Health for a Lifetime

Homocysteine

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Don Mackintosh, David DeRose

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Series Code: HFAL

Program Code: HFAL000079


00:45 Hello and welcome to "Health for a Lifetime"
00:47 I'm your host Don Mackintosh
00:49 and today we're delighted to have in the studio with us,
00:51 Dr. David DeRose from the Lifestyle Center of America.
00:54 Welcome Dr. DeRose!
00:56 Good to be here with you, Don
00:57 We certainly are glad that you could take time
00:59 our of your busy schedule and we're excited about
01:01 what's happening at the Lifestyle Center...
01:03 Some of the people that are watching may not know
01:05 about the Lifestyle Center of America...
01:07 What exactly is that and what do you do at that facility?
01:10 Well Don, first of all, I'm a physician;
01:12 I have an MD degree, I have specialties in
01:15 internal medicine and preventive medicine...
01:17 And really, those are the kind of things
01:19 that we do at the Lifestyle Center.
01:20 We have an internal medicine approach...
01:22 In other words, looking at general adult diseases,
01:25 especially chronic diseases,
01:27 and there in southern Oklahoma,
01:29 we have a state of the art facility where we help people
01:32 from a Christian perspective
01:33 to address lifestyle-related diseases.
01:36 So things like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure,
01:40 problems with weight, nicotine addiction,
01:43 a whole host of problems that relate to our health,
01:46 and our ability to serve and to minister;
01:48 these are the targets of our ministry
01:49 there at the Lifestyle Center.
01:51 So whatever the problem is...
01:52 well actually, these are the main problems in North America,
01:55 our so-called Western diseases... That's exactly right
01:58 Now I WILL tell you, we don't have a cancer treatment program,
02:01 and we don't deal with certain chronic diseases that are
02:04 outside of our range of expertise...
02:06 But really, the basic killing diseases like stroke,
02:10 heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure,
02:12 and the risk factors are things that we're addressing.
02:15 Well today, we want to talk a little bit about
02:17 risk factors and, I guess, you mentioned to me
02:19 before the segment here that there are
02:22 literally hundreds of those now that we can identify
02:24 the lead to these killers...
02:26 One of those is really the subject that we want to
02:29 focus is on homocysteine...
02:30 What is homocysteine?
02:32 I mean... a lot of people say, you know, "What?"
02:35 Homocysteine is what we call an amino acid.
02:38 It's a protein building-block...
02:40 So if you look at a protein, it's kind of a
02:42 string of molecules and it's got these building blocks,
02:45 these amino acids and one of those amino acids
02:48 is homocysteine.
02:50 Now homocysteine isn't normally
02:52 something that we just conjure up.
02:55 It's made actually from another amino acid
02:58 that we call eat called "methionine"
03:00 Okay... methionine.
03:01 So we eat this and then it's built into homocysteine.
03:06 Well why is homocysteine so important?
03:08 Well, you know, a lot of people
03:09 didn't think much about homocysteine.
03:11 There is a rare genetic problem where people get these
03:14 really sky-high levels of homocysteine,
03:16 and they had accelerated risk of heart disease.
03:20 This has been known for years,
03:21 and when a physician-researcher by the name of "Kilmer McCully"
03:26 suggested that homocysteine in more moderate elevation
03:30 could be a heart disease risk factor,
03:32 he basically was kind of laughed out of the medical discussions;
03:37 this was some years ago.
03:38 But now Don, there's a whole wealth of medical research...
03:41 It's coming from Scandinavia.
03:43 It's coming from the United States.
03:44 It's coming from Canada.
03:45 It's coming from all over the world.
03:47 And it's saying that as our homocysteine level rises,
03:50 our risk of heart attack, stroke and blockage in blood vessels
03:54 in general, like blockage in blood vessels to the legs
03:56 all dramatically increases.
03:58 So maybe we should have, in our car,
04:00 a gas gauge, a water gauge, and a homocysteine level gauge!
04:04 Well, I mean, that would be taking it to the extreme...
04:06 But actually your point is well-taken...
04:08 Because homocysteine, for most people,
04:10 is not even on the radar screen...
04:12 And what we're seeing, in the medical community,
04:15 is this IS emerging as a very
04:17 important risk factor for heart disease.
