But the drug has come under heavy scrutiny since a series of studies revealed that it increases the risk of stroke. The leading study was written by heart expert Dr. Steven Nissen in 2007. He’s the chairman of Cleveland Clinic’s department of cardiovascular medicine. He reviewed 40 studies related to the drug and uncovered a shocking truth: patients taking Avandia increased their risk of heart attack by 42 percent. His findings were later published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Following these studies, sales began to drop, plummeting to $520 million last year. As sales have fallen, claims linking Avandia to increased heart risk have risen. And now they’ve snowballed into literally thousands of lawsuits against Glaxo.

The FDA clearly has its own doubts about Avandia. Its own reviewer – David Graham – presented expert data analysis at the panel meeting. He estimated that 100,000 heart problems were caused by the drug. He told the panel that Avandia will “put you in a hospital or a cemetery.”

Conflicted Decision

Yet despite this, the FDA panel voted to keep the drug on the market.

“The committee vote is gravely disappointing,” says Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. It “raises questions as to whether the science was presented in an unbiased manner.”

Original study author Dr. Nissen attended the panel meeting. He believes that the panel data still confirms the risk of stroke. He says the panel had enough data to remove the drug.

Now, the decision was by no means unanimous. Twelve of the 33 members of the panel voted to eliminate the drug. Another 10 wanted ongoing supervision of the drug. And seven suggested stronger warning labels on it.

But the panel still gave Avandia the thumbs up.

Patterns of Approval

The same thing happened in 2007 when another FDA panel first reviewed Avandia. Dr. Nissen also attended that meeting.

He said at the time that “the FDA presented patient-level analysis at the meeting. This is far more accurate when you have access to patient data. The FDA confirmed a 40 percent increase in risk. Virtually identical to our findings.”

In 2007 the FDA voted keep Avandia on the market. The New England Journal of Medicine later printed a related article. The article was written by Dr. Clifford Rosen – the man who headed up the 2007 Avandia review panel.

In his article he said that Avandia was “a new wonder drug, approved prematurely and for the wrong reasons.” He noted the FDA was “a weakened and underfunded government agency subjected to pressure from industry.” He concluded that Avandia had “caused undue harm to patients.”

And certainly Glaxo seems to know something. The 2010 ruling comes one day after the drug maker agreed to pay out $460 million to settle thousands of lawsuits. Those suits claim that Avandia caused heart attacks.  Glaxo is quietly settling over 10,000 suits for $46,000 each.

Opting for the Safe Solution

Data suggests that Avandia may increase stroke risk. But the FDA approves it because it also does some good. That’s because it increases your sensitivity to insulin.

But THB panel expert Michael Cutler M.D. says there are many safer ways to do that.

“I was never taught any measures for my patients,” says Dr. Cutler, a board-certified physician with over 17 years of experience. “It baffles me that I couldn’t see the gap in my medical training. We did nothing to prevent diabetes.”

Many years have passed since Dr. Cutler graduated from med school. He’s spent years in practice since then. He’s also continued his own private research and learning. And he knows that modern medicine is missing the point.

“Conventional medicine today is still all about using drugs to lower blood sugar,” says Dr. Cutler. That’s “too late if you want to reverse the disease.”

The secret instead lies in what you eat. A healthy low-carb, low-sugar diet balances your blood sugar. And there are many tools to improve your diet.

For one thing, Dr. Cutler says herbs are a safe way fight diabetes. That’s because they can lower your blood sugar levels.

Your Herbal Path to Better Health

Dr. Cutler says herbal remedies can really make a difference to your health. They can work better than drugs and are a lot safer. The following seven herbs are backed up by solid scientific evidence in multiple studies. Dr. Cutler says these seven herbs will help control your blood sugar levels.

• Green tea.  It’s an old favorite and a good health promoter. One study reveals that green tea increases insulin activity. That’s thanks to its active ingredient, EGCG.

• Cinnamon.  Diabetes Care reports that cinnamon kicks up sugar metabolism. Sixty diabetics took a half teaspoon of cinnamon every day for 40 days. Researchers reported major drops in blood sugar levels.

• Ginseng root.  Several studies have tested Ginseng as a treatment for diabetes. One study showed a big drop in sugar versus placebo in Type II diabetes.

• Milk thistle.  Milk thistle cleanses the liver, which fights diabetes. Doses of over 1,500 mg increase bile flow and secretion. “This desired effect makes it the herb of choice for any liver-related diseases,” says Dr. Cutler.

• Devil’s claw.  Devil’s claw may have insulin-like elements. However, Dr. Cutler notes that research is ongoing.

• Bilberry.  Studies show that bilberry leaves also lower blood sugar levels. This is no news to country folk. They’ve been using it in “anti-diabetic” teas for years.

• Fenugreek.  A major study showed it greatly lowered blood sugar levels.

[Ed. Note: Michael Cutler, M.D. is a board-certified family physician. He has over 17 years of clinical experience. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Tulane Medical School. Dr. Cutler's practice focuses on solutions to health problems. He focuses on behavioral and nutritional medicine. For information, visit www.truehealth.com.]

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The Age-Defying Power of Antioxidants – Part Five

The Marvels of the “Miracle Mineral”

Antioxidants can help restore youth, replenish energy, and even improve heart health. But did you know that one mineral is so vital that deficiency doubles your chance of death? And guess what? Experts estimate that 80 percent of the population is exactly that.

That miracle mineral is magnesium.

The claim that magnesium deficiency doubles your chances of death is quite genuine. The finding came from a study published in The Journal of Intensive Care Medicine. But the conclusion comes as no surprise to leading experts in the field. They agree that magnesium is critical to long life and good health.

“Magnesium deficiency triggers 22 conditions,” says Dr. Carolyn Dean, M.D. As a magnesium expert, she should know. She has led medical research on the subject for over 30 years. She currently serves as the Medical Director of the Nutritional Magnesium Association and wrote The Magnesium Miracle.

Among the 22 conditions that magnesium deficiency can cause, she lists anxiety, diabetes, heart disease, and migraines. And she notes that “the introduction of magnesium can help alleviate these conditions.”

Dr. Mark Hyman – a Massachusetts physician who serves on the Board of Advisors of Georgetown University – also champions magnesium. “In my practice, this nutrient is one of my secret weapons against illness,” he says. “Yet [over] half of Americans are deficient in this nutrient and don’t know it.”

“I remember using magnesium when I worked in the emergency room,” says Dr. Hyman. “It was a critical ‘medication’ on the crash cart. If someone was dying of [an] irregular heart beat, we used intravenous magnesium. If pregnant women came in with seizures, we gave them high doses of magnesium.”

Benefits of Magnesium

Magnesium is an essential element of good health. It is responsible for over 300 enzyme reactions and is present in all bodily tissues. It’s a critical component in bones, muscle and brain. And your cells need it to make energy, stabilize membranes, and help muscles relax.

It can fight depression, fatigue, and even kidney disease. And it’s critical to many essential bodily functions. But let’s look more closely at just one area that it benefits.

According to Dr. Dean, a heart attack can injure us in many ways. Damages sustained during a heart attack can include:

• Blood clots which lead to blocked blood vessels
• Decreased blood flow as blood vessels go into spasm
• Extended heart damage as calcium floods the muscle

However, our “magic” mineral counters these effects. It naturally:

• Dilates blood vessels
• Prevents spasms in the heart muscle and blood vessel walls
• Fights the action of calcium, which increases spasms
• Helps dissolve blood clots
• Acts as an antioxidant against free radical formation

It also promotes good health in many other vital functions. And yet, you don’t often hear about. Which begs the question…

Why Is Magnesium Shut Out of “Big Medicine”?

