There are many benefits to fish oil such as providing us with a quality source of Omega-3 fatty acids, helping to improve depression symptoms, improving the appearance of skin, hair and nails, preventing dry eyes, maintaining digestive health and a healthy heart and much, much more.

New research suggests that fish oil may be helpful in improving thyroid function as well! Supplementing with fish oil can help optimize the function of thyroid hormones within liver cells to burn fat, thus having a positive effect on blood lipids. Specifically, “the activity of hepatic mitochondrial glycerophosphate dehydrogenase, the enzyme involved in thermogenesis and a well-characterized target stimulated by T3” was higher in the study group that consumed fish oil. You can learn more in the research article below.
 
When supplementing with fish oil, it is important to do so with a high-quality fish oil supplement that includes a healthy ratio of EPA and DHA. I recommend Heart Health Omega-3, which provides 900mg EPA and 600mg DHA. The fish oil in nutraMetrix Heart Health Essential Omega III with Vitamin E comes from sardines and anchovies harvested off the coast of Peru. Not only do anchovies and sardines have a high omega III content, they also have high percentages of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Anchovies and sardines have a short lifecycle making them an ideal source of fish oil because they are less prone to accumulating environmental toxins that can be found in larger, longer-lived fish.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Healthy wishes!
Alissa

Source: Effects of dietary fish oil on thyroid hormone signaling in the liver.

A diet rich in foods that are loaded with POTASSIUM can reduce your risk for a stroke by 21 percent and may also lower your risk of heart disease, suggests a new study.

Make sure to drink water with your meals. This will help with digestion as well as the absorption of potassium.

HIGH POTASSIUM FOODS: (more than 225 milligrams per 1/2 c. serving)  
- Soy nuts - They pack a whopping 510mg per 1/4 cup!
- All meats, poultry and fish are high in potassium.
- Apricots (fresh more so than canned)
- Avocado
- Banana
- Cantaloupe
- Honeydew
- Kiwi 
- Lima beans
- Milk - Skim
- Oranges and 100% orange juice
- Potatoes
- Prunes
- Spinach
- Parsley
- Tomatoes
- Vegetable juice – Low sodium
- Winter squash
- Yogurt – Non-fat Plain or Non-fat Greek Yogurt ex. Chobani or Brown Cow

MODERATE: (125 - 225 mg per serving) 
- 100% Apple juice
- Asparagus
- Beets
- Blackberries
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Cherries
- Corn
- Eggplant
- Grapefruit
- Green peas
- Loose-leaf lettuce
- Mushrooms, fresh
- Onions
- Peaches
- Pears
- Pineapple
- Raisins
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
- Summer squash, including zucchini
- Tangerines
- Watermelon

Source: Potassium Intake, Stroke, and Cardiovascular Disease

A new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that heart patients with
a large waist size (greater than 35 inches for women and 40 for men) were 70 percent more likely to die during the study than those with smaller waists.

The study also found, like some previous studies have, that Body Mass Index (BMI) is a flawed measurement tool, as it tells you nothing about where fat is located in the body, and it appears that the location of the fat is more important than the amount of fat when it comes to measuring heart risks.

BMI also neglects to mention how muscular a person may be. Athletes and completely out-of-shape individuals can have close to the same BMI scores, or a very muscular person could be classified as "obese" using BMI, when in reality that person’s body consists of lean muscle accounting for their higher-than-average weight. 

What About Having a Large Waist So Potentially Dangerous?
Your body has two types of fat: visceral and subcutaneous. Subcutaneous fat is found just under your skin, and causes dimpling and cellulite. Visceral fat, on the other hand, shows up in your abdomen and surrounds your vital organs including your liver, heart and muscles.

This "visceral fat" is strongly linked to a person developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, strokes, and other chronic diseases. It is thought that visceral fat is related to the release of proteins and hormones that can cause inflammation, which in turn can damage arteries and enter your liver, affecting how your body breaks down sugars and fats.

When your body is in a mode of consistently storing excess visceral fat, you increase your risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, vascular disease, atherosclerosis (hardening of your arteries) and an increased thickness in the walls of your heart.

