I just saw a new study that shows why women especially love how resveratrol makes them feel. It may combat the symptoms of menopause as effectively as hormone replacement drugs. And it does it without the cancer and other risks.

This is a remarkable discovery. It gives you one more weapon to combat the hot flashes, night sweats, and worse that come with “the change.”

The study, published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, found that resveratrol mimics the benefits of estrogen. In other words, it fakes out the body into thinking it has the estrogen levels of your youth.₁

Plus, the study showed it helps keep cells healthy. And when cells function properly, there’s less chance that cancer will form.

The study’s authors concluded, “Resveratrol might be the most promising candidate for HRT and chemoprevention of breast cancer due to its estrogenic activity and high antitumor activity.”

You can get resveratrol from certain foods – red wine, red grapes, cranberries, blueberries, and peanuts. But you’d have to eat a lot of these foods to get the equivalent of 100 mg. So a supplement is your best bet.

I recommend all my patients – men and women – take 100 mg of resveratrol daily. It’s an antioxidant, anti-aging powerhouse.

It’s safe and natural. You can take it any time of day, with or without food.

Also consider bioidenticals. Bioidentical hormones are another natural alternative to HRT drugs. Bioidenticals are exact replicas of your body’s missing hormones. They’re not synthetic imposters. Your body naturally and easily responds to them.

I’ve treated hundred of patients with bioidenticals. I’ve never seen anything but positive results. It’s hands down the best treatment I’ve found.

Start by taking resveratrol. If you don’t find complete relief, consider bioidenticals. You can take them along with your resveratrol. You would still get the estrogenic and anti-cancer benefits of resveratrol.

But you’d get the added power of bioidenticals. My patients tell me they feel better instantly.

The great thing about them is that they are custom made for you. Your doctor will measure your hormone levels. And you get the exact right fit for your body. A compounding pharmacy creates your unique blend.

That’s why bioidenticals are only available through a doctor. My website’s health directory has a list of doctors in your area that may prescribe them.

If you are in South Florida – or can travel to here – you can make an appointment for a consultation by calling my clinic at 561-784-7852.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1. T Sakamoto et al. “Effects of diverse dietary phytoestrogens on cell growth, cell cycle and apoptosis in estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer cells,” Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. Oct. 2009

The pharmaceutical giant Wyeth is being sued over its synthetic hormone drugs Premarin and Prempro. They are alleging the drugs can cause cancer and heart disease. During the discovery process, they uncovered a scam.

And what a doozy this scam is!

Wyeth paid ghostwriters to create scientific review articles. These articles were then published in leading medical journals.

And these articles are full of misleading data that led doctors to believe they were safe.

Here’s how Wyeth’s deception worked:

The ghostwriters wrote the journal articles. The articles touted the benefits of synthetic hormone replacement therapy. And downplayed all the risks. Serious risks, like invasive breast cancer, stroke, heart disease and even dementia.

Then, the ghostwriters paid top physicians to sign their name as the author of the article. It didn’t matter that the physicians hadn’t contributed anything or very little to the writing or scientific review of the available studies. And the doctors didn’t know that the drug company was paying for the study.

The final versions of these articles didn’t mention Wyeth’s financial ties. Even the respected journals that published them had no idea.

The plan worked. Doctors rely on medical journals. As a result, thousands prescribed synthetic hormones to their patients, thinking it was perfectly safe.

It’s no wonder sales of Premarin and Prempro spiked to almost $2 billion in 2001.₁ At one time, Premarin was the #1 moneymaking prescription in the U.S.

If you can’t trust the medical journals, what are you left with? I’ve always been skeptical that drugs are the only answer. I always ask myself these questions: What did nature intend? What did it create? Are there natural alternatives to man-made drugs?

Synthetic, chemical-based drugs that try to mimic a hormone can lead to real trouble. And in this case, even cancer. But if you try to recreate what nature intended using compounds that your body recognizes as safe, you’ll get relief without the risk.

Instead of dangerous synthetic HRT drugs, here’s what I use to treat my patients.

Black Cohosh. Black cohosh works to normalize your hormones and gently helps you regain your sex drive. Studies show it can be nearly as effective as HRT to reduce hot flashes, night sweats, depression and anxiety. I recommend 250 mg three times a day._2,3

Maca Root. Found high in the Andes Mountains of Peru, maca root has been used for 8,000 years to relieve hot flashes, night sweats, improve your mood, and rev-up your sexual desire. Take 200 mg daily.

I also recommend that you see your doctor and get your hormone levels checked. This includes checking your estrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels.

Consider bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Unlike synthetic HRT, bioidenticals are exact replicas of your own hormones that are easily identified by your body. When it comes to hormones, one size does not fit all. Everyone’s needs are different. With bioidenticals, your doctor can prescribe a custom blend of naturally occurring hormones that are specific to your needs.

You’ll need a compounding pharmacy to fill your prescription. They are usually independently owned and easy to find in your state.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/health/research/05ghost.html
2. Fugate SE, Church CO. Nonestrogen treatment modalities for vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause. Ann Pharmacother. 2004 Sep;38(9):1482-99.
3. Frei-Kleiner S, Schaffner W, Rahlfs VW, Bodmer C, Birkhauser M. Cimicifuga racemosa dried ethanolic extract in menopausal disorders: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Maturitas. 2005 Aug 16;51(4):397-404.

I was chatting with Cindy, my client services manager, the other day. She mentioned that a few of you had called her to ask about solutions for thinning hair.

She was surprised when I told her I have a new solution that I’ve used with my patients. I’ve seen their hair look fuller, more luscious, and silkier than ever before.

Of course, losing your hair isn’t life threatening. But that doesn’t mean it’s not important.

My female patients tell me they feel younger and more beautiful when their hair is thick, silky, and full. One of my patients told me, “Before Infuse, I just couldn’t get over my thinning hair. It seemed that my hair was going down the drain every morning in the shower. Now my hair has more body than ever, and it’s no longer going down the drain.”

It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman, thinning hair can be a devastating problem.

