New England Health Advisory

By Inger Pols

I recently had dinner with a friend who is fit, active, healthy and tries to eat well; he’s doing everything right. We got to talking about food labels and marketing claims. He told me that he reads the labels and that he thinks he’s making good healthy food choices.

It soon became apparent that he was reading the product claims on the front labels and occasionally, the nutrition facts label, but not the list of ingredients. I challenged him to read the ingredient list on the foods in his cabinets.  We pulled out the first item handy, Progresso Bread Crumbs, and I showed him the high fructose corn syrup and trans fats in the ingredient list.

We discovered 95% of the food in his house contained at least one, sometimes two or even all three, of the most harmful food additives: high fructose corn syrup, trans fats and MSG. It was a challenge to find anything in a box, bag, plastic bottle or jar that did not have one of these unhealthy additives.

Eating whole unprocessed foods is best, so I always recommend you stick to the outside aisles of the supermarket and avoid packaged and processed food.  But for many of us, it is simply not possible to avoid all processed foods. When you must buy prepared foods, how can you make the best choices?

While it’s easy to believe food manufacturers’ marketing claims, the only way to know if you’re making good food choices and know exactly what you are really eating is to read the ingredient list. Avoiding harmful additives could add years to your life.

Trans Fats or Partially Hydrogenated Oil

New York City made headlines when it banned all trans fats from foods. California then became the first state to do so.  Many European countries have done the same, or passed legislation for future elimination. What is it about trans fats that is so concerning? What led the National Academy of Science to say there is no safe level of trans fat consumption and to call for a full ban of its use at the city, state and country level?

Trans fats are made when a hydrogen atom is added to unsaturated fat. During this process, hydrogen gas bubbles through the oil in the presence of a nickel catalyst. Originally just an interesting science experiment, the result became attractive to food manufacturers looking to increase profits. Trans fats don’t spoil as readily as other oils, they don’t break down when heated repeatedly, and they can turn a liquid oil into a solid, which makes transport easier, and offer a cheaper substitute to solid animal fat.

The fast food industry saw the appeal, and almost every major chain found a use: Dunkin Donuts used them to fry donuts and McDonald’s used them to fry its french fries. (They and most others have recently eliminated trans fats due to public pressure).  Margarine, baked and snack goods benefited from increasing concern over the use of butter and lard several decades ago and the desire to shift to a vegetable-based oil product. But as trans fat consumption increased radically, researchers grew concerned about its effect on health.

Awareness of the harm of trans fats began in the 1990s, though a study done in the U.K. as far back as 1981 raised some questions.  In 1993, Harvard concluded that the intake of partially hydrogenated oils increased the likelihood of a heart attack. That study suggested that replacing just 2% of energy from trans fats with healthy unsaturated fats could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by a third.

In 1999, a joint study by Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital reported that  “at least 30,000 and as many as 100,000 cardiac deaths a year in the United States could be prevented if people replaced trans fats with healthier non-hydrogenated” oils.  The New England Journal of Medicine reported that same year that trans fats are directly linked to the development of diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Today we know that trans fats increase LDL, the low-density lipoproteins, especially the smaller denser particles that we now know are more damaging to the arteries. At the same time, they reduce HDL, the high-density lipoproteins that are responsible for taking bad cholesterol and waste that needs to be returned to the liver for processing and disposal.  (For more detail, see our recent article on cholesterol.) They also create inflammation, which has been shown to lead to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and many other chronic conditions. Trans fats have also been linked to obesity and insulin resistance as well as Alzheimer’s disease.

At one point, the FDA estimated 95% of prepared cookies, 100% of crackers and 80% of frozen breakfast products contained trans fats.  They have also said that the average American consumes 5.8 grams of trans fats a day. While some companies are shifting their manufacturing processes, the majority of foods still contain some amount of trans fat.  (It breaks my heart every year when the Girl Scouts come calling because I’d love to support their cause, but their cookies all include trans fats, so typically, I make a donation and tell them to keep the cookies.)

When you eat at bakeries, restaurants, schools and cafeterias there is no way to monitor trans fat presence, so it’s likely that you’re consuming them. Trans fats do occur naturally in some meat and dairy products, so it’s hard to avoid them completely.

The American Heart Association recommends that no more than 1% of your calorie energy come from trans fats. If you eat a 2,000 calorie a day diet, that is 20 calories, or less than two grams of trans fats a day. Given what you likely ingest through your daily meat and dairy consumption, you are most likely reaching or exceeding that amount through natural sources.

