Statins and CoQ10

 

Statin drugs are among the most commonly prescribed prescription medications in the US. One in three Americans over the age of 40 takes a statin to control cholesterol levels. A 2018 study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association concluded that statins can deplete your body's production and storage of CoQ10 (among their many other troublesome side effects). 

CoQ10 is a fat-soluble substance found in every cell in the body. It’s particularly abundant in the heart, liver, kidney, and pancreas. CoQ10 is crucial to the health of the body’s mitochondria, the power plant within each cell. CoQ10 also has antioxidant activity, protecting the body from DNA damage caused by harmful free radicals. Its ability to support heart health is attributed to its role in producing cellular energy and its antioxidant action.

In essence, CoQ10 supports heart health, acts as a powerful antioxidant, promotes energy production in the heart and helps maintain optimal blood vessel function. Statins work by blocking an enzyme that facilitates the production of cholesterol in the body. Unfortunately the same enzyme also creates CoQ10.

A drop in CoQ10 levels can deprive cells of energy, which can trigger common statin side effects like muscle pain and myalgia, fatigue, memory loss and nerve pain. A serious deficiency of CoQ10 can also increase your risk of heart failure.

Taking CoQ10 supplements can help increase your CoQ10 levels and may reduce statin side effects. Study results of the benefits of CoQ10 for reducing muscle pain associated with statin use are conflicting, however. In a study published in the American Journal of Cardiology, researchers indicate that using CoQ10 supplements seemed to decrease the muscle breakdown, pain, and discomfort of people taking statins.

Although CoQ10 supplements seems to show much promise for heart health, their effectiveness for improving muscle pain from statins is unclear. Overall, more studies are needed to confirm their benefit for this side effect. If you’re taking statins and have unpleasant side effects, discuss CoQ10 supplements with your doctor. CoQ10 appears to be safe and well-tolerated so taking it may be a good option for you, especially if you are otherwise in good health.

The Other Heart Health Risk

 

Most people are familiar with the major cardiovascular health risks, whether or not they are doing anything about them. A diet high in sugar, carbohydrates and saturated fats. Smoking. Alcohol. Diabetes. High blood pressure and LDL cholesterol. But there is one very significant risk that you may not be aware of: the very air you breathe.

When we think of the risks of breathing polluted air, what usually comes to mind are health problems like asthema, COPD or lung cancers. Certainly those risks are real. But according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the evidence linking air pollution to heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems is stronger than for lung disease, cancer or any other illness.

Of the many possible pollutants in the air we breath, two are of particular concern with respect to heart health: ozone and very tiny particles and droplets measuring about 2.5 microns (around 1/30th the thickness of a human hair). The source of most of these pollutants is the residue from burning fossil fuels, although in the western US forest fires are an increasingly significant concern.

It is not well understood how these pollutants increase your risk of heart trouble. Among the possibilities being investigated are inflammation caused by inhaling particulates, destabilization of plaque already formed in blood vessels and elevating blood pressure. Some populations are at greater risk than others, particularly those over 65 years old, people who already have any sort of lung problems, existing heart disease, diabetes or anyone with a compromised immune system. 

And, of course, pollution in some places is far worse than in others. (To learn the current air quality where you live go to AirNow.gov and enter your zip code.)

In the short term, there is not a lot you can do if you are regularly exposed to dangerously polluted air. HEPA filters on your home heating and cooling system can help. As can a high efficiency auto air filter and using the air conditioning when driving. But short of moving to a place with better air quality, all you can do it be aware of current conditions and stay inside when it is particularly bad.

The Power of Habits

 

About 95% of people who "go on a diet" and successfully lose weight gain all of it back within 3 years, and sometimes more than all of it. The problem is that, as the saying goes, old habits die hard. If they die at all. Most people, as soon as they have reached their goal and their diet is "over", resume their old habits and patterns again - with predictable results.

It is estimated that 40% - 45% of everything we do each day we do out of habit, with little or no conscious thought or intent. This isn't necessarily a bad thing at all. Habits allow us to complete routine, repetitive tasks without having to devote a lot of mental energy to them. Whether it is brushing your teeth, making your morning coffee or driving to work, the odds are that habit plays a big role in getting these things done.

But not all habits are good habits. At one time they may have served us well but no longer do. How and what we eat, whether we have a drink every day when we get home from work or spend two hours on the couch watching TV before bed are all habits. And because they are, we often just do them without choosing to, or even realizing we are. When a habit no longer serves us well, we would do well to be rid of it. Unfortunately, that is much easier said than done.

In his book The Power of Habit, New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg takes us on a deep dive into the world of habits. After exploring the brain biochemistry of habits, Duhigg offers a prescription for getting rid of habits that impact our lives in negative ways: Replace old habits with new habits. Here is a summary of his approach to building new, positive habits. Suffice it to say that intention, effort and time will be required.