The formula I use in my practice, Infuse, contains vitamins and nutrients that reduce thinning hair:

• Fenugreek – Chinese traditional medicine has used Fenugreek for more than 2000 years. Fenugreek can stimulate your blood circulation and promote the appearance of a full, luscious head of hair.
• Panax Ginseng Root – Increases scalp stimulation, enhancing hair depth and thickness
• Articum Majus Root – Helps block DHT
• Arginine, acetyl tyrosine, citrulline, and ornithine HCL – These amino acids are the building block of hair structure
• Biotin, Niacinimide – B-vitamins that help block the conversion of testosterone to DHT and regulate cellular nutrition
• Zinc Gluconate – Teams with the B-vitamins to block DHT
• Panthenol and Hydrolized Soy Protein – Proteins to shine, thicken and moisturize hair

Studies of Infuse show that it:

• Reduces the appearance of hair loss
• Gives you thicker, stronger, silkier, shinier hair
• Helps diminish scalp irritation

Now, this formula may not work for everybody. There could be other underlying reasons for your hair loss. But I’ve had a lot of success with it. You can see if it works for you.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

She immediately burst into tears. “I’m miserable,” she blurted out between sobs…

She had gained 20 pounds and lost all sex drive. She feared her husband was going to leave her. She had already seen doctor after doctor but was growing more frustrated.

First, she saw her OB/GYN, who asked if she was still having her periods. She was. Many women still experience periods in perimenopause—the early stages of the big change. The doctor told Alice to come back when her menstruation stopped.

Still suffering, Alice went to her general practitioner. He diagnosed her as depressed and wrote a prescription for the anti-depressant Paxil.

Alice took the Paxil. “It seems to numb my feelings of depression some, but I still don’t feel right. My sex drive is now worse than it was. I’m eating like a bird; it’s got to be these pills making me gain weight. It’s no wonder she was at her wits end when she arrived in my office.

I measured Alice’s hormone levels with a simple blood test. I looked at her estrogen, her progesterone, her DHEA and her testosterone. I had a hunch what I would find, but I can never be sure without the tests. Alice’s estrogen was normal, but she had low progesterone and zero testosterone.

I gave her a shot of testosterone to jumpstart her recovery and a prescription for bioidentical testosterone and progesterone. That was on a Monday. On Wednesday, she called my office thanking me.

Within weeks, Alice was her old self again. We stopped the Paxil in 2 weeks. She dropped the extra weight, was sleeping soundly through the night, and her sex drive was back. Even her husband called to tell me how happy he was with his “new and improved” wife!

Ladies, your doctor probably won’t talk to you about testosterone. Even the media gives it a bad rap. But, I’ve had a lot of success in my practice boosting women’s energy, mood, motivation, strength, and sex drive with this simple treatment.

You only need about a tenth as much as a man does, but it’s still critical.

Testosterone is proven to:

• Increase your sex drive and sexual satisfaction. One study showed a 42% increase in frequency of total satisfying sexual activity with testosterone therapy.₁
• Slim down your body. A study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found that women who took low doses lost more body fat and belly fat and gained more muscle than the control group.₂
• Strengthen bones and prevent bone loss.₃
• Protect against breast cancer. A study in the journal Menopause found that it significantly inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells. One of the authors of this study stated simply, “androgens (testosterone) may protect against breast cancer…₄
• Lower your risk of heart disease and atherosclerosis. A John Hopkins University found that testosterone therapy in women notably reduces the risk of atherosclerosis and heart disease.₅

Unfortunately, just as with men, your levels nosedive with age—especially after menopause.

As you can see, your testosterone levels at menopause are only about a quarter of what they were in your 20s. This severe decline makes you gain weight, feel tired and depressed, and it completely zaps your sex drive.

In today’s newsletter, I’ll show you ways you can get your testosterone to healthy levels so that you start feeling better about yourself in and out of the bedroom.

Boost Your Testosterone the Natural and Easy Way

The first thing you should do is have your hormone levels checked by your doctor. It’s a simple blood test. A woman’s testosterone ranges from about 25 to 85, but a healthy man will have about 300 to 900. The key is to support the level of a healthy woman without getting into the range for men.

In my experience in measuring hormones in over 1000 women, they often feel better with testosterones toward the higher end of the normal range.

The good news is that there are safe, effective, and natural ways you can boost your testosterone. And the results can be dramatic for you. This is a good approach because your body will not make more than it needs.

And as I said your body only needs a tenth of the testosterone that men require. This means that adding just a little boost to your daily routine will produce results. And you don’t have to worry about these supplements losing their potency over time like a man does.

Here are some of the best herbal supplements that I have found to work wonders for women.

Chaste Berry: This herb is a natural hormone balancer. It helps balance your levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. I’ve seen good results with women taking 300 mg per day.

Tribulus Terrestris: Although very effective to boost testosterone in men, this herb has also been shown to gently increase testosterone in women who have a deficiency.₆ Researchers from around the world have confirmed that Tribulus increases both your sex drive and your testosterone levels.₇

Horny Goat Weed: This herb not only boosts testosterone production, it also helps ramp up nitric oxide (NO) levels. Nitric oxide relaxes and expands blood vessels to increase blood flow and circulation, two things that a woman’s libido relies on. This process allows a surge of blood to flow to all the right places at the right time. I recommend taking 50 mg per day.

Tongkat Ali:  This herb has been used for hundreds of years throughout Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Clinical studies support what Malaysians have known all along: Tongkat Ali boosts your libido and naturally stimulates the production of testosterone.

For instance, in one study of mice, researchers discovered that Tongkat Ali set their sex lives on fire. There were dramatic boosts in sexual activity across the board – even in mice that were middle aged.₈ I recommend taking 25 mg per day.

Zinc: Zinc has been shown to boost testosterone levels. In one study, athletes who supplemented with zinc did not have the depletion that those athletes who didn’t take zinc experienced.₉ I recommend taking 100 mg per day of the chelated form of zinc.

Manage Stress and Exercise: Aside from taking these effective herbal supplements, two of the best things you can do to help boost your testosterone naturally are to reduce stress and to exercise. Here’s why…

When you are stressed, you release the stress hormone cortisol. Over prolonged periods, cortisol can cause your testosterone levels to plummet. That is why you need to take steps to manage your stress effectively.

Different things work for different people – it could be yoga, tai chi, meditation, massage, a warm bath, or even a walk. Find what works for you.

I find that even simple breathing exercises work wonders.

• Take a few minutes out of every day to breathe.
• Sit in a comfortable position, in a chair or on the floor with your back against the wall, and take deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling through your mouth.
• Be aware of the moment.
• Focus only on your breathing, in and out.
• Do this for about three minutes at least once a day.

You might be surprised to know that exercise boosts testosterone, no matter what your age. In 2001, a study was done on women age 19 to 25 to measure the impact of exercise on testosterone levels. After six weeks of resistance training (squat exercises) researchers found significant increases in testosterone levels in women.

