries in stroke and heart problems. According to the venerable Dr Christopher, a cup of cayenne pepper tea can stop a heart attack in less than three minutes. People feeling a stroke coming on have avoided the onslaught with a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Capsicum goes to the heart first and works its way out to the blood vessels. Ginger goes to the extremities and works its way back to the heart. If you are juicing, a little ginger in your apple juice or carrot juice or carrot and apple juice is perfect. An interesting aside: ginger and capsicum also fight cancer.

If you are going to take Capsicum in capsule form, please take it only with food and make it a lot of food, not just a bite or two. Too little food and you can get a good case of heartburn.

Blood Sugar

Blood sugar is such an important issue when we consider cardiovascular wellness, we’ve decided to dedicate an entire article to it. So if you’re here and you can find it, that’s because the final version isn’t finished. Oh, it will be.

We Are Not Finished Here

We are going to have to talk about inflammation in the blood. But not here. Take a break. Go find a nice cup of green matcha tea. (Personally, I hate tea.) And then, when you are ready, we will talk about The Real Cause of Most (85%) Heart Attacks and Strokes.