Prior to 2006, when it was required to list trans fats on labels, it was hard to tell which foods contained them. Now it’s a little easier, but you still cannot depend on truth in labeling with regard to trans fats. In fact, many products claim to be trans fat free while still containing trans fats. Portion sizes under .5g per serving do not require listing on labels. (In Canada, it’s .2g.) So some manufacturers simply reduce portion sizes in order to meet the minimum requirements, but continue to process foods the same way.

The only way to know for sure is to read the label and to look for partially hydrogenated oils on the ingredient list.  It may surprise you where you find them: in addition to the obvious breads, cookies and crackers, I found them in a jar of marinated artichoke hearts!

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Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

Almost everyone knows they should avoid MSG, so food manufacturers have gotten smart about hiding it. But it astounds me how many times I see it listed openly as monosodium glutamate in the ingredient list of a common kitchen staple.  It’s in so many foods because it’s a flavor enhancer that leads you to want to eat more, and which is exactly what food manufacturers want.

MSG is a neurotoxin that excites the brain. In addition to being toxic, it’s addictive. It can cause brain damage, lead to behavior disorders, learning disabilities, endocrine and reproductive disorders and neurodegenerative disease. It has been shown to lead to obesity regardless of caloric intake; it acts on the pancreas to secrete insulin and stimulate hunger, and if you are taking calcium blockers for high blood pressure, MSG acts as a calcium channel opener, counteracting that medication.

It’s in soups, salad dressings and dips, Hamburger Helper, frozen foods, prepared noodles and potato chips, it’s the secret ingredient at many big name fast food and chain restaurants, and it’s sold as the flavor-enhancing product, Accent. It’s not just a Chinese restaurant concern, though it gained attention after many people sensitive to its effects came down with headaches, dizziness and chest pains after eating it in Chinese food.

Glutamic acids are amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) commonly found in foods such as tomatoes, milk and mushrooms. They are also found in our cells and function as a neurotransmitter involved in a variety of brain functions. When we eat these foods, we break down the natural or sometimes called “bound” glutamic acid and it is delivered to receptors in our brain and body. It’s not harmful and in fact performs a valuable function.

But when glutamic acid is made in a factory, the “bound” glutamic acid in corn, molasses, beets or wheat is broken down by one of several processes: It is hydrolyzed, autolyzed, modified or fermented using powerful chemicals or specially engineered bacterias. (Most of the world’s production is made using bacterial fermentation, often with genetically engineered bacterias, but autolyzed and hydrolyzed processes are rampant in food products as well.)

It then becomes refined into a sugar-like white crystal form that is 78.2% glutamate, 12.2% sodium and 9.6% water. Anything 78%-79% processed free glutamic acid (MSG) will be listed as monosodium glutamate on the label. Other MSG-containing ingredients are listed in their technical form such as hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed yeast, yeast extract, soy extracts and protein isolate. Labels reveal that these forms are pervasive in the vast majority of foods we buy and eat.

So what’s the difference between the naturally occurring monosodium glutamate and the processed form?

Unprocessed glutamic acid is L-glutamic acid. When the processed version is created in factories, it is both L-glutamic acid and D-glutamic acid, along with pyroglutamic acid and a number of impurities. Several of the impurities such as mono and dichloro propanols and heterocyclic amines are carcinogenic. But even more importantly, our bodies are made to process and utilize naturally occurring L-glutamic acid, not the created D-glutamic acid that results from factory processing.

The FDA considers MSG to be naturally occurring since the basic ingredient is found in nature. But naturally occurring doesn’t mean safe. Arsenic is naturally occurring but you wouldn’t want to eat it. The factory version of MSG causes sensitivities and toxicity in people, as our bodies have never had to process this form before. Look out for all forms of monosodium glutamate including autolyzed or hydrolyzed yeast, yeast or soy extract and protein isolate on your ingredient lists and avoid them all.

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

Because we already talked about HFCS in The Truth About Sugar report, I’ll keep this summary brief.

Research has shown that fructose inhibits our leptin signaling and directly leads to obesity, type-2 diabetes and a myriad of other conditions including heart disease. It alters our sweetness set points and interferes with satiety signals, leading us to eat more. We need to minimize fructose in our diets because fructose cannot be metabolized by the cells and must be metabolized by the liver; excess fructose consumption taxes our liver.

But high fructose corn syrup is not only a harmful form of fructose; it often contains mercury, it’s made from corn syrup that is derived from genetically modified corn, and it adds to the overload of corn already rampant in our diets as corn has shifted from a vegetable into a grain.

High fructose corn syrup is commonly found in bread and bread products, ketchup, tomato and spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, jelly, salad dressing, crackers and cookies and myriad other items including seafood cocktail sauce, barbecue sauce, sweet pickles or relish … just about everything!