If magnesium were man-made, chances are pharmaceutical companies everywhere would grab on to it and tout it as a wonder drug.

But instead, magnesium is an inexpensive mineral, found in nature. And big pharma isn’t interested in pushing something they can’t get a patent on.

“This mineral is ignored because it is not a drug,” says Dr. Hyman. “It is more powerful than drugs in many cases. That’s why we use it in hospitals for heart failure.”

Dr. Dean agrees. She believes big pharma has good reason to ignore it.

“Most of the funding for medical research comes from drug companies,” she says. “Magnesium is not a drug and will not be studied by drug companies. Except to try to disprove its action.”

But there’s another reason why magnesium doesn’t get enough credit.

“In our society, magnesium deficiency is a huge problem,” says Dr. Hyman. “By conservative standards of measurement (blood or serum magnesium levels), 65 percent of people admitted to the intensive care unit have magnesium deficiency.

“But this underestimates the problem. A serum magnesium level is the least sensitive way to detect a drop. So rates of magnesium deficiency could be even higher.”

And that’s bad news for good health. Magnesium deficiency has been linked to migraines, inflammation, and high CRP levels.

Reasons for Magnesium Deficiency

It’s a scientific fact that modern man is deficient in magnesium. One recent study concluded…

It is regrettable that deficiency of such an inexpensive, low-toxicity nutrient results in diseases that cause incalculable suffering throughout the world.

So why are we so deficient? What’s changed?

As is often the case, our own diets work against us. Highly processed foods contain little magnesium. Carb-rich foods like white flour and pasta have no magnesium at all. Neither does dairy.

Worse, many of the foods we do eat reduce our levels. Dr. Hyman says alcohol, salt, cola, and coffee all reduce magnesium. And our modern lifestyle does the same: stress, antibiotics, and diuretics decrease our levels too.

Another reason we have low levels is because it’s hard to absorb. Worse… our bodies lose it easily. That’s why it’s important to maintain our magnesium levels.

Maintain Your Magnesium Levels

There are three simple, common sense ways to do this:

1. Limit the foods that decrease your levels. That means cutting back on alcohol, coffee, and cola.
2. Learn how to handle stress in a new way. Active relaxation can make a difference.
3. Consult your doctor about what meds you are taking. Ask him if they cause magnesium loss.

Now you know how to maintain your levels. The next step is to increase your intake.

Rich Sources of Magnesium

Many foods are rich in magnesium. Good sources include almonds, cashews, walnuts, shrimp, green drinks, and leafy green vegetables.

Dr. Hyman suggests taking a supplement.  While the recommended daily amount is about 300 mg a day, he believes most of us get less than 200 mg. And he says that most people could benefit from as much as 400 to 1,000 mg a day.

Another good option for kicking up your levels are Epsom salts. Taking a hot bath in Espom salts (magnesium sulfate) helps reduce stress and allows easy absorption of magnesium.

Doctors Dean and Hyman suggest that magnesium citrate, glycinate taurate, and aspartate are the most easy to absorb. They caution against magnesium carbonate, sulfate, gluconate, and oxide because they are more difficult to absorb.

Dr. Hyman also notes that people with kidney or heart disease should consult a doctor to define safe levels.

To your health,

Ian Robinson,
Managing Editor, Total Health Breakthroughs

“Old Age” Is Coming at Us, Faster than We’d Like to Think

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Taking Statins? Best Read This

Medicine has been saying for over 40 years that cholesterol is a significant factor in heart disease.  We’ve been bombarded with the cholesterol theory, cloudy science and powerful marketing that most of us believe to be fact.

There’s one cardiovascular surgeon who doesn’t believe that’s true, Dr. Dwight Lundell. He adamantly speaks out against the statin marketing scam.  You’re going to enjoy reading his article below.

Dr. Lundell didn’t discover this astonishing truth over night: he was a cardiac surgeon for 25 years and performed over 5,000 heart surgeries.

According to Dr. Dwight Lundell, cholesterol has very little to do with heart disease. And the good news is this: heart disease can be treated and reversed when you lower inflammation with natural and simple solutions. 

During that time he became convinced that cholesterol was not the real culprit of heart disease… and statin medications were not the answer. And he developed these convictions through daily observation in the operating room… reading thousands of scientific studies… and his own personal, cutting-edge research.

To your health,

Ian Robinson,
Managing Editor, Total Health Breakthroughs

Discover the truth today as Dr. Lundell exposes the Great Statin Scam…

– By Dr. Dwight Lundell

Television ads featuring heart inventor, Dr. Robert Jarvik, who, by the way, cannot row a skull and never practiced medicine, claims that Lipitor will lower heart attack risk by 36 percent. Now, who wouldn’t want that… but let’s look at the fine print.

The fine print required says “in a large clinical study three percent of people taking a placebo had a heart attack and two percent of those taking Lipitor had a heart attack.” Let’s do the math.

Reviewing the Statistics

For every 100 people in the trial that lasted three-and-half years, three people on the placebo and two people on Lipitor had heart attacks. That is one less heart attack for every 100 people.

In other words, 100 people had to take Lipitor for three-and-half years to prevent one heart attack. What this really means is: 99 out of 100 people taking Lipitor received no benefit.

There is a little known statistic, “Number Needed To Treat,” (NNT) defined as the number of patients who need to be treated in order to prevent one bad outcome. In the case of Lipitor, 100 patients needed to be treated for three-and-half years to possibly eliminate one heart attack.

Let’s compare that number to today’s antibiotic treatment to eradicate ulcer causing H. pylori stomach bacteria. The Number Needed to Treat H. pylori is 1:1. That means if you give the antibiotic to 11 people, 10 will be cured.

Several recent scientific papers peg the NNT for statin medications at 250. That means 249 of 250 would receive no benefit. Dr. Jerome R. Hoffman, Professor of Clinical Medicine at UCLA asks:

“What if you put 250 people in a room and told them they would have to pay over
$1,000 per year for a medicine they must take every day that might give them diarrhea and muscle pain and that 249 of those people would get no benefit, how many would take that?” Very, very few.

Marketing over Medicine

Drug companies have a responsibility to their shareholders to make a profit. We need drug companies to develop new medicines; however, when they grossly overstate benefits and spend enormous dollars influencing physicians, it leads to potential corruption.

The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) 2004 guidelines lowered the targets for cholesterol treatment and recommended more Americans take statins. The panel that issued the guidelines was comprised of nine experts, eight of which had ties to the drug industry.

Taking Risks

We physicians who speak out take great risks as medicine and government agencies do not like criticism. For example, Dr. Henry C. Barry of the Michigan State University College of Medicine recently stated, “The NCEP guideline and process went awry.”

Dr. Barry and 34 other experts sent a petition of protest to the National Institutes of Health saying the evidence was weak and the panel biased because of its ties to the drug industry.

Dr. Rodney A. Hayward, Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical school said, “current evidence supports ignoring LDL cholesterol altogether.”

In response, The National Cholesterol Education Program stated strongly, “Dr. Hayward should be held accountable in a court of law for doing things to kill people.”
We might expect this kind of harsh response from zealots and extremists but not from government agencies or scientists.

If we spent just a fraction of the money we now do on cholesterol testing, cholesterol lowering drugs and doctors visits, on educating people about proper diet, exercise and weight loss, we’d be far healthier.

About Dr. Lundell: Dr. Dwight Lundell is the past Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery at Banner Heart Hospital, Mesa, AZ. He is the founder of Healthy Humans Foundation and Chief Medical Advisor for Asantae. In 2003, Dr. Lundell made the most difficult decision of his 25 year surgical career. As traditional medicine continued to chase the cholesterol theory of heart disease, Dr. Lundell closed his surgical practice. He then devoted the rest of his life to speaking the truth that inflammation causes heart disease. By lowering inflammation, heart disease has a cure.

