Dandelion Greens: Weeds That Heal!!

I'd read a few years back how dandelion greens and their roots were good for a liver detox.  So I tried them but I didn't feel much of a response from the dandelion.  They tasted a little like arrugala, which I'd loved from a wonderful chicken salad made from that leaf--that, olive oil, and pine nuts.  Quite good.  

But then I'd heard that dandelion greens were also good for kidney and blood circulation, so I tried them again recently.  And this time I actually did realize a nice benefit both in circulation in my lower extremeties and a relief in pain in my kidneys.  I am not passing a stone, least not that I know.  It's just that my kidneys haven't been working as they should have been.  Circulation in my legs has been weak the last two weeks; perhaps from too much sitting.

Mercolas' article below starts with the Latin name, botanic classification, and a little history on the plant:

Dynamics of Dandelion Greens

Botanical name: Taraxacum officinaleDandelion greens belong to one of the largest plant families – the Sunflower – which include more than 22,000 species, including daisies and thistles. The first reference of dandelions being used as a medicine was written by Middle Eastern physicians in the 10th and 11th centuries. Welsh medicinals concocted as early as the 13th century made use of both the roots and leaves.

He recommends boiling the leaf in hot water for a tea, and that certainly is a viable recipe.  But one of the things that our bodies need from time to time are bitter foods.  For this reason, I wouldn't hesitate to eat the dandelion leaves raw in a salad.  Plus, their bitter taste is not so bitter.  

After gathering this plentiful, easily recognizable herb – preferably the younger, paler leaves – rinse them gently, pat them dry, and store them in plastic bags in a low-moisture refrigerator drawer. Blanching them by immersing them in boiling water for 20 to 30 seconds helps reduce a sometimes-present acrid taste before adding them to salads or sandwiches. Try adding dandelion greens to soups, stews and casseroles, as well as to herbal teas and coffee.  

Next, he reviews the health benefits of the dandelion leaves.  One of the things that Mercola and other health/nutritionist writers do is wax quite general on any benefits from a particular food.  On dandelions, Mercola does not veer from this formula.  He goes directly to claims from folk medicine.

Health Benefits of Dandelion Greens

When your grandmother said dandelion greens were good for you, she wasn’t kidding.

Folk medicine claims the dandelion plant is a powerful healer, used to purify the blood, settle digestion and prevent piles and gall stones, among other maladies. The fact is the greens of the humble dandelion provide 535 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin K, which may be the most important source of any other plant-based food to strengthen bones, but may also play a role in fighting Alzheimer's disease by limiting neuron damage in the brain.

He's right though.  Dandelions do have a way of purifying the blood.  And it makes sense then that they would so much Vitamin K.  And then he gives a nod to the benefits of Vitamin K: fights Alzheimer's and strengthens bones.  Perhaps.  Good to know.

He adds that dandelions also are a good source of Vitamin A, one of the best nutrients for healing.  I like the fat soluble form myself, Retinol A:

Dandelion greens also give the body 112 percent of the daily minimum requirement of vitamin A as an antioxidant carotenoid, which is particularly good for the skin, mucus membranes and vision. A flavonoid called zeaxanthin protects the retina from UV rays, while others, primarily carotene, lutein, and cryptoxanthin, protect the body from lung and mouth cancers.

Then Mercola adds to the list of benefits:

Need more benefits? Dandelion greens are high in fiber, which helps your body shed waste. These greens also contain vitamins C and B6, thiamin, riboflavin, calcium, iron (crucial for generating red blood cells), potassium (to help regulate heart rate and blood pressure), and manganese. Other nutrients present in dandelion greens include folate, magnesium, phosphorus, and copper.

I did not know that Mercola ranks and recommends certain vegetables over others.  Good to know:

Dandelion greens are on Dr. Mercola’s “most highly recommended vegetables” list.