When I had dinner with my friend, he wanted to make a special turkey burger recipe for me. Searching for bread without high fructose corn syrup can be quite a challenge in many traditional grocery stores. On a recent trip, I found only one offering out of 28 breads that was made without it. But finding high fructose corn syrup -free bread products such as hamburger buns and hotdog rolls is almost impossible at a traditional grocery store.

It takes a trip to the organic section of my local grocery store (I am fortunate to have access to Hannaford, which has a great selection), Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s to find products made without high fructose corn syrup. If your regular grocery store doesn’t carry non-high fructose corn syrup options, ask that they do. Or go without the bun.

Most of us consume large amounts of these three unhealthy food additives without knowing it. While we can’t control what’s in the food we eat in a restaurant or cafeteria, we can control what we cook at home. Once you start reading food labels, you’ll be surprised what’s actually in the products you’re buying. The good news is that there are healthy versions of every product out there that still taste great, if you take the time to look for them.

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

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Most of us know we need to start—or increase—our fitness efforts, but many of us have difficulties getting started. In addition to weight management, exercise improves your mood, increases energy, reduces stress, helps you sleep better, boosts self-esteem, supports hormonal balance and reduces risks of chronic diseases and conditions including heart attacks, osteoporosis and breast cancer.

A recent study on mature women showed that just to maintain their current weight, the women needed to exercise for an hour a day; to lose weight would require even more time. In our busy lives, finding an extra hour can be a challenge, even if we have the desire to do so and the willpower to stick with it.

The good news is that we don’t need to work out for an hour in one session: We can break it into smaller blocks. And doing something is better than nothing, so even small efforts will make a difference in your health and well-being. This week, I’m going to give you some tips that I use when coaching that can help make your workouts work better for you.

Tip #1: Set a Goal and Measure Your Progress

Knowing what you are working toward will increase your effectiveness. As in everything else, what is measured and monitored gets done. Begin by setting an overall goal for your fitness plan. Be clear on what you want, for example, losing 25 pounds, training for a 10K or building enough endurance to be able to be comfortably active with your grandkids. The more specific you can be, the better. If your goal is to get fitter, define what that means to you.

Set a mini goal before each workout. Your first time, it may be as simple as walking without stopping for 15 minutes. That becomes your baseline and you can adjust from there by adding 5 minutes to your workout each time or running a mile a few seconds faster.

Be realistic with your goals, and yourself: If you didn’t sleep well the night before or you are fighting a cold, your goal may be just to complete the same workout you did the time before. And that’s OK. But if you are feeling good that day, decide how you can push a little.

Make a log to track your progress. When I was training to cycle from Banff to Jasper in the Canadian Rockies, my first cycling vacation, I kept a log of each training ride that included how far I rode, how long I rode, the time of day, the weather conditions and how I felt. Tracking that let me see how I was improving and how my performance was impacted by wind, time of day and my mood. This let me get smarter over time about how to train and when to push.

Tip #2: Know Yourself and Leverage Your Strengths and Passions

We all have different times of day when we feel most energetic and creative: Don’t resist your natural patterns. If you are forced to adopt new body rhythm patterns, you can do so over time, but it will take a little extra effort, so it may be harder to stick with.

Follow your passions to keep exercising from feeling like a chore. Go back to things you loved as a child like bike riding or tennis, or take up a new activity you have always wanted to try like golf or rowing. If you love watching Dancing with the Stars, try a ballroom dance or Zumba class.

But don’t feel you have to take on things that don’t appeal to you just because they are effective for others. If you hate the gym, don’t join a gym! If you don’t like exercising alone, find a class, team or group. Create a program that you will look forward to, not dread.

Tip #3: A Little Help from Your Friends

Studies show that people who join the gym with a buddy stick with their fitness efforts longer. It may be the accountability factor or the social factor, or most likely, both. If you take a class or play on a basketball team, the fun and social aspect will keep you committed and motivated beyond the pure physical benefits.

If you decide to workout on your own—at a gym, in your home, or outside—try to engage a partner or friend to either join you or to hold you accountable. For example, if you join a gym, get a friend to join too; while you may not work out “together,” you can plan to go several times a week at the same time. If you decide to walk your neighborhood after work, find someone to join you.

If you are using an exercise machine in your house and there is no way for someone to participate along with you, get creative. Find someone else that’s doing the same routine, and meet once a week to compare progress. Set some goals or challenges for each other and know that on Monday when you meet for coffee she is going to ask you if you met—or exceeded—your goal.

Tip #4: Schedule Your Workout

Life gets crazy at times and often the first thing to suffer is our workout time. Sometimes we feel selfish “indulging” in time for ourselves when there is so much else to do. Other times, people demand we prioritize other things. But taking care of yourself by working out ensures you will be around a lot longer to take care of others. And after you work out, release stress and improve your mood, you will be a better partner, parent or friend. So don’t let the workout slide.

