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Heart health

Prevent a heart attack! No grains, fix low D/low thyroid, add fish oil, improve gut flora!

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Dr. Masley’s Healthy Heart Summit starts today! It’s not to be missed!

Here are the speakers for Day 1:

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Here are the speakers for Day 2:

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And some excerpts from the Dr. William Davis interview: The Impact of Wheat on Heart Disease and Health. It’s incredible! Dr. Davis is a cardiologist and the author of Wheat Belly. His focus with his heart patients is: no grains, fish oil, gut flora, fixing low D and addressing low thyroid!

Sound familiar? All of these can also be part of a program for improving mood and ending anxiety

Here are some excerpts:

  • One of the earliest solutions was a very, very common abnormality in people with coronary disease – an excess of small oxidation prone LDL particles. So I used the data published by people like Ron Krauss in UC Berkeley and some others and took all the grains out of people’s diet. And lo and behold it works like a charm. That became a cornerstone of what I was doing for coronary disease.
  • People were starting to tell me that the rheumatoid arthritis was going away and that their glaucoma had gone away, and their leg edema, hypertension, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, bowel urgency, funny skin rashes, rosacea, rosacea-eczema, seborrhea, belly fat. All of these conditions reversed with elimination of grains.
  • When I added vitamin D to the mix about eight, nine years ago, that’s when we saw dramatic reductions
  • Fish oil, of course. Not a huge effect, but it does help. I love it because it reduces the after meal, postprandial flood of lipoproteins. It has a big effect on subduing that effect. Heart disease, as you know, develops in the after-eating few hours, not so much while you’re fasting.
  • Thyroid normalization. I started paying attention to thyroid based on the Norwegian data suggests that a TSH of 1.4 or greater (in the presumed normal range) could as much as double or triple cardiovascular death. Lo and behold, it became a critical part of the management of coronary disease.
  • And then lastly, most recently this notion of cultivating bowel flora. So we use so-called prebiotic fibers or resistant starches to purposely cultivate healthy species of bowel flora. And I’ll be darned. This has proven to be a critical piece.
  • I’m sure my experience is similar to yours. I haven’t seen a heart attack in years. I used to see a couple of heart attacks a week when I was younger – just telling people to take the statin drug and cut their fat and exercise and eat everything in moderation and all that nonsense.

Wow! This is profound!

They go on to talk about how whole-wheat flour, white flour, and table sugar all have the same glycemic load and blood sugar response – which you know also plays a big part in anxiety.

And then one of my favorite sections is this discussion on opiates:

  • If you eat the gliadin protein of wheat…same protein, by the way, in rye and barley. It’s called secalin in rye, hordein in barley and zein in corn. Sometimes you partially digest the small peptides about 5 amino acids long. Those peptides have very unique sequences rich in proline that make it very resistant to human digestion. Those five amino acid pieces act like opiates on the human brain.
  • The effect of the opiates depend on your individual susceptibility. So if you’re a kid with ADHD or autistic spectrum disorder, it causes behavioral outbursts. If you are a paranoid schizophrenic, it causes paranoia and hearing voices. If you have bipolar illness, it triggers the mania, the high. [my addition: if you’re prone to anxiety and depression it can make your symptoms much worse and even be the main cause]
  • If you have a tendency towards binge eating disorder or bulimia, it causes 24-hour a day food obsession.
  • Now, in everyday people who don’t have any of those conditions, it only causes appetite stimulation, many many hundreds of calories more per day every day. It causes incessant hunger. You have to eat all the time.

Register at the following link for the Healthy Heart Summit – to hear the whole of the Dr. Davis interview and all the other great interviews: https://ez233.isrefer.com/go/summitreg/trudyscottcn/

If you know you want to purchase the interviews (digital or memory stick), here is the purchase link:
https://ez233.isrefer.com/go/summitorder/trudyscottcn/

 

Cholesterol Myths and The Healthy Heart Summit (starts next week)

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healthy-heart-summit-banner

The Healthy Heart Summit (ONLINE and FREE) July 13-20, 2015

Dr. Steven Masley created The Healthy Heart Summit to address the great deal of misinformation that exists on lifestyle and heart disease – far too many myths are still believed.