Try doing resistance training three to four days a week. All it takes is 10 to 20 minutes of your time, and it can be applied to my PACE program. Good old-fashioned body weight exercises like the ones you used to do back in gym class are the best kind. Try mixing it up with different exercise – lunges, squats, squat thrusts, pull-ups, push-ups, dips, crunches, etc.

Here’s how you do my favorite – the hindu squat. This works your entire body and really gets your heart rate up.

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.
• Extend your arms out in front of you, parallel to the ground with your hands open and palms facing down.
• Inhale briskly and pull your hands straight back.
• As you pull back, turn the wrists up and make a fist.
• At the end of the inhalation, your elbows should be behind you with both hands in a fist, palm side up.
• From this position, exhale, bend your knees and squat.
• Let your arms fall to your sides and touch the ground with the tips of your fingers.
• Continue exhaling and let your arms swing up as you stand.
• This brings you back to the starting position. Standing straight up with your arms extended in front of you, hands open and palms facing down.

Repeat at the pace of one repetition every four seconds. Once you are comfortable with the form, you can increase your speed to one squat per second.

Repeat until you feel winded. Rest, recover and do another set.

1. Davis SR. Androgens and female sexuality. J Gend Specif Med. 2000 Jan-Feb;3(1):36-40.
2. Lovejoy JC, et al. “Exogenous androgens influence body composition and regional body fat distribution in obese postmenopausal women–a clinical research center study.” J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1996; 81(6): 2198-203
3. Michael H, et al. “Estrogen and testosterone use different cellular pathways to inhibit osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption,” J Bone Miner Res 2005; 20(12): 2224-32
4. Dimitrakakis C, et al. Testosterone in limiting estrogenic stimulation of the breast. Menopause. 2003 Jul-Aug;10(4):292-8
5. Golden SH, et al. “Endogenous Post-menopausl Hormones and Carotid Atherosclerosis: A Case Conrol Study of Atherosclerosis risk in Communities Cohort.” Am. J. Epidemiol. 155(5): 437-445
6. Brown GA, et al. “Effects of androstenedione – herbal supplementation on serum sex hormone concentrations in 30 to 59-year-old men” Int J Vitam Nutr Res 2001; 71(5):293-301
7. Gautham K, et al. Aphrodisiac properties of Tribulus Terrestris extract. Life Sci. 2002 Aug 9;71(12):1385-96.
8. Ang HH, et al. Eurycoma longifolia increases sexual motivation. Arch Pharm Res. 1998 Dec;21(6):779-81.
9. Brown GA, et al.

Here’s some great news… for me anyway. I’ve just been asked to be on the panel of judges for this year’s Ms. Fitness USA competition at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, NV. Unlike bodybuilder competitions, these are pretty, physically fit young women.

It turns out Ms. Fitness editor Greta Blackburn uses my PACE® program. In fact, she featured it on the cover of the current issue. This is especially rewarding because the editors recognize that PACE® is a perfect way for women to get in shape—for life.

The secret to PACE®’s ease and convenience lies in a basic principle: You transform your body when you gradually increase the intensityof the physical demand, not the duration.

In other words, spending more time doing the same thing won’t get you real results. Working a little harder each time gets you real results.

This is what I call “progressivity”—gradually ramping up the intensity of your chosen exercise every time you do it, while limiting the amount of time it takes.

That’s why you won’t ever have to waste hours a week getting in shape with PACE®. Even my most hardcore clients don’t exert themselves more than 20 minutes.

Another reason PACE® beats conventional exercise: Rest is just as important as exertion. With PACE®, you push yourself hard for a brief period, then stop.

These are the keys to getting the body you want and the strength you need for everyday living.

In fact, a recent study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology₁ put a group of women on a fitness program using short bursts of powerful exercise followed by rest. After only two weeks, they’d revved up their natural fat-burning engines by a whopping 36 percent. Their hearts also got stronger, their muscles became more efficient… and they shed the pounds.

So if you want to start cutting inches from your waistline without the hours of wasted effort, PACE® is for you.

Here’s a simple routine I came up with for one of my readers out in Chicago. She uses the stairs in her apartment building, but you can do any exercise you like. “Exertion” is the amount of time she goes up the stairs:

As you can see, your total exertion time is less than 20 minutes.

Treat this as a simple framework. Tailor each set to your particular level of conditioning, or drop a set as you see fit.

The key is to listen to your body. You should be panting at the end of each exertion period. You should not be taxed and exhausted through the whole workout.

It’s that simple.

If you want to learn more, get the latest issue of Ms. Fitness at the newsstand. Or click HERE.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1. Talanian et al. “Two weeks of high-intensity aerobic interval training increases the capacity for fat oxidation during exercise in women.” 2007. Journal of Applied Physiology. 102:1439-1447.

Have you heard of HRT?

Known as “hormone replacement therapy,” it’s one of the things they’re calling “drugs for elders” these days.

The problem with HRT is that it’s neither replacement nor therapy. What I mean is this: The pharmaceutical products billed as HRT aren’t hormones at all. And by taking them, you are not actually replacing anything.

Real hormones are available. They’re called bio-identical hormones. They are safe when used appropriately. And they are very inexpensive. But being inexpensive is a problem.

You see, hormones are produced by your body. Therefore, they are naturally occurring. If something occurs in nature, it can’t be patented. To patent something, you have to prove that you invented or created something exclusive or new.

If a drug company can’t patent a therapy, they can’t corner the market. Other companies are free to produce the same drug at a lower price. Competition drives down prices and profits far below what drug companies are accustomed to.

Big drug companies don’t produce bio-identical hormones. There’s no money in it. But that hasn’t stopped them from claiming they have “replacement hormones.”

Take the prescription drug Provera as an example. It’s billed as “progesterone replacement.” In truth, years of research and hundreds of millions of dollars were spent to find a drug that was different enough from progesterone to be patentable – even though progesterone was already inexpensive and available.

Drug maker Upjohn won the race with the development of medroxyprogesterone acetate, which they call Provera. And they won big. In its day, Provera was one of the ten most profitable drugs of all time.

But like the other synthetic chemicals billed as HRT, medroxyprogesterone acetate is not a hormone and it never occurs in your body. It is a chemical created to mimic a hormone so the pharmaceutical industry can be more profitable.

Provera is synthetic. Your body never made it. Am I the only one who thinks that you shouldn’t call taking something you’ve never had before “replacement”?