While visceral fat is often referred to as "belly fat" because it can cause a "beer belly" or an apple-shaped body, you can have visceral fat even if you're thin. As CNN reported regarding the Journal of the American College of Cardiology:

"Even heart patients with apple-shaped bodies and BMIs in the normal range were at increased
risk of dying sooner, which drives home the fact that normal-weight heart patients may need to lose some weight in their bellies too …"

Where Does Your Waist Measure Up?
Determining your waist size is easy. With a tape measure, figure the distance around the smallest area of your abdomen below your rib cage and above your belly button. If you're not sure if you have a healthy waist circumference, a general guide is:
              
- For men, between 37 and 40 inches is overweight and more than 40 inches is obese 
- For women, 31.5 and 34.6 inches is overweight and more than 34.6 inches is obese 

Leptin and Inflammation:
The hormones your fat cells produce impact how much you eat and how much fat you burn. One of these hormones is leptin, and leptin sends signals that reduce hunger, increase fat burning and reduce fat storage. That is, if your cells are communicating properly and can "hear" this message.

If you are eating a diet that is high in sugar and grains - this is the same type of diet that will also increase inflammation in your body - as the sugar gets metabolized in fat cells, fat releases surges in leptin. Over time, if your body is exposed to too much leptin, it will become resistant to the leptin (just as your body can become resistant to insulin).

Leptin resistance causes an increase in the visceral fat your body produces. Likewise, it is through an inflammatory process that it's thought visceral fat causes its damage, and the same diet that makes you leptin resistant will also increase inflammation in your body.

So by paying closer attention to this one important factor – your diet - you can reduce your risk of both becoming leptin resistant and triggering chronic inflammation in your body.

Dietary Change #1: Limit Added Sugars
The single largest source of calories for Americans comes from added sugars, primarily from soft drinks, fruit juices and sports drinks, and hidden in most processed foods. This includes foods such as bologna, pretzels, cheese spreads, and Worcestershire sauce and other condiments.

Excess sugar quickly leads to weight gain and abdominal obesity, along with elevated uric acid, which leads to chronic, low-level inflammation in your body. It will also interfere with leptin, as
fructose tricks your body into gaining weight by fooling your metabolism, as it turns off your body's appetite-control system. 

As a standard recommendation, I strongly advise keeping your TOTAL sugar consumption below 50 grams per day. Remember, the average 12-ounce can of soda contains 40 grams of sugar!

Exercise - The Key to Melting Away that Stubborn Belly Fat
Exercise not only lowers inflammation in your body, it is also one of the best weapons to fight visceral fat, but it is NOT magic and you must abide by the sugar and grain restriction if you want to reduce your body fat. About 80% of your ability to achieve an ideal body fat will be related to your food choices NOT your exercises. However if you are choosing the right foods exercise is a shockingly effective tool.

Remember, you can be thin, underweight even, and still have dangerous visceral fat around your organs. If you are thin, but rarely exercise, this may be you. And if you have a beer belly or a lot of fat around your midsection, you can also bet on the fact that you're holding on to visceral fat.

According to one study, those who did not exercise gained a substantial amount of visceral fat (8.6 percent) in six months whereas those participating in vigorous-intensity exercise lost about 7 percent of both subcutaneous and visceral fat. 

Three More Tips for a Healthy Heart
Heart disease can be one of the easiest diseases to prevent if you make the decision to be proactive. Along with reducing your belly fat by paying attention to your diet and incorporating exercise, the following items are heart-healthy steps that virtually everyone can benefit from.

1. Optimize Your Vitamin D Level
Studies show that people with the lowest average vitamin D levels had a 124 percent greater risk of dying from all causes and a 378 percent greater risk of dying from a heart problem!

2. Manage Your Stress Levels with Healthy Emotional Outlets
One of the most common contributing factors to heart disease is unresolved emotional stress. Anger, stress, guilt, sadness - really any emotion that doesn't make you feel good - can lead to heart attacks, obesity and strokes. Even the best diet in the world is not likely to overcome the damage created by lingering emotional stresses. 

When your body is under the stress response, your cortisol levels rise. And when your cortisol is chronically elevated, you'll tend to gain weight around your midsection, which further increases your heart disease risk. 