Circling back to the 95% of dieters who regained all their lost weight, a better solution for them than a diet would be to examine their habits regarding eating and exercise, and replace those empowering them to mindlessly gain weight with new and better ones. Yes, its harder than going on a temporary diet for a while. But it might also work.

New Alheimer's Test Promises Early Diagnosis

 

A new blood test holds out the possibility of predicting the development of Alzheimer's Disease years before a clinical diagnosis can be made. Three new studies support the effectiveness of AlzoSure Predict in identifying individuals with high risk of Alzheimer disease up to 6 years prior to symptom onset. The test is able to differentiate between subjective memory concerns, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's with 95% accuracy.

"The simplicity and affordability of our blood-based biomarker test means that it will be available to individuals in primary care settings, which will make widespread screening feasible. This in turn will help spur the development of new drugs for Alzheimer's Disease, which can then be widely administered early in the disease process, when the chances for slowing and stopping the cognitive ravages of Alzheimer's are the greatest,” said Paul Kinnon, chief executive officer, Diadem Biotheraputics, developer of the test.

While this is an early warning tool and not a cure or a treatment, it will allow Alzheimer's patients to begin treatment years before any clinical symptoms can be observed. This should greatly improve the chances of slowing the progression of the disease.

Americans Eating More Processed Food Than Ever

 

Despite years of publicity decrying the health risks of a diet high in processed foods, the average American still gets 57% of their daily calories from industrially produced, ready-to-eat processed foods like snacks, canned food and frozen meals. Worse, that is an increase of 4 percentage points over 20 years ago. An increase in the amount of processed foods consumed by older adults accounted for most of the increase.

A study of over 40,000 people over 18 years and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that Americans are eating more processed food than ever. "The overall composition of the average U.S. diet has shifted towards a more processed diet. This is concerning, as eating more ultra-processed foods is associated with poor diet quality and higher risk of several chronic diseases," said Filippa Juul, an assistant professor and postdoctoral fellow at NYU School of Public Health and the study's lead author. "The high and increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods in the 21^st century may be a key driver of the obesity epidemic."

Ultra-processed foods are industrially manufactured, ready-to-eat or heat, include additives, and are largely devoid of whole foods. Previous studies by researchers at NYU School of Global Public Health have found that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with obesity and heart disease. People across nearly all demographic groups, regardless of income, increased their consumption of ultra-processed foods, with the exception of Hispanic adults, who ate significantly less ultra-processed foods and more whole foods compared with non-Hispanic white and Black adults. College graduates also ate significantly less ultra-processed foods.

It is pretty discouraging to realize that with all the media coverage of the negative health impact of processed foods that people are ignoring the science and eating more of it than ever. Probably the same people who are screaming loudest for publicly funded healthcare to pay for their care when the consequences of their bad choices manifest. Don't you be one of them. 

Cauliflower Con Job

 

"Riced" and mashed cauliflower has become popular as a replacement for starchy and refined carbohydrates like white rice or mashed potatoes. There is little doubt that this can be a healthy (and even tasty) substitution. But mixing a minuscule bit of cauliflower into a food just to make is sound healthy is nothing more than another marketing con job.

Take for example, Marie Calender's Chicken Pot Pie, a 810 calorie saturated fat and sodium bomb. "Crust made with Cauliflower" proclaims the packaging. Reading the label tells a different story. It turns out the crust is mostly, you guessed it, refined white flour with a bit of cauliflower puree added in for marketing purposes. A 14oz pie still delivers 86 grams of (mostly) refined carbs along with it's 16 grams of saturated fat and 1,150mg of sodium. Ounce for ounce, that is no less than their regular chicken pot pie. It sounds healthier maybe, but it isn't.

Conagra is not the only is not the only company to try misleading you about their foods. Take a closer look at any of the "cauliflower crust" frozen pizzas in your grocery. Your best bet is to assume everything on a food package is a lie till you convince yourself that it isn't.

IBS Linked to Microplastics

 

Concerns about microplastic particles making their way into the human food chain have been growing for years and now recent research done at China's Nanjing University reports that people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) - including ulcerative colitis and Crones disease - have 50% higher levels of microplastics in their stools than those without these conditions.

Microplastics come from a variety of sources, including from larger plastic debris that degrades into smaller and smaller pieces. In addition, microbeads, a type of microplastic, are very tiny pieces of manufactured polyethylene plastic that are added as exfoliants to health and beauty products, such as some cleansers and toothpastes. These tiny particles easily pass through water filtration systems and end up in the ocean and Great Lakes, posing a potential threat to aquatic life. From there they make their way into the human food and water supplies.

"Human ingestion of microplastics is inevitable due to the ubiquity of microplastics in various foods and drinking water," they study says. The Chinese study shows correlation and not direct causality. "Whether the ingestion of microplastics poses a substantial risk to human health is far from understood," say the study authors. But they estimate that on average humans ingest the equivalent of one credit card's worth of plastic every week.