Instead, schedule your workout just as you would a meeting or a dentist appointment. Mark the time in your calendar in ink and consider it unchangeable. If you think about everything you have to do in a day, there really is very little if anything more important than taking a little time to get or stay healthy. And you’ll feel so much better! Let it be known that you are unreachable during that time; you’ll find the world will still be waiting for you when you are done.

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Tip #5: Find Your Motivation

When you are working out and feeling like you want to stop, or you are avoiding beginning your exercise, try to remember your initial goal and motivation for starting your fitness program. The more you focus clearly on that outcome, see it in your mind and feel how good it will feel to achieve that and be living that life, the easier it will be to find the strength to continue. Also remembering how good you feel when you’re done can help get you going.

But there will be days when even that is not enough. When you are working out, it will be easier to push to new levels if you also draw on other motivation techniques. Find what works for you, whether it is just inspiring music, a bet with yourself or creating scenarios to encourage you to continue on.

As a spinning instructor, I see lots of competitive people in my classes. (Spinning, or indoor cycling, is a form of high-intensity exercise that involves using a stationary exercise bicycle in a classroom setting.) It is easy to inspire them with race situations where they are competing for the podium or to beat their best time. If that works for you, use your competitiveness to make some fun scenarios in your workout to make you work harder.

For non-competitive people, I use a lot of visualization to encourage increases in effort. As you accelerate and push for your interval, imagine a group of runners or riders ahead of you that you need to go around.

Or imagine you are in one of those charity rides/races and there are hundreds of people you need to pass because the road is full of riders. As you go around each one, ride for the cause that that race represents. Imagine yourself passing—or climbing that hill—to beat cancer or heart disease, for yourself or for the loved one you lost to them who cannot be here to ride.

It doesn’t have to be serious, though; sometimes motivation can be just pure fun. An elderly woman in one of my classes once confessed to me that every time she took an interval, she imagined racing her husband—the loser had to clean the bathrooms. In all her years in my classes, in her mind, she never lost.

For endurance situations, I often think of Terry Fox, the Canadian who decided to run across his home country to raise cancer awareness after his leg was amputated. He ran the equivalent of a full marathon for 143 days in a row until he had to end his journey because the cancer returned.

When I am tired after running a few miles, I think about that: A full marathon every day for 143 days, all on one leg. That inspires me to keep going. When Terry was asked how he kept going, he once said that he told himself just one more telephone pole. So think OK, just one more telephone pole, one more set, one more …

Tip #6: Pace Yourself and Be Realistic

We often get excited upon starting a new plan and take on too much too soon. You didn’t gain that weight overnight: In most cases it was small choices each day that built up over time. An extra 500 calories a day would net 3500 extra calories a week, or a gain of about 50 pounds in a year, assuming no change in exercise.

Most of us aren’t gaining 50 pounds a year, so more likely it’s the extra 100-200 calories here and there that just add up slowly over time. Generally speaking, you cannot escape the calories in/calories out equation, though it is really important to note that 500 extra calories of fiber and vegetables will not have the same impact in your body as 500 extra calories of cookies and bread.

You can’t lose more than a pound or two a week safely and keep it off long term. If you keep your food habits the same, to lose a pound a week, you’ll need to burn 500 extra calories a day. But physically, you can’t run an hour the first time out, nor can you serve and volley after your first tennis lesson.

It takes time, but that’s OK. Making the commitment and sticking with it is what matters. Creating a solid fitness foundation that you can build upon will serve you over the long haul: Trying to take on too much too soon will burn you out or result in injury and leave you on the sidelines.

Tip #7: Change is Good

We tend to find something that works and stick with it. And while that’s good, our bodies quickly adapt to what we do regularly. Intensity progression and cross training can yield great benefits. If you take a set of 10-pound weights (or whatever would be appropriate for your fitness level) and do three sets of 10-12 repetitions, the first time you do it, you’ll probably be sore.

If you continue to lift the same 10-pound weights in the same three sets over time, after awhile, it will not be hard any more. Eventually it will be easy. What burned the first time and built some muscle, no longer has any muscle growth because the body has adapted to it. When lifting, we know you need to progress and either increase sets or increase weight.

It is also true for your other workouts: Your body will quickly adapt to the same hour-long spin class or 18 holes of golf and it will not be a challenge anymore. Varying the intensity will allow you to continue to progress while doing the same thing, and cross training will force your muscles to work in different ways.

Throwing something new at your body through cross training has many benefits physically, including helping you get stronger, faster and fitter. But it’s also good for the soul. Trying new things and being a little uncomfortable challenges us; succeeding at them helps us grow and builds confidence and self-esteem.

Getting out of a training rut and mixing it up will keep you from burning out and will make your training fresh and new. And most of all, it keeps working out fun! And if it’s fun, you’ll stick with it longer.

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

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An estimated 102.2 million Americans have cholesterol levels above 200, which is considered borderline high, according to the American Heart Association. About one-third of those have cholesterol levels over 240, which is considered by today’s test standard to be in the high-risk zone. And a new study just released showed 41% of Canadians have high cholesterol levels.

We have been told that high cholesterol is bad, that it causes heart disease (the leading cause of death in the U.S.), that we should all be tested for it, and that high levels must be treated, usually with statin drugs. With those assumptions and statistics, the problem would seem epidemic.

But today I’m going to shatter five myths about cholesterol and hopefully change the way you think about it forever.

Myth #1: Cholesterol is Bad for You

Cholesterol plays several key roles in a healthy functional body. It keeps cell membranes from falling apart and plays an integral part in cellular repair. Cholesterol is also a vital pre-cursor to many major hormones including testosterone, progesterone, estrogen, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and is required for synthesis of vitamin D.

The body manufactures about 75% of the cholesterol it needs. The rest we must take in from foods. Without adequate dietary cholesterol, the body may divert cholesterol to where it is needed most: cellular repair and healthy function in key areas, especially the brain. When this happens, there may not be enough left for use in hormone synthesis, which can cause hormonal imbalance.

This is why some women (especially those going through perimenopause) who do not eat enough cholesterol may experience more severe hormonal reactions and symptoms.

In fact, the body has a built-in mechanism to increase its cholesterol production to override a severe shortage. In extreme cases, when cholesterol is not being consumed in appropriate levels, the liver will step in and actually overproduce cholesterol. If you were to be tested at that time, your cholesterol levels could be considered high, even though you would actually be cholesterol deficient.

But that’s not the case for most of us. So for those of us eating healthy diets with moderate amounts of fat, how concerned should we be about cholesterol in food?

Myth #2: High Cholesterol Comes from Eating Foods High in Cholesterol

Despite popular belief that it’s the cholesterol in your food that influences cholesterol in the bloodstream, according to the Harvard School of Public Health, it’s actually the mix of fats in your diet that’s important.

Saturated and trans fats (often called “bad” fats) increase the risk for certain diseases while monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (often called “good” fats), do the opposite—they are good for the body and heart, and cells need them to help manage what goes in and out of cell membranes.

Cells need fat and cholesterol to function, but fat and cholesterol can’t readily travel through the blood. So the body combines them with protein-covered particles called lipoproteins. Lipoproteins can carry a good amount of fat and travel easily through the blood. There are three types of these particles that are important: low-density lipoproteins (LDL), high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and triglycerides.

Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL)

LDL is responsible for taking the cholesterol from the liver to the body’s cells. Once the lipoprotein reaches the cell, the cell attaches to it and extracts the fat and cholesterol it needs.

High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL)

HDL then takes over and plays clean up, collecting cholesterol from the bloodstream, LDL and artery walls, and transporting it back to the liver to be recycled, an equally important role in healthy cholesterol function.

Triglycerides

Triglycerides are the body’s main method of transporting fat to cells. They make up most of the fats you eat and that your cells use. They are an important part of healthy body function, but in excess they can cause problems. If your triglycerides are high, you have a lot of fat in your bloodstream, which means you are either making too much or are unable to burn it.

Myth #3: There is Good Cholesterol and Bad Cholesterol

Despite needing LDL, it has been argued that when there is an excess of it, particles can be deposited in the walls of the arteries of the heart and elsewhere, limiting blood flow. The deposits, known as plaque, can break apart and cause a heart attack or stroke. Because of this, LDL has been called the “bad” cholesterol.

The truth is, there is no good and bad cholesterol. There is only one cholesterol: LDL and HDL are lipoprotein cholesterol carriers and they are both equally necessary for survival and wellness.

While LDL has been labeled bad because it can cause plaque development, we now know that there are many types of LDL. In fact, if we want to create labels for good and bad, we could argue there is good LDL and bad LDL. Research has shown that LDL particles come in different sizes and that the large LDL particles cause no problem. The small, dense LDL particles can be troublesome, as they are tiny enough to squeeze through the lining of the arteries.

If they oxidize, or turn rancid, they can cause inflammation, which can lead to many if not all of our chronic conditions. C-reactive protein tests measure general levels of inflammation and can be an early warning sign to take action. Inflammation can be reduced through dietary changes such as increased consumption of vitamin E and fish oil.

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Myth #4: Cholesterol Causes Heart Disease

We have known for a while that there is a correlation between cholesterol and heart attacks, but is it causal?