Dandelion Greens Nutrition Facts Serving Size: One cup of raw, chopped dandelion greens (about 55 grams)
Amt. Per Serving
Calories	25
Protein	1 g
Fiber	2 g
Carbohydrates	5 mg
Sodium	42 mg

Studies Done on Dandelion Greens

Mercola thinks that dandelion kills leukemia cells:

A study in 2011 involving the testing of dandelion root tea showed there may be a "kill switch" on leukemia cell receptors through a process called apoptosis. Researchers reported that dandelion root tea didn’t seem to send the same “kill” message to healthy cells. The study concluded that dandelion root extract may prove to be a non-toxic alternative to conventional leukemia therapy.¹

Dandelion root extract also showed itself to be a possible cancer fighter, halting the growth of melanoma cells without inducing toxicity in non-cancerous cells – even those cells considered to be drug-resistant.²

Dandelion Greens Healthy Recipes: Dandelion and Fennel Salad

Ingredients:

·         1 bunch finely chopped dandelion greens

·         ½ fennel bulb, thinly sliced

·         2 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage

·         ½ cup bean sprouts

Dressing:

·         1 lemon juiced

·         1 Tbsp. mirin (found in the Asian aisle)

·         1/8 tsp. sesame oil

·         1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

·         1 tsp. tamari soy sauce

·         2 Tbsp. olive oil

·         ¼ tsp. maple syrup

Procedure:

1.   Place the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

2.   Mix all the dressing ingredients together, pour over the top, toss lightly, and enjoy! Makes 4 servings.

(From Healthy Recipes for Your Nutritional Type by Dr. Mercola)

Dandelion Greens Fun Facts

The Middle English form of dandelion – dent-de-lioun – reveals the word’s French origin: dentdelion, meaning "tooth of the lion," for the plant’s sharply indented leaves.

Summary

While dandelions are considered a nuisance by those who prefer a pristine lawn, others know the many benefits that dandelions have yielded over centuries in the areas of folk medicine and healthy eating. It’s proven as an antioxidant that also lowers blood sugar, but it may also be useful in treating jaundice, cirrhosis, edema, gout, eczema, and acne. There’s even evidence that dandelion greens might prove helpful in treating AIDS and herpes. Highly nutritious as an ingredient in salads, its roots show ever-increasing possibilities in the fight against cancer.

from Wired magazine

Cheetos

CHEESE PURISTS THE world over exalt their mummified milk. Their silken Goudas and savory Emmentalers. Their fetid fetas and squeaky queso frescos. Their moldy Roqueforts and runny Camemberts. These disks of rotted dairy are the pinnacle of thousands of years of experimentation that began when a herdsman carrying a ruminant’s stomach brimming with milk found that by journey’s end, he had a bag full of curds and whey.

Modern cheese making is a little more complicated, but the same principles apply. Fresh milk is allowed to ferment, with either wild or cultured bacteria. Then, when they have raised the acidity enough, rennet—enzymes from calves’ stomachs (these have now been replaced with laboratory‑produced enzymes)—is added. This coagulates the caseins, which make up about 80 percent of the total milk protein, so that they form a gel.

Then there’s a lot of manipulation—cutting, stirring, and heating—that removes fluid, or whey, leaving behind solid curds. The curds are put into molds, salted or brined, and pressed, which expels more whey and turns the cheese into a solid mass. Mold may be added, either at the beginning or later in the process. Then, depending on the variety, the cheeses are matured for anywhere from two weeks to two years, allowing enzymes, both those from microbes and those from the rennet, to turn fats and proteins into tasty new substances.

Excerpted from Combat-Ready Kitchen: How the U.S. Military Shapes the Way You Eat, by Anastacia Marx de Salcedo.

Cheese is one of the bedrocks on which the Western diet is founded—a long‑term storage method for excess milk, especially when cool storerooms and caves were available. But the food didn’t fare so well during summer or in hot climates. With heat, animal fat softens or even liquefies, oozing out and creating an oily and unappealing mess.

In the early twentieth century, dairymen on either side of the Atlantic—the Swiss duo Walter Gerber and Fritz Stettler in 1911 and James Kraft in 1916—hit on and patented a solution to the seasonal sweats: emulsifying salts. The chemical disperses water‑phobic caseins by exchanging sodium for calcium; this permits the now smaller particles to be diffused and suspended in liquid. Melting traditional cheeses and mixing them with the emulsifying salts resulted in a cheese‑like product that withstands high temperatures and protracted storage.

Even better, this new food could be made and sold very cheaply, because it could be produced, at least in part, from the rinds and irregular bits left over from cutting wheels of cheese into bricks. Melting the ingredients also pasteurized them, inactivating the live bacteria and enzymes and contributing to a longer shelf life.

The army placed its first order for processed cheese–which at the beginning, came in only one flavor: white—during World War I, buying twenty‑five million quarter‑pound tins from Kraft. This single act probably established Kraft’s century‑long (and still going strong) food industry hegemony. By the time World War II rolled around, the military was a raving cheeseaholic, consuming the dairy product by itself, on sandwiches, or as sauces for vegetables, potatoes, and pasta.