If it’s not “replacement therapy,” what should we call these pharmaceutical concoctions? I don’t think we need a new term. We already have a word. It’s not what my father would call a “pearl-handled word.” But it’s honest, accurate, and simple… and we all already know what it means. The word is drug.

I no longer use these drugs in my practice. The alternatives are safer. They range from herbal supplements to real hormone replacement.

If you want to replace declining hormones, the real ones are available. We get them from compounding pharmacies. A compounding pharmacist prepares customized prescription medications to meet individual patient needs.

Your doctor may not be familiar with compounding. With over reliance on pre-packaged drugs it has become a bit of a lost art. You can assist your doctor by finding a compounding pharmacist on your own. Thankfully, there has been a recent resurgence fueled by the growing interest in natural alternatives.

A word of caution: Although bio-identical hormones are safer than drugs, hormone tinkering is tricky business. Consult your doctor, have your levels checked and educate yourself before considering any kind of hormone therapy.

To help you with this, my friends at Total Health Breakthroughs have put together a special report on HRT… it’s a must read.

The side effects of HRT are severe. They include higher risk of stroke, heart disease and blood clots. But bio-identical hormones can dramatically improve your quality of life. Many of my patients have the energy, vigor and sexual appetite they enjoyed in their 20s and 30s.

Your FREE report from Total Health Breakthroughs has the answers. And it won’t cost you a dime.

Click HERE and download it now.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

There’s a sea of change underway that has broad implications for your performance, fertility, and virility.

It’s caused by chemical compounds – found in everyday products – that mimic estrogen, the female hormone.

More and more men who come to my clinic show the warning signs. They’ve developed male “breasts,” fatty tissue that develops over the pectoral muscles. They’ve put on weight, lost their libido, find they don’t have the same “get up and go,” and even have trouble getting their partners pregnant.

In women endocrine disruptors cause weight gain and are linked to several health problems.

The cause lies all around us. Endocrine disruptors can be found in pesticides, clothing, plastics, cosmetics, detergents, hair sprays, even our food and water supplies.

They bind to your body’s estrogen receptors and stimulate hormonal responses that are feminizing for men, and dangerous for women.

About two months ago in my Doctor’s House Call I told you about one of the most widespread endocrine disruptors, Bisphenol-A. It’s used in plastics, food and drink packaging like water and infant bottles, compact discs, impact-resistant safety equipment, and medical devices. Epoxy resins used as lacquers to coat metal products such as food cans, bottle tops, and water supply pipes contain it. Some dental sealants and composites may also contribute to BPA exposure.

Problem is that we have very little research examining these compounds’ long-term effects on humans. But several studies concluded that low-level, continuous exposure to BPA can be harmful to your health.1-2

If you don’t think this is a serious problem, consider this: the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found detectable levels of BPA in 93 percent of 2517 urine samples from people six years and older.3

Right now we don’t know just how much exposure you’re getting to these endocrine disruptors. Here’s what you can do:

First, have your estrogen levels checked. For most men, the optimum levels are four parts testosterone to one part estrogen. Your total estrogen level should be below 100. For women, consult with your gynecologist, as estrogen levels change over your lifetime.

Here are some additional things you can do to limit your exposure to these harmful chemicals and reclaim the things that make you a man – or a woman.

• Eliminate pesticides from your water: I recommend drinking only purified water.

• Wash your vegetables and fruits before you eat them.

• Cut off any visible fat from meat before cooking, since chemicals and hormones from the feed collect in the fat.

• Avoid processed meats, because they have fat ground in.

• Avoid processed carbohydrates like bread, cereals, and pasta. They make your body release excess insulin, which builds fat and stimulates feminizing estrogen.

• Eat vegetables high in fiber to keep yourself regular. When stool remains in your bowel for a longer time, more estrogen is absorbed.

• Eat more cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels’s sprouts, and cabbage. They help you excrete excess estrogen.

• Eat hormone-free food and free range animals whenever possible.

• Incorporate more estrogen-inhibiting foods into your diet. Some of the best and tastiest sources are squash, onions, green beans, cabbage, berries, citrus, pineapples, pears, grapes, figs, melons, sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds.

I’ve also completed a formula to restore proper hormonal balance in both men and women. It’s called EstroCleanse. It will clear your body of xeno-estrogens, compounds that mimic estrogen and support healthy hormone function and balance using safe, natural substances.* These include:

• DIM: (diindolylmethane) a compound in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower that lowers estrogen levels naturally.*

• I3C: Short for “indole-3-carbinol,” this natural substance protects cells and also “tones down” your estrogen receptors.*

EstroCleanse is now available for general sale. To get your risk-free trial offer, just click HERE.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1. Ho et al. “Developmental Exposure to Estradiol and Bisphenol A Increases Susceptibility to Prostate Carcinogenesis and Epigenetically Regulates Phosphodiesterase Type 4 Variant 4.” Cancer Research. 2006. 66:5624-5632.
2. Reel et al. “Bisphenol A.” Research Triangle Institute. 1985. See www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1470296&blobtype=pdf.
3. “Since You Asked – Bisphenol A: Questions and Answers about the National Toxicology Program’s Evaluation of Bisphenol A.” National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences. www.niehs.nih.gov/news/media/questions/sya-bpa.cfm

A lot of my patients suffer from an embarrassing problem: poor bladder control. Medical solutions aren’t so appealing. I’ve got a better alternative.

It’s called Cat’s Claw Root.

This is a vine native to the jungles of Central and South America. It’s named for its dangerous-looking thorns. Turns out it’s not dangerous at all.

While most herbal specialists in this country don’t know much about it, tribes in the Amazon have been using the root of this plant for centuries.

In fact the Asháninka tribe of Peru swear by its medicinal powers as a general health tonic, contraceptive, and anti-inflammatory agent for the gastrointestinal tract.1*

Turns out they’re onto something. Over the past twenty years, researchers have identified fifty-three separate compounds in Cat’s Claw Root that provide a broad range of health benefits, including:2*

• anti-inflammatory
• immune booster
• antioxidant
• central nervous system health support
• vascular support

What does all this mean for your bladder function? One of Cat’s Claw’s most important clinically proven benefits for optimum bladder function lies in its unique natural ability to relax the smooth muscles.3* These govern how well the muscles in your bladder are able to void (and retain) urine. If they’re too tight, they constrict, making simple urination difficult. If they’re weak, it makes peeing difficult to control.

Its anti-inflammatory properties are also highly beneficial for the urinary tract.