04:19 So how does it work? What does it do?
04:21 When I have homocysteine in my blood,
04:23 I assume it's in the blood... It is...
04:24 and I have it swirling around in there,
04:26 what does it do that causes heart disease?
04:29 Well it seems to do a number of things.
04:31 The most CRITICAL thing that we pretty much nailed down
04:34 from what we call the "epidemiology"
04:36 that's the population studies...
04:38 is that as this level goes up, it increases heart disease risk.
04:42 Now the million dollar question is the one you're asking... and
04:44 WHY? Why would rising levels of
04:47 homocysteine increase the risk of blockage in the arteries?
04:51 And what it seems to be is that homocysteine
04:53 does a NUMBER of NASTY things!
04:55 I mean, it damages the blood vessel lining.
04:57 How exactly does it do that?
04:59 Well it seems to have to do with "free radicals"
05:02 These are very reactive compounds
05:04 that then can DAMAGE other tissues...
05:06 And the blood vessel lining seems to be one of the tissues
05:09 that is susceptible to this free radical damage
05:12 caused by homocysteine.
05:14 Free radical... that just sounds like something I want to BE
05:16 You know like... just BOOM, BANG, BANG!
05:18 But that's not GOOD... it's just like a missile
05:21 flying around and it damages everything it hits.
05:25 That's right... it's like a loose cannon, if you will,
05:26 and what's happening... these free radicals
05:28 they just bang into tissues damaging them...
05:31 And that seems to be one of the ways
05:32 that homocysteine does its dirty work.
05:34 Okay, so we have to negate homocysteine.
05:37 We have to do SOMETHING with it.
05:39 What should we do to lower our risk from these problems?
05:42 What can we do to LOWER the homocysteine level?
05:44 Well one of the things we know clearly, Don, is that B vitamins
05:47 3 particular B vitamins help to lower homocysteine levels.
05:51 They're B6, also known as pyridoxine;
05:54 folic acid, and then B12
05:57 Those 3 definitely lower homocysteine levels.
06:00 B6, folic acid and B12
06:03 What other things could lower it?
06:05 Well actually, this is the whole subject
06:06 of a lot of discussion in research right now.
06:08 In March of 2000, at the Lifestyle Center of America,
06:12 we actually published research
06:14 in the "Journal of Preventive Medicine"
06:15 on patients going through our program...
06:18 And what we found is without giving them any folic acid,
06:21 without giving them any B6, without giving them ANY B12,
06:25 these people dramatically lowered their
06:27 homocysteine levels about 13% in just one week! Wow!
06:32 And so the question was... Well, what are we DOING
06:34 in our lifestyle program that's causing this dramatic lowering?
06:37 And we discussed it in the paper...
06:38 We suggested, based on other research,
06:41 that there are some other things happening
06:43 that may give further benefits
06:45 when it comes to homocysteine lowering.
06:47 Such as...
06:48 Well, one of them has to do with
06:50 dietary choices besides B vitamins.
06:52 Case in point is FIBER.
06:54 Some research has actually looked at fiber
06:57 and how this contributes to folic acid levels in the blood.
07:00 There is research coming out that suggests that if
07:02 you eat more FIBER, more whole grains,
07:05 things of this nature...
07:06 You know, getting the wheat bran not just the white wheat flour,
07:10 what happens is somehow in the intestine, that changes the
07:13 normal good bacteria in an even more favorable way
07:17 so that the bacteria make folic acid.
07:20 It has actually been demonstrated that you can raise
07:21 folic acid levels in the blood by eating more fiber.
07:24 So that's one possibility.
07:26 A second one has to do with methionine...
07:28 Remember I was talking about that a little - Yeah, methionine
07:30 Now, you just hear the word "methionine" and you go...
07:32 Boy I need to have some of that! That sounds good!
07:34 Well actually, methionine is converted into homocysteine.
07:37 Oh, so it's not good...
07:39 It's not looking real good... and I saw a patient a while back
07:42 and he had a jar of methionine.
07:44 He thought it was good too,
07:45 and I told him there is some cause for
07:47 concern with methionine.
07:49 It's interesting, Don... the diet has been shown
07:52 to be the most effective in REVERSING blockages in
07:55 heart blood vessels... I know you know,
07:57 and many of our viewers know of the work of Dr. Dean Ornish.