In 1944 alone, the Quartermaster Corps bought more than one hundred million pounds from Kraft’s parent company, National Dairy Products Corporation (which finally itself took the Kraft name in 1969), as well as five hundred thousand pounds of cheese spread (bacon bits optional) to accompany the K and some of the C rations. During the war, the company’s sales almost doubled. But it still wasn’t enough. The military was hungry for new ways to store, ship, and eat cheese.

A 1943 war bond ad unveiled the product to the public with a picture of a bare‑chested soldier feeding a second soldier a cheese cake on a pointy stick.

At the beginning of the war, the army had embarked on a dehydration‑ and‑compression spree—by removing heavy water and reducing its volume, more food could be packed into a single shipment, always an advantage when there are millions of mouths to feed. All foodstuffs except meat were run through the drying chambers and squashed into bricks—fruits and vegetables, flour, potatoes, eggs, and cheese.

As would become its historic pattern, the military funded or supported a variety of efforts, some of which were destined to die a quiet death and others that would garner glory, becoming wartime staples and the basis for future consumer products. Cheese dehydration research was conducted by the Quartermaster Corps’ Subsistence Research Laboratory, through the USDA laboratories, at various universities, including the University of California at Davis, and by industry, notably Kraft.

Unless a food has a strong and flexible internal structure—think cellulose, the long chains of sugar molecules that give plant cells their rigidity—it crumbles when it dries out, something food technologists call fines. One can imagine the first experiment in drying and pressing a proud block of Wisconsin cheddar: cheese dust. This ruled out eating reconstituted cheese out of hand in slices or chunks. But for cooking, the granular form would be an advantage.

The first real cheese powder was developed in 1943 by George Sanders, a USDA dairy scientist. (Even before the war began, USDA’s research facilities had been enlisted to work toward military goals, exhorted by Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace “to consider their possible contributions to national needs as the defense program approaches the stage of ‘maximum effort.” This relationship continues to this day; the USDA has collaborated with the Quartermaster Corps and later the Natick Center on topics as varied as chemical testing, fungi collection and classification, potatoes, dairy, and, from 1980 on, operation of the army’s radiation food sterilization program.)

Until then, it had been “considered impossible to dehydrate natural, fat‑containing cheese,” because the heat melted the fat, which then separated out. Sanders’s innovation was to divide the process into two steps. In the first, the cheese, shredded or grated, was dried at a low temperature; this hardened the surface proteins of the particles, forming a protective barrier around the lipids. Once sufficient water had been evaporated, the cheese was ground and dehydrated at a higher temperature. The final step was to form it into what the patent describes as cakes. A 1943 war bond ad unveiled the product to the public with a picture of a bare‑chested solider feeding a second soldier bundled up in a parka with a cheese cake on a pointy stick:

For jungle or ski troops—a new kind of cheese! . . . But they should taste the same—and taste good—wherever they’re eaten. That has meant many headaches for the Army Quartermaster Corps and the food processors who supply them. . . . For emergency use in arctic and tropics, National Dairy laboratories developed a dehydrated, compressed cheese that keeps well anywhere and takes less shipping weight and space.

In the summer of 1945, Little Boy and Fat Man were detonated in Japan, ending the war and leaving the Quartermaster Corps with warehouses full of food as well as an elaborate manufacturing and distribution system still churning out goods for millions of troops. This would take years to redirect or dismantle. Fearful of the effect of the sudden withdrawal of its huge wartime contracts, the government propped up the dairy business first by buying their excess product and then, in some cases, by selling it back to them at lower prices. (The Commodity Credit Corporation, created during the Great Depression and still in existence, would later distribute these surpluses to welfare recipients and the elderly—the storied “government cheese.”) A temporary federal agency, the Surplus Property Administration, sold off at bargain‑basement prices the food the Quartermaster Corps had amassed.

Who doesn’t love something they get for free or at a third of the original cost? But what could one do with football fields full of potato flakes, a cave stuffed with dried eggs (the army’s strange storage location for one hundred million pounds of the stuff), or a mountain of dehydrated cheese?