Research now shows that damage to the lining of arteries (such as what can occur when small dense LDL squeeze through and oxidize) causes the coronary heart disease associated with heart attacks.  The damage causes inflammation and it’s the inflammation that leads to the heart attacks.

How does this happen? Let’s look briefly at the inflammatory process.

When you cut yourself, the damaged tissue releases chemicals to start inflammation. Blood vessels constrict to slow down bleeding. Blood thickens so it can clot and cells multiply to repair damage and facilitate healing while the immune system calls on cells and chemicals to protect against viruses and bacteria from attacking the cut.

This is very similar to what occurs within the arteries. As damage occurs, chemicals are released to begin the inflammatory process. Arteries constrict, blood begins to clot, the immune system sends help, and nearby cells are told to multiply. As this process occurs over and over again in the artery lining, scars called plaque form. Over time, blood thickening and artery constriction combine to make a heart attack or high blood pressure more likely.

So remember the first step after trauma: Chemicals are released to begin inflammation and start the healing process. Enter cholesterol, whose primary function is cell repair. Cholesterol is sent to help repair the damaged tissue in the artery linings and elsewhere: it is actually helping your body heal to keep you alive.

Now if this process is occurring repeatedly, cholesterol is continually being manufactured or recycled in order to facilitate the healing process. When tested, your cholesterol levels will seem high.

Because your body needs cholesterol to heal, what effect will lower levels have on the body?

Instead of trying to deal with the symptom, the high cholesterol, we need to look at the cause: The inflammation that is being caused by excessive and/or repetitive damage, particularly from small dense LDL particle oxidation.

Pomegranate has also been shown to be highly effective as an LDL anti-oxidation agent. Subjects taking pomegranate supplements in a clinical study were able to reduce artery thickness by 35%, increase blood flow by 45% and improve markers related to LDL oxidation by up to 130%.

As you can see, the connection between cholesterol and heart attacks is correlated but not causal. High cholesterol may not be anything to worry about; it may in fact be an important component of your body’s healing mechanism. The real focus should be on reducing high LDL levels and preventing its oxidation.

If you decide that you must take action to lower your cholesterol, there are two ways to do so: Change your diet and/or take statins.

Myth #5: Statins are a Safe and Effective way to Lower Cholesterol

A January 2008 cover story in Business Week concluded that there isn’t much evidence to support taking statins.

Upon review of statin data, a leading physician and professor at the University of British Columbia found there is no benefit in people over age 65 no matter how much their cholesterol declines and that there was no benefit to women at any age. Middle-aged men who took statins saw a small reduction in heart attacks, but no overall reduction in deaths or illnesses requiring hospitalization even though their “bad” LDL cholesterol went down.

The only time the drugs were seen as effective was with patients who had already had one heart attack, as it reduced the likelihood of having another. He concluded, “Most people are taking something with no chance of benefit and a risk of harm.”

But what about the marketing hype the pharmaceutical companies put out? Let’s read the small print on Lipitor’s claim that it reduces the risk of heart attack by 36% … in patients with multiple risk factors for heart disease. It says, “That means in a large clinical study, 3% of patients taking a sugar pill or placebo had a heart attack compared to 2% of patients taking Lipitor.”

In other words, out of every 100 people, three on placebos and two on Lipitor had heart attacks. That means that to spare one person a heart attack, 100 people had to take Lipitor for more than three years while the other 99 got no benefit. A useful statistic known as the NNT, or number needed to treat, means the number needed to treat in this case for one person to have any benefit is 100. Several recent studies have shown that the NNT for statins may be even higher: 250 or more for lower risk patients.

Dr. Jerome R. Hoffman, professor of clinical medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles, put it this way: “What if you put 250 people in a room and told them they would each pay $1,000 a year for a drug they would have to take every day, that many would get diarrhea and muscle pain, and that 249 would have no benefit? And that they could do just as well by exercising? How many would take that?”

It’s true that statins can lower cholesterol levels by (guess what?) reducing inflammation! Statins might be acceptable solutions if they were shown to be completely safe, but they are not. Statins have common side effects including muscle pain, cognitive impairments and sexual dysfunction and have been shown to increase cancer risk in rodents.

The Business Week article posed this question: What would work better?

Prescription: Change Your Diet

The answer, not surprisingly, according to Dr. Jerome R. Hoffman, professor of clinical medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles, is not a pill but rather diet and lifestyle changes. Several studies have shown that lifestyle changes, such as switching to the Mediterranean diet and eating more fish, brought greater declines in heart attacks than statins.

If you still want to lower your cholesterol levels, in addition to fish and omega-3s, walnuts and soluble fiber like oatmeal have been shown to be effective cholesterol reducers and most of us need more fiber in our diets anyway. Niacin (or vitamin B3) also lowers cholesterol and triglycerides and it recently outperformed Merck’s drug Zetia in arterial plaque prevention (resulting in Merck canceling the study.)