Dr. Lundell is the author of the world-wide bestselling book, The Great Cholesterol Lie. This book is a revealing look at heart disease and the faulty theories of low-fat diets and cholesterol. He also reveals his clinically-tested recommendations for lowering inflammation that can prevent and reverse heart disease. Click here now to learn more.

Editor’s Note: The best medicine might simply be good information. For almost every condition you could be suffering from, nature has provided a cure you should know about. Our mission at Natural Health Confidential is to find it, scientifically confirm it, and get it into your hands.

You will discover invaluable natural healing methods that make a real difference in your life and the lives of those you love.

You can find out more about “The Great Cholesterol Lie” in the next edition of our monthly newsletter…Natural Health Confidential. We review the latest research and findings and ask our experts if there is a “Cure for Heart Disease?”

Find out more about the dangers of statin medications, the case against cholesterol, and the true cause of heart disease… Discover easy, simple steps to treat heart disease without medications… Ways to overhaul your diet and lifestyle… and life saving nutritional supplements. All this and more in “The Cure for Heart Disease”.

The dust has had a couple of years to settle since then. But it looks like the industry is at it again. When the National Dietary Guidelines are released this year there could be a new, lucrative dietary experiment in the mix. And they’ll be using you as the guinea pig!

Be warned: don’t be duped… experts on the inside are telling you to take this new “experiment” with a grain of salt…

Look to Yesterday for Tomorrow’s Answers

Back in the late 1970’s, George McGovern released his “Dietary Goals for the United States”. The key recommendation? Cut your daily fat intake. That opened the door to the “ban-fat” campaign of the 1980’s and 1990’s.

Just three years later, the 1980 National Dietary Guidelines recommended “population-wide reduction of total fat intake.”

“The food industry quickly produced a slew of “low-fat” products,” says Dr. Al Sears (iv). “But without the tasty fat, the food produced was bland. High amounts of sugar became a common additive.”

Over the next 20 years, low-fat products became big business and Americans became… well, bigger too. Much bigger. Searching for an answer to America’s weight gain, studies pointed to the low-fat “experiment”. For the first time in 20 years, people began to wonder if fat really was the enemy. High-carb diets seemed more destructive than high-fat ones.

“In response to an unanticipated epidemic of obesity and diabetes, to which the authors concluded the 1980 recommendations might have contributed, the 2000 committee withdrew its earlier recommendation,” said Dr. Michael Alderman, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY.

In other words, after experimenting with the public’s health for 20 years, the “experts” reversed their low-fat advice. Worse, they admitted their advice may have caused America’s obesity epidemic.

Now – in 2010 – it looks like the industry has identified a new “big bad” with which to market and create new products. And just like fat, it’s an easy target. And that target is: salt.

Salt: The New Experiment

Salt reformers are keen to have us cut our sodium chloride intake. They argue that low-salt diets lower blood pressure. And it seems that they may get official backing this year. The New York Times reported (vii) that experts are hinting that the 2010 National Dietary Guidelines will lower the recommended levels of salt. Further, public health officials will push companies to use less salt in foods. It sounds great, on the surface.

Let me make one thing clear at this point: I’m not saying that you should shun this advice and start heaping salt on your food. Nor should you blindly purchase processed foods without keeping an eye on how much sodium they contain. There is too much medical research linking sodium chloride to high blood pressure and strokes to blindly ignore this thinking.

However, when national guidelines impose new regulations on existing food groups that are already part of our natural balanced diet you need to think twice. Why are these recommendations being made now? Is there solid, compelling evidence supporting them? And who stands to gain from them?

There are already leading medical experts telling the 2010 guideline authors to hold off on their recommendations. They state that clinical evidence does not support this advice. They say clinical testing needs to be conducted first.

As for who stands to gain… well, the last time this was tried with fat, the food industry made millions in new low-fat products… Just stay informed. Don’t blindly listen to what the industry tells you. Especially when there’s money to be made from it.

The Case against Salt

A supporting study by the New England Journal of Medicine was published earlier this year. The study projects the “effect of dietary salt reductions on future cardiovascular disease”. It reviewed the effects of salt reduction. It then presented a series of projected savings in lives and health care costs.

In a nutshell it concluded that reducing salt by 3 g per day could save 44,000 lives each year; and $10 – $24 billion each year in health care costs. Despite these compelling and conveniently quantifiable figures, other experts aren’t convinced. In fact, reviewing the plateau of studies on the subject, the case against sodium chloride is as shaky as a salt cellar.

Breaking the Case

Hypertension expert Dr. Alderman says the case against salt is not nearly so straight forward. There’s no “beyond-a-reasonable-doubt” evidence here. He reviewed the findings of over a dozen key studies that examined low-salt diets. He concluded the evidence was “shaky”.

In almost half of the studies, he concluded “there was no association between salt intake and clinical outcomes.”
“In four studies, sodium intake was inversely associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD),” explained Dr. Alderman. “Lower salt intake was associated with worse outcomes.”

Joining the case against the low-salt recommendation is Dr. David McCarron, a neurologist at University of California-Davis. Dr. McCarron has reviewed surveys from 33 different countries. He notes that most people consume similar amounts of salt, regardless of differences in culture and diet. He believes that’s not coincidental.

Because the results were so similar across vastly different peoples, he argues that the human body has a natural daily salt requirement. In fact, the human brain automatically balances our diet in order to meet that requirement.

His research showed that in controlled studies, human beings naturally balanced sodium intake levels. Food choices and diets might change, but the salt intake always remained the same.

Dr. McCarron noted that the people in each of the 33 countries consumed more salt than the current US guidelines. He argues that further lowering the recommendation could have unknown and adverse effects on the US public.

“Several studies from the US provide supportive evidence that humans naturally seek this range of sodium intake,” said Dr. McCarron.

As sodium levels lower in food products, people may just eat more food to increase their sodium intake. Those choices are made on a subconscious level. Therefore, caloric intake could further escalate. And before you know it, we could see obesity rates skyrocketing even further.

He backs this argument with contemporary logic: Americans have increased the amount of food they eat. However, reliable urinalysis studies suggest their sodium intake has remained the same. In theory, higher calories should have equaled higher salt consumption. But it hasn’t. The paradox provides powerful support to Dr. McCarron’s theory. He argues that as people ate more calories, they ate less salty foods.

That leads to the same problem: if the food industry promotes new low-salt prepared foods, the US public will just eat more of them (and the calories within) to maintain their salt levels.

Recommending Caution

Both Dr. Alderman and Dr. McCarron recommend caution before changing dietary recommendations. They argue that dietary guidelines that promote lower sodium choices is irresponsible, and may even be dangerous.

“To attempt to use public policy to abrogate human physiology would be futile and possible harmful to human health,” said Dr. McCarron.

Both argue that clinical trials are needed to properly investigate whether lowering sodium will benefit health – or cause harmful consequences.

“There are at least two paths forward,” said Dr. Alderman. “The rash route is through universal sodium reduction. For the United States, this means changing the diet of all its residents by reducing the sodium content of prepared foods.

“A more cautious approach, calls for rigorous, clinical trials. These trials will demand a commitment by thousands of individuals for several years but will result in greater precision and scientific credibility to help answer the question—and vastly smaller risk of human resources.”

Both doctors recommend the cautious route.

Alternate Options

A new “low-option” bandwagon has the potential for causing another health disaster. The government should be educating the public about making smarter choices about sodium. A recent study (x) suggests it’s not so much your sodium intake that’s the problem, but it’s ratio to potassium.