Heart disease is the #1 cause of death for men and women. Yet, it is often addressed with stents and bypass surgeries that only treat the symptoms, not the causes. It’s time to dispel the myths and misinformation about the causes of heart disease, and learn how to give you and your family a long, healthy life together.

Here are some snippets from Dr. Masley’s interview with Jonny Bowden, known as The Nutritional Myth Buster, and author of The Great Cholesterol Myth

jonny-bowden

  • So from a pure weight loss point of view, it doesn’t matter if you eat your meat at McDonald’s or if you eat it from grass-fed Kobe beef from wherever. It probably is a wash in terms of weight loss, maybe not in terms of inflammation. But if you want the health benefits and the weight-loss benefits, then you’ve got to go to what we call smart fats, which are fats that actually support your metabolism, help balance your hormones, creates satiety, and do all the wonderful things that fats do without any of the bad things that what we call mean fat or unclean fat.
  • Smart fats would include the monounsaturated fats that we see so prevalent in the Mediterranean diet. And that would come from olive oil, macadamia nut oil, a couple of the other nut oils, oleic acid. That’s the monounsaturated fat. That’s a good fat.
  • Omega-3s, obviously, particularly the ones from fish oil, the DHA and EPA, the long-chain fatty acids have myriad of health benefits on the brain and on visual acuity and on attention and behavior and all kinds of depression (and anxiety). Those are smart fats.
  • All the recent studies have shown no harm from saturated fat. They’re neutral. For years, we’ve been villainizing them. And all the recent data would say that saturated fat from animal protein, from dairy, from these plant sources (like coconut), it’s harmless.
  • We now know that there are about 4 or 5 kinds of HDL and about 4 or 5 kinds of LDL. And they don’t all behave the same. And it’s not really 100 percent accurate to say that all HDL is good. Most of it is. But there’s a couple that may be a little inflammatory and some that are less good than others.
  • There’s a very big distinction between what’s known as LDL-A particles and LDL-B. Now, if you look at LDL-A particles under the microscope, they look like a big cotton ball. And they do just about as much damage. They’re just pretty innocuous. They’re not necessarily beneficial. But they don’t do any harm. It’s like a tennis ball thrown at you. It’s not going to do any harm. The others are like golf balls. And they’re very nasty inflamed oxidized particles. And they can cause damage. Now, the newer more modern tests (advanced lipid profile) looks at these particles.
  • Stress can cause a heart attack all by itself. We talk about voodoo death and Walter Cannon, the psychologist in the 20s who first discovered this phenomenon. You can die from fear. Your arteries are clear. But stress really can promote heart disease. It can even cause heart disease. So these are things that we don’t tend to look at nearly as much. And instead, we’re obsessively focused on this molecule of cholesterol, which is pretty harmless and very important for the brain and for the heart and for everything else in the body.

So yes, stress and anxiety play a big role in heart disease and this is the topic of my interview: Anxiety/Stress, Depression and Heart Disease

Tune in to hear Jonny Bowden, my anxiety interview and these speakers (and many more):

  • Steven Masley, MD, FAHA, FAAFP, FACN, CNS – The Optimal Evaluation for Your Heart
  • Brenda Watson, CNC – A Healthy Gut for a Healthy Heart
  • Anna Cabeca, DO – Sexual Function and Your Heart
  • Mark Hyman, MD – Diabesity and Heart Disease
  • David Perlmutter, MD – How Heart Health Impacts Your Brain
  • William Davis, MD – The Impact of Wheat on Heart Disease and Health
  • Susan Albers, PsyD – Mindful Eating for Your Heart
  • Josh Axe, DC, CNS – The Best Food and Activity for Your Heart

Register at the following link for the Healthy Heart Summit:
https://ez233.isrefer.com/go/summitreg/trudyscottcn/

 

Hugs for stress, public speaking, heart health and immunity

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hugs

New research published in Psychological Science shows that hugging helps us fight infection better and helps us feel more socially connected:

Using a sample of 404 healthy adults, we examined the roles of perceived social support and received hugs in buffering against interpersonal stress-induced susceptibility to infectious disease.

