Cardiovascular, Nutrition
Sugar, Not Fat, Responsible for Heart Attack
What can we learn from history? Dr. John Yudkin, Professor of Nutrition at Queen Elizabeth College of London, made headlines in 1972 when his book was published, “Pure White and Deadly”. Yudkin’s research convinced him it was not fat that caused heart attack, but sugar. So has history proved him right? And is sugar the main reason for today’s epidemic of cardiovascular disease and other health problems? Damning sugar obviously did not win Yudkin popularity with the sugar industry. It’s sad that great efforts were taken, even by academic colleagues, to discredit his work. In fact, one researcher labelled his studies “science fiction”. But Robert Lustig, professor of endocrinology at the University of California, has hailed Yudkin’s research as “prophetic”. He says...Read More
Dental, Nutrition, Pediatrics, Philosophy
Halloween Should Scare Up a Big Boooo!
If you are looking for a holiday tradition that has lost any semblance of common sense, look no further than Halloween. Today, it has few redeeming qualities. Let’s focus on only the health issues associated with children consuming ridiculous quantities of junk. Halloween candy comprises the lowest quality food on the market – cheap, sugary chocolate bars, chewy treats, hard candies, salty chips, soft drinks, and who knows what else – all questionably packaged, and gleefully handed out to unsuspecting youngsters as if it were the best thing on Earth. What a crock! Mary Poppins sang that a “spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”, but that should be a rare occasion. Today, I see children spooning far more than that...Read More
Nutrition
The Truth about Sugar Substitutes
Have I been leading readers astray? For years this column has stressed that we’re all consuming too many calories, and in particular, too much sugar. I’ve always practiced what I write, so for years I’ve made sure it is a sugar-free cola that I add to my rum before dinner. But are these alternatives to sugar safe? Scientists at Tufts University report that the research on sugar substitutes continues to advance – yet few clear answers are apparent. For over 40 years, highly refined sugar substitutes have been on the market and common additives in drinks and foods. But for food safety, a cloud has always hung overhead. Dr. Alice H. Lichenstein, Director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the USDA’s Human...Read More
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat, Nutrition
Is North American Diet a Recipe for Blindness?
How often have we been warned, we are what we eat? A book by Dr. Chris Knobbe, Ancestral Dietary Strategy to Prevent and Treat Macular Degeneration, is an eye-opener. Knobbe claims doctors have been taught for years that macular degeneration “MD” which destroys the macular, a tiny spot on the retina responsible for central vision) is due to aging and genetics but it’s an absolute untruth. Rather, he claims the leading cause of blindness in North America is actually due to the garbage we’re eating. Dr. Chris Knobbe Knobbe, an ophthalmologist, reports that before 1925 there were about 50 cases of MD in the world’s medical literature. But by 1975, 8.8% of Americans over the age of 50 had this disease. Dr. William Osler,...Read More
Cardiovascular, Nutrition
Eating nuts good for health
How would you like to decrease the chance of life-threatening diseases such as diabetes and heart attack? Also lower blood cholesterol at the same time without the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs)? If you don’t have a peanut allergy, researchers at Pennsylvania State University report that eating peanuts every day is not a nutty idea. Today, there’s a worldwide epidemic of Type 2 diabetes. Every 40 seconds a new case of diabetes is diagnosed in North America. Even before the development of Type 2 diabetes, a dangerous lull before the storm, called “insulin resistance” occurs. Insulin resistance, or pre-diabetes, begins when the body’s cells that normally accept insulin to lower blood sugar, get tired of doing so. This means the pancreas has...Read More
Nutrition, Sex
Darling, a Little Chocolate for a Little Amour?