The study revealed that people with a higher potassium-to-sodium ratio enjoyed better heart health. Those with a high-sodium, low-potassium ratio were at the greatest risk.

According to Dr. Joseph McCaffrey, an easy option for increasing your potassium intake is tomato juice. He recommends it over bananas – the oft-quoted potassium-rich food – because bananas have a high glycemic index, whereas tomatoes have a low glycemic index.

One cup of tomato juice has the same 500 mg of potassium as a banana. And tomatoes are also rich in lycopenes – which promote better prostate health.

Looking Forward, Looking Back

It’s yet to be determined whether the 2010 National Dietary Guidelines will recommend reducing your salt intake. The experts are demanding further clinical trials. Any new guidelines will lack adequate medical research to make an educated recommendation. Therefore, any guidance will amount to little more than another public health “experiment”.

Don’t be a guinea pig for the government or big business. And if those new low-salt products start flooding the market – avoid them. Just remember the low-fat disaster of the 90’s…

To your health,

Ian Robinson,
Managing Editor, Total Health Breakthroughs

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There’s a good reason why every military group in the world employs the same form of torture at one time or another: it quickly causes people to lose the ability to act and think clearly.

This tactic is simple and easy to inflict. The most dangerous people in the world use it to gain control of the enemy. And it could be happening to you each and every night. Think you’re safe each night when you lock the windows and bolt the doors? Think again.

That’s because you could be a target for torture and you don’t even know it. And want to know what’s really scary? You’re inflicting it on yourself! Wanna know the name of that torture? Sleep deprivation. It may sound like a joke but it’s not. The consequences of sleep deprivation are far worse than just ‘being a little off your game’. Sleep deprivation is more dangerous than smoking, high blood pressure, or heart disease. It can result in wild mood swings and rapid weight gain. It can even lead to heart problems and violent death! I’m going to spill the beans on all the gory details and tell you how to stay safe.

If you’re sleeping less than six-and-a-half to seven hours a night, you’re putting yourself in danger. And I don’t mean the simple side effects of being a little slow to respond. The risks of constant sleep deficit are far more serious. And you may not even realize they are happening.

I’ll look at each of these in more detail, but understand this up front: sleep deficit results in elevated blood sugar… weight gain… higher risk of accidents… mood disorders… lowered immunity… and a host of illnesses.

And for the elderly, not sleeping well is one of the leading predictors of ending up in a nursing care institution.

Devastating health consequences…

Everyone occasionally has a night of tossing and turning. And while you might  make it through the next day just fine, you’ll probably be irritable and clumsy. Or the opposite can happen: you might get a buzz from a night of staying up.

One sleepless night can increase dopamine – a pleasure chemical in the brain – to produce mild euphoria. It’s the brain’s way of making up for the lack of sleep so you can keep going. However, it doesn’t improve your impaired thinking ability and might even make it worse.

So you don’t get off scott-free even after just one night of missed sleep. In fact, staying awake for more than 17-19 hours has the same effect on reaction time as a blood alcohol level of 0.5.percent That’s pushing the legal limit for being behind the wheel of a car.

Miss two nights in a row and you will have definite concentration problems. You will begin making mistakes on what are usually normal tasks.

After three consecutive nights, you lose your grasp of reality and begin to hallucinate.

While you may never intentionally miss that much sleep, it does explain why sleep deprivation is such an effective method of torture. And the thing is, continuous reduced sleep times – even as little as one to one-and-a-half hours a night – adds up to the serious problems I’ve already mentioned.

But besides health problems, everyone is at risk of accident or injury caused by other people’s sleep deficits. A conservative estimate of U.S. highway accidents due to "drowsy driving" is startling…. 100,000 crashes… 71,000 injuries… and 1,550 fatalities in an average year.

Drowsy driving accidents are usually more serious than other wrecks for 3 reasons:

1. They often happen on high-speed highways where people are trying to maintain speed for long distances.
2. There is little attempt to avoid the accident because the driver’s eyes are closed and doesn’t see it coming.
3. The driver is usually alone and has no one to alert the danger or trade off with the driving.

You may recall a couple of infamous accidents that were partly due to sleep deprivation: the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.

Those are big consequences for many people from just from one person’s lack of sleep. Think of how that holds true when you consider long-haul truck drivers, night shift doctors and nurses and airline pilots who cross a lot of time zones.

You are often in contact with people who exert a large amount of control over your life and health. You can only hope they are operating on enough sleep!

Growing up sleep-deprived…

Lack of sleep is not just a problem for adults. It’s a very important factor in the lives of children and teens. Remember as a kid when you often didn’t want to go to bed? Lots of kids resist bedtime to the point that when they finally fall asleep, they don’t want to get up the next morning when they need to.

Teachers say that 10 percent of grade schoolers have trouble staying awake in class. Kids this age need 10 to 11 hours of sleep a night. That can be hard to get when a child is in a lot of activities. And even harder when you factor in computer time, games and television.

But sleep time shows up on the report card. Kids who get Cs, Ds and Fs tend to sleep almost an hour less per night than the A students.

To make matters worse, sleep deprivation makes kids fat. Just one hour less of total sleep per night doubles a child’s chances of being overweight. And if they miss an hour of deep REM sleep each night, their odds of gaining weight are tripled. (By the way, the same holds true of adults…)

Then come the teen years. Teenagers are notorious for staying up late and being hard to wake up. And there’s a real good reason for that. There is an actual physical cause.

Hitting puberty re-sets the body’s internal clock. Instead of getting sleepy around 8 or 9 p.m., adolescents don’t start producing sleep hormones until 11 p.m. or later. That gets further disrupted if the teen consistently stays up to study or socialize.

Most teens need at least nine hours of sleep but don’t get it. Homework, social activities, part-time jobs and early-morning classes really eat into the sleep budget. And it escalates from there: twenty-five percent of all college students are chronically sleep deprived.

Dozing off in class and suffering a drop in grades is one thing, but the consequences can be much more tragic. We already touched on "drowsy driving" accidents. Well, the reality is this: 55 percent of the fatalities in those accidents occur under the age of 25.

No one wants to see this needless loss of life and health happen when the simple solution is to get enough sleep. What else could you do for your health that is more pleasurable and absolutely free?

Let’s look at ways to make sleep a priority in your life…

Recognizing Sleep Deficit…

First of all, you must recognize when you are sleep-deprived and not blame it on something else. Whenever a baby or a toddler gets cranky and hard to deal with, we all agree they need some sleep. The same might be true of you.

You may tend to think it’s stress – or work – or the kids. You might be accustomed to feeling tired if you regularly don’t get enough sleep. But one of the things about sleep-deprivation is that the sufferer doesn’t seem to recognize it!

So what are some signs you might not be getting enough sleep?

• Nodding off easily during the day. Wanting to go to sleep anytime you are sitting still – in a meeting… or at your desk… or while reading… or in stalled traffic – means you are not well-rested.
• Relying on an alarm clock to wake up. People who sleep well usually wake up before the alarm goes off.
• Crankiness, impaired memory, decreased alertness or performance. Missing just one-and-a-half hours sleep for one night can decrease your daytime alertness by 32 percent.
• Falling asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow. Most people take 10 – 15 minutes to nod off. If you’re out in less than five minutes, you aren’t getting enough sleep.

Those are all early warning signs you should not ignore. Sleep-deprivation only gets worse; then it leads to a poor quality of life and serious medical illnesses. Let’s take a look at some things you can do to cure your sleep debt and build a good foundation for health.

Keys to Good Sleep…

Good sleep, especially as you get older, is not simply a matter of chance. There are a number of things you can do to improve the quality of your sleep. You already know about limiting caffeine and alcohol late in the day. Here are a few more tips you can try…

• Have a "sleep routine" and a regular bedtime – this is a basic concept you might not have completely thought through. And if you think bedtimes are just for kids, think again.