08:01 Dr. Ornish, back in 1990, first published research
08:05 showing that you could REVERSE blockages in heart arteries
08:09 by using a lifestyle program that included
08:13 basically what was a vegetarian diet.
08:16 ...Almost a total vegetarian diet.
08:18 OH NO, so you're going to take away all our good foods?
08:20 Well actually Don, that's not our motive.
08:23 What we're trying to do when these people come
08:25 to us at the Lifestyle Center, for 2 or 3 weeks often,
08:29 they're wanting to get the maximal results in a short time.
08:32 And if they've got heart disease diabetes, high blood pressure,
08:35 a vegetarian-type diet seems to work the best
08:38 for those conditions.
08:39 Here's the point though, when it comes to methionine,
08:43 these foods in the vegetarian diet,
08:45 tend to be much, much LOWER in methionine,
08:48 than an animal-based diet.
08:50 For example... You take a standard serving
08:52 of hamburger or some other flesh food,
08:55 and you're going to have 600 to 900 milligrams of
08:59 methionine in those foods.
09:00 That then goes right into homocysteine.
09:03 Let me just contrast that for a minute.
09:05 You take carrots or potatoes or whole wheat bread,
09:08 you may be getting 10, 20, maybe 40 milligrams
09:12 of methionine per serving.
09:13 So you see, when you're talking in the 100s... 800, 900 range
09:17 for some of these flesh products you want to stay away
09:19 from those things if you're trying to get your
09:22 homocysteine levels down.
09:23 Do vegetarians EVER have high homocysteine levels?
09:26 They can... and, in fact, vegetarians are at RISK
09:30 for high homocysteine levels if they're not careful
09:33 with their vitamin B12 status.
09:35 Okay, so they HAVE to have a very BALANCED,
09:38 AND maybe supplemented diet,
09:40 because vitamin B12 is not produced in the diet, is it?
09:44 That's correct, it's not produced in the body
09:46 and it is the product of bacterial action,
09:49 so hopefully, it's not produced in your diet.
09:50 That would mean your food has been sitting out
09:53 unrefrigerated or something.
09:55 But the point is Don, when people go on a
09:57 total vegetarian diet... when they're trying to get
09:59 rid of all the animal products,
10:00 that will TEND to decrease the methionine load,
10:03 but they do want to ensure an adequate
10:06 source of B12, that's very important.
10:07 So what other supplements then that you recommend
10:10 at the Lifestyle Center...
10:12 What do you do for the vitamin B12?
10:13 Okay, if someone has mildly elevated levels of homocysteine
10:17 ...since we've demonstrated that our overall lifestyle
10:20 approach LOWERS homocysteine,
10:22 we say... Listen, go with our standard program,
10:25 have the homocysteine level rechecked in 2 or 3 months.
10:28 If their level is very high...
10:30 Now someone is probably saying, what's high, what's VERY HIGH?
10:32 Normal range probably around 9 to 11
10:36 Ideal is below 7 and I won't go into the
10:40 technicalities of the unit measurements...
10:42 It's in micromoles per liter...
10:44 Anyway, remember the number 7 as being ideal.
10:49 What we want to do... Let's say someone's level is 15,
10:53 TWICE IDEAL... We'll probably, in that case,
10:57 put them on B vitamins, and I say "probably"
10:59 At the Lifestyle Center, we're not in a dictatorial mode.
11:02 It's not like... I'm the commander-in- chief
11:03 as one of the physicians and you listen to me...
11:05 it's working with the... We call them even our "guests"
11:09 ...we don't call them patients -
11:11 We work with our guests and try to get them to look at
11:15 these issues and say - Are you interested in taking
11:17 a B12, a B6 and a folic acid,
11:20 and we'll often use that combination regimen...
11:23 About 1000 micrograms of B12,
11:26 25 milligrams of B6
11:30 and about a 1000 micrograms 1000-2000 mcg of folic acid.
11:35 This may be totally off the subject, but you know today,
11:38 one of the things that's really in vogue is what's called
11:40 "high protein diets" that help people lose weight rapidly
11:44 and whatnot...
11:45 And, they say that you can eat ALL these foods that are
11:47 VERY high in probably methionine...