I’ve found it works well in commercial preparations ranging from 250 to 1000 milligrams daily. You can make a medicinal tea by boiling the root bark of Cat’s Claw in water for five to 10 minutes and then straining the water. A recommended dose is one cup of tea three times daily. You can also try dry, encapsulated standardized extract with 20 to 60 mg daily.

One other point to bear in mind: some people are allergic to Cat’s Claw. Be sure to take it under the supervision of a licensed health practitioner. The symptoms include rash, itching, and in some cases, irritated inflammation of the kidneys. If you experience any of these, discontinue use immediately.

Also make sure the species of Cat’s Claw you’re taking is the right one. There are many plants in Mexico and other parts of Central and South America that go by the name of “Cat’s Claw.”

The one you want should have the botanical name Uncaria Rubiaceae. Other types of Cat’s Claw won’t work and are a waste of money and time.

I developed a supplement that supports normal bladder function. It contains Uncaria Rubiaceae. Click HERE for your risk free trial.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1.The Longwood Herbal Task Force article on Cat’s Claw.
2.Heitzman et al. “Ethnobotany, phytochemistry and pharmacology of Uncaria (Rubiaceae).” Phytochemistry. 2005. 66(1):5-29.
3.Nutrition Forum article by Varro E. Tyler on Cat’s Claw.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

I find myself battling a common misconception with some of my patients. It’s the thinking that if you are capable of a hard workout routine you can be “fat but fit”. So, there’s no need to worry about heart health.

Take one of my new patients, who I’ll call Alice. She’s middle-aged. And when she came to me she was “a little on the heavy side,” as she put it. When I told her she really had to drop the extra pounds to avoid heart disease and other serious health problems, she dismissed it, insisting she was in great shape. “Dr. Sears, I run 25 miles a week and lead an active lifestyle, so I’m not worried. The last time I went to see a doctor, he said the same thing.”

This mistaken belief is understandable. There’ve been a lot of reports in the press about how “people come in all shapes and sizes” and that women aren’t at risk for heart disease just because they’re heavy, so long as they exercise regularly. There’ve even been a few research reports supporting this idea. So a lot of doctors believe it—and pass it on to their female patients.

The problem is they’re dead wrong. Heart disease is still the number one killer of women today. In fact, since 1984 more women have died of heart attack than men —and exercise alone isn’t enough to prevent it if you’re above a normal weight.

A groundbreaking new study busts the myth. Researchers in Boston ran one of the

largest studies ever on women, obesity, and fitness. They tracked the overall health profiles of 39,000 women, with an average age of 54, over a ten-year period. Thirty-four percent exercised regularly, 31 percent were overweight, and 18 percent were obese. None showed signs of heart disease, diabetes, or cancer at the beginning.

By the end of the study they found that with regular exercise heart disease rates were still a lot higher even for women with “a little extra padding.” The risk was 54 percent higher for this group and 87 percent higher for active but obese women.

The bottom line is that size matters. You need to stay slim and lean if you want to ward off heart attack.

The first thing to do is adjust your diet. You can easily switch on your body’s natural “fat-burning engine” with a diet rich in lean meats, seeds, nuts, and above-ground vegetables (preferably organic, grass-fed, and wild-caught). Avoid all starchy, high-carb foods, including bread, pasta, and cereal—anything grain-based.

Second, you need the right kind of exercise program to burn fat. Short bursts of intense exercise with periods of rest in between are the best way to turn on your fat burning switch. This is what my PACE program is all about.

You’ll also need a reliable way to find out if you’re lean or not. Don’t be fooled by the “Body Mass Index,” the tool a lot of fitness experts use. It only compares height against weight, without distinguishing between fat and muscle mass. You can see the problem with this: since muscle is denser than fat, you can technically weigh more and have a high BMI but still be relatively lean.

Body composition will give you a much more accurate measurement of how slim you actually are. Skin calipers are one of the best ways to measure it. You can get them at exercise equipment stores or you can also order them on my website. They come with simple instruction manuals that will show you how to get a good read on how much fat you’re carrying.

Another simple method: measure your waist and hip girths. Wrap a tape measure around your waist at your navel and record the number in inches. Next measure the circumference around your hips at their widest point.

Waist girth should be less than your hip girth in both men and women. As a woman, your waist should be 3 or more inches less than their hips in girth for optimum fitness.

Finally, you can grab your skin between your finger and thumb just to the side of your navel and measure the thickness of the skin fold. It should measure less than 1 inch.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1 For example, see Jane E. Brody. “Fat But Fit: A Myth About Obesity is Slowly Being Debunked.” New York Times. October 24, 2000; and Charmaine Camilleri. “Fit, Fat and Healthy: Researchers are challenging the idea that you need to be a size 10 to be in shape. Heavy people can be fit too.” theage.com.au. October 6, 2003.

2 For example, see Sui et al. “Cardiorespiratory fitness and adiposity as mortality predictors in older adults.” Journal of the American Medical Association. 2007. 298:2507-2516.

3 “Go Red For Women Day Is Feb. 15.” http://chfs.ky.gov/news/chfs021405b.htm, February 15, 2005.

4 Weinstein et al. “The joint effects of physical activity and body mass index on coronary heart disease risk in women.” Archives of Internal Medicine. 168:884-890.

This is so important for women.

I just read a major medical journal – one that goes to thousands of doctors nationwide – saying that inflammation and overgrowth of the uterine lining has no cure. It advises doctors that women just have to learn to manage the symptoms or live with the pain.

This is the most amazing (and disturbing part)… They never mention the cause. All these experts were consulted and not one said a word about what causes the problem.

This condition called “endometriosis” is just one sign you have too much estrogen. And excess estrogen can be lowered naturally. I’ll show how you can bring your estrogen – and your symptoms – under control.

In recent times, endometriosis has become an extremely common condition. I see it in patients daily. When you have endometriosis, the cells that line the inner walls of your uterus begin to overgrow inside the uterine lining or on the outside of it. The result is chronic pelvic pain, bloating and sometimes abnormal bleeding, lower back and abdomen pain, too.

In some women the pain only flares up during their menstrual cycle… for others, pain may seem completely unrelated to menstrual cycles.

Doctors will usually prescribe drugs or surgery to treat the painful symptoms of endometriosis. Neither has any chance of curing the cause and both treatments create other problems.

Pain management drugs usually include over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or Cox-2 inhibitors. Advil and Aleve fall into the first category. Prescription drugs like Celebrex and the now recalled Vioxx fall into the second.