Consider this: your brain goes through the cycle of sleep (stages 1-4 plus REM) every ninety minutes. This pattern repeats itself about 5 times per night, which takes at least seven-and-a-half hours. That’s what you need to feel well-rested. So count back eight to eight-and-half hours before you need to get up. That’s when you should be getting ready for bed.

A hot bath during this time is ideal. If that doesn’t work for you, try a cup of decaffeinated tea or wind down with a good book. Even TV is ok is you know when to turn it off.

• DVR those late-night shows you love – there’s no need to trade quality sleep for TV entertainment. Pick your favorite shows and tape them to watch at a more convenient time. Bonus: save time and fast-forward through the commercials!

• Control the environment – you need to spend one-third of your life sleeping to be healthy. Invest in that requirement! Make sure your bed is comfortable – a quality mattress that is not more than 8 or 10 years old; high thread count linens; shades or curtains that block unnecessary light.

Ban TVs and computers from your sleeping space. If you can’t do that, at least turn them off or set them to go dark with a sleep timer. The glow and noise will disrupt your sleep even if you don’t wake up to notice.

• Resist looking at the clock – If you wake in the night you might be tempted to see what time it is. Does it really matter? Watching the clock will only make you anxious about getting up in the morning, so do yourself a favor and don’t look!
• Don’t resort to sleeping pills – honestly, in the long run, sleeping pills do more harm than good. Sleep is a natural process and you should be getting it naturally. If you are not, then resolve the problem without taking drugs with side effects.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that most sleep studies and surveys that recommend sleep medications were actually funded by sleeping-pill manufacturers. The follow-up scientific studies revealed that while sleeping pills did help people sleep more… but those same folks were twice as likely to slip and fall or have a car crash from dizziness caused by the pills.

• Stop your racing mind – yes, sometimes the cares of the day are still making the wheels of your thoughts go round and round. You may need to process some of it, but if it lasts for more than a few minutes, have a distraction technique ready. Try counting backwards from 200 by threes. It will engage your mind to the point that you can’t think of anything else. It is also boring enough to put you to sleep.

• White noise – how do you block out the sound of a snoring partner or a neighbor’s barking dog? White noise. White noise is something your brain can focus on – like the sound of ocean waves or falling water. You can buy machines or tapes that produce such noise, or you can just run a fan that creates a distraction. It will drown out all those "bumps in the night" so you can sleep soundly.

Restful sleep is absolutely critical for your health. Just as you make an effort to eat a nourishing diet and get energizing exercise, you must take charge of getting a good night’s sleep.

Remember, sleep deprivation is a known and well-tested torture tactic. This is not something you should ever inflict on yourself!

Americans are sleeping less than ever, but if you value your health you won’t be one of them. Make sure you are getting the best sleep you can every single night.

Easy Sleep Solution

If you’re still struggling to get those much needed zzzz’s, I have one final tried and tested solution that is sure to help you reach the land of dreams in quick time.

This solution is safe and effective. You don’t have to worry about scary side effects or getting hooked on a nighttime drug. Best of all, it simply responds to your biology.

As we age, our body produces less melatonin. Melatonin is the hormone that regulates sleep. Less melatonin equals less sleep. It’s as simple as that.

Until now, taking melatonin pills was not an option. That’s because pills just can’t deliver melatonin into your system adequately.

However, a revolutionary new delivery method has solved this problem. It delivers melatonin into your system via a spray. That ensures you get that melatonin when you need it. And that means good zzzz’s on demand. Check it out here.

Look for more “sleep-solution” updates and tips in our monthly health newsletter.

To your health,

Ian Robinson,
Managing Editor, Total Health Breakthroughs

But there is a natural substance called graviola that has shown tremendous promise in the treatment of cancer. Graviola is derived from a tree that grows in the tropical areas of South America. And researchers have found that extracts from graviola seeds are able to selectively kill cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells intact. This is known as “selective cytotoxicity.” It is the holy grail of cancer research. These findings alone offer amazing potential for the use of graviola in cancer therapy.

But there are even more remarkable findings regarding this natural substance. Researchers have also found that in lab testing, it rivals and even outperforms the chemo drug adriamycin. This is a drug that is commonly used for breast and colon cancers.  One study showed that a natural substance found in graviola selectively killed colon cancer cells at “10,000 times the potency of adriamycin.”

Other research has shown that extracts from graviola leaves were effective against prostate, pancreatic, and lung cancer cells.  With these impressive results, you might be asking if Big Pharma is jumping all over graviola as the next breakthrough cancer therapy. The answer to that question is yes… and then no.

Rogue Pharma Employee Spills the Beans on Herbal Life Saver

The National Cancer Institute and many leading universities have been interested in graviola for years.  So has at least one major drug company in the US.  Their testing showed that graviola was indeed a cancer-fighting wonder.

But they had a big problem.  After years of trying to isolate and duplicate graviola’s most powerful chemicals in a synthetic version, they were unable to do so.  They shelved the project and brought the research to a halt.  And then to prevent another company from succeeding where they failed, they refused to publish their findings in an independent journal.  So much for trying to help mankind…

But here’s something this drug giant didn’t count on.  One of their employees wanted the world to know about the life-saving properties of graviola. So they tipped off a nutraceutical company that specializes in Amazon herbs.  The company, Raintree Nutrition, followed up on all the research it could find and then formulated an oral graviola supplement that’s available to the public.

[Ed. Note: The absolute best medicine just might be good information. For almost every condition you could be suffering from, nature has provided a cure you should know about. Our mission at Natural Health Confidential is to find it, scientifically confirm it, and get it into your hands.

You will discover invaluable natural healing methods that make a real difference in your life and the lives of those you love. This month’s issue offers a solution for a disease that affects millions of people worldwide today. It is the sixth leading cause of death – and the shocking news is that a large percentage of people who have it, don’t even know it!

Please don’t allow yourself or your loved ones to suffer damage to your health that is entirely preventable! Click here now to read more…]

How was Dwight Freeney’s ankle?

The Indianapolis Colts’ star defensive end had suffered a third-degree ankle sprain a week earlier. It was uncertain whether he would be able to play. The outcome of the NFL championship game — not to mention of millions of dollars in wagers — hinged on his health.

And so the biggest story in the biggest game of the year was one of the smallest parts of the body.

Injuries happen. They’re never any fun, and so we do whatever we can to make them go away as fast as possible.

Problem is, the things we do for them often make them worse. That’s particularly true of sprains and strains. It seems silly that something so common can be so tricky to treat. But that’s exactly why. Everyone thinks they already know how to do it.

They think they know how to do it, that is, until faced with questions like these: Should you use ice or heat? How long? How often? Should you use bandages? Braces? Walk it off? Stay off it? Put it up? Keep it down? And how do you get back to your normal routine?

That list would leave most people scratching their heads. Almost everyone has the basics down. But when it comes to treating sprains and strains, the devil is in the details.

In today’s article I will lay out all the details you’ll ever need to take care of most common joint and muscle injuries. Because the devil you know is far, far better than the devil you don’t.

Sprain vs. Strain: Some Definitions

Before we get too far into it, what’s the difference between a sprain and a strain, anyway?

Good question. A sprain is a ligament injury. Ligaments are the tough, fibrous tissues that connect bone to bone. They literally hold your joints together. When they are damaged, we call that a sprain.

In contrast, a strain is an injury to a muscle or tendon. You already know what muscles are. Tendons are the tough, fibrous tissues that connect muscle to bone. When either a muscle or a tendon is damaged, we call that a strain.