11:50 Is this dangerous in terms of homocysteine?
11:52 Actually, one of the arguments that people are starting to
11:56 put forward when it comes to the dangers
11:58 of these high protein diets, is what is happening
12:01 to homocysteine levels.
12:02 Now to my knowledge, Don, no one has studied this yet.
12:05 From what we know about methionine,
12:07 we'd expect that these levels would be rising on these diets.
12:11 But it's not been looked at in any of the papers that I've seen
12:13 I will tell you this though...
12:15 A recent paper showed that by eating more
12:17 fruits and vegetables, you LOWER homocysteine levels.
12:22 Okay, so REALLY, the best plan is that simple vegetarian diet
12:27 which is high complex carbohydrates,
12:29 and kind of low in the protein area,
12:32 when you're looking at this homocysteine thing...
12:35 Plus making sure, especially for the vegetarian,
12:38 that you have the vitamin B12 in your diet.
12:41 Right, and the thing really on the HIT list is the meat protein
12:44 not so much protein per se, but meat especially.
12:47 Now, it is true, plant sources of protein do have some
12:50 methionine but usually in much
12:52 lower amounts than the animal sources... What about tofu?
12:54 Tofu actually is moderate in methionine content.
12:58 You know, it's looking in the range of 100-200 mg/serving
13:03 compared to 600-800 for meat.
13:05 That's probably because it's concentrated?
13:07 Well, it is a concentrated food;
13:10 soy is a rich source of protein and protein has that methionine
13:13 as one of the building blocks in it.
13:15 We're talking with Dr. David DeRose
13:17 from the Lifestyle Center of America
13:18 You've probably sensed a little energy in this interview...
13:20 I hope that you have and that type of energy
13:23 will continue in the next half, I'm sure,
13:25 as we talk more about homocysteine and your health
13:27 If you would like to contact the Lifestyle Center of America,
13:30 let me give you a web page...
13:31 www. lifestylecenter. org
13:37 or you can contact us here at 3ABN,
13:39 and get information on how to contact Dr. DeRose
13:42 in the Lifestyle Center.
13:44 Join us when we come back!
13:47 Have you found yourself wishing that
13:49 you could shed a few pounds?
13:50 Have you been on a diet for most of your life,
13:53 but not found anything that will really keep the weight off?
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14:48 Welcome back, we've been talking about your health.
14:50 We've been talking about homocysteine.
14:52 We've been talking about heart disease.
14:53 All those big words, let's just recapitulate a little bit.
14:56 Homocysteine is a protein or amino...
14:59 Amino acid, a building block of protein.
15:02 That just kind of swirls around in the blood
15:04 when we have foods that are high in methionine
15:06 that come from the meats and the dairy products
15:08 and those different kind of things in our diet,
15:10 and then that causes free radicals that just MESS US UP!
15:14 Is that right? That's putting it in a nutshell...
15:16 I mean it's taking a few leaps with some of the suggestions
15:20 there is in the medical research literature,
15:22 but I think that's putting a pretty good capsule on it, Don.
15:25 Okay! We talked about ways to AVOID having that problem.
15:29 Avoid developing the atherosclerotic plaques
15:33 that come from having high homocysteine levels.
15:35 One of the things that you mentioned was the importance of
15:38 B12 vitamins and then having foods as grown,
15:41 simple plant foods and whatnot...
15:44 And then you mentioned FIBER
15:45 but are there ANY OTHER THINGS that can help us avoid
15:50 high homocysteine levels?
15:51 There are - and maybe before we get into those,
15:54 I need to re-emphasize something...
15:56 Because, you know, as a scientist and a researcher
15:59 as well as a clinician, I have to be sensitive
16:02 when we are communicating to the public...
16:04 And what's very well-established with homocysteine...
16:07 is that folic acid supplements, B12 supplements...
16:12 these lower homocysteine levels.
16:13 This is VERY conclusive, okay.
16:15 B6 does not seem to make as much difference
16:20 in a fasting state, as far as your fasting homocysteine level.
16:24 It seems to be more important when you eat.
16:26 These other things we've been talking about...
16:28 methionine - the amount of methionine in the diet
16:31 and some of these other lifestyle factors,
16:33 there is some very intriguing and suggestive evidence
16:35 including the research we've done at the Lifestyle Center,
16:38 but I have to tell you that it's a step BELOW where we're at
16:42 ...where we are with the B vitamin supplements.