Hmm, should I order flowers, maybe consider a romantic candlelight dinner, or a box of chocolates? This year, chocolate wins after reading an article from the highly respected Nutrition department at Tuft’s University. So, what’s good and what’s questionable about chocolate on Valentine’s day? I believe readers will agree that we need a lot more love in this troubled world. The Aztec Indians thought so too. They considered chocolate an aphrodisiac. The story goes that Montezuma consumed a huge chocolate drink before visiting his harem. Alas, this is more fiction than science. A chemical called phenylethylamine is present in chocolate and does play a small part in emotional arousal. But studies show that eating chocolate does not increase the level of this...Read More
Lifestyle, Medicine, Nutrition
The Philippines Finance Oral Insulin Pill
A Spanish proverb states, “He loses all who loses the right moment.” I had a similar thought a few weeks ago when I wrote that, “a brain that’s full of knowledge has no room left to dream.” Why these philosophical mutterings? Because I was annoyed that Canada had lost a major medical opportunity. Now, the insulin mouth rinse that should have been a “Canadian First”, is a Philippine economic coup. It’s a loss for Canada. But the Philippines had the vision to see that an oral insulin product offers immense medical and financial benefits. I’ve told readers that Eastgate Biotech Corp, using nanotechnology, had developed an oral insulin pill to treat Type 2 diabetes. This is a monumental finding since...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition, Vitamins
Mediterranean Diet for a Long Life
Leonardo da Vinci once remarked, “Trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle.” Trifles can make a huge difference in surgery, when building rockets, in nutrition, or in life generally. For instance, a report in the publication LifeExtension shows that a Mediterranean Diet prolongs life. As we all age, this is no trifle. For years doctors and nutritionists have known the Mediterranean Diet is a “Five Star” one. But no one knew why this diet had such remarkable benefits. Now, researchers have discovered its success is due to polyphenols (a plant based compound). They lower the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by an amazing 60 percent! This means fewer heart attacks, strokes, hypertension and less inflammation. The author of the report, Michael...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Cardiovascular, Nutrition
The Nitric Oxide Key to Prevent Heart Attack
Ask anyone what causes a sudden coronary attack and they will say it’s the result of high blood cholesterol, lack of exercise, obesity or smoking. Now, a report in the publication “LifeExtension” says doctors must start thinking “endothelium”. I’d bet few readers could even spell this word. So why is it so vital? And what natural remedies make it healthy? The endothelium is the ultra-thin, one cell thick, innermost lining of arteries. It produces nitric oxide. And it’s ironic that just this single layer of cells, if unhealthy, results in decreased blood circulation, hardening of arteries, and is a major cause of the big killers, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. During our early years, a youthful endothelium is due to...Read More
Alcohol, Lifestyle, Nutrition
Our Belly proves we’re not Gods this Holiday Season
This is the season to be jolly, and the last thing I want to do is spoil the holiday festivities. But, unfortunately, the office parties, family dinners, excess wine and fellowship of singing “Auld Lang Syne, all take a toll on one’s stomach. So, can you lessen the damage of hot fire beneath the breastbone? And what are the pitfalls in the treatment of this common discomfort? Heartburn is triggered by several factors. The lower esophageal muscle (LEM) at the end of the food pipe can become weak and inefficient at times. So if you “eat the whole thing”, excess gas is created in the stomach and the laws of physics say something has to give. This results in the LEM...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition, Vitamins
10 Facts You Should Know About Coenzyme Q10
Mark Twain once remarked, “Get your facts first, then distort them as you please!” Facts are easy to distort in medicine, particularly when talking about coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). So here are 10 vital things to know about this important enzyme. And what unintended consequences occur when humans start playing God. One- What is CoQ10? It’s often referred to as the “sparkplug of our motors.” Cars run on gas. Our 37 trillion cells get their energy from ATP (adenosine triphosphate), but we cannot make ATP without CoQ10. Two- Studies show that our body has the highest amount of CoQ10 during our 20s. But then it starts to decrease. Several medical problems may result, such as fatigue, muscle cramps, weakness, emotional troubles and hypertension....Read More
Alcohol, Alternate Treatments, Lifestyle, Medicine, Miscellaneous, Nutrition, Surgery
Dr. Gifford-Jones’ RX for a Long Life
One : Buy a Scale Obesity is a huge killer and it sets the stage for Type 2 diabetes, heart attack and hypertension. Be a smart consumer. Step on the scale each day so there are no surprises about weight gain. Count calories to live healthier and longer. Two : Buy a Pedometer To Count Steps Ships tied up at a dock too long get barnacles. To avoid medical barnacles, walk 10,000 steps a day. There’s no need to run the four minute mile. Remember, lions don’t buy Nike running shoes. Besides, studies show excessive exercise can cause medical problems. Three : Avoid Needless Radiation. A single CT scan delivers the same radiation as 500 chest X-rays or 1,000 dental ones. Always ask if an...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition, Vitamins
Is It Prudent To Increase The Dose of Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs?