There are three different classifications for sprains and strains:

• Grade 1. This kind of injury happens when the fiber (ligament, muscle, or tendon) is stretched a bit beyond its normal limits and sustains some minor damage.
• Grade 2. This kind of sprain involves a partial tear of the fiber.
• Grade 3. This kind of sprain involves a complete rupture or tear of the fiber. (A ruptured fiber remains intact but detaches from the bone.) Severe damage may require surgical repair.

Dwight Freeney’s injury, for instance, was a Grade 3 ankle sprain, the most serious kind. Fortunately, most injuries are not that severe. However, all sprains and strains recover best when treated immediately, so it is important to recognize them when they occur. You also need to be able to distinguish between those you can treat yourself and those that will need medical attention.

So what are you looking for?

Signs and Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of sprains and strains overlap significantly. (For the record, “signs” of an illness are directly observable or measurable. “Symptoms,” on the other hand, are subjectively reported by the patient.)

Common signs of a sprain include swelling, bruising, and decreased joint mobility. If the ligament ruptures, you may actually hear a “popping” sound. Symptoms of a sprain include pain and difficulty using the affected extremity.

The signs of a strain are very similar. They include discoloration and bruising. Generally strains are accompanied by less swelling than sprains, but that obviously depends more on the severity of the injury than on the type. Symptoms include local pain and stiffness.

If you suspect that you have suffered a sprain or a strain and you are experiencing severe pain or functional impairment, you should probably consult a doctor. These can be signs of a fracture or a complete tear. The doctor will use an X-ray to rule out a fracture. After the swelling has gone down, he or she may also order an MRI to check for a tear.

If, on the other hand, your injury is not severe, you can treat it yourself by remembering the following simple mnemonic.

The RICE Method

RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. This method is taught to EMTs and orthopedists alike because it is the optimal form of treatment for most sprains and strains. Though it may sound like common sense, you need to make sure that you are doing each step correctly — and most people aren’t. Remember the long list of questions? They’re all answered below.

1. Rest

The biggest mistake that most people make with sprains or strains is to try to “walk them off.” That’s fine for cramps. For sprains and strains, however, additional force usually means additional injury. Nevertheless, many people will continue hobbling through their activities and then apply ice only much later that night, if at all.

That’s too late. The first 24-48 hours after an injury are when ice, compression, and elevation will make the most difference — the sooner, the better. If you don’t start resting immediately, not only do you run the risk of hurting yourself even worse, you also deprive yourself of the potential benefits of the rest of the RICE method.

The other mistake that people make is resting too much or too long after an injury. Prolonged immobilization causes joint to stiffen up and muscles to waste away. That means you can’t “baby” an injury, either.

Instead, you should rest only until you are pain-free — within one to three days for most injuries. Then try to ease back into your normal routine. Listen to your body. Stop if it hurts, but do as much as you can handle. Strength and flexibility fall into the use-it-or-lose-it category. Appropriate rest will speed your recovery.

2. Ice

As funny as it may sound, most people also ice incorrectly. You should ice immediately after an injury to minimize swelling and ease pain. Swelling is the real enemy. Ice keeps swelling down because cold constricts blood vessels, which slows the arrival of inflammatory molecules. It also numbs the nerves at the site of injury to reduce pain.

Don’t wait. Ice right away.

You should never apply ice directly to the skin for an extended period of time. There are two better options. You can place a thin layer — a towel, for example — between the ice and your skin. Or you can perform an “ice massage.” To do that, just move the ice over the injured area as if you were rubbing it. Either way, don’t leave the ice in place without a barrier.

You also shouldn’t ice for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. Though your injury may still hurt at the end of that time, further icing won’t do any good. In fact, it may hurt: you run the risk of frostbite and other complications with overly long icing sessions. Instead, wait an hour or so. Then check the area again. If it has normal tactile sense and feels warm to the touch, you can ice it for another 15-20 minutes. You can then repeat that process as many times as you like. (Though it really doesn’t help after more than a day or two.)

The ideal ice pack is a Ziploc bag filled about three-quarters full with ice and a little bit of water. The water helps the ice pack conform to your body. You can also use packages of frozen vegetables.

For those who prefer hot to cold, heating does have its place. It is a great way to loosen up stiff muscles and joints. It relaxes tissues and stimulates blood flow. You can use heat before exercising (also for 15-20 minutes at a time), but you should never heat after an injury, as it will exacerbate swelling. (You should also never heat while you sleep.) A simple rule of thumb is to heat before, ice after.

3. Compression

The mistake that most people make with compression is one of omission. Compression helps to immobilize an injury and provide support. When combined with ice, it also helps to minimize swelling and pain.

To compress an injury, wrap an Ace bandage around the site. Try to overlap about half the width of the bandage on each pass until you completely cover the injury. You want it to be snug, but make sure that you don’t cut off circulation. If you start to get cold, blue, tingly, or numb, it’s too tight. Undo the bandage and rewrap it a bit looser.

You should use compression bandages at least as long as you are icing the injury. (You don’t have to take it off every 15-20 minutes, though.) Even after you stop icing, you can continue to use compression for support. Just don’t let the bandage keep you inactive for too long. Remember to rest only as long as you need to.

4. Elevation

Finally, elevate the site of your injury above the level of your heart. Just like cold compression, elevation works to decrease swelling. Elevation also prevents fluid from pooling. Keep the injury elevated at least as long as you are icing it.

The RICE method is the most effective possible treatment for most sprains and strains. As you can see, all four steps work in concert to treat sprains and strains.

Many people also take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to reduce pain and swelling. They are effective for this purpose, and short-term use for an acute injury won’t likely have many side effects. However, if you’re hurting, you might also consider some of the natural alternatives to NSAIDs that I described last week.

Injuries happen, even to professional athletes and often at the most unfortunate times. The outcome of this year’s Super Bowl turned on Dwight Freeney’s ankle. But you don’t have to be a professional athlete to take advantage of this method. If you suffer a sprain or strain, just remember to rest, ice, compress, and elevate. You’ll be good as new in no time.

To Your Health,

Michael Noltemeyer
Managing Editor
Total Health Breakthroughs

P.S.: Now that you know how to treat sprains and strains, stay tuned for Tuesday’s issue, when we’ll discuss the best ways to prevent them from happening in the first place. You know what they say: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And that’s a lot of rice!

Imagine a supplement that is used by literally every cell in your body. A supplement that is indispensable for normal metabolism. A supplement that simply increases levels of a chemical your body already produces.

Imagine a supplement that could help to fight heart disease, cancer, and brain disease. A supplement that could improve your blood sugar, your vision, even your skin. A supplement that is both a vitamin and an antioxidant.

It would be a panacea. A miracle drug. People would be rioting in the streets to get it.

Now let me tell you a secret. That supplement really exists. And according to a little-known scientific study published in 2006, it does everything I just asked you to imagine.¹

It really can work miracles for your health.

It gets better. This supplement has no known risks, even at remarkably high daily doses. In fact, the only side effect ever reported was mild indigestion — and even that was only in rare cases.

No known risks. Too many benefits to list. (And more are discovered every day.)

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

There’s simply no reason not to take this supplement. Quite frankly, you’d be crazy not to.

Nature’s miracle drug

The name of this wonder supplement is ubiquinol, a highly reduced form of CoQ10 that is up to 8 times more effective than regular CoQ10 supplements.

It is absolutely essential in your body. Technically it is a “vitamin-like” substance. But the only reason it doesn’t enjoy the same status is because it is made in the body. Vitamins are not.

The problem is, after a certain age, neither is ubiquinol. Your body needs ubiquinol just as much as it needs other vitamins. But as you get older, it gets harder to make it. If you don’t get it from somewhere, then you’re in for a problem.