While you cannot eliminate stress entirely, you can work to provide emotional outlets for yourself such as meditation, yoga, exercise, journaling or talking to a qualified health professional.

Following these tips and staying consistent with them are a sure way to avoid heart disease and maintain optimal health for your lifetime.

Questions? Feel free to contact me:

 Alissa Robertson, MS, RD
 (802) 999-5684
 [email protected]

Resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant and polyphenol found in red wine and in high amounts in specific medicinal plants, was found to improve insulin sensitivity in type II diabetic patients. Over the life of the study, resveratrol also dramatically improved other markers of diabetes and insulin metabolism.

Poor cellular and cardiovascular health along with the rate of diabetes type ll is increasing is becoming a worldwide epidemic. An unhealthy diet of processed, high-calorie, high-fat foods, pollution, smoking, and sedentary lifestyles all contribute to poor cell and heart health.

How does Resveratrol fit in?
Well, resveratrol is an ingredient with incredible clinical research, revealing it supports cardiovascular and normal cell health. Because wine is so highly processed, the actual amount of resveratrol is quite low. One would have to drink at least three bottles of red wine a day to experience the effects of resveratrol extract. Additionally, the content of resveratrol in red wine is inconsistent and varies by type of wine, region and processing techniques. Resveratrol extract or more specifically, Resveravine®, which is a more concentrated form of resveratrol, ensures that the body reaps all of the benefits of resveratrol, without the ill effects from three bottles of wine.

I recommend nutraMetrix® Isotonix® Resveratrol, which is isotonic-capable supplement made from three patented ingredients: Resveravinewith 20% resveratrol extract, BioVin®Advanced with 5% resveratrol extract, and VitaBlue®(wild blueberry extract), designed to promote normal cell health. Isotonix Resveratrol works to maintain cell health, promote normal cell cycle activity, promote apoptosis (programmed cell death) in unhealthy cells, support the normal activity of the SIRT-1 gene, improve insulin sensitivity, and promote cardiovascular health by promoting healthy platelet activity, promoting vasorelaxation, and providing antioxidant protection of LDL particles.

Resveravine is a combination of trans-resveratrol (20% purity) and viniferin extracted from vine stems, which work synergistically to enhance the effectiveness of resveratrol extract. Trans-resveratrol is the predominate isomer found in red wine grapes and juice, and Resveravine is 100 to 300 times more concentrated in trans-resveratrol than other products from grape skin. According to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, trans-resveratrol may have a higher bioavailability than other isomers of resveratrol. Resveravine provides a higher level of free radical defense against oxidative stress, stronger promotion of normal cellular activity and higher antioxidant protection of LDL particles than pure resveratrol extract.

Source: Resveratrol improves insulin sensitivity, reduces oxidative stress and activates the Akt pathway in type 2 diabetic patients

Cholesterol could easily be described as the smoking gun of the last two decades. It's been held responsible for demonizing entire categories of foods (like eggs and saturated fats) and blamed for just about every case of heart disease in the last 20 years.

There are many myths that portray fat and cholesterol as one of the worst foods you can consume. Please understand that these myths are actually harming your health. Not only is cholesterol most likely not going to destroy your health (as you have been led to believe), but it is also not the cause of heart disease.

And for those of you taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, the information that follows could not have been given to you fast enough. But before I delve into this life-changing information, let's get some basics down first.

What is Cholesterol, and Why Do You Need It?

That's right, you do need cholesterol!

This soft, waxy substance is found not only in your bloodstream, but also in every cell in your body, where it helps to produce cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help you to digest fat. Cholesterol also helps in the formation of your memories and is vital for neurological function.

Your liver makes about 75 percent of your body's cholesterol, and according to conventional medicine, there are two types:

1. High-density lipoprotein, or HDL: This is the "good" cholesterol that helps to keep cholesterol away from your arteries and remove any excess from arterial plaque, which may help to prevent heart disease.
2. Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL: This "bad" cholesterol circulates in your blood and, according to conventional thinking, may build up in your arteries, forming plaque that makes your arteries narrow and less flexible (a condition called atherosclerosis). If a clot forms in one of these narrowed arteries leading to your heart or brain, a heart attack or stroke may result.