Whenever you take NSAIDs for ongoing pain, you run the risk of damage to your stomach lining. Sometimes this damage causes chronic stomach upset. Other times, it can result in internal bleeding. The dangerous side effects of Vioxx and Celebrex include increased risk of death and heart attack.

Surgery is equally inappropriate. It’s a drastic measure and no doctor can guarantee your endometriosis won’t recur after surgery. Many of my patients had surgery before coming to me only to discover their pain returns a short time later. This can lead to an upsetting cycle of failed surgeries that are risky and expensive and often lead to total hysterectomies.

Conventional medicine maintains that the cause of endometriosis is unknown. I have read some Ob/Gyn “experts” claiming that all women have endometriosis, but only some women develop symptoms. This absurd point of view is actually very common among doctors. It’s part of an overall ideology that nature is broken, or God has made a blunder and it’s up to them to fix your inherently defective part. You’ll see this view if you ask doctor’s why you can’t lose your body fat or why you have suddenly come down with diabetes.

Don’t be fooled… This is hardly ever the case. Usually if something goes wrong with your body, it happened because we did something to it that was unnatural. In this case, we have added a huge deluge of synthetic estrogens to our environment. The FDA insists it’s safe to put estrogen in your food. But really… How could anyone know that that’s safe?

I’ve helped thousands of women over the years successfully cure their endometriosis by bringing their estrogen levels into balance. In most cases, they eliminate the problem and live pain free.

The lining of the uterus is developed and maintained with estrogen. Too much estrogen and it overgrows and becomes inflamed and painful. Pain pills or anti-inflammatory drugs won’t cure it because the high blood estrogen creates a never-ending cycle of continually stimulating new endometrial growth.

But there’s a simple supplement that naturally removes excess estrogen. It’s called DIM (diindolylmethane.)

DIM gently cleanses excess estrogens from your body by making estrogen more excreted in the urine. Derived from cruciferous vegetables, DIM is natural and safe. I think it’s one of the reasons broccoli and cauliflower have been found to lower risk of cancers of female tissues that are also caused by excess estrogen. But to get the levels of DIM that I can prove cures artificially elevated estrogens, you’d have to eat 50 or 60 servings of broccoli a day.

You can ask your doctor to measure your total blood estrogens. When I find them elevated, I use 100 mg DIM once a day and recheck in about 6 weeks. If symptoms are apparent I will sometimes use DIM before blood results are back because it is such a benign therapy. DIM is inexpensive and available at most health-food stores.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

Women continue to die in record numbers from heart disease. But don’t expect the American Heart Association to give you the answers. Their new guidelines for women sound like they came from directly from the mouths of drug companies and processed food makers.

Their advice? Avoid nutritional supplements… take aspirin… eat more low-fat foods… and have your doctor “monitor” your cholesterol. That’s just asking to be handed a cholesterol-lowering drugs.

This advice is troubling. Cholesterol doesn’t cause heart disease in the first place. Cholesterol is the thing that heart disease acts upon. It’s the oxidation and inflammation that’s the disease. Secondly, many of the nutritional supplements they’re telling you to avoid – like vitamin E – are clinically supported as effective for treating heart disease.

In The Doctor’s Heart Cure, there’s a wealth of material that backs this up. Like the two big studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine.1,2 They showed that people who took vitamin E for at least two years had about a 40 percent (41 percent in women; 37 percent in men) lower risk of developing heart disease.

Last week, one of my patients told me she heard a doctor talking about these new guidelines on “Good Morning America.” The doctor said that women at risk for heart disease should get their LDL (bad cholesterol) below 70! He failed to mention this is nearly impossible unless you take statin drugs.

Many doctors put their patients on statin cholesterol drugs without even considering the alternatives. And this can be dangerous – especially for women.

For heart disease, women have different risk factors than men. What’s more, statin drugs are even less effective for women. Currently, there’s no evidence that lowering cholesterol in women with no history of heart disease has any benefit.

Two other factors – triglycerides and HDL – are far more important for women than total cholesterol or LDL (bad cholesterol). Unfortunately, most doctors still recommend drugs when they see a “high” LDL from a woman’s blood test.

If you’re a woman with high total cholesterol, before you accept any drug therapy, ask your doctor to measure the following 6 tests:

• Triglycerides

• Insulin

• HDL Cholesterol

• Blood Pressure

• Fasting Blood Glucose

• Waist Size

A simple blood test will do the trick. This complete picture will tell if any treatment is necessary and if so how to address the problem without drugs.

Remember… HDL is your trump card – especially for women. Keep that number high to stay out of danger.

The best way to raise HDL is with exercises like my PACE program. And if your triglycerides are high, drive them down. You can do this by decreasing starchy, hi-carb foods.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

________________________________________

1 Stampfer MJ, et al. Vitamin E consumption and the risk of coronary disease in women. New England Journal of Medicine. 1993 May 20; 328(20):1444-1449.

2 Rimm EB, et al. Vitamin E consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease in men. New England Journal of Medicine. 1993 May 20; 328(20):1450-1456.

It’s hard to believe but your government is considering a bill that if passed would in many cases give you no option but drugs. The big drug companies and the FDA are planning to cut off your choice of medications. Even the choices your own doctor makes…

The latest bill going to congress, the “Safe Drug Compounding Act of 2007” would make many natural compounds and medications from a compounding pharmacist illegal.

A compounding pharmacist is a specialist who can mix, blend and prepare customized medications and dosages according to your doctors instructions. That may not sound important to you, but it could have a profound impact on your life.

There’s not a single day that goes by in my practice that I don’t use compounding pharmacists. Why? Because it’s better medicine than relying on Big Pharma’s one size fits all rip offs. Here’s an example: A patient needs a small dose of a blood pressure drug – let’s say 6 mg. But the smallest dose offered by a drug company is 25mg. In that case, I’ll have a compounding pharmacist custom prepare a 6 mg dose of that drug.

It’s simple, effective and very economical. Prices are much lower when you can buy directly from the pharmacist. But that’s the real issue. If it’s not a prepackaged patented dose, it means drug companies and the Feds in cahoots at the FDA are losing money.

You see the drug companies pay the FDA to approve their drugs. It sounds unbelievable, but it’s completely legal. And when doctors use compounding pharmacists, theirs no money for the FDA drug company cronies.

But the problem with the FDA’s attempt to drive compounding pharmacists out of business cuts even deeper…

If you’re a regular reader of Doctor’s House Call, you’ve heard me talk about the remarkable power of Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement. It’s the safer and more effective alternative to dangerous “hormone replacement therapy” (HRT) drugs sold by the big pharmaceutical companies.