Last time I told you about the importance of ubiquinol supplements for the health of your heart. I also promised that today I would tell you about how ubiquinol can help to fight many other health problems. Problems like cancer. Heart disease. Brain disease. Diabetes.

Read on — I kept that promise below.

Ubiquinol vs. cancer

There are three main ways in which ubiquinol fights cancer.

First, ubiquinol is a powerful antioxidant. Though “oxidizing” may sound like a good thing, it’s usually bad news. Oxidative damage leads to cancer, heart disease, and many other problems. As an antioxidant, ubiquinol can prevent and sometimes reverse oxidative damage. That means ubiquinol supplements may help to keep you from developing cancer in the first place.

Second, studies suggest that it may directly inhibit the growth of cancer cells.² That means that if you do get cancer, ubiquinol may help to keep it from spreading.

Third, ubiquinol helps the immune system to fight back. It is often given as an “adjuvant” therapy to increase the effectiveness of other forms of cancer treatment.

Three separate studies in breast cancer patients have suggested the benefits of CoQ10 therapy.³ Though the results were not conclusive, many of the patients in the study went into complete remission.

And that was with CoQ10. Keep in mind that ubiquinol is up to 8 times more powerful.

Ubiquinol also protects the heart from damage caused by doxorubicin, a common anticancer drug. Just like with statins, ubiquinol can protect you from well-meaning but misguided medical treatment.

Try to find a doctor you trust. But take ubiquinol just to be sure.

Ubiquinol vs. cardiovascular disease

In addition to preventing heart attacks, ubiquinol fights other kinds of heart disease as well. For example, it may help you to survive cardiac arrest. CoQ10 and mild hypothermia are used to treat heart attack patients in many emergency rooms across the country.⁴

A recent study looked at the effect of CoQ10 on hypertension. The 362 patients studied saw drops in systolic blood pressure of up to 17 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure of up to 10 mm Hg — all without side effects!⁵

Finally, ubiquinol supplements may be useful in treating congestive heart failure (CHF). One study randomly assigned 2664 patients with CHF to receive either a CoQ10 supplement or a placebo. Those receiving the supplement had a significant improvement in their symptoms. They were even hospitalized less often.⁶

Several studies have found similar effects for patients with heart failure and other types of heart disease as well.

All these studies had something else in common, too. They all used CoQ10. They found important health benefits by using a form 8 times weaker than what you could be taking every day. And it was still effective.

Do I even need to keep going? There is literally no reason not to take ubiquinol.

Ubiquinol vs. brain disease

Brain disease is one of the conditions for which ubiquinol is most useful — and most widely used. Patients with neurodegeneration have lower levels of CoQ10. Even mainstream doctors prescribe a supplement.

One study of Parkinson’s patients clearly showed the benefits of CoQ10. Over four weeks, 28 patients were given either CoQ10 or a placebo. Those receiving CoQ10 experienced a significant reduction in symptoms.⁷ They even had improved vision.

The National Institutes of Health followed up with a 16-month study including 80 Parkinson’s patients. They concluded the same thing. Taking a daily CoQ10 supplement significantly improves Parkinson’s symptoms.⁸

By now you know what I’m going to say.

I’ll say it anyway.

Just imagine what ubiquinol would do.

It’s 8 times more effective.

Many similar diseases can be treated with ubiquinol. Huntington’s disease. Lou Gehrig’s disease. Most neuromuscular conditions. For these patients, ubiquinol may literally be a lifesaver.

Research is currently underway using CoQ10 for Alzheimer’s and stroke patients. The good news is that it seems to promote recovery for them, too.

We still have a lot to learn about ubiquinol. But its promise is well-nigh limitless.

Ubiquinol vs. diabetes

One of the biggest problems with diabetes is inflammation. Many of you know that all too well. As an antioxidant, ubiquinol helps to fight inflammation. That alone makes it useful for managing diabetes. Its effect on blood pressure is important for diabetics as well.

Further, ubiquinol also helps with glycemic control. One study looked at the effect of CoQ10 on 74 people with type 2 diabetes. Over 12 weeks, those taking CoQ10 showed significant improvements in blood sugar levels.⁹

This effect was achieved just with CoQ10. Again, ubiquinol is up to 8 times more powerful.

If you’re diabetic, you should definitely take a ubiquinol supplement every day.

Other assorted benefits of ubiquinol

The list of health problems that ubiquinol can improve is almost endless. That list includes:

• Gum disease.¹⁰

• Poor vision.

• Skin problems.

• Migraines.¹¹

• Kidney failure.

It may help with weight loss. It may make you more athletic. It may even help you live longer.¹²

After reading all of these benefits, you may think that I’ve gone a bit overboard. I haven’t. You may think that I’m just shilling for a product. I’m not. My job is simply to bring you the best available health information out there. THB’s mission is to tell you about the best available cures supported by science. As the lengthy reference list suggests, the science supports ubiquinol.

To be fair, there is no such thing as a miracle drug. No simple pill can cure all that ails you.

But ubiquinol comes remarkably close.

A longer, healthier life. No risky side effects. What are you waiting for? I recommend that everyone take a ubiquinol supplement every day. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

To Your Health,

Michael Noltemeyer
Managing Editor
Total Health Breakthroughs

References:

The media is full of articles touting fish as brain food. And for once they’ve got it right. Fish really is brain food. And it’s not just because of the omega-3s.

When it comes to “smart nutrients,” dimethylaminoethanol – DMAE for short – is at the top of the list. And wild-caught, cold-water fish are chock full of it.

Why is it so good for you? Read on to find out.

The breakfast of champions

By the time an athlete has made it to the Olympics, his or her physical skills have been honed for years. But performance on game day challenges the brain as well. Mental agility is critical. The good news is you don’t need to be an Olympic athlete to have Olympic brainpower.

Mental agility comes largely from acetylcholine, an important chemical messenger within the brain. Acetylcholine helps control learning, memory, attention, and general processing speed. It also sends out the signals that tell the body what to do.

The more acetylcholine you have, the faster those signals can go out. The faster the signals go out, the quicker you can think and react.¹

So where does acetylcholine come from? Your brain makes it from choline, which is usually considered a B-complex vitamin.

Choline does many important things in the body in addition to its role in the brain. For example, it is vital for metabolism and cell signaling. Egg yolks are an excellent food source of choline, by the way.

Your brain is hungry for choline. While your brain accounts for only about 2% of your body weight, it is an energy hog. It gets first dibs on 20% of the calories you eat so that it can keep all systems alert and ready to respond.

And choline makes a big difference.

A supercharged beginning

Researchers at Duke University tested the benefits of choline in an unusual way. They gave choline supplements to pregnant rats to see if the supplements would make a difference in the brains of the offspring. The results? The brain cells of the offspring were larger and the electrical signals that create memories fired much faster than those of the control group.

Head researcher Dr. Qiang Li noted that previous studies had shown that animals given choline were smarter and learned things more quickly. But it was unclear if the brain was actually changed in the process.

After the study results came in, Dr. Li commented, “Choline didn’t just change the general environment of the brain, it changed the fundamental building blocks of brain circuits – the cells themselves.”³

This same research has been confirmed by other scientists around the country. As a result, choline now has the status of an “essential nutrient.” It is especially important for pregnant and nursing women.

So why not just consume more choline? How does DMAE fit into this picture?

Imports, exports, and on-site construction

The problem is that choline has a hard time getting into the brain. It gets there eventually. But it’s almost always delayed in shipping.

When your brain doesn’t get good quality fuel, it doesn’t slow down your breathing or your heart rate. Instead it sacrifices mental clarity, leaving you feeling sluggish and unable to concentrate. Thinking is hard work, but it’s low on the list of vital functions. That means that when the brain lacks fuel, thinking is the first thing to go.

