THP Total Health Performance: heart disease

Sunday, 3 June 2018

Some Benefits of Cholesterol

June 3, 2018

Nathan Waters - Total Health Performance

A few years ago I wrote about a little encounter I had with a doctor who was really trying to push statin drugs onto me to lower my cholesterol levels. In that article I wrote as a reply to why I didn't want to take a statin, “well, I have read that they only help 1% of the population, mainly middle aged men who have already had a heart attack. They lower CoQ10 which is an important antioxidant for heart health, among others. It’s a 30 billion dollar a year industry which I believe means there is probably other reasons behind why we are told to take them considering the lack of results the drugs produce, and finally I said to the doctor, I don’t believe total cholesterol means all that much”.

In an article I read this morning they listed some of the critical things that cholesterol does which are as follows:

Essential structural component of the myelin sheath, which insulates and protects neurons and facilitates communication between them
Essential structural component for cell membranes
Required for synthesis of all steroid hormones, including testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, and more
Serves as a raw material for endogenous (internal) production of vitamin D, via the interaction of sunlight with your skin
Required for proper function of serotonin receptors in the brain
Essential component of bile salts, which are required for the digestion of fats and fat-soluble vitamins
Repair substance, needed for repair and regeneration of damaged tissue

The article then goes on to explain how cholesterol can be beneficial for multiple sclerosis, ALS, and mental health.

In regards to ALS:

"In ALS patients, “an abnormally elevated LDL/HDL ratio significantly increased survival by more than 12 months.” Maybe it’s not really abnormal, then, but the body actually trying to protect and sustain itself. It only seems “abnormal” when we operate under the premise that LDL is unquestionably harmful and should always be kept low."

Talking about mental health:

"Low cholesterol is also associated with violent behavior and substantially increased risk for suicide. In a cohort of Canadian subjects, individuals with the lowest total cholesterol had more than six times the risk of committing suicide compared to subjects with the highest cholesterol. By itself, this doesn’t mean that low cholesterol causes people to attempt suicide, but the association between low cholesterol and increased risk for violence and suicide has been found numerous times, and it bears more detailed investigation, especially when you consider that cholesterol is essential for hormone production, cognitive function, healthy moods, and just about anything else you can think of that affects physical and mental health."

Now this doesn't mean you should go and blow your cholesterol levels way out of range and everything will be fine. It is just saying that it is not the villain it has been made out to be and does actually serve some beneficial purposes within the body. Having low cholesterol is just as bad as having very high cholesterol.

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Tuesday, 10 October 2017

Vitamin K and Cardiovascular Function in Teens

October 8, 2017

Nathan Waters - Total Health Performance

When it comes to addressing nutrient deficiencies, magnesium and vitamin D are now well known ones to correct to ensure optimal health. Vitamin K may be just as important as these two but has not yet made it to the general populations attention. Vitamin K deficiency is thought to be as common as magnesium deficiency and when you consider most people don't eat a lot of green leafy vegetables, which contain K1, you can see why. We began taking vitamin K after hearing how important it was to take if you took vitamin D. We take 1 mg a day which is only one cap, as we do eat a fair few green leafy vegetables. This should be the way for addressing most deficiencies, using a combination of food and supplementation. I think too often people rely on supplements alone. Recommendations to to say to take between 1-2 mg per day.

Dr Michael Jurgelewicz, DC, DACBN, DCBCN, CNS said in a recent review of a study conducted on teens and cardiovascular function, "I find that most people need anywhere from 5,000-10,000 IUs/day of vitamin D and about 1-2 mg of K1, since most people do not eat enough vegetables (as seen in this study) to get enough K from diet alone. This is also the amount that carboxylates osteocalcin.

Approximately 70% of my patients have vitamin K insufficiencies. It seems to be as prevalent as magnesium deficiencies. As a general rule of thumb, I never recommend vitamin D without vitamin K. In addition, I have personally have found vitamin K1 supplementation to be much more successful at lowering undercarboxylated osteocalcin levels than K2 (MK-7). It makes sense to supplement with all three forms of vitamin K [K1, K2(MK-4, and MK-7)] and not get hung up on the marketing hype of one proprietary form."

In reviewing the study Dr Michael Jurgelewicz said "the researchers found a 3.3 times greater risk of heart enlargement in healthy teens who consumed the least amount of vitamin K1... Approximately 10% of the teens had some degree of left ventricular hypertrophy, according to the research team. This is the first study exploring associations between vitamin K and heart function and structure in young healthy individuals. These results suggest early interventions to ensure adequate vitamin K1 in young people could improve cardiovascular development as well as reduce future cardiovascular disease risk."

Vitamin K plays a role in blood clotting, optimal bone health, and cardiovascular health as shown above. It is quite cheap and you don't need a lot of it. It is something you can add into your regime if you are deficient and remember to use a combination of food and supplements to replenish. Green leafy vegetables like spinach and cabbage contain good amounts of vitamin K1.

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Vitamin K

Dr Michael Jurgelewicz

vitamin D

heart health

cardiovascular function

Cardiovascular disease

green leafy vegetables