Well, there was one group always interested in lowering the cost of finicky fresh ingredients: the grocery manufacturers, businesses such as Swift, Quaker Oats, General Foods, General Mills, Libby’s, Borden, McCormick, Colgate‑Palmolive, Gerber, Scott Paper, Kellogg’s, Pillsbury, and Kraft. (The strength of the companies that produced the packaged goods that lined the nation’s nascent supermarkets, many with deep military ties, only grew over the next century, as did that of their trade group, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, today the food industry’s most powerful lobbying organization.)

Perhaps instead of real cheese, the food corporations could mix in the cheap powder to add flavor. Not only would they save outright on the cost of ingredients, they’d pay a lot less to ship and store it—after all, that was the army’s primary purpose in developing dehydrated cheese in the first place. These ration conversions inspired a flood of fledgling products, particularly in the new and growing categories of convenience and snack foods.

In 1948 the Frito Company (it merged with H. W. Lay & Company in 1961 to become Frito‑Lay, Inc.) debuted the country’s first cheesy snack food, made with the same Wisconsin cheddar the army used for its dehydrated products. Frito Company founder Charles Doolin had been a military supplier, even building a facility in San Diego, where there is a naval base, to service his contracts.

According to his daughter Kaleta Doolin, “During the war, tins of chips were sent overseas to be served in mess halls and sold in PXs. This venture helped put the company over the top as a nationwide business.” Afterward, new plants were opened in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake City, where soon cornmeal and water were being extruded, puffed, fried in oil, and coated with finger‑licking, orange dehydrated cheese. Cheetos!

Excerpted from Combat-Ready Kitchen: How the U.S. Military Shapes the Way You Eat, in agreement with Current, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © Anastacia Marx de Salcedo, 2015.

Certificate of Need Law Kills People

Thanks to Gary North at Tea Party Economist.

Today, 36 states have certificate of need laws. Inventors cannot get new procedures accepted in local hospitals until they prove to state bureaucrats that the new procedures are wanted by the community. 

Existing providers that will not be able to compete economically are allowed to testify as to why the community — which knows nothing about this — really does not need the new procedure. This is another technique that allows the good old boys in medicine to maintain their high-income positions.

This is how the medical-industrial complex keeps its hold on the medical marketplaces. They use the state. Because the state funds hospitals, this system is inevitable. If you take the state’s nickel, you take the state’s noose. 

Read more at http://teapartyeconomist.com/2014/11/18/video-certificate-need-laws-kill-people-make-crony-medicine-profitable/#Oy70G1lwejpxuumS.99

How Capitalism Can Fix Health Care

"Canada's healthcare system won't permit cancer diagnoses after age 75."

From the TomWoods Show:

Dr. Josh Umbehr operates a concierge family practice in Wichita, Kansas, and counsels doctors about making the transition to direct care, bypassing insurance and government, through Atlas.MD. He ran for lieutenant governor of Kansas in 2014 on a ticket with his father, Keen, at the top. (See alsoIAmDirectCare.com.)

Remarkable discounts by reducing the medical bureaucracy and administrative costs. Even if you're not in the market for healthcare services, you'll find his business model and acumen fascinating. goodrx.com.  52% of medical care is paid for by the government. 

Canada's socialized healthcare system won't permit cancer diagnoses after age 75.  Incredible.  This is the same thing that the death panels with Obamacare will evaluate--whether your age, condition, etcetera will be worthy of care.  It should be indisputably clear that government care or government healthcare absolutely does not care for you or for anyone else. Take good care of yourself and you find the best options for you and your family.  

CHOLESTEROL COMBATS INFLAMMATION & WORKS TO QUELL IT

Supplements for Coronary Artery Disease

By Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD

April 25, 2015

"Cholesterol combats inflammation and works to quell it."

My wife recently went to see her doctor for a checkup. A blood test showed that her cholesterol, the calculated low-density lipoprotein one, was elevated. Though feeling well, her doctor ordered a coronary calcium scan, taking into account the fact that she has a family history of heart disease (her father died from a heart attack when she was 12 years old).  Quite unexpectedly her calcium score was quite high. The score one wants to have on a CT (computed tomography) coronary calcium scan is 0, which indicates no evidence of coronary artery disease (CAD). A score of 1-10 gives minimal evidence of CAD, 11-100 is mild evidence, 101-400 moderate evidence, and a score over 400 is extensive evidence indicating the presence of coronary artery disease. My wife’s coronary calcium score was over 400.