But what you read about as HRT aren’t real hormones but drugs. They cause a number of health risks and side effects, including an increased risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Prempro and Premarin are two popular examples of these so-called “hormone replacement” drugs. You’re not really “replacing” anything. These drugs were never in your body. To introduce that hormone-mimicking drug to your body is an experiment with unpredicatable results. Not so with the bio-identical version…

I use customized doses of bio-identical hormones for my patients. They’re so effective, some of my patients travel thousands of miles just to see me at my clinic in south Florida.

Being able to create just the right formula to meet their individual needs makes all the difference. These customized doses prescribed by doctors are prepared by compounding pharmacists.

For women, bio-identical hormones can help boost progesterone. At the onset of menopause, a woman’s progesterone production falls to almost zero. Many women I measure have progesterone below the lowest detectable limit of the blood test.

Progesterone maintains healthy features critical for a woman’s well being, like elevating mood, boosting sex drive, using fat better and keeping blood sugar normal.

It’s no wonder when a woman’s progesterone falls they gain weight, feel depressed, and lose interest in sex. But prescribing the right amount of bio-identical progesterone can reverse these troubling symptoms almost overnight.

Bio-identical hormones are critical for men too. Testosterone levels start to drop when men are as young as 30. The symptoms are devastating, and many men experience:

• Loss of drive, energy and ambition

• Inability to achieve and maintain an erection

• Loss of memory and clouded thinking

• Loss of muscle and bone density

• Long-term depression and anxiety

Over the years, thousands of my male patients have turned their lives around by supplementing with bio-identical testosterone. Not only does it slow the aging process, it keeps them feeling strong, masculine and optimistic.

But back to the current problem…

A few US Senators from the biggest drug producing states have introduced a bill that would wipe out your ability to choose bio-identical hormones.

If this legislation passes, federal regulators – NOT your doctor – will decide what medicines you can take. And there will be severe restrictions on what a compounding pharmacist will be able to prepare even if a doctor asks for it for a patient.

The bill would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to:

• Broadly eliminate the availability of many critical, commonly compounded medications that many patients rely on, such as bio-identical hormones for women, hospice care treatments for the terminally ill and customized medicines for children.

• Determine when compounded medicines are needed – a decision that has always been and should always be made by doctors.

• Restrict the compounded medications your doctor can prescribe even if he or she determines you need them.

According to the Washington, D.C. political magazine Congressional Quarterly, the big drug makers are in “high lobby mode” in support of this legislation. But this shouldn’t surprise you… They want doctors and pharmacists to become compliant dispensers of their variety only of potentially toxic patent drugs.

But you don’t have to stand by while the government tries to take away your rights.

Just go to www.healthfreedom.com and click “Stop new bill to restrict access to individualized medicine” on the bottom left of their home page. Then click “What You Can Do” on the right-hand side. You can then fill out one of their forms that go straight to your congressman or senator.

Also, if you would like to see me or my partner Dr. Blossom Kunnel about bio-identical hormone augmentation, contact my practice at (561) 784-7852.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

The FDA allows estrogens in your food. I think it’s a big problem.

These chemicals may preserve our food, kill insects and make farm animals grow big and fat incredibly fast. But these benefits are for the food producer and neglect the health of you, the food consumer.

In women, this causes anxiety, worsens premenstrual symptoms and increases risks of endometriosis, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts and breast cancer. It’s also responsible for the dramatic worsening of menopause symptoms in modern times.

For men, it relentlessly signals their prostates to grow. It causes feminization, weakness and fatigue and worsens the loss of virility that occurs with age. It appears to be nature’s plan to gradually withdraw masculine capabilities as we grow old. But now men are living longer yet losing virility younger than ever. This combination of trends is creating a whole generation of “avirile” tired old men. And some of them aren’t that old. The fast pace of this trend occurring in younger and younger guys is alarming.

If I look at the list of patients I saw last week, I’ll bet at least 10 had problems related to excess estrogen. For some the level was so high and the medical consequences so severe that I had to use prescription medications. (The pharmaceutical industry developed these medications to treat estrogen-dependent breast cancers. You can imagine the calls I get from pharmacists when I use them for men.) But for most, I used a nutritional solution.

Today I want to tell you about this same nutritional solution I used for them.

The first step to combat your involuntary dosing with estrogens is simply to eat more “crucifers”. Crucifers are a group of vegetables including broccoli, Brussels’s sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage.

When you eat a vegetable like broccoli, your body breaks down the broccoli’s glucobrassicin into a compound called indole-3-carbinol (I3C). I3C plays an active role in flushing your body of cancer-causing chemicals. I3C is naturally broken down in your digestive tract to DIM (diindolylmethane). DIM is a key to prevent estrogen-generated cancers in men and women.

DIM is clears rogue steroids into your urine. These steroids cause cancers to grow in both men and women. Breast, cervical, and prostate cancers all fit this scenario. We have known that these cancer cells grow slower in the presence of DIM for several years. Many animal and human studies have focused on breast, uterine, and cervical cancer. All have had positive results. Cancer cell growth slows down when introduced to DIM.1

But the most impressive result is from a recent Journal of Biological Chemistry. University of California, Berkeley researchers discovered that when DIM was administered to prostate cancer cells, they stopped growing. And the cancer cells were reduced by 70%. 2

The most natural way to get DIM is through eating cruciferous vegetables. They have an abundance of I3C, vitamins, and other nutrients. Try to eat cruciferous vegetables at least daily. I find this easy to do if I plan my meals ahead of time.

You can also take DIM as a supplement. I usually start patients with a 100 mg DIM capsule. 2 capsules can provide the DIM equivalent to a pound of vegetables.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

P.S. – For more easy-to-follow strategies, check out my 12 Secrets to Virility. It’s packed with strength-building and disease-fighting tips every man should know.

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1 Auborn K., et al. Indole-3-carbinole is a negative regulator of estrogen. J Nutr 2003 Jul; 133(7 Suppl): 2470S-2475S

2 Le H., et al. Plant-derived 3,3-Diindolylmethane is a strong androgen antagonist in human prostate cancer cells. J Biol Chem 2003 Jun 6; 278(23): 21136-21145

Mutant fish swimming the in Potomac River are threatening your energy levels, your sexuality – even your future.

A few days ago, a team from the US Geological Surveys reported they are finding large numbers of male fish with female traits.₁ This is nothing new, but the numbers today are far higher than anyone has ever seen before.

