I recently had to a patient, “Mrs. Smith”, have a blood test for an insurance company. Mrs. Smith is an extremely healthy 48-year-old woman with a youthful metabolism and a spotless lifestyle. However, none of that was taken into account when her life insurance company told her they were going to drastically increase her premiums because she had an elevated total cholesterol along with an elevated LDL cholesterol. The LDL is the so-called “bad” one. The truth is that there are several very good blood markers for cardiovascular disease risk but insurance companies seem to be stuck on only these two.
Unfortunately…
insurance companies and other so called “experts” in the field are typically 10-20 years behind the times when it comes to predictions. That’s because they have to see numbers over a long stretch of time before they change their actuarial tables.
For years now, the LDL cholesterol and the total cholesterol levels have been used as the “state-of-the-art” predictors of heart disease potential, even though they have been shown to be only one percentage point more accurate than a simple flip of a coin. — How crazy is that?
Here’s the best way to know if you are at risk of heart problems…
-a strong family history of heart disease,
-a high triglyceride level with a low HDL level,
-high blood pressure,
-decreased cardiovascular conditioning,
-obesity, and
-an elevated oxidized LDL cholesterol.
The more of these predictors a person has, the greater his chance of having heart disease no matter what the cholesterol or LDL cholesterol levels look like. The more of these risk factors you have, the more important it is to start doing something about it. Here are some ideas.
1. Drop the weight by cutting the carbs. Carbohydrates are being shown to have huge effects on conditions such as heart disease, Diabetes, and even fibrocystic changes in a woman’s body.
2. Get in great cardiovascular shape. This is the most effective way to prevent heart disease and it is the only proven way to increase your HDL cholesterol.
3. If your triglyceride levels are too high, make sure you eliminate carbohydrates and take fish oil. This is one product that can be of low quality depending on where you buy it and what brand you choose. Places like No Name and whole foods carry good brand and so do we. Call the ofice and we will set on aside for you.
4. If your oxidized LDL levels are too high, then take 1,200-2,000 mg of red yeast rice, one to two times per day. Take it in combination with a glass of pure pomegranate juice one to two times per day. Take enough to bring your oxidized LDL below 45 U/L. If you don’t know your oxidized levels and don’t want to bother your MD, we can arrange a test for you.
5. Have your doctor check you for low sex hormone levels. They might be “sex” hormones, but they’re often crucial for preventing heart disease.
6. Control your blood pressure. The changes above should take care of that but if not, then we should check your nervous system which may be the problem. if not there are natural remedies we have to help you out.
Yours in Health,
Dr. Jack Belitz, DC
PS You have to die sometime. But if you do all this and maintain it through the rest of your life, you are much more likely to die from a plane crash than from heart disease. Call me at 402-333-4848 and lets get your numbers looking healthy!!!
