Heart Disease

Heart disease is one of the major killers of Americans. It usually creeps up, taking many many years to finally announce itself. By taking a preventative strategy we can almost completely eliminate the chance of cardiovascular disease affecting the quality or length of our lives. Some of the information that follows was gleaned at the Longevity Bootcamp, which I attended in Las Vegas this past weekend. Among the speakers were some of the leading anti-aging physicians in the country.

There are many predictive factors for heart disease. Interestingly, total cholesterol level is not really one of the most accurate of these predictive factors. Your doctor can order blood tests for any of these risk factors, or they can be obtained from the Life Extension Foundation (www.lef.org).

1. Homocysteine is an irritating and inflammatory byproduct of the metabolism of the amino acid methionine. It is estimated that as much as 1/3 of all heart disease is due to excess homocysteine. Fortunately, high levels of B vitamins allow your body to easily rid itself of excess homocysteine. HPL mix contains 100 mg of B6, 600 mcg of B12, and 800 mcg of folic acid. These amounts should be enough, in MOST cases, to keep homocysteine levels in check.
   
   
2. C-reactive protein is a marker that shows excess levels of inflammation. Heart disease is typically associated with high levels of inflammation in the arteries. One of the main dietary factors that increases inflammation is arachidonic acid, found in red meat. By substituting chicken, turkey, or fish (not pork) for red meat you can do much to help prevent the inflammation associated with heart disease. Another very good strategy is to consume enough omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil, which can help balance out the consumption of the much more prevalent pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids.
   
   
3. Lipoprotein A is an LDL cholesterol particle with a sugar molecule stuck to it, and is very bad for your arteries. The best approach to keeping this marker down is to try to avoid or limit high glycemic sugars (white bread, white rice, white potatoes, and all processed sugars). Doing so will also make it easier to maintain a lean body mass.
   
   
4. Fibrinogen is an end product of clotting. Curcumin has strong anti-clotting ability, and is included at 250 mg in HPL mix. Gingko biloba also stops platelets from sticking together, and is included at a level of 60 mg/day. Another option is to take ¼ an aspirin per day, which does a very good job of preventing clotting, and also helps reduce inflammation.

Other important factors in maintaining cardiovascular health include vitamin E, vitamin C, coQ10, carnitine, vitamin B1, testosterone, and estrogen. All of these except for the last 2 are included in generous amounts in HPL mix. And of course, adequate exercise is essential.

So perhaps the most important advice, which was echoed by almost every speaker at the conference, concerned the almost magical ability of fish oils to help maintain optimum health. Because fish oils are very unstable, it is important to choose a quality brand, and to keep them in the freezer or refrigerator in order to maintain freshness. We take 1 gram/day of a brand called Eskimo-3, which has been purified to remove all levels of mercury, a common pollutant in fish. Because this product only comes in an oily form, we are unable to include it in HPL mix. But again, it is highly recommended.

Go Long,

Wiley