Let your tap run twenty seconds before drinking or cooking with water. Polluted water can result from sitting still in the pipes, where toxic chemicals from the metal can seep in.
Dr. Andrew Weil
Archive for July, 2007
Is Policosanol A Placebo?
Policosanol is a compound traditionally extracted from Cuban sugar cane. There is an embargo on Cuban products being exported to the US so companies here derived a compound using beeswax, wheat germ oil or rice bran wax.
In 2002 a large study reported in the “American Heart Journal” praised policosanol for its ability to reduce cholesterol. In this study there were approximately 3,000 participants with over 60 trails for a period of two months up to two years using the form of extract made from Cuban sugarcane wax.
The review in the American Heart Journal reported that 10mg daily doses of policosanol were as effective at lowering total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol as the satin drugs zocor and provastin. Dr. Mark Stengler reported that he was puzzled by these findings because his patients were not having the same positive results.
Quote: “I noticed that my patients who took policosanol seldom acheived the expected cholesterol improvements no matter what brand we tried”.
Dr. Stengler concluded these studies must be wrong or that the compounds used here were not similar enough to the Cuban extract. New studies are now coming out that confirm Dr. Stengler’s suspicions, the most notiable is a German study. The participants using policosanol had a decrease of less than 10% in their LDL cholesterol; the placebo group had a reduction of 8%.
Similar studies conducted between 2004 and 2006 in Canada, the Netherlands and South Africa also found policosanol ineffective.
Why such a difference in the results found?
The original studies were funded by Cuba’s National Center for Science as well as founding the company “Dalmer Laboratories” to market policosanol.
Source: May issue of Bottom Line Natural Healing
Lime as a salt substitute
I love Rachael Ray, although many of her recipes are not heart healthy, her bubbly personality just makes me feel good. Even though heart healthy cooking is not her speciality on her show this morning she offered a great tip for a salt substitute.
Lime zest, the food taste as though you have added salt without the addition of sodium and the added bonus of vitamin C.
Rachael had First Lady Laura Bush as a guest this morning; in honor of the First Lady she prepared a great turkey burger. Go to www.rachaelray.com click on Rach cooks and you will find the recipe there.
Pain Relievers May Lead To Pain
From University Of California, Berkeley
Quote from the June 2007 issue of the Wellness Letter:
“Blood Pressure: All OTC pain relievers, including acetaminophen, can raise blood pressure, and this may be at least partly responsible for the increased risk of heart attack and stroke. A new study of 16,000 male health professionals (age 56 to 76) without hypertension found that those who took pain relievers most days were about one-third more likely to develop hypertension over a four-year period. In 2002 a large study found that daily use could increase the risk even more in women.”
Hi there. I'm Patricia Setzer, and I show you how to prepare your favorite foods in a way that can help boost your energy, maintain a healthy weight and improve your overall health ...