Do you remember the story about the straw that broke the camel’s back? How the camel’s owner kept loading more and more straw on the animal’s back. Eventually one more straw broke the poor creature’s back. Pushing your luck too far is a poor idea. Now, a report in the British Medical Journal shows that doctors, like camel owners, should heed this advice. Colin Dormut, Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia, participated in a study of excessive medication. He reports that during an 11 year period over two million patients’ charts were examined to see if kidneys were affected by the long-term use of cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs). The researchers focused on high potency CLDs such as Lipitor, Crestor and Zocor....Read More
Gastroenterology, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Nutrition
The Fart Pill: Could It Get The Nobel Prize?
Could a researcher of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), the gas that causes the odour of farts, ever receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine? Dr. Rui Wang, an internationally known Canadian researcher, reports that one day we may have a “fart pill” that fights one of our great killers, hypertension. Passing flatus affects Kings, Queens and the rest of us. Who hasn’t been at a dinner party when we’d prefer to be in the Sahara Desert so we could pass flatus? It’s also hard to research how much flatus is normal. After all, no doctor wants to say, “I’m a specialist in farts.” But research reveals that most people fart 15 to 25 times a day. Dr. Wang has been studying hydrogen sulfide for...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Lifestyle, Nutrition
Puritanical Lies about Alcohol
Are you becoming as skeptical as I am about public information? Fake political news? Alternative facts about the state of the world’s economy? So, now I ask how honest is medical news? Of course everyone knows that consuming stupid amounts of alcohol is unhealthy. But puritans and some doctors can’t accept the proven fact that moderate amounts of alcohol can prolong life. Professor Keith Scott-Mumby, an internationally known U.K. expert on alternative medicine, echoes what I have written over the years, that people who drink moderately live longer on average than teetotalers or those who drink to excess. In fact, there are over 20 studies that confirm this. In court it’s a criminal offense to withhold truth, so why doesn’t the...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Nutrition, Vitamins
Can Six Million Readers Help Answer This Question?
Several weeks ago I reported that autopsies of the brains of people diagnosed with dementia reveal damage to small arteries, which may cause tiny strokes and brain injury. Researchers also discovered that mice with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), when treated with vitamin C, showed that typical amyloid plaques associated with this disease disappeared! And since high doses of vitamin C can decrease the risk of heart attack by providing oxygenated blood, could it also prevent AD? So I asked readers “Do you know anyone who has used high doses of vitamin C (4,000 to 6,000 milligrams) for several years, then developed Alzheimer’s Disease?” MM replied, “I believe Linus Pauling, the Nobel Prize winner, was right that low amounts of C cause tiny cracks...Read More
Gastroenterology, Lifestyle, Nutrition, Vitamins
There’s more to Constipation than Grunting.
You think constipation isn’t important? If so, an article in the American Journal of Gastroenterology suggests you’d better think again. Annually, in the U.S., 700,000 people are seen in hospital emergency wards for this problem. Since 2006 there’s been a shocking 42 percent increase in constipation, costing 1.6 billion dollars. So what’s gone wrong, and what are the medical consequences other than grunting? Constipation can be merely a chronic annoyance affecting quality of life. But Dr. John R. Hyatt, gastroenterologist at the Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano in Texas, says, “It can also result in hemorrhoids, anal tears, fissures, rectal prolapse and fecal impaction”. Fecal impaction is no fun. It occurs when a large fecal mass cannot be passed. This can...Read More
Nutrition
LeafSource : A Natural Remedy 100 Years in the Making
Can the fossilized remains of an ancient, organic forest treat many modern medical problems? Like Ripley, you might say, “It’s too good to be true”. But unlike today’s medicines, LeafSource has been 100 million years in the making! The Cretaceous Age started 145 million years ago. It was the golden age of giant tree ferns, fresh marsh vegetation and rich food sources. But, unhappily, all ages end. Nevertheless, this period has been preserved in a seabed deposit in New Mexico, U.S.A. Now, its nutritious content is available in a capsule called LeafSource, It’s been said that “Humans are starving to death on full stomachs.” This is because optimum health and longevity of the body depend on the absorption of enough raw material...Read More
Alcohol, Lifestyle, Nutrition
Why Would God Have Made Wine So Good?