Her doctor recommended that she start taking a statin right away (along with an 81 mg baby aspirin). This all happened right after I had submitted a paper titled “Fallacies in Modern Medicine: Statins and the Cholesterol-Heart hypothesis” for publication in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. (It has undergone peer review, been accepted for publication, and will be in the Summer 2015—Volume 20, Number 2—issue of this journal.)

My research into this subject and many years spent performing and teaching heart surgery has convinced me that the cholesterol theory of heart disease is wrong, and statins do more harm than good.

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease. My colleague, the late Russell Ross, a professor of pathology at the University of Washington, showed that dysfunction of endothelium, the inner lining of arteries, brought on with or without some form of injury (e.g., from smoking), starts what is called atherosclerosis. Immune cells—macrophages and T lymphocytes—mediate the ensuing inflammatory response to this dysfunction. An integral part of their response is to promote the proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells. Russell demonstrated that atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory and fibroproliferative process that is fundamentally no different than that seen in cirrhosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and chronic pancreatitis.

Cholesterol does not cause it. Heart surgeon Michael DeBakey and his team 52 years ago found no correlation between blood cholesterol levels and severity of atherosclerosis in 1,700 patients undergoing surgical treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. I have observed the same thing with my heart surgery patients.

Heart-healthy food: steak and eggs,

Cholesterol combats inflammation and works to quell it. (Blaming cholesterol for atherosclerosis is like blaming firemen for the fire they have come to put out.) Statins are very effective at lowering cholesterol, but whatever benefits they may have, however small, in dealing with atherosclerosis comes from their anti-inflammatory effects.

This is in my (soon-to-be-published) article on statins and cholesterol:

“Lovastatin (Mevacor), the first statin, is a naturally occurring molecule isolated from a fungus named Aspergillus terreus. Newer statins are synthetic variations of these mycotoxins that fungi produce. Fungi make statins, as a “secondary metabolite,” to kill predatory microbes. They also kill human cells. In a review of [the book, published in 2012] How Statin Drugs Really Lower Cholesterol and Kill You One Cell at a Time by James and Hannah Yoseph, Peter Langsjoen writes:

Many practicing physicians have a healthy understanding of the current level of corruption and collusion among big pharmaceutical companies, governmental agencies such as the NIH and FDA, and major medical associations such as the American Heart Association, but the reader of this book will come away with the disturbing conclusion that it is even worse than imagined. Statins may be the perfect and most insidious human toxin in that adverse effects are often delayed by years and come about gradually. Further, statins frequently impair mental function to such a degree that by the time patients are in real trouble, they may lack the mental facilities to recognize the cause.

The last thing I want my wife to do is to take a statin. Fortunately, there are a number of nutritional supplements that also have anti-inflammatory effect like that of statins—and without their adverse effects. Other supplements, like vitamin D and vitamin K2 spawn (vitamin D) and activate (vitamin K2) a protein that sucks calcium out of blood vessels. Others, like omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E (the natural d-alpha tocopherol, not the synthetic dl-alpha form), and gingko biloba decrease platelet adhesiveness (makes them less sticky), thin the blood, and improve blood flow.

These are the supplements I have my wife taking for her newly diagnosed coronary artery disease (along with a multivitamin supplement which has vitamins B6, B9-folic acid, B12, and vitamin A):

Supplements (all obtainable through Amazon):	How many a Day
Omega-3 fatty acids: 425mg EPA, 270 mg DHA in Super EPA (Thorne)…….	2
Vitamin C: 1000 mg, Lyco-Spheric Vitamin C packets (LivOn Labs)……….	2
Vitamin E:
Ultimate E—mixed tocopherols (Thorne)………………………	2
Unique E Tocotrienol (A.C. Grace)……………………………	1
Alpha lipoic acid: 100 mg, as R-Lipoic Acid (Thorne)………..……………	3
Coenzyme Q10: 100 mg, Q Best (Thorne)…………………….……	2
Magnesium: 135 mg, Magnesium Citramate (Thorne)………………	3
Selenium: 100 mcg in Pic Mins +
Zinc: 15 mg in Pic Mins (Thorne)……..…………………………….	2
Curcumin: 500 mg in Meriva 500 (Thorne)………………………….	4
Quercetin: 250 mg, Quercetin Phytosome (Thorne)…………..……..	3
Gingko Biloba: 120 mg (Natrol)……………………………………………..	2
Vitamin D: 10,000 IU (Thorne)……..……………………………….	1
Vitamin K2 (Menaquinone-7): 90 mcg (Jarrow Formulas)…….……..	2
Resveratrol: 100 mg as Poly-Resveratrol-SR (Thorne)……..……….	2
.

