posted June 11, 2000 10:39 PM            

thanks,

posted June 12, 2000 12:38 AM         

This is the literal truth - the time to worry about cholesterol is when it is clogging your arteries. David Letterman (a night show comic in the USA) recently needed quintuple bypass surgery and his cholesterol had been 175 for years and he jogged 5 miles a day. On the other hand a man I consult with on occassion had cholesterol around 600 and triglycerides around 2,000 (normal is about 120) and had no clogging because of a heavy nutritional program he was on. This stayed the same until he switched from ascorbate C to ester C and he clogged up in a month or two and needed a by pass.

Cholesterol itself is not a bad culprit (total cholesterol). Cholesterol is like luck in that there are 2 types ; good and bad. Good is smaller and denser (hence the name HIGH DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN or HDL). It is good because it actually helps strip plaque off the arteries. HDL does not oxidize easily. LDL (LOW DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN or bad cholesterol) oxidizes easily.

Rust on iron is oxidation - and it makes it rough. WHen cholesterol oxidizes it becomes rough and tends to stick to arteries. That is one reason to take antioxidants (like vitamin C in the form of ascorbate C) - is it prevents oxidation.

At least as important as cholesterol is the condition of the walls of your arteries (cholesterol does not tend to stick to veins). If the artery walls are rough cholesterol of either type and at any level will stick. Several things will roughen the walls of the artery. Cigarette or cigar smoking (refer to David Letterman). High levels of homocyteine which is caused by several things not the least of which is excessive protein intake (and is helped by maintaining high levels of the B vitamin called Folic acid). Another is a state of inflammation that is monitored by a blood test called a C-reactive protein (CRP) - CRP can be lowered consistently with a digestive enzyme product called Bromelain.

A roughened artery wall is repaired with a substance called mucopolysaccharide. If you have heard of glucosamine sulfate and how it sometimes repairs hyalin cartilage in the knees and fingers of people with some forms of arthritis, mucopolysaccharides does the same thing to artery walls. In the presence of high levels of vitamin C the body produces more mucopolysaccharides....you can also by the product directly from a company called the KEY company in St. Luois Mo.

A painless non-invasive test called Doppler ultrasound can detect plaque in the peripheral arteries( neck, arms and legs etc). There are now non invasive ways of detecting plaque in the heart too.

But the truth is I have seen people with cholesterol way over 300 and who had no plaque. I have also seen people with choelsterol at 156 with over 90% blockage of the coronary arteries (heart blood supply). It is also possible to have cholesterol that is too low - you need chol to build cells, hormones, enzymes and antibodies. If cholesterol gets too low (like below 120) you are more prone to hemorrhagic strokes - blood vessels rupturing in the head. Balance is the key.

posted June 12, 2000 09:11 AM            

thanks again,