Why do I like Cardinal Amand Richelieu? I’m not an expert theologian. But I remember the Cardinal was a leading character in The Three Musketeers, a ruler more powerful than the King and known as “The Red Eminence” due to his red robe. But he also enjoyed red wine. He once remarked, “If God forbade drinking, would he have made wine so good?” It appears that Jesus supported the use of alcohol. After all, he transformed water into wine. So why would a mortal like me ignore such sage teachings? Particularly, when there are more old wine drinkers than old doctors! For years I’ve told patients that if they’ve never consumed alcohol, don’t start. We know the terrible social consequences of excessive...Read More
Nutrition, Vitamins
Surviving a Toxic World
How many of us would like to live like a hermit? I doubt that many would decide to give up the comfort and pleasures of civilization. But we pay an increasing price for comfort. Today, it’s impossible to escape fumes from cars, radiation from computers, earth’s depleted ozone layer, foods that have been over-processed, pesticides sprayed onto crops, to mention a few. It’s no wonder that so many North Americans suffer from toxic inflammatory diseases. But there’s a natural way to boost the immune system to decrease the risk. Dr. John Wilkinson, Senior Herbal Medicine Lecturer at Middlesex University, London, England, says the answer is plant sterols which, like vitamin C, cannot be made by the human body. Studies show that...Read More
Lifestyle, Medicine, Miscellaneous, Nutrition
Losing Weight the Asinine Way
Has the medical world gone completely insane? A new medical device called “AspireAssist” to treat obesity has been approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. Its approval is being studied by Health Canada. The British Medical Journal agrees with my reaction when it reported, “AspireAssist surely marks the end of civilization as we know it”. This remark sounds ominous, but it’s not about a nuclear threat. Rather, about obese people who thoroughly chow down a meal, then half an hour later physically remove one third of it! Not by inserting a tube down their throat. Instead, by an endoscopic surgical procedure in which doctors insert a pencil-sized tube into the stomach. Following the meal a pump...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Nutrition
Are Hens An Endangered Species?
Headlines fool a lot of people. In March 1984 the cover of Time Magazine caught everyone’s attention. It read “Cholesterol, Now the Bad News”. It reported that cholesterol had been proven deadly and our diet should never be the same again. Researchers have since found little or no correlation between cholesterol in our food and our blood cholesterol. But since eggs contain more cholesterol than most other foods, hens have taken a brutal beating. So why have North American Egg Associations failed to defend hens more vigorously? And why have they ignored scientific facts about heart attack? At one point it looked like the hens were getting a welcome break. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) has since ruled that it...Read More
Cancer, Gastroenterology, Lifestyle, Nutrition
Can Fiber Decrease the Risk of Colon Cancer?
Humans don’t learn from history. Dr. Denis Burkitt, a British researcher, showed years ago that African natives, consuming large amounts of fiber, did not suffer from constipation, appendicitis or problems of the large bowel, such as diverticulitis (hernias of the colon). Now, a new British report states an increase in dietary fiber decreases the risk of large bowel malignancy. Being of Scottish heritage, I always consider ways to save money for our health care system. Luckily, there’s no need for expensive MRI’s to determine whether the diet contains sufficient fiber. A rectal examination that finds rock-like stools quickly provides the answer. Stools that don’t float are also a good sign more fiber is needed. Students of history may remember the World War...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition, Vitamins
Child Hunger: How a Pharmaceutical Company Will End It
What has “Plant a seed and Watch it grow” have to do with a medical column? In one word, plenty! One of today’s medical disasters is that many children in this country are hungry and poor. Finally, a major pharmaceutical company has come up with a novel idea to eliminate this shameful social condition. According to the World Health Organization, malnutrition is the greatest threat to public health. Canada, unlike many of its G8 counterparts, has no national child nutrition program. So, one in seven children live in poverty and hunger with increased risk of a variety of health problems. In the U.S., The Department of Agriculture says 9 out of 10 Americans are deficient in potassium, 8 out of 10 in...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition
How does my Diet compare with The Mayo Clinic’s?
“What diet do you follow?” is a question I’m often asked when writing about cardiovascular disease. So I was interested to read a report from The Mayo Clinic recommending ways to have a heart-healthy diet. How did mine stack up? Sometimes I threaten the waiter! I couldn’t agree more with Mayo’s. For years I’ve stressed that calories do count and the larger the portion on the plate the greater the number of calories. But our eyes are often larger than our stomachs and we ignore portion size. Moreover, in some restaurants the only way to obtain a small portion is to threaten the waiter! Remember, you can have the most nutritious heart healthy meal available on the plate, but if it’s a...Read More