Their Physiologic Mechanisms of action:

Omega-3 fatty acids: Among other things, the Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA prevent heart disease (and cancer). EPA thins the blood. Both EPA and DHA regulate the expression of many genes involving antioxidant capacity, oxidative stress response, and ones that produce chemicals which reduce inflammation and improve blood flow through the coronary arteries.

NETWORK ANTI-OXIDANTS:

Vitamin C: Along with its role as an antioxidant, vitamin C reduces the level of the inflammation-causing C-reactive protein (CRP) and thus helps prevent/quell inflammatory atherosclerosis. Vitamin C is an essential cofactor for protein synthesis, notably collagen, which makes up 25 percent of the proteins in the body and is the structural component of connective tissue in blood vessels, bone, teeth, cartilage, ligaments, and skin. (In its role as an electron donor, vitamin C transfers electrons to iron. The iron in enzymes that make collagen transfers its vitamin C-supplied electron to oxygen, thereby enabling it to combine with hydrogen as a hydroxyl [-OH] group. Hydroxyl groups attach to the amino acids in collagen, forming cross links that give this protein its tensile strength.)  Vitamin C in the form selected here, packed in lyposomal nano-spheres, is very highly absorbable.

Vitamin E: As an antioxidant vitamin E protects cell membranes by extinguishing various singlet oxygen and polyunsaturated fatty acid radicals. Vitamin E helps reduce high levels of the inflammation-causing proteins, CRP and interleukin-6 (IL-6), which play a role in causing atherosclerosis. The Ultimate E supplement contains all four tocopherols—d-alpha, gamma, beta, and delta (gamma tocopherol neutralizes free radicals that the alpha form cannot douse). It contains natural d-alpha tocopherol, which works better than synthetic dl-alpha-tocopherol, the most common form of vitamin E  found in multivitamin supplements. The d-alpha form makes platelets less sticky, whereas platelets cannot absorb the dl-alpha synthetic kind. The Unique E Tocotrienol supplement contains the delta and gamma forms of tocotrienol.

Alpha Lipoic Acid: Reduces the risk of atherosclerosis. It is soluble in both fat and water and is one of the most powerful antioxidants in the body. In addition, it restores the other network antioxidants when oxidized (vitamin C, vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, and glutathione) back to their functional, reduced antioxidant state. ALA aids glucose entry into cells, improves insulin sensitivity, and reduces the risk of diabetes. It also plays an integral role in producing the energy molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP), feeding pyruvate from the glycolytic cycle into the Krebs cycle.

Coenzyme Q10: A strong antioxidant that removes oxidized low-density lipoproteins (LDL), a leading culprit in atherosclerosis. The body synthesizes it but in insufficient quantities, especially in people who take statins to lower cholesterol. CoQ10 also plays a critical role in mitochondrial energy production and is a required ingredient in the electron transport chain that produces ATP through oxidative phosphorylation.

MINERALS:

Magnesium: A deficiency in magnesium can cause angina, from spasm of the coronary arteries; high blood pressure; and heart rhythm disturbances, including sudden death. Some 80 percent of the enzymes in the body require magnesium in order to function.

Selenium: Bound to cysteine in place of sulfur and called the “21st amino acid,” selenocysteine is the active site in some 35 proteins. Glutathione peroxidase, which plays a major role in free radical defense and combating inflammation contains four selenium atoms. Plasma selenoprotein P protects endothelial cells against damage, including those susceptible to injury lining the coronary arteries.

Zinc: A constituent of more than 3,000 different proteins in the body, studies show that a lack of zinc leads to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease by triggering inflammation and lowering levels of protective compounds that guard against atherosclerosis.

BOTANICALS:

Curcumin: An orange-yellow curry spice that comes from turmeric root, curcumin suppresses inflammation by down-regulating nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB), a transcription factor concerned with intensifying the inflammatory response.  (The small benefit that statins offer with atherosclerotic CAD is derived from their anti-inflammatory effect, especially on their ability to downregulate NF-kB. Curcumin does the same thing without having any of the adverse effects that statins have.) Curcumin also blocks eicosanoid synthesis of inflammatory leukotrienes, prostaglandins, and thromboxanes derived from arachidonic acid. It is also an antioxidant. In the supplement used here, Meriva 500, curcumin is complexed with phosphatidylcholine for superior bioavailability.