…participants were exposed to a virus that causes a common cold and were monitored in quarantine to assess infection and illness signs. Perceived support protected against the rise in infection risk associated with increasing frequency of conflict.

A similar stress-buffering effect emerged for hugging… Among infected participants, greater perceived support and more-frequent hugs each predicted less-severe illness signs.

These data suggest that hugging may effectively convey social support.

Research in Behavioral Medicine also shows that that hand-holding and a 20 second hug among co-habiting partners, helped with the stressful effects of public speaking:

In response to a public speaking task, individuals receiving prestress partner contact demonstrated lower systolic BP diastolic BP, and heart rate increases compared with the no contact group.

The effects of warm contact were comparable for men and women and were greater for African Americans compared with Caucasians.

These findings suggest that affectionate relationships with a supportive partner may contribute to lower reactivity to stressful life events and may partially mediate the benefit of marital support on better cardiovascular health.

You can read more about hugs and the 5 Love Languages on this recent blog I recently wrote. I shared how Physical Touch is my top love language and how I’ll take (and give) a big hug or spend quality time with Brad or my mom or sister or niece before a gift any day!

The great thing about hugs is you get one when you give one! Have you given someone a hug today?

 

Trans fats make us depressed and anxious!

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Cheese Pizza

We don’t need trans fats in our diets! In November last year the FDA Targeted Trans Fat in Processed Foods.

Mical E. Honigfort, a consumer safety officer at FDA, says that trans fat can still be found in such processed foods as:

  • crackers, cookies, cakes, frozen pies and other baked goods
  • snack foods (such as microwave popcorn)
  • frozen pizza
  • vegetable shortenings and stick margarines
  • coffee creamers
  • refrigerated dough products (such as biscuits and cinnamon rolls)
  • ready-to-use frostings

Partially hydrogenated oils are the major dietary source of trans fat in processed food. The FDA is in the process of determining if trans fats are GRAS, in other words “generally recognized as safe.” Trans fats, produced by industrial processes, are unrecognizable to the body and inherently unhealthful and I believe we have enough information to show they are not GRAS.

One of the many detrimental health effects of trans fats is that they contribute to mental health problems. I have my clients avoid them at all costs and educate them on the incredible mood benefits of eating only real whole foods.

A 2011 study called “Dietary Fat Intake and the Risk of Depression” looking at the diets of 12,059 Spanish university graduates found that consumption of trans fats were linked to an increased risk of depression. The authors state this: “These findings suggest that cardiovascular disease and depression may share some common nutritional determinants related to subtypes of fat intake.”

A more recent 2013 animal study in Neuroscience found that “chronic consumption of trans fats can enhance emotionality and anxiety parameters resulting from stressful situations of everyday life, which can trigger more severe neuropsychiatric conditions.”

If you recall, trans fats get mentioned in a recent blog post where I reviewed Dr Masley’s new book “The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up”. They are one of the worst culprits for heart disease (together with sugar and carbs).

And my colleague Mira Dessy shares that trans fats lower cognitive performance scores as well as lower brain volume

So ditch those trans fats and eat real whole food to feel calm, happy, smart and live healthy! 

30-day Heart Tune-up with Dr. Steven Masley

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Dr. Steven Masley and Dr. Susanne Bennett

Dr. Masley is celebrating the  release of his new book, “The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up, a Breakthrough Plan to Tune Up Your Heart, Energy, Waistline, and Sex Life.”

I received an advance copy and it’s great! I’ve been a fan for awhile! Who couldn’t love a doctor who is also a nutritionist and chef and shares videos of him doing wonderful cooking demos! I first heard Dr. Masley present on “The Sexy Younger You Summit” and then I had the pleasure of meeting him recently at the Mindshare Summit in Florida.

Dr. Masley is a board- and fellow-certified physician and nutritionist, author, speaker, and award-winning patient educator with over twenty-five years of research and clinical experience. He was recently named a Fellow by the American Heart Association.