Fortunately, there is a faster way to get your brain the choline it needs.

The answer is DMAE – the precursor to choline. DMAE is like rocket fuel for your brain, and it is able to cross the blood-brain barrier much faster than choline itself.²

By importing the raw materials, the brain can do its construction on-site. DMAE gets turned into choline. Choline gets made into acetylcholine. Acetylcholine lets your brain take off.

Get more DMAE

The best dietary sources of DMAE are wild Alaskan salmon, sardines, and anchovies. These fish are also known to be very low in pollutants like mercury and PCBs, which are common in many other fish species.

Since DMAE is so good for your brain, could eating fish actually prevent brain disease?

Researchers are currently trying to answer that question. In fact, there is a study of almost 15,000 people underway to determine whether the amount of fish they eat affects their risk of developing dementia.

The first round of the study surveyed 14,960 adults aged 65 or older living in China, India, and five different Latin American countries. Almost immediately it was discovered that those who ate fish two to three days a week were 19% less likely to develop dementia than those who never ate fish. And the incidence of dementia dropped another 19% among those who ate fish almost every day!

This connection between eating more fish and lowering the risk of dementia held true across all of the countries, despite the different backgrounds of the adults involved. In spite of large differences in income, education, and lifestyle habits like smoking, the results were the same. Follow-up studies will look at long-term data with these same participants.⁴

Clear head, calm mood

The known benefits of DMAE include:

• Boosting memory and brainpower.
• Reducing depression.
• Improving athletic performance.
• Increasing concentration in kids with attention problems.
• Making skin appear more youthful.⁵

DMAE’s potential for treating dementia is very promising. But why not prevent memory loss in the first place by making sure you’ve already got it in your diet? Protect your brain by giving it what it needs to function at optimal capacity.

One of the best things about DMAE is that it can give you mental energy with no crash-and-burn. Caffeine will give you a similar buzz, but it gives you the jitters too. The ups and downs caused by excess caffeine are hard on your body. Boosting choline with DMAE is a natural way to stay focused and alert without any nasty side effects.

I highly recommend making wild (NOT farm-raised) salmon and sardines a regular part of your diet to shore up your DMAE levels. If you don’t care for fish, supplements may be a good idea. This is one nutrient you simply have to have. For Olympic-level mental clarity, give your brain the fuel it needs.

To Your Health,

Jon Herring Total Health Breakthroughs

References:

For the health of your heart, the weakest link is CoQ10.

CoQ10 (pronounced “ko-cue-ten”) is one of the most powerful nutrients nature has given us. It is found in every organ and every cell in your body. And it is absolutely critical for the health of your heart.

You can be doing everything else right, but without CoQ10, your heart will still suffer.

We’ve known about it since the 1950s. So why hasn’t your doctor been telling you to take it?

The reason is money. Big Pharma has not been able to come up with a synthetic form of CoQ10 that works. And as we all know, if they can’t make money off of it, then they’re not going to sell it. If they don’t sell it, most doctors don’t hear about it. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true.

Doctors who favor alternative medicine have been recommending CoQ10 for years. But until recently, the CoQ10 that has been available has not been effective.

Now there is a solution: a newly available form of CoQ10 that is up to 8 times stronger than even the best of the regular product.

In this article I will tell you everything you need to know about CoQ10. (I’ll even reveal some secrets that Big Pharma isn’t telling you.) You will learn:

• Exactly how CoQ10 works to heal the heart.
• Why existing supplements are ineffective.
• What causes heart attacks.
• Why the heart drugs you may be taking can actually damage your heart.

And finally, I’ll tell you about a new supplement that, as I said, is 8 times more powerful than anything else on the market. Plus the reason why one of our board members says you should be taking it every day to protect your heart!

Why CoQ10 is Essential for a Healthy Metabolism

CoQ10 is indispensable to a healthy metabolism.

Without it, you can’t turn the food you eat into energy. You see, your body makes energy in a process called the electron transport chain. CoQ10 plays a vital role in that process.

That’s why I say that it is literally the weakest link in the chain. No CoQ10, no energy. Without energy, your cells die. It’s as simple as that.

There’s a special name for what happens when heart cells die.

It’s called a heart attack.

Low CoQ10 dramatically increases your risk of having a heart attack. (Next issue I’ll tell you how it also causes several other diseases as well.)

CoQ10 is usually found in the mitochondria, the cell’s power plants. It helps every part of your body. But it is particularly important for heart health because your heart’s energy needs are especially high.

If your body has a “brownout,” then your heart will be the first organ affected. For that reason, Dr. Al Sears, the founder and director of The Wellness Research Foundation, has called CoQ10 “the cornerstone of heart health.”

Here’s the problem: your body’s ability to make CoQ10 declines with age.

To keep up healthful levels, we need to supplement it as we age. Proper diet and exercise won’t give you what you need.

That’s why I say you can be doing everything else right and still suffer from poor cardiovascular health.

How Heart Medications Can Actually Hurt Your Heart

It gets worse.

Several prescription heart medications have been shown to decrease your CoQ10! CoQ10 levels are reduced by beta blockers, a common class of blood pressure medications, and statins, the most common type of cholesterol-lowering drugs.

One large study showed that taking statins can lower your blood level of CoQ10 by up to 40%.

The resulting CoQ10 deficit has been shown to lead to several different types of cardiovascular disease. In extreme cases, the deficit can even be life-threatening.

Think about that: the very pill you are taking to help your heart may actually kill you!

Drug companies have known this for years. In fact, Merck was granted a patent in 1989 for a newly formulated statin drug that included CoQ10.

That patent confirms they were aware of the dangers. However, the new formulation was never released onto the market.

The Problem with CoQ10 Supplements

The reason Merck and others have had trouble coming up with an effective CoQ10 pill is the same reason that your doctor has not been telling you to take CoQ10 supplements all these years.

It’s because regular CoQ10 supplements are practically worthless.

The problem is that regular CoQ10 supplements never make it to your heart. In fact, one study showed that only 2-3% of the CoQ10 is ever absorbed.

CoQ10 is basically an oil. Your body is 70% water. And we all know how oil and water get along. So CoQ10 can’t pass directly into the bloodstream.

In most cases, fats and oils can be easily absorbed into the intestines. But not regular CoQ10. It is just too big. Way, way too big. No matter how sophisticated the drug delivery system, CoQ10 just doesn’t fit through the mail slot.

What to do?

The New Supplement That Can Help You Forge a Stronger Heart

The answer is ubiquinol.

The chemical name of CoQ10 is “ubiquinone,” so called because it is ubiquitous in the body.

Ubiquinol is a highly reduced form of CoQ10. Researchers discovered that one slight chemical modification allows it to enter the bloodstream easily.

In fact, 95% of the CoQ10 in circulation exists as ubiquinol. The body uses it the same way it uses CoQ10. The only difference is that ubiquinol can be absorbed much more easily, making it a viable dietary supplement.

This single difference makes ubiquinol 8 times more effective than regular CoQ10. That is why Dr. Sears and other cutting-edge research physicians are recommending that their patients take it every day to combat heart disease.

If you are concerned with heart health you should seriously consider ubiquinol supplementation. It will make your heart’s weakest link into its strongest.

To Your Health,

Michael Noltemeyer
Managing Editor
Total Health Breakthroughs

P.S.: In Friday’s issue, I will tell you all about the many other benefits of ubiquinol supplements. About how they can fight cancer… brain disease… diabetes… and so many more. With no risks and so many likely benefits, you should really be taking a ubiquinol supplement every day. Don’t be the weakest link in your own health. Your heart will thank you.