Figure 6.8 Cardiovascular system

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

The cardiovascular system, also called the circulatory system, is an organ system composed of the heart and the network of arteries, veins, and capillaries that transport blood throughout the body. Your heart is a muscular squeezing device, sometime erroneously described as a pumping device. Blood circulates to and from the cardiac muscle (heart) in a closed circle of vascular vessels.

THE CHOLESTEROL MYTH

After nearly seventy years, the then current director of the 1948 Framingham Heart Study admitted that your diet has nothing to do with your cholesterol levels.

This study of 5,000 patients, done under the direction of the National Heart Institute, had concluded that cholesterol levels were related to risk for coronary artery disease

In 1976, another large study of over 4,000 patients in Tecumseh, Michigan was published showing that there is no relationship whatsoever between the amounts of saturated fat eaten (animal fat, coconut oil, palm oil) and the levels of blood cholesterol. As a side note, it is important to clarify that these studies did not address the plastic fat called transfat.

Figure 6.15 Cholesterol metabolism and statin drugs

HMG (HYDROCYMETHYLGLTARIC ACID) ENZYME PRODUCTS

Cholesterol is one of three products produced from HMG (Cholesterol, CoQ10 and Dolichol).  The enzyme HMG-CoA Reductase is required to start the process of cholesterol metabolism. Statin drugs inhibit this enzyme. The above diagram illustrates the cholesterol pathway and the resulting substrates.

The cholesterol pathway process begins with the two carbon molecule, acetyl-CoA to form hydrocymethylglutaric acid (HMG). Statins are known as HMG-CoA Reductase inhibitors because they prevent the formation of HMG-CoA, and they thereby also block cholesterol production. Unfortunately, statins also interfere with the formation of important metabolic processes and can lead to numerous adverse effects.

STATIN DRUGS CAN INHIBIT ESSENTIAL BIOCHEMICAL FUNCTIONS

Statins don’t just inhibit the production of cholesterols; they inhibit the production of an entire group of enzymes and molecules that have essential biochemical functions.

STATIN DRUGS EFFECT COENZYME Q10

The statins widely used cholesterol-lowering medications may also decrease the body’s production of coenzyme Q10. The conversion of energy from carbohydrates and fats to adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the form of energy used by cells, requires coenzyme Q10 in the inner mitochondrial membrane (Crane, 2001).

MUSCLE ATROPHY SIDE EFFECTS FROM STATIN DRUGS

The most common side effect of statin drugs is a condition called rhabdomyolysis, characterized in muscle pain and weakness. This condition results from the statin activation of the atrogin-1 gene, which plays a key role in muscle atrophy (Hanai et al., 2007).

DANGERS OF LOW CHOLESTEROL (BELOW 200 mg/DL

Studies have shown a connection between low or lowered cholesterol levels and violent behavior, as lowered cholesterol levels may lead to lowered brain serotonin activity associated with increased violenceHS and aggression (Golomb, 1998; Hebert, Gaziano, Chan, & Hennekens, 1997).

Cholesterol should not drop below 200 mg/dL. Research warns that there is a link between total cholesterol levels of less than 160 mg/dL and an increase in deaths from trauma, some types of cancer, hemorrhagic stroke, respiratory conditions and infectious diseases. Women with low cholesterol (160 mg/dL) (6th percentile) exhibited about a 10% to 20% excess total mortality compared with those with a cholesterol level between 4.2 and 5.2 mmol/L (160 to 199 mg/dL) (Jacobs et al., 1992).

A study published in 2009, in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, found that men with very low total cholesterol (165 mg/dL) and depression were at very high risk for premature death from unnatural causes. The study reported that men with low total cholesterol plus symptoms of depression were seven times more likely to die prematurely from suicides, drug overdoses, accidents and injuries than those without those markers. Studies show that the increased disease related mortality rates were most commonly from hemorrhagic stroke, aortic dissection and respiratory diseases (Jacobs et al., 1992).

VEGETABLE OILS CAN CAUSE HEART DISEASE

High amounts of vegetable oil consumption can lead to cardiovascular disease because vegetable oils contain omega-6 polyunsaturated fats which are inflammatory. These inflammatory fats (from sources such as corn, canola, and soybean oils) are commonly found in commercial mayonnaise and salad dressings.

PURE OLIVE OIL AND COCONUT OIL ARE BETTER FOR YOU

Olive oil and coconut oils are monounsaturated oils which don’t lead to inflammation.. You can test to see if your olive oil has been adulterated with soybean, cottonseed, or corn oil as these oils stay liquid when refrigerated. Within a day or two, pure olive oil solidifies, which helps you know the difference.

’60 Minutes’ Exposes Italy’s Olive Oil Fraud Jan 5, 2016 Source: CBS News. Olive oil is coming out of Italy that is tainted with hydrogenated oils, check out your sources for these oils. Check out the labels, if made in a city in Sicily or Puglia known for producing olive oil it’s probably safe.

You can purchase extra-virgin olive oil from California. American shoppers can also buy online directly from Italian producers like Lucia Iannotta, who runs Iannotta Oil or Nicolo Clemenza, who is organizing his fellow farmers to cut out the Mafia middle men.

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF EATING FAT

Saturated fats can protect help to protect the heart. In 2013 a cardiologist and leading researcher published in the British Medical Journal, noted “we have scientific evidence which shows that lowering our intake of saturated fat has paradoxically increase our cardiovascular risks” (Malik et al., 2010).

Obesity (Grundy, 2006) and a diet high in carbohydrates (Parks & Hellerstein, 2000) increases the accumulation of plaques in arteries. Dietary recommendations for avoiding cardiovascular disease has focused on reducing saturated fat in order to lower LDL cholesterol. In recent years the list for medical risks has grown to include elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and increased small dense LDL particles (Krauss & Siri, 2004).