Quercetin: This bioflavonoid prevents oxidation of LDL cholesterol in blood vessel walls. Quercetin inhibits inflammation in a way different from that of curcumin, which makes it worthwhile taking both together. It inhibits the delta-5-lipooxygenase enzyme, which initiates the production of inflammatory eicosanoids. (Quercetin also inhibits tumor initiation and growth.)

Ginkgo Biloba: Extracted from the 200 million-year-old maidenhair tree (the oldest living tree species on earth), ginkgo biloba thins the blood and decreases platelet adhesiveness, like aspirin, without the side effects that aspirin has. Ginkgo biloba increases blood flow through the body, especially in the heart and brain. Like curcumin (and statins), it suppresses inflammation by inhibiting NF-kB. (Ginkgo biloba also improves mental functioning and memory in older people and may well exert a protective effect against developing Alzheimer’s dementia and Parkinson’s disease.)

Others:

Vitamin D: Controls the expression of more than 1,000 genes throughout the body, notably in endothelial cells making up the delicate inner layer of blood vessels. Vitamin D also expresses genes that blunt the immune system-mediated inflammatory response that propagates atherosclerosis and congestive heart failure.

Vitamin K2: Calcium deposits in the walls of blood vessels play an active role in the formation of atherosclerosis. K2 activates the protein called “matrix Gla (carboxyglutamic acid) protein ” by carboxylating the glutamate residues in matrix Gla protein, enabling it to bind and remove calcium from blood vessels and thus prevent the formation atherosclerotic calcific plaques. Vitamins D and K2 work together in this regard because vitamin D expresses the gene that makes matrix Gla protein. (Vitamin K comes in two forms, K1 and K2. K1 is a cofactor for blood coagulation; and K2, in addition to activating matrix Gla protein, activates osteocalcin, a protein secreted by osteoblasts that plays a role in bone mineralization and calcium ion hemostasis.) Menaquinone-7 is the natural form of vitamin K2, which is better than synthetic menaquinone-4, the more widely marketed form of vitamin K2.

Resveratrol: It controls the expression of more than 100 genes, including Sirtuin 1, the DNA-repair “survival” gene. Notable among its effects, resveratrol is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, suppressing transcription factor NF-kB, like statins. It also plays a role as a COX inhibitor and normalizes blood sugar. Resveratrol protects the endothelium of arteries from oxidative free radical damage, and it helps protect the production of nitric oxide, a critical chemical produced by endothelium that keeps blood vessels dilated.

The cost of these 15 supplements, produced by Thorne Research, LivOn Labs, AC Grace Company, Natrol, and Jarrow Formulas, comes to $14.65 a day. Purchasing lowest-cost alpha lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10, magnesium, curcumin, quercetin, vitamin D, and resveratrol on Amazon drops the price to $6.88 a day, which is not much different than the $5.98 cost of Crestor (rosuvastatin, 40 mg/day), the most widely prescribed statin.

There is no good substitute for lyco-spheric vitamin C, since it is by far the best-absorbed form of orally-administered vitamin C. Regarding vitamin E, the investment in Thorne’s Ultimate E mixed tocopherols, (or AC Grace’s equally good Unique E tocopherols), and AC Grace’s Unique E Tocotrienol is well worth it. In these preparations, the natural forms and relatively full spectrum of this vitamin brook no substitute. Thorne’s curcumin (in Meriva 500) and quercetin (as Quercetin Phytosome) also have added value in their being very well absorbed. An equally good (if not better) alternative to Thorne’s Resveratrol (as Poly-Resveratrol-SR) at the same price is the resveratrol Longevinex produces. It can be purchased online at www.longevinex.com (Amazon does not carry it).

Ideally, health care agencies would fund a long-term randomized trial comparing these 15 supplements (made by these manufacturers) with a statin, and aspirin, for people with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. But with no patents in the offing such a study will never be done. Nevertheless, there is sufficient evidence to justify taking the supplements I have listed here and avoiding statins, with their negligible benefit and wide spectrum of adverse effects.

High-quality Thorne Research and LivOn vitamin C supplements are fairly expensive. I view them as an important investment in my wife’s health.

(The author has no relationship, financial or otherwise, with the supplement companies named here.)