Also making up your total cholesterol count are:

• Triglycerides: Elevated levels of this dangerous fat have been linked to heart disease and diabetes. Triglyceride levels are known to rise from eating too many grains and sugars, being physically inactive, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol excessively and being overweight or obese.
• Lipoprotein (a), or Lp(a): Lp(a) is a substance that is made up of an LDL "bad cholesterol" part plus a protein (apoprotein a). Elevated Lp(a) levels are a very strong risk factor for heart disease. This has been well established, yet very few physicians check for it in their patients.

Understand this:
Your total cholesterol level is NOT a great indicator of your heart disease risk. Health officials in the United States urge everyone over the age of 20 to have their cholesterol tested once every five years. Part of this test is your total cholesterol, or the sum of your blood's cholesterol content, including HDL, LDLs, and VLDLs.

The American Heart Association recommends that your total cholesterol is less than 200 mg/dL, but what they do not tell you is that total cholesterol level is just about worthless in determining your risk for heart disease, unless it is above 330.

I have worked with a number of people with total cholesterol levels over 250 who actually were at low heart disease risk due to their HDL levels. Conversely, I have seen even more who had cholesterol levels under 200 that were at a very high risk of heart disease. HDL percentage is a very potent heart disease risk factor. Just divide your HDL level by your cholesterol. That percentage should ideally be above 24 percent.

You can also do the same thing with your triglycerides and HDL ratio. That percentage should be below 2.

Keep in mind, however, that these are still simply guidelines, and there's a lot more that goes into your risk of heart disease than any one of these numbers. In fact, it was only after word got out that total cholesterol is a poor predictor of heart disease that HDL and LDL cholesterol were brought into the picture. They give you a closer idea of what's going on, but they still do not show you everything.

The Dangers of Cholesterol-Lowering Medications
If you are concerned about your cholesterol levels, taking a drug should be your absolute last resort. And when I say last resort, I'm saying the odds are very high, greater than 100 to 1, that you don't need drugs to lower your cholesterol.

According to data from Medco Health Solutions Inc., more than half of insured Americans are taking drugs for chronic health conditions. And cholesterol-lowering medications are the second most common variety among this group, with nearly 15 percent of chronic medication users taking them (high blood pressure medications -- another vastly over-prescribed category - were first).

Count yourself lucky that you probably do NOT need to take cholesterol-lowering medications, because these are some nasty little pills.

Statin drugs work by inhibiting an enzyme in your liver that's needed to manufacture cholesterol. What is so concerning about this is that when you go tinkering around with the delicate workings of the human body, you risk throwing everything off kilter. Statin drugs inhibit not just the production of cholesterol, but a whole family of intermediary substances, many if not all of which have important biochemical functions.

For starters, statin drugs deplete your body of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which is beneficial to heart health and muscle function. Because doctors rarely inform people of this risk and advise them to take a CoQ10 supplement, this depletion leads to fatigue, muscle weakness, soreness, and eventually heart failure. Muscle pain and weakness, a condition called rhabdomyolysis, is actually the most common side effect of statin drugs, which is thought to occur because statins activate the atrogin-1 gene, which plays a key role in muscle atrophy. By the way, muscle pain and weakness may be an indication that your body tissues are actually breaking down -- a condition that can cause kidney damage.

Statin drugs have also been linked to:

• An increased risk of polyneuropathy (nerve damage that causes pain in the hands and feet and trouble walking)
• Dizziness
• Cognitive impairment, including memory loss
• A potential increased risk of cancer
• Decreased function of the immune system
• Depression
• Liver problems, including a potential increase in liver enzymes (so people taking statins must be regularly monitored for normal liver function)
• Most recently, a possible association was found between statins and an increased risk of Lou Gehrig"s disease

Other cholesterol-lowering drugs besides statins also have side effects, most notably muscle pain and weakness.

How to Lower Inflammation and Your Risk of Heart Disease...Naturally

There is a major misconception that you must avoid foods like eggs and saturated fat to protect your heart. While it's true that fats from animal sources contain cholesterol, there is clear evidence as to why these foods are actually beneficial to our bodies.