In some Potomac tributaries, nearly all the male smallmouth bass caught in the survey were abnormal. In the Potomac itself, 7 out of 13 largemouth bass had female characteristics. Some of them were even producing eggs!

None of this may sound like a big deal, but it affects you more than you might think. See, the reason these fish are having such a hard time is that they’re being exposed to certain environmental chemicals—toxins that resemble estrogen.

But here’s the kicker: You’re exposed to the same chemicals—every day.

Many researchers are slow to admit that these estrogen look-a-likes are having an effect on us humans. But I can tell you from 20 years of medical experience, excess amounts of estrogen in our environment are causing disastrous changes for both men and women. I see it in my patients almost every day.

In men, it causes the onset of feminine features. Once muscular “pecs” (chest muscles) turn into soft breasts. A “spare tire” forms around your middle and your risk of prostate cancer goes through the roof. It affects your energy too, making you feel slow and tired.

For women, it dramatically boosts your chance of developing breast and ovarian cancer. It also wreaks havoc with your emotions, making you feel burned out, irritable and upset.

When these chemicals get into your water, (the Potomac provides drinking water to millions – just one of the many polluted rivers in the US) you end up on the front lines of a battle you may not even know about.

“Dr. Sears, Why Do I Feel Tired and Depressed All the Time?”

I hear this question often. Hundreds of otherwise healthy men come to my clinic complaining of low energy, low sex drive and feelings of hopelessness and depression. After their blood tests come back, the answer is usually the same: high estrogen and low testosterone.

One patient – MH – is just 35 years old. He came to me last year with the classic symptoms. Not only were his energy levels low, but he felt depressed and had quite a bit of fat around his belly, (and his face). Yet he was a slender man. When I measured his body fat, it was a very high 35%.

You see, excess estrogen can lower a man’s reserve of testosterone – the hormone that makes a man feel like a man. It also causes an extra layer of fat under your skin. This subcutaneous fat hides muscle definition and makes your body appear “doughy.”

And if you don’t do anything about it, excess estrogen can cause gradual enlargement of your breasts until they resemble a woman’s breasts.

But you’re not helpless. For MH, I gave him something called DIM, which is a natural, plant-based supplement that gets rid of excess estrogen. I also put him on my PACE® program to help get rid of that belly fat. And to boost testosterone, I gave him a combination of herbs.

Today, his body fat has dropped from 35% all the way down to 14%. And he feels stronger and more optimistic than he ever has. His testosterone is up too.

If you feel like this is happening to you, here’s what you do:

For starters, I recommend that you ask your doctor to measure your “total estrogens” in your blood. On the same sample, ask him to measure your testosterone as well. Your blood test will provide critical information regarding the ratio between your estrogen and testosterone.

For most of my male patients, I want a ratio of at least four parts testosterone per one part estrogen. For maximal “manpower,” I want eight times more testosterone than estrogen. Sometimes in athletes, we shoot for a 10 to 1 ratio. It’s also important for you to keep your total estrogen level below 100.

• Eat more cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels’s sprouts, and cabbage. They help you excrete excess estrogen.
• Eat hormone-free food and free range animals whenever possible.
• Incorporate more estrogen-inhibiting foods into your diet. Some of the best and tastiest sources are squash, onions, green beans, cabbage, berries, citrus, pineapples, pears, grapes, figs, melons, sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds.₂

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

P.S. – For more information about the supplements that lower estrogen, check out 12 Secrets to Virility. It’s packed full of easy-to-follow advice that will safely and effectively kick your “manpower” into high gear. Get yours HERE.

1. McLean M. More ‘Intersex Fish’ Found in the Potomac. Associated Press. Sep 6, 2006.
2. “Nutrition and Diet” (7/30/04). www.Holisticonline.com.

I’ve been ranting about this for years. But the message is hard to get through the billions spent to prove otherwise. Industry needs you to fear fat. No sooner than the ink dried on this report, and the spin doctor’s tried to confuse the public over this very simple and stark finding.

In today’s Health Alert, I’ll try to cut to the chase, and give you the bottom line on what this study proved once and what to eat for the healthiest heart in today’s modern world. 

New Study Confirms Low-fat No Benefit

The Women’s Health Initiative spent eight years and $415 million studying the diets of 50,000 women. “Based on our findings, we cannot recommend that most women should follow a low-fat diet.” Those were the words of Jacques Rossouw of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which financed the study.

No one should eat a low-fat diet. It defies logic, instinctive tastes, good sense, history, nature, fundamental physiological science and now the best direct prospective, controlled, population study to date.

There are many examples of native cultures eating a very high fat diet. The native people of Alaska and Greenland eat a very high fat diet. Yet they have one of the lowest rates of heart disease.  Why? Their fat is wild with no processing. It’s high in omega-3 fatty acids. Nature gives us the perfect blend of omega-3s and omega-6s in our native diet.

Getting the right balance of these two fats is critical. The best ratio of omega-6’s to omega-3’s is 1:1. Most meat you buy at the store has a ratio of about 20:1. This is the real reason previous studies seemed to suggest red meat was bad for you – but only in the West.

One of the finest epidemiologists I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet, Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard University recently put it well. “It was a mistake, and this study really confirms that it was the wrong direction to go for nutritional advice. This should be the nail in the coffin for low-fat diets.”

Heart Healthy Supplements: Bridging the Gap to Good Health

Women are far more likely to follow low-fat diets. That makes this study of American women so helpful in the struggle to rediscover our most healthy dietary choices.

Avoiding low-fat foods is just the first step. To make sure you’re getting the nutrients you need, consider a few supplements. Most women don’t realize that they’re at higher risk for certain deficiencies:

• Postmenopausal women taking vitamin C increased the elasticity of their major arteries by 26%. This is an important benefit because a woman’s arteries stiffen dramatically after menopause.   Vitamin C helps to fight free radicals and support your immune system, both of which benefit your heart. For this use, I recommend a robust dose of 1000mg twice a day.

• Women are almost twice as likely as men to have a B12 deficiency. This leads to high homocysteine, not to mention a number of other unpleasant side effects.  Vitamins B12 supplementation can prevent homocysteine from damaging arteries.

If you are an elder woman, regularly check vitamin B12 in your blood for deficiency.

• Eat foods high in alpha-linolenic acid. ALA lowers the risk of a fatal heart attack in women by up to 45%.  No matter how well you eat, it is sometimes impossible to know if you are getting an adequate amount of a specific nutrient. You can prevent deficiency with 100 mg per day.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD