The Way We Are Living is CRAZY!

When I speak to groups and organizations about the state of health in this country, many are surprised when I explain that we, as a species, are sicker than we've ever been in history.  "How can that be?" "What sickness?" "Isn't that normal?" are all comments I hear quite a bit.
Being a holistic doctor, I take great pride in asking my patients lots of questions when they come in to the office.  Even if someone is simply coming to me for chiropractic care for headaches or neck pain, I do a full work-up to find out how their entire body is working; and as importantly how it ISN'T working well.
In doing so, what I find is that the vast majority of people have multiple issues, multiple symptoms, and multiple problems that they've come to accept as being normal, because they all know someone else who has some or more health problems than they do.  Whether it's digestive complaints, hormone dis-regulation, mood disorders, pain, fatigue, ADD/ADHD, etc., people today are suffering from a wider variety and greater number of illnesses than ever before.

I live my life and practice healthcare with the underlying philosophy that being HEALTHY is NORMAL.  IDEAL HEALTH is NORMAL.  We are not genetically programmed to develop Diabetes, or to be obese, or develop cancer, or to have chronic pain.  These are all the result of one of two things:  Not getting pure and sufficient amounts of the things we genetically require for health (clean air, clean water, clean, natural/organic food, daily physical movement, and a supportive social community), and/or getting TOO MUCH of the things that are toxic and unhealthy (polluted air & water, unnatural, processed & synthetic food, environmental toxins, sedentary lifestyle etc.).

I recently came across this MANIFESTO for Thriving in a Mixed Up World, by Pilar Gerasimo.
I often tell my patients that these days, it takes a conscious act of societal disobedience to be healthy, and this manifesto captures that idea beautifully.
Please take the time to read through it, and leave any comments you wish.  I'd love to get your feedback!

Being Healthy Is a Revolutionary Act: A Manifesto for Thriving in a Mixed-Up World

By Pilar Gerasimo

In case you haven’t noticed, we live in a society where the idea of health and fitness is wildly popular, but where actually becoming a truly healthy person can be mighty tough to pull off.

There’s a reason so many of us are sick, overweight, depressed and stressed out: We’re living in a society that is wired up to make us sick, overweight, depressed and stressed out.

We can change this mixed-up reality. We can reclaim our well-being and create a better, more blissful world. But it’s going to take some revolutionary moxie to make it happen.

This manifesto is a collection of ideas, reality-checks and insights designed to help those of us who value our health create and sustain healthy change—even in the face of some daunting challenges.

If you’re up for that, way to go, friend—and welcome to the revolutionary club!

Here are 10 revolutionary truths that a growing number of us hold to be self-evident . . .

1. The way we are living is crazy.

The United States currently produces more obese, chronically ill and depleted people than it does vital, fit, resilient ones—and this trend is worsening.

Two out of three U.S. adults is overweight or obese. At any given time, half of us are contending with at least one chronic disease. A growing number of us are reliant on pharmaceuticals whose side effects and interactions undermine our health and quality of life.

Our children, too, are becoming ill and prescription dependent at ever-younger ages, and their life spans are being shortened as a result.

Enough already! Our collective lack of vitality has become an oppressive source of misery and waste, one that threatens to impede our lives, our liberties, and our pursuit of happiness.

We can change this. We must change this—together.

2. There are powerful social, economic and political forces undermining our health.

Our culture didn’t get this unhealthy by accident. From the processed-food industry to pharmaceuticals, well-funded interests rake in huge amounts of money off our unhealthy population. They’ve been doing it for decades, and they pay billions of lobbying dollars to make sure they can keep doing it.

These special interests not only manipulate public policy and the media to our disadvantage, they conduct huge misinformation and marketing campaigns designed to keep us buying into products and behaviors that hurt us.

Their message? That their health-sapping options are wholesome, easy, appealing, cool, fun, affordable, delightful indulgences (or absolute necessities) that will make us and our lives oh-so-much better.

And we’ve taken the bait. We have been brainwashed into adopting daily behaviors and choices that poison our bodies, fog our minds and cost us billions in medical bills.

Here’s what those powers-that-be won’t tell you: Buy into what currently passes for “normal” in America, and you’re unlikely to stay healthy for long.

3. The time for complicity is over.

Tempting as it may be, we can’t blame this all on a conspiracy of health-sapping influences.

Yes, it is true that we’re surrounded by supersized junk foods and sedentary pastimes. Yes, we’ve been saddled with misleading labels and industry-influenced dietary guidelines. Yes, we’ve been bombarded by demoralizing media, manipulative advertising, and downright lousy advice.

But still. We’ve taken a lot of that sitting down.

For too long, we’ve allowed ourselves to be overprescribed, overfed, underinformed and overindulged. We’ve been quick to embrace superficial solutions and half-baked ideas.

We’ve permitted ourselves to be pandered to in the name of ease, convenience and “value”—and we’ve grown passive, expecting effortless cures to come from the outside.

Conspiracy theories notwithstanding, the greatest threats to our well-being lie in the health-sapping decisions we make every day by default. Because healthy choices have been rendered tougher than they ought to be. And because—like frogs in hot water—we’ve been willing to tolerate the intolerable. Until now.

4. The resistance is alive and well.

Every day, more and more of us are waking up to the realization that no one is going to save us but us. We’re getting clear that if we don’t want to get sucked into an unhealthy quagmire, we’ve got to start swimming against the tide.

So we are learning about our bodies and minds, and doing what it takes to keep them strong and well.

We are growing, buying and preparing more whole, nutritious foods and avoiding processed junk.

We are moving and sweating and exploring. We are resting and playing and connecting.

We are reclaiming control of our healthcare choices. We are dealing with the root causes of our health challenges, rather than simply suppressing our symptoms.

In short, we are treating our health like the fundamental priority it is.

We are rising up to take back the power for our own well-being. And we are discovering just how good that feels.

5. Being healthy is a revolutionary act.

Throwing off the chains of poor health and reclaiming our full vitality is both our individual right and our collective responsibility. And there is perhaps no more life-transforming choice.

Being strong and healthy in an unhealthy culture makes you part of an empowered minority. It gives you freedoms and opportunities that poor health and fitness prohibit. It endows you with the energy, clarity and resiliency to fully enjoy your life, and to make bigger, more meaningful contributions in anything you do.

Choosing a healthy way of life involves making some revolutionary choices, and it also has revolutionary results.

Because when you change your health for the better, you change the lives of everyone around you for the better, too.

In a very real way, you change your world.

6. This is not about six-pack abs and skinny jeans.

Sure, healthy is sexy and beautiful. A strong, fit body looks as good as it feels. But the most valuable rewards of good health and fitness have very little to do with rippling muscles or thin thighs.

You’d never know that by looking at conventional media, though.

All those sensationalized headlines, sexy images and instant-results promises may get our attention and appeal to our vanity, but they can also make getting healthy seem like a self-indulgent undertaking or a trivial, out-of-reach fantasy.

Worse, the unrelenting focus on largely unachievable ideals has a way of playing to our body-image insecurities.

Those superficial obsessions can also distract us from the deeper, lasting motivations that matter more.

So if mass media is messing with your mind or sapping your self-esteem, tune out the hype and turn your attention elsewhere. Like the reasons being healthy matters to you.

Maybe you have your heart set on six-pack abs and buns of steel; maybe not.

Either way, connecting with your own authentic healthy-life vision and values is the best way to start.

7. Inaction is not an option.

The time for passivity is past. Today, nearly every U.S. household is touched by obesity or chronic disease. And most often, when one family member’s health is compromised, the whole family suffers.

It’s time for that suffering to stop. But simply suppressing symptoms and “managing” diseases is not the answer.

As you read this, approximately 75 percent of our healthcare dollars are being spent ineffectively on chronic conditions, many of which can only be resolved through lifestyle change.

These burdens of chronic illness are simultaneously gutting our economy, our communities, and our whole population’s ability to thrive. They’re undermining the lives of our children, and the potential of future generations.

It’s time to face the reality that unless we’re part of the solution, we’re part of problem. And the problem is plenty big already.

None of us can afford to sit this challenge out. None of us deserves to live less than the best, healthiest life at our disposal.

So raise your sights. Raise your standards. Restake your claim to a vital body and mind. And never, ever back down.

8. The best defense is a good offense.

In the battle for our well-being, the forces of ill health may have won the last few rounds. But we’ve got some crazy judo moves they aren’t expecting.

Like giving up on diets and self-denial, and focusing on nourishing our bodies instead.

Like giving up on spot reducing and calorie counting and finding feel-good ways to get active and fit.

Like investing in healthy foods, stress management and proactive health support now—instead of paying gigantic medical bills later.

The healthier and more clear-headed you are, the better your chances of fending off the unhealthy influences that besiege you on a daily basis.

The stronger and more resilient you are, the better your chances of weathering the challenges that come your way.

And the more of us healthy, happy people there are, the better our shot at creating the kind of world in which thriving comes more easily for everyone.

So don’t let your guard down, and don’t let anyone convince you to settle for less than full-throttle vitality.

Remain vigilant. Defend your right to be well with unflinching determination and all the mojo you can muster.

9. Forget about quick fixes.

No magic diet, powder, pill or elixir is going to solve the problems we’re wrestling with now. And forking over cash for quick fixes only lines the pockets of the quick-fix hucksters who helped get us into this mess.

So instead of squandering your valuable time and money on miracle cures, invest in making healthy life changes for the long haul.

If you’re having trouble with that, know that you are not alone. You are not a bad, weak, lazy or doomed person—you’re just up against some tough opponents.

If you’re willing and determined, you can defeat them. Handily.

It may require developing new skills, strategies and perspectives.

It might mean connecting with new support systems and role models.

It could mean nursing some healthy indignation and cultivating some well-deserved self-compassion.

Almost certainly, it will require connecting with your own deepest sources of healthy motivation and stoking them into revolutionary action.

All this takes time and awareness and a willingness to experiment. And there’s no better time to start than now.

10. Solutions in the mirror may be closer than they appear.

The scope and scale of our national health crisis is so massive that it may seem beyond all hope. But it is not.

In fact, each of us has an important role to play in solving these problems for ourselves, and for each other.

Every time one of us starts taking the steps necessary to build and protect our health, we rescind our support of the nasty systems that are breaking millions of us down.

And if enough of us start treating our own bodies well, we will create new norms of vitality and well-being.

If we band together to demand and embrace healthier options—in our grocery stores, cafeterias, homes, workplaces, schools, healthcare centers, neighborhoods — we can reverse the trends that have been depleting our life force for decades.

Most of the trends and public policies responsible for our country’s ill health have occurred over the past 40 years—in large part, by design. And they can be turned around in a fraction of that time by a swell of grass-roots insistence.

So if you can help make that happen, do. Connect with others who share your healthy convictions. Then go boldly forth and start thriving—one conscious thought, one empowering choice, one revolutionary act at a time.

101 Revolutionary Ways to Be Healthy

Here’s a few to get you started. Find the rest (and share your own) atRevolutionaryAct.com.

1. Defy convention. Do the healthy thing, even when it’s challenging, inconvenient or considered weird. Take pride in that.

5. Repossess your health. Reclaim responsibility for your well-being; own your daily choices; minimize your reliance on the broken sick-care system.

20. Aim for 85%. You don’t have to make 100%-healthy choices all the time. It’s what you do most of the time — day in, day out — that counts. The healthier you get, the easier and more automatic healthy choices will become.

29. Beware the USDA Food Pyramid. It is a whole lot healthier for Big Ag and Big Business than for humans. Fill two-thirds of your plate with an array of vegetables, add in some other whole foods you enjoy, and don’t let the rest of the Pyramid’s propaganda confuse you.

31. Go easy on the sugar and flour. These two ingredients (combined with unhealthy industrial oils) have a starring role in most packaged foods we eat. More than any other culprit, they fuel inflammation, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease and cancer.

43. Redefine your goals. If you’ve been trying to lose weight and are struggling, make it your goal to get superbly healthy, well nourished, fit and energetic instead. Don’t be surprised when the excess weight starts melting off.

65. Rest up. Rest = recovery, repair and resilience. Exhaustion = illness and messed-up metabolism. Prioritize sleep time as the health essential it is.

81. Invest in your health. Money spent proactively on your health delivers far better returns than money spent reactively on treating illness and disease. When healthy choices seem “too expensive,” consider the long-term costs of health-sapping alternatives.

97. Focus on action, not outcomes. Live the life of a healthy person, and the results will take care of themselves. Every healthy step is a victory. Every day is an opportunity to feel, live and be better than the day before.

Join the Healthy Revolution at RevolutionaryAct.com.

(Photo Courtesy of Happy Healthy Foods.com)

Breast Cancer Prevention

With the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness Walk having just taken place here in Denver, Colorado, and with several friends of mine actively taking part, I wanted to pass on this article I recently read regarding Breast Cancer Prevention and Vitamin D serum levels. An increased interest in actual prevention of the disease, rather than finding new treatments, is truly inspiring and where I believe we should be focusing our efforts as a culture. Cancer rates across the board are increasing every decade, especially in childhood cancers, and some experts believe over 70% of cancers have an environmental cause (toxicity in our air, food, water, soil, etc.).

As noted in the article, “Breast cancer outcomes that matter most have not changed much over the last 20 years. The rate at which women are diagnosed with metastatic disease has remained constant for more than 40 years, and mortality from the disease has declined only slightly."

"We don’t do prevention,” said one organization, “we have to care for the patients who have cancer.” According to Baggerly, “No organization will be able to truly prevent the occurrence of breast cancer or to reduce the recurrence without attention to vitamin D.”

My heart goes out to every individual who has had to deal with cancer directly or indirectly, and especially to those who have lost loved ones to this disease, including my beloved mother Ruth Ann. May we collectively find an end to unnecessary illness, disease and early death through the best combination of natural living, true health promotion, and safe, effective treatments.

Why are so many people now Gluten-intolerant?

You've undoubtedly seen the increasing variety of gluten-free products lining the shelves of your local grocery store, and might even be overwhelmed by friends or colleagues jumping on the "gluten-free" bandwagon. What's this all about? And why are so many people moving towards a gluten-free diet?

First of all, gluten is the common name for proteins found in all wheat (including durum, semolina, spelt, kamut, einkorn, and faro) and related grains rye, barley, and triticale. When persons with gluten sensitivity eat these proteins, many different reactions can occur...

1. In clinically diagnosed Celiac Disease (with a positive HLA-DQ 2 or 8 gene), the person suffers digestive complaints such as gas, bloating, pain, diarrhea, constipation, other symptoms of irritable bowels, and more, including fatigue, weakness, and skin disorders.

2. In persons without the Celiac genotype, similar symptoms can occur. This is considered "Non-Celiac Gluten Enteropathy".

3. In persons without intestinal complaints at all, research is finding that the proteins can still cause many unwanted effects upon other body systems. These include organ and tissue inflammation, neurochemical (brain) imbalance, and tissue autoimmunity. In other words, the proteins end up confusing your body, and your immune system starts attacking other healthy tissues, such as your thyroid, pancreas, brain and nerves.

Although Celiac Disease is perhaps the most extreme example of gluten-induced illness, there are countless other people who are suffering mild to severe digestive complaints, along with autoimmune conditions (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis), mood disorders, sleep disorders, neurologic disorders (dementia, Alzheimers, Parkinson's, MS, learning delays in children, etc) that may also have a gluten-related basis. Cellular inflammation is the common denominator in all of these seemingly unrelated illnesses; a hallmark of any allergic or autoimmune response by the body.

The July 2009 issue of Gastroenterology found that in the past 50 years, the incidence of Celiac Disease went from 1 in 700 to 1 in 100, and this was not simply due to increase detection. They also found a 4-fold increased risk of death with undiagnosed (or silent) Celiac Disease.

Why is this? What are the factors leading to increased prevalence of Gluten Sensitivity in all its forms? Isn't bread the "Staff of Life?" Don't all cultures eat bread and gluten? The answer lies in several probable causes:

1. Poor nutrition and processed foods. When we process foods, we remove critical aspects of their integrity and nutrition that are meant to supply us with vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants, and more. Whole, natural, and organic foods are the foods we are designed to eat, from a genetic standpoint. They are required by our cells for normal, optimal function. Until the industrial revolution, organic food was the only food ever available on the planet. Processed, refined, adulterated foods may have some benefit in that they may keep us from starving, from the long-term effect upon our bodies is that of chronic malnourishment, depleted energy, and cellular dysfunction & early death. We must ask ourselves if a fast meal and an (artificially) cheaper grocery bill are worth chronic disease and illness later in life.

2. GMOs. Genetically-modified organisms may certainly have a role in the drastically increased incidence of not only gluten sensitivity, but increased food allergies across the board. GMOs have not had long-term health and safety studies performed in humans for any meaningful amount of time. We are all part of a vast experiment on the part of Agricultural and Biotechnology corporations, and have had our right to choose not to eat these "foods" taken away from us through aggressive marketing and lobbying efforts. Over time, the natural, heirloom varieties of wheat and grains our ancestors ate have become almost non-existent on our grocer's shelves. Anecdotal evidence shows that Americans with mild to moderate gluten sensitivity at home can eat breads, pastas, and gluten-containing products when traveling in other countries because they use more traditional species of grains that have not been genetically modified or hybridized to death to over the past decades.

3. Gluten storage in bins for long periods of time, leading to enterotoxin contamination.

4. Leaky Gut Syndrome. For those individuals with compromised intestines to begin with, any type of gluten sensitivity, allergy, or outright CD will be increased. And the incidence of leaky gut, or inflamed and dysfunctional bowels is increasing dramatically as well. (Stay tuned for an upcoming blog on the Gut-Brain-Immune Connection!)

5. Chronic Stress. We are living our lives at unprecedented levels of chronic stress; physical, chemical, and emotional/spiritual. Whereas our ancestors had very stressful events, such as surviving a clan attack or fighting a wild animal, we have traded stressful events for chronically elevated stressful lifestyle. This directly impacts our immune system and its tolerance to what we are consuming.

6. Enzyme insufficiency. This is a cause and a result of all of the above. Without enzymes to break down the proteins we are consuming, we are susceptible to not just gluten intolerance, but all of the common digestive complaints such as heartburn, indigestion, gas, bloating, etc.

What can be done and what should you do?

The simplest way to see if you are experiencing gluten sensitivity is to stop eating all gluten-containing products for at least 30 days. Then introduce them back into your diet and see if you notice a difference in your energy, your mental clarity, your digestion, etc. However, many foods that do not contain gluten can be contaminated with gluten during processing or in facilities that make multiple food products. It helps to have a professional guide you through the process.

If you have any of the above mentioned symptoms, you should also have an evaluation by a professional with experience in dealing with nutrition and gluten-free lifestyles. At Ananda Wellness, we test for not only the Celiac-specific genes that your medical doctor tests for, but up to a dozen other specific markers that might be positive... even if you test negative for Celiac Disease!

Here are some links to other websites that may be of use to you and your loved ones.

Happy reading, and my best to all of you as always!

Sincerely,

Dr. Jared C. Gruhl

Celiac Organization

Check out the Gluten-Free Links on our website!

Another Gluten-Free Blog

And here's some of the research for this post...

A 2007 study in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry found that of all psychiatric patients with neurological manifestations and gluten sensitivity, only 1/3 of those had gut and digestive complaints. JNNP, 2007:72:560-563.

Another article around the same time estimates that "The current ratio of clinically diagnosed to undetected cases [of Celiac Disease] is approximately 1 to 8." Gut, 2006; 55:1037-1046.

And a 2001 article in Gastroenterology stated that "for every symptomatic patient with CD there are 8 patients with CD any cheaper grocery bill each month.d no gastrointestinal [digestive] symptoms.

Chemical toxins in your Anti-aging face cream?!

Our favorite website that rates the safety of health and beauty products just got a makeover! This is one of the best resources I point all of my patients to. You can search your own brands of shampoo, lotions, face creams, soap, perfume, and more. Not only will you learn how healthy or UNhealthy your current brand of baby shampoo might be, there is a comprehensive list of the best, safest, and most natural products available.

If you already agree that eating whole, natural, and organic food is better for you, the soil, and the environment, but haven't thought much about how beauty products play into your health, check out these common myths about beauty product safety. You will be shocked at the lack of oversight and regulation by the industry! Start today, and make this year your and your family's healthiest yet.

In wellness,

Dr. Jared Gruhl

Should you be worried about nuclear fallout from Japan?

With all of the recent news about the natural disasters in Japan, along with their nuclear reactor problems, people have been asking about whether they should be worried about radiation here in the United States.

Here is a link to an article giving some pretty sound advice on the subject:

Plug in to our facebook page for more updates as the situations continues to change.

Spring cleaning time is here...

All through the month of March, we are offering FREE Adrenal Stress testing, FREE blood pressure check-ups, and FREE Body Composition Analysis. Step on our non-invasive body comp. machine and instantly read your percent body fat, body water, muscle mass, etc. This is a great way to establish a baseline for your health before doing any spring diets or cleanses. It's important to know if you are losing fat, water, or muscle, as you progress through any program.

Also, ask about our functional blood chemistry analysis! Bring in your recent lab work and find out what your doctor ISN'T telling you about your blood markers and your overall health status. This work can actually save some lives, and will definitely help many of you prevent outright illness from developing. We can see things like thyroid disease, diabetes, & insulin resistance before they show up as symptoms for you.

Remember, prevention and early detection are the key to getting and staying well for a lifetime.

As always, we are here to answer any questions you have! 720-379-3519

February is Heart Health Month!

If you're like millions of Americans who go in to have their cholesterol & blood lipid levels tested, and your LDL or total cholesterol is above the currently defined "normal" level, you're likely to hear something like this:

"Eat a low-fat diet, stay away from dietary cholesterol, and use the salt shaker a little less. Oh, and exercising more wouldn't hurt, either. Now here's a prescription for Lipitor (or Crestor, or fill in the blank with one of the popular statin drugs) just to be safe.

This is called the "Diet-Heart Hypothesis," and it is just that - an interesting theory. It's a theory that sometimes makes sense, and has some data showing correlation between eating cholesterol and higher rates of heart disease. But is also a theory based on messy, soft science, and lots of repetitive dogma. The scientific world is no different from the rest of the world in that matter. There are religious fundamentalists, and there are scientific fundamentalists. (My definition is one who clings to a belief with complete disregard for any idea or concept that contradicts said belief. A fundamentalist refuses to listen to or consider new facts, ideas, or concepts because they hold onto their beliefs so strongly.) The allopathic ("Western") medical profession, along with the public health industry, pharmaceutical industry, and processed food industry have repeated this pseudoscientific dogma so often, it is regarded as unquestionable truth. And as long as we cling to these ideas and call them facts, people will continue to suffer needlessly.

The Diet-Heart Hypothesis is based on data showing a correlation (not definitive causation) between certain populations of people who consume high dietary cholesterol and higher rates of cardiovascular disease (heart disease, coronary artery disease, stroke, etc). From the start, the scientists who promulgated this theory had to ignore data that contradicted their theory. (Spain, Switzerland, and France, for instance, all consume more fat and cholesterol than we do in the U.S. but all have consistently lower incidence of CVD.) There have always been cultures and countries that consume far more saturated fat and cholesterol than the U.S. that have lower rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD), but that correlative data is ignored. So is the fact that Americans have consumed LESS fat and LESS cholesterol every year for the last 40+ years, while being medicated MORE with the statin drugs every year for the last 10 years, while heart disease and CVD continues to rise each year. In fact heart disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S., and kills over 800,000 people per year (34% of all deaths). Take into account the following facts regarding statin drugs, which are the drug treatment of choice, both therapeutically and beginning to be prophylactically: (Originally compiled by Mark Hyman, M.D.):

• if you lower bad cholesterol (LDL) but have a low HDL (good cholesterol), there is no benefit to statins (i)
• If you lower bad cholesterol (LDL) but don't reduce inflammation (marked by a test called C-reactive protein), there is no benefit to statins (ii)
• If you are a healthy woman with high cholesterol, there is no proof that taking statins reduces your risk of a heart attack or death (iii)
• If you are a man or a woman over 69 years old with high cholesterol, there is no proof that taking statins reduces your risk of heart attack or death (iv)
• Aggressive cholesterol treatment with two medications (Zocor & Zetia) lowered cholesterol more than one drug alone, but led to MORE plaque buildup in arteries and no fewer heart attacks (v)
• 75% of people who have heart attacks have normal cholesterol!
• Older patients with lower cholesterol have higher risks of death than those with higher cholesterol (vi)

In short, the answer to helping people with heart disease, and with all illness, is in asking the appropriate questions scientifically. We should not be asking "How do I lower my LDL cholesterol?" (Whether through drugs or natural medications like herbs or supplements.) Instead, we should be asking "Why is my body dysfunctioning?" Unless you get to the root cause of the problem, you will inevitably end up providing temporary symptom relief while you allow the person to become sicker and more dysfunctional. (To a large degree, this is the current state of our medical system!)

So what does cause CVD, and what can you do about it? It is becoming ever more clear that chronic inflammation is much more the root cause of most types of CVD, and cellular inflammation is a common denominator in many of today's chronic diseases, including CVD, cancer, metabolic syndrome, autoimmune disease, etc. You must decrease systemic inflammation, but you also must take responsibility for your state of health. The good news is, nothing beats diet and exercise in treating cardiovascular disease. And nothing beats diet and exercise for preventing CVD in the first place!

Diet: Eating a "Mediterranean Type" diet (lots of veggies, fruits, whole grains, lean meats, nuts, fats, and seeds) has been shown to:

• Reduce recurrent CVD mortality by over 70%
• Has been shown to reduce ALL CAUSE mortality by 72% (no drug even comes close to working this effectively on any chronic illness)
• HALE study showed that beginning the Mediterranean Type Diet after age 70 resulted in a 23% reduction in all-cause mortality. This rose to 65% when combined with other lifestyle factors (exercise, no smoking, etc)

Exercise: It doesn't have to be high-impact, 3-hour long workouts. "Moderate" exercise in the scientific journals is described as 20 minutes of physical activity (walking) 3 times a week!:

• 48% of Americans are completelysedentary
• Key factor in CVD, obesity, Cancer, Osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and dementia
• Walking 20 minutes, 3x per week reduces CVD in women by 35%, in men by 25%
• Daily activity reduces colon cancer risk by 35-40%
• 2006 data shows exercise 2x/week reduces Alzheimers diagnoses by 60%!

Get checked! Prevention is not the same as early detection of disease. Get your blood work done, regardless of whether you have overt symptoms or not. Have your doctor look at basic lipid panels, but also the inflammatory markers C-reactive protein and homocysteine, which will tell you much more about your CVD risk.

In our office, we order inexpensive blood work that reveals information on your cardiovascular, liver, kidney, insulin and glucose metabolism, thyroid, and hormone function. Combining subjective information that you provide on questionnaires with lab work gives us a clear roadmap to guide you towards growing your health. You will know you are making positive strides as you see your functional assessment improve over time, and you will be feeling the difference in your health! We also work with insurance companies and have deeply discounted cash rates through our membership in a laboratory co-op.

Call our office to get started right away! We are always here to answer any questions you have and to help you grow your health!

720-379-3519 Ananda Wellness - Nutrition Programs

In true wellness,

Dr. Jared Gruhl

References

(i) Barter P, Gotto AM, LaRosa JC, Maroni J, Szarek M, Grundy SM, Kastelein JJ, Bittner V, Fruchart JC; Treating to New Targets Investigators. HDL cholesterol, very low levels of LDL cholesterol, and cardiovascular events. N Engl J Med. 2007 Sep 27;357(13):1301-10.

(ii) Ridker PM, Danielson E, Fonseca FA, Genest J, Gotto AM Jr, Kastelein JJ, Koenig W, Libby P, Lorenzatti AJ, MacFadyen JG, Nordestgaard BG, Shepherd J, Willerson JT, Glynn RJ; JUPITER Study Group. Rosuvastatin to prevent vascular events in men and women with elevated C-reactive protein. N Engl J Med. 2008 Nov 20;359(21):2195-207.

(iii) Abramson J, Wright JM. Are lipid-lowering guidelines evidence-based? Lancet. 2007 Jan 20;369(9557):168-9

(iv) IBID

(v) Brown BG, Taylor AJ Does ENHANCE Diminish Confidence in Lowering LDL or in Ezetimibe? Engl J Med 358:1504, April 3, 2008 Editorial

(vi) Schatz IJ, Masaki K, Yano K, Chen R, Rodriguez BL, Curb JD. Cholesterol and all-cause mortality in elderly people from the Honolulu Heart Program: a cohort study. Lancet. 2001 Aug 4;358(9279):351-5.

(vii) Hansson GK Inflammation, Atherosclerosis, and Coronary Artery Disease N Engl J Med 352:1685, April 21, 2005