16:45 In other words, someone listening to the show, Don,
16:48 I don't want them to walk out with the main message
16:50 being... if they've got sky-high homocysteine,
16:53 they should eat a little less meat.
16:55 They really need to FIRST think about taking the folic acid,
16:58 the B12 making sure they get
17:00 the blood levels up on those B vitamins.
17:02 Now someone is going to say... "Don, I know this"
17:04 They are going to say, "But Dr. DeRose, I want to do
17:07 a natural approach"
17:08 And I think as long as you're working with a physician,
17:12 it's fine to go through these
17:13 lifestyle measures we're talking about.
17:15 But by all means, don't just rest assured that your
17:18 homocysteine is going to be great
17:20 if you're doing these lifestyle things,
17:21 because there is still a lot we don't know;
17:23 this is an emerging risk factor.
17:25 So, you need to get your level checked.
17:26 That's right... that's the first step.
17:28 If it's HIGH, in addition to these other factors, Don,
17:31 3 things that we exclude at the Lifestyle Center
17:34 seem to worsen homocysteine.
17:37 That's why we EXCLUDE them...
17:39 COFFEE, ALCOHOL and SMOKING
17:42 Okay now, how does that work?
17:44 Well, different mechanisms...
17:46 The alcohol, for example, seems to interfere with...
17:50 Oh boy, this is biochemistry...
17:52 Methyl groups... Boy, I know we're losing everybody now
17:57 The chemistry of homocysteine,
18:00 when it is gotten rid of in the body...
18:03 One way to get rid of homocysteine is to ADD
18:05 a chemical structure called... "a methyl group"
18:08 You add that to the homocysteine and it becomes methionine again,
18:12 and then the body can get rid of it.
18:13 You put it in reverse... That's right, you put it in reverse!
18:15 But when you drink alcohol...
18:16 It seems to mess up some of those methyl group
18:21 shuffling in the body.
18:22 A car can only go forward; it can't go backward.
18:24 So, you're headed to the precipice.
18:27 That's one way of looking at it!
18:29 I wouldn't say it's completely locking that path,
18:32 but it does seem to make some problems.
18:34 The mechanisms for smoking and for coffee intake
18:41 are not really as clear in my mind...
18:43 They've been shown in what we call "epidemiologic studies"
18:45 when we look at large groups of people...
18:47 It seems clearly that smoking does seem to WORSEN the problem.
18:51 Coffee has been suggested in one of the large Norwegian studies
18:55 and the question is... Does that really apply
18:57 to American coffee as well?
18:58 I'm looking here at the article that you published in
19:01 "Preventive Medicine" in the year 2000
19:06 and I see here that you can get it on the web, is that right?
19:10 You can actually contact us, and we do have a handout
19:13 that summarizes that in lay terms.
19:16 Yeah, maybe those folks that really do like the biochemistry,
19:19 they're sitting down... "What did he say?"
19:21 And they want to just try and read and find out...
19:22 Yeah, we go through the biochemistry and the paper
19:24 and there is a nice diagram of things and all.
19:27 www. lifestylecenter. org
19:30 They can figure out how to get this or calling you there
19:33 at the Lifestyle Center.
19:34 Well let's talk a little bit about some other factors.
19:36 What are some other things besides
19:38 cutting out the coffee, the smoking and the alcohol
19:43 from our diet?
19:45 Well a real exciting one has to do with "phytoestrogens"
19:50 These are plant estrogens... I'm getting it,
19:53 it's in the paper but let's unpack it a little bit.
19:56 Yeah, let's kind of step back a little bit
19:58 because what we KNOW in women that estrogens
20:02 seem to help lower homocysteine levels.
20:04 This is pretty clear in a number of the research studies.
20:09 But what the question is... the bigger leap
20:11 is if you're getting these phytoestrogens,
20:13 these plant estrogens...
20:15 Can THIS lower homocysteine as well?
20:18 And we're suggesting this may be one of the ways
20:21 that a vegetarian diet - that uses things like
20:23 soy products can help to lower homocysteine.
20:26 Again, right now I've got to say, Don,
20:28 this is some speculation...