Physical fitness also plays a role with exercise and lifestyle changes such as stress reduction, diet changes and weight reduction.

Keep in mind that your doctor had little, if any, nutrition training in medical school and may not be comfortable guiding you in this regard. In addition, some physician friends tell me they are reluctant to suggest dietary changes because they find that people don’t always stick to them. So you may have to take the initiative with your physician to get the right plan in place for you.

Studies prove that the anti-inflammatory aspects of the Mediterranean diet and fish or fish oil, combined with a healthy lifestyle and reduced stress, are the most effective prescription for wellness, in the arteries as well as in the rest of the body.

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

P.S. As I mentioned above, ubiquinol is one of the supplements I take daily and think every adult should take as well. But not all ubiquinol, Coenzyme Q10 or CoQ10 is created equal. Click below to find out whether your supplement is the right one!

http://www.on2url.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=166930&AdID=489326

Stranger than Science Fiction

The Money Trail

The Food-Safety Disconnect

When will we realize that while budgets are tight, some savings are simply too costly to justify.

Take this story from the New York Times published in December of 2009.

Once upon a time, there was a beef processing company called Beef
Products Inc. looking to make more money (not unusual). It wanted to find a way to take the fatty meat trimmings (which could only be sold for pet food or cooking oil) and create a product they could use to enter the hamburger business

But the trimmings were susceptible to contamination by E. coli and salmonella, so the company had to find a way to treat the meat scraps so that they would be safe from contamination.

So Beef Products developed a process to treat the meat with ammonia. Yes, ammonia.

Untreated meat has a natural ammonia level that rates about 6 on the pH scale, similar to milk or rain water. But this company found that if they treated the beef with an ammonia process that resulted in changing the pH level to about 10 (an alkalinity that surpasses the range of most foods), they could kill the E.coli and salmonella.

Pink Slime

So the company took their study to the U.S.D.A., which was concerned about E. coli and salmonella. One former U.S.D.A. microbiologist admitted that he and several scientists were concerned that no independent validation of safety had been provided. Another, Gerald Zirnstein said the processed beef looked like “pink slime” and went on to say “I do not consider the stuff to be ground beef, and I consider allowing it in ground beef to be a form of fraudulent labeling.”

But in the end, the U.S.D.A. not only approved the ammonia-processed meat, they were so pleased with the performance of the ammonia process that they exempted the company from routine testing of the hamburger meat!

A top lawyer and lobbyist for the meat industry argued on Beef Products’ behalf that another company had just received approval to not disclose a chemical used in treating poultry, so therefore this company shouldn’t have to disclose the use of ammonia. He won.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the ammonia process.

The Money Trail

So the Beef Products sold its ammonia treated meat to McDonalds, Burger King and all the other fast food chains, as well as to many grocery stores.

And the Agriculture Marketing Service, the U.S.D.A. division that is responsible for buying food for school lunches, overcame initial objections and decided to use the ammonia-processed meat too because it saved three cents a pound off the cost of making ground beef. Last year, the company sold about 5.5 million pounds of the ammonia-processed meat to schools alone.

Beef Products, which does not disclose its earnings, generated an estimated $440 million dollars a year in additional revenue from the trimmings previously unfit for human consumption.

And we, as consumers, would probably never have known about this at all, had it not been for a problem.

The ammonia process left the meat smelling pungently of ammonia, even as the company produced a taste test saying that some school children preferred the taste of burgers with more of the ammonia processed meat.

In Georgia, officials returned 7,000 pounds of the meat to the company after smelling a “very strong odor of ammonia” in the meat being used to make meatloaf for state prisons. (They did not know about the ammonia process, because it was not on the label, so they assumed the meat had been tainted.) They noted in their complaint, according to the New York Times, that the “level of ammonia in the beef was similar to levels found in the contamination incidents involving chicken and milk that had sickened schoolchildren.”

Beef Products told the U.S.D.A. that the ammonia-treated meat was safe and when it was diluted with other ground beef. The U.S.D.A. accepted this conclusion, so the company was off the hook.

But others complained about the smell, too.

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Vulnerable to Contamination

So the company had to do something and it released new research showing that E. coli and salmonella were undetectable at pH levels of 8.5. That enabled it to reduce the level of ammonia and lessen the smell. So Beef Products altered the process to lower the pH level, though the company would not reveal to exactly what level. (Samples that the New York Times collected showed a pH as low as 7.75, below their revised test minimum.)

But in doing so, this left the fatty meat scraps more vulnerable to contamination.

And that is where the company surfaced on the public radar.

School lunch program testing revealed E. coli and salmonella dozens of times in Beef Products’ meat. Back-to-back incidents in August of last year determined that two 27,000-pound batches of the meat were contaminated, but thankfully they were caught before the meat was consumed by school children.

Last July, salmonella concerns resulted in a temporary ban of Beef Products’ meat by school officials in Kansas. It was the third time in three years the company’s meat had been banned. But the processing facility remained open and continued to supply other customers (including fast food restaurants and grocery stores) with meat even though they couldn’t sell to schools during that time.

When the New York Times broke the story and presented the U.S.D.A. with the information, its top officials said that they did not know what their peers in the lunch program had known for years.

The agriculture department responded and revoked Beef Products’ freedom from routine testing. It also reversed its policy about pathogens: Because this beef was supposedly pathogen free, it was not included in recalls, even when pathogens were found in tainted hamburgers!

Food Safety Disconnect: What is Wrong?

While in a way I feel we should cheer that there was a response as a result of the NY Times investigation, it’s clear that there is a disconnect between the various divisions of government, and that this lack of communication and knowledge exchange is hindering public safety.

But more than that, I am concerned that we as a public have become too comfortable with scandal and no longer react.

I am not sure what aspect of this story bothers me most:

The fact that ammonia is being injected into meat;

The fact that the process of injecting ammonia into substandard previously inedible meat makes it then acceptable;

The fact that despite no outside substantiation that this process is safe, it was approved;

The fact that because it is seemingly safe, it is exempt from any further testing;

The fact that this meat is being consumed by school children as part of hot lunch programs in order to save pennies;

The fact that government agencies—and branches of the same agency—don’t talk to each other;

(When that happens in corporations, we consider them dysfunctional and they usually don’t stick around long.)

The fact that the company continued to sell the meat to other customers even after contamination was confirmed by one customer;

That there is no real recourse to be taken against this company and it continues on as before selling its ammonia-laden meat, although now it is no longer exempt from testing;

Or that when all of this comes to light, we read it and move on.

I feel outraged that we are allowing substandard food products to replace real food in our diets. Is this what we want to eat?

Are we OK letting accountants make food decisions, so that saving three cents becomes more important than health and wellness?

It strikes me that it is not dissimilar to the situation in the automobile industry in America. I remember being in a meeting 20 years ago in which there was a discussion on saving a half a cent on a screw that would last through warranty (hopefully) versus spending an extra half a cent for a more expensive screw that would last 10+ years.

It took awhile, but car manufacturers finally realized that they needed to take a more holistic view: That there were other costs associated with choosing the less expensive screw. Things changed when the decisions were no longer made solely by the bean counters.

When will we take a more holistic view of our food choices and realize that while budgets are tight, some savings are simply too costly to justify?

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

P.S. Speaking of good articles … did you see the recent  (February 15, 2010) TIME magazine special issue on aging?

TIME featured the Nobel Prize winning breakthrough on telomere research. In the article, scientists discuss how telomeres, “are the closest we may come to identifying a biological clock—and our best bet for learning how to stop or turn back that clock.” What are telomeres? They are the part of your chromosome that gets smaller as you age. When the telomere runs out, cell division stops, and life comes to an end.

The telomere might be considered the most important discovery in human history. We now understand the mechanism of aging and how to influence it.  In fact, the discovery of telomeres just won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Now we’ve discovered a way to apply this Nobel Prize-winning breakthrough to skin care. Using this new discovery to virtually extend the lifespan of your skin cells, and help erase all of the signs of aging and revive the youth and radiance of younger years.

For more information on how to feel the joy that comes with a healthier, more youthful face, please visit this link.

http://www.on2url.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=166930&AdID=487295

P.P.S. Last week I wrote about Jamie Oliver’s new show that tackles obesity in America through healthy cooking and the school lunch program aired last night on ABC. Jamie has a petition to go along with his new TV show that you can sign to support his assertion that America’s kids need better food at school and better health prospects. Jamie plans to take his petition to the White House after the TV series airs, to show the president and first lady how many people across the country really care about this and ask for their support. The link below will take you to the petition.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition

Give Peas a Chance

It’s Not Just About Obesity; It’s About Wellness

Evolution to Revolution

Before I jump into today’s topic, food, I want to point out two new resources for New England Health Advisory readers. One is my Twitter account, where I’ll be tweeting interesting articles, news and thoughts about health. You can follow me here. The other is our Facebook page, which you can become a fan of here. Please take a minute to check both of them out. Now on to today’s issue …

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My relationship with food has evolved over time.

As a child, I was a picky eater and I ran away from home more than once over a vegetable I refused to eat. One time, I was so adamant that I would not eat my green beans that I packed my little suitcase