This misguided principle is based on the "lipid hypothesis" -- developed in the 1950s by nutrition pioneer Ancel Keys -- that linked dietary fat to coronary heart disease. The nutrition community of that time completely accepted the hypothesis, and encouraged the public to cut out butter, red meat, animal fats, eggs, dairy and other "artery clogging" fats from their diets -- a radical change at that time.

What you may not know is that when Keys published his analysis that claimed to prove the link between dietary fats and coronary heart disease, he selectively analyzed information from only six countries to prove his correlation, rather than comparing all the data available at the time -- from 22 countries.

As a result of this "cherry-picked" data, government health organizations began bombarding the public with advice that has contributed to the diabetes and obesity epidemics going on today: eat a low-fat diet. Not surprisingly, numerous studies have actually shown that Keys" theory was wrong and saturated fats are healthy.

• A survey of South Carolina adults found no correlation of blood cholesterol levels with "bad" dietary habits, such as use of red meat, animal fats, fried foods, butter, eggs, whole milk, bacon, sausage and cheese.
• A Medical Research Council survey showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease as those using margarine.

Of course, as Americans cut out nutritious animal fats from their diets, they were left hungry. So they began eating more processed grains, more vegetable oils, and more high-fructose corn syrup, all of which are nutritional disasters.

It is this latter type of diet that will eventually lead to increased inflammation, and therefore cholesterol, in your body. So don"t let anyone scare you away from saturated fat anymore.

Chronic inflammation is actually caused by a laundry list of items such as:

• Oxidized cholesterol (cholesterol that has gone rancid, such as that from overcooked, scrambled eggs)
• Eating lots of sugar and grains
• Eating foods cooked at high temperatures
• Eating trans fats
• A sedentary lifestyle
• Smoking
• Emotional stress

How to Lower Your Cholesterol Naturally …

1. Make sure you're getting plenty of high quality, animal-based omega-3 fats. I prefer NutraMetrix Heart Health Omega-3's. New research suggests that as little as 500 mg may lower your total cholesterol and triglycerides and will likely increase your HDL cholesterol.
2. Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars in your daily diet. It is especially important to eliminate dangerous sugars such as high fructose corn syrup. If your HDL/Cholesterol ratio is abnormal and needs to be improved it would also serve you well to virtually eliminate fruits from your diet, as that it also a source of fructose. Once your cholesterol improves you can gradually reintroduce it to levels that don't raise your cholesterol.
3. Eat the right foods for your body based on low-glycemic impact eating. Contact me for more information about how eating this way can improve your blood glucose control and overal weight management success. 
4. Eat a good portion of your food raw.
5. Eat healthy fats - preferably raw. This includes:
   • Olive oil
   • Coconut and coconut oil
   • Organic raw dairy products (including butter, cream, sour cream, cheese, etc.)
   • Avocados
   • Raw nuts
   • Seeds
   • Eggs (lightly cooked with yolks intact or raw)
   • Organic, grass-fed meats
6. Get the right amount of exercise. When you exercise you increase your circulation and the blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system are also better circulated, which means your immune system has a better chance of fighting an illness before it has the opportunity to spread.
7. Avoid smoking and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.
8. Address your emotional challenges. Practice methods that help you to reduce the level of stress in your life. Make sure to take time for yourself to read, journal, go for a walk, exercise, do yoga, meditate, etc. 

So there you have it - the reasons why high cholesterol is a worry that many of you simply do not need to have, along with a simple plan to optimize yours.

If someone you love is currently taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, I urge you to share this information with them as well. Please encourage them to contact me with any questions they may have!

For the majority of you reading this right now, there's no reason to risk your health with cholesterol-lowering drugs. With the plan I've just outlined, you'll achieve the cholesterol levels you were meant to have, along with the very welcome "side effects" of increased energy, mood and mental clarity.

Too good to be true? I know for a fact it's not.

For the vast majority of people, making a few lifestyle changes causes healthy cholesterol levels to naturally occur. As always, your health really is in your hands. Now it's up to you to take control and ulitmately shape it into something great. :)

Healthy wishes!