20:30 It's kind of a little bit of leap as far as the
20:33 research literature, but I think it's very promising
20:35 and research studies are being proposed
20:37 that will look at this question.
20:38 So you're seeing these trends at the Lifestyle Center,
20:40 you're just trying to figure out WHY it's happening,
20:43 and document some of those different OTHER factors
20:45 besides just the folates which everybody knows about.
20:48 And I actually have to back up because the REASON
20:51 we have this question has to do with other research,
20:54 and results that we've seen at the Lifestyle Center
20:57 and other centers where we're seeing people actually
20:59 IMPROVE their heart disease status;
21:02 whether it's decreasing their anginal pain,
21:04 less angina attacks, whether it's Dr. Ornish's study
21:08 that showed the blood vessels could open up... if you will,
21:11 but we're saying "Why do these things happen"
21:13 Cholesterol alone doesn't explain it.
21:15 There's got to be something else happening...
21:17 And that's what inspired us to look at homocysteine.
21:20 What about exercise?
21:21 Exercise... that's a very good question.
21:24 Scandinavian researchers in Norway have done some
21:27 EXCELLENT work on homocysteine.
21:29 In one of those studies, they actually show that people
21:32 that exercise MORE lower their homocysteine better.
21:36 So exercise may be a factor,
21:38 and we're looking at this in some research
21:40 we're currently doing at the Lifestyle Center of America.
21:43 You need more folks there for more research, don't you?
21:45 Well, we're always excited for people who have a vision
21:49 to learn about what's happening in their bodies.
21:52 You mentioned something else to me about ICEBERG LETTUCE...
21:57 and this could really have some connection with homocysteine.
22:01 It really could... You know Don, we were talking
22:03 there at the break how you and I were both educated
22:07 to stay away from that iceberg lettuce...
22:09 You know, eat the romaine, and the deep green... Kale, spinach
22:12 There you go... The interesting thing is that iceberg lettuce
22:16 is a VERY, VERY rich source of CHOLINE.
22:20 CHOLINE! YES, CHOLINE!
22:22 I just never would think of it - Give me some choline! All right
22:25 Actually choline is a very important molecule.
22:27 It's used in the makeup of building in your body
22:31 of something called "acetylcholine"
22:33 For your nerves... That's RIGHT! There you go!
22:35 But of interest, choline is also transformed in the body
22:40 into something called "betaine"
22:42 Isn't that just fascinating?
22:43 BE-TAINE! Explain betaine.
22:45 Betaine actually is another one of these compounds
22:48 that can shuttle around methyl groups... OHHHH
22:52 You see - starting to sound familiar?
22:53 We've GOT TO have that.
22:55 Can bring that methyl group to the homocysteine...
22:57 It's the REVERSE! There you go!
22:58 It turns it back into methionine.
23:00 All right, so it's headed... that free radical is going to
23:03 SLAM into it but then it gets the choline group
23:05 and says... oh oh oh oh oh, I'm going to go the other way!
23:08 The methyl group from the choline.
23:10 I'm going to go the other way. There you go!
23:12 So ICEBERG lettuce... there's more, it's just the TIP
23:15 of the iceberg lettuce when you eat it...
23:16 ALL these things happen!
23:17 Well, I won't try to elaborate on that.
23:22 But Don, it's not just iceberg lettuce,
23:24 even MORE RICH in choline are peanuts! Peanuts?
23:28 Peanuts are even a better source of choline then iceberg lettuce.
23:31 But haven't I heard that peanuts can be harmful in heart disease?
23:34 I don't know who you heard that from...
23:37 Actually, the research is suggesting, Don,
23:40 that nut consumption has beneficial effects
23:43 when it comes to heart disease and peanuts,
23:45 even though they're a legume,
23:47 in the studies that look at nut consumption,
23:49 it often seems that peanuts is the main nut
23:52 that people are consuming at least here in America.
23:54 So they used to call vegetarians and those that ate
23:56 a plant-based diet "peanuts" and that's not a BAD name
24:02 if you're trying to address the homocysteine thing!
24:04 Well, peanuts have some benefits.
24:06 Now I'm not telling people to LOAD up on them...
24:08 A FEW! A little dab will do ya!