And now I have brought him and his passion to you via an interview we just did. We discussed so much and he shared so many gems. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Why a little bit of stress is healthy and how important love and support is
  • How romance and a cuddle raises oxytocin and lowers cortisol
  • How we have disease-care and not health-care and why we must focus more on blood sugar than cholesterol
  • For every woman who dies of breast cancer, 6 women die from heart disease
  • His 4 tests for assessing risk for heart disease: (the four Fs to fantastic heart health): fitness, fiber, body fat and food/nutrients. His top advice is to be fit (he has a fitness test in his book) and eat 30g of fiber a day!
  • The carotid IMT/ intimal medial thickness test (this was new to me!) and the advanced lipid profile
  • How statins don’t help reduce the risk of heart disease in women and some of the side-effects. I was aware of muscle aches and memory loss but did not know that they lower testosterone levels and raise blood sugar
  • The five new categories of food that will prevent and reverse heart disease: fiber, lean and clean protein, healthy fats, beneficial beverages and fantastic flavors. I love his last category – herbs, garlic, ginger, turmeric! Yummm!
  • The top two foods that cause heart disease: Refined carbs/sugar/flour (I recently blogged about No Sugar!) and trans fat/partially hydrogenated oils. Not fat, and not cholesterol!

The wonderful thing is that by following these guidelines, your heart will be healthy and you’ll likely feel less anxious! If you are super-sensitive to caffeine, like me and many of my clients, then just use common sense when it comes to Dr. Masley’s suggestions for dark chocolate, coffee and green tea. We did talk about this during the interview.

I really wanted to interview Dr. Masley because heart disease is the number 1 killer of women, and is more deadly than all forms of cancer combined; and because of the link between anxiety and risk of heart disease: a recent study found that people in the highest third of anxiety symptoms had a 33 percent higher stroke risk than those with the lowest levels.

You can listen to my 30-Day Heart Tune-Up interview with Dr. Masley here.

Dr. Masley is offering a 30-Day Heart Tune-Up Gift Package.

The digital package includes:

  • Know Your Risks – The Tests You Must Have that Your Doctor May Not Be Ordering
  • Are You Getting What You Need for a Healthy Heart? Nutrient Guide
  • Join Dr. Masley in His Kitchen & Whip Up his Favorite, Delicious, Heart Healthy Recipe

I signed up and it’s great information. Great gumbo recipe and super seeing him in the kitchen surrounded by all the delicious ingredients!

Of course, be sure to get a copy of his new book “The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up, a Breakthrough Plan to Tune Up Your Heart, Energy, Waistline, and Sex Life.”

Dark chocolate for Valentine’s Day and heart health!

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Dark CHOCOLATE! …I can see you smiling as you get an endorphin and serotonin boost at just the thought of chocolate! With Valentine’s Day around the corner and with February being American Heart Health month it’s time to talk about chocolate. Not just any chocolate, but good quality dark chocolate.

Dark chocolate that is at least 70-80 percent cocoa is the best choice because it has less sugar (and sugar is toxic and addicting) and more cocoa, which is rich in antioxidants and flavonols (a class of plant-based compounds that provide many of the same benefits as antioxidants).

Chocolate does improve mood and create feelings of joy – we can all relate to this! And dark chocolate certainly does have heart benefits. This is important because heart disease is still the number one cause of death in the United States.

Moderate consumption of dark chocolate has been shown to be beneficial for heart health by:

And interestingly, dark chocolate may offer protection against cancer due to the “high concentration of catechins and procyanidins”

But here are a few questions to ask yourself as you indulge:

  • Do you devour the whole bar of chocolate rather than a small piece? (the key here is moderate consumption!)
  • Do you binge on chocolate and then feel awful afterwards – physically (really icky!?) and emotionally (the guilt-trip deal?)
  • Does it make you anxious or more stressed or keep you awake? Caffeine is found in all forms of chocolate and cacao (other than white chocolate); the darker the chocolate, the more caffeine it contains!
  • Do you suffer from migraines (sadly, chocolate gives me a terrible headache two days later!)
  • Do you experience breast tenderness leading up to your period?

If you answer yes to any of the above then you really should reconsider if chocolate is for you this Valentine’s Day! And give delicious carob a trial instead.

In Finland Valentine’s Day is called “Friend’s day” and is more about remembering all your friends, not only your loved ones. I wish you, your loved ones and your friends a happy and wonderful Valentine’s Day and a happy healthy heart – both physically and emotionally!