24:09 Moderate amounts of peanuts are part of a good healthy diet,
24:12 and that's what the research seems to be suggesting.
24:14 Iceberg lettuce, peanuts, and all these other plant foods
24:19 that have the estrogens in it...
24:21 Anything else we should be eating?
24:23 Well I think, we've hit on the main high points...
24:26 I mean, the clear thing is making sure you're getting
24:28 adequate amounts of these critical B vitamins
24:31 ...No question about the importance of those.
24:33 The U.S. government has been MOVED by research
24:37 on folic acid and heart disease to have
24:41 universal really supplementation with folic acid.
24:44 Now, of course, this helps to prevent pregnancy defects
24:47 what we call neural tube defects in infants as well,
24:50 but folic acid controversy has kind of moved a step beyond
24:54 with the homocysteine research.
24:56 So the B vitamins are critical.
24:58 The plant-based diet seems to have some unique benefits.
25:00 Staying away from the alcohol, the tobacco, the coffee,
25:04 these things have some definite pluses going for them
25:08 when it comes to homocysteine.
25:10 So you check for homocysteine levels at the Lifestyle Center,
25:13 but can you go to your local physician,
25:16 and can he order that test?
25:17 Most commercial labs are able, now to obtain
25:20 homocysteine levels and we're encouraging people
25:23 to check their homocysteine level.
25:25 What else should people be checking for with heart disease?
25:28 Very important... we don't want to spend a whole talk on
25:32 homocysteine and people think that the OLD risk factors
25:35 are not important anymore.
25:36 Cholesterol is still critically important!
25:38 People should know what their cholesterol is.
25:40 They should know what their LDL cholesterol is
25:42 which is the bad cholesterol.
25:44 Very important... those things are critical as far as
25:46 heart disease risk.
25:48 We should STOP smoking, even if homocysteine
25:50 isn't on our radar screen...
25:52 Even if this presentation hasn't changed anybody's minds,
25:55 smoking is still a potent risk factor for heart attack.
25:58 Bigger than homocysteine.
26:00 Right now, if you have to focus on one of the two,
26:06 STOP smoking first, then get concerned about
26:08 the homocysteine, okay?
26:10 The OTHER thing is that we don't want to minimize is
26:13 blood pressure and DIABETES.
26:15 These 2 diseases dramatically increase the risk of
26:18 heart disease; these things need to be controlled!
26:20 Obesity? Obesity, it's a big one too.
26:23 The deadly quartet. The deadly quartet!
26:25 The so-called "deadly quartet. "
26:27 Well, we've been talking with Dr. David DeRose
26:29 He is a physician at the Lifestyle Center of America
26:31 where they've been doing cutting-edge research
26:34 and helping people REVERSE the common diseases.
26:38 We've been talking about homocysteine.
26:39 If you're interested in more information about homocysteine
26:42 they have a handout on that at the Lifestyle Center
26:44 You can get their number by calling us here at 3ABN
26:47 or by contacting them over the web at
26:50 www. lifestylecenter. org
26:53 Any closing thoughts for those who really sense that they
26:57 have a problem with heart disease...
26:58 You are a Christian physician working at a
27:01 Christian-motivated center...
27:04 What is your counsel for the folks in our last 30 seconds?
27:07 You know it's encouraging to me, Don,
27:09 is you look at the original diet that God gave
27:12 to Adam and Eve... it was a plant-based diet
27:15 and it's interesting that when you move to that diet,
27:18 you not only address homocysteine,
27:20 you tend to lower your cholesterol,
27:22 you tend to promote weight loss,
27:24 you tend to lower your risk of diabetes,
27:27 and it seems that God REALLY gave Adam and Eve
27:30 a diet that was designed for eternity
27:33 there in the Garden of Eden!
27:35 Thanks for joining us today on "Health for a Lifetime"
27:38 Boy, I've learned a lot today!
27:40 My head is kind of swirling a bit with all these
27:42 methyl groups and different things that I've learned,
27:44 but I have learned that there is one simple answer
27:47 and that's relying on God, His diet, His way,
27:50 His plan for your life.
27:52 Thanks so much for being with us, doctor,
27:54 and we thank YOU for being with us...
27:56 And we hope that as a result of today's program
27:58 you have Health that Lasts for a Lifetime!


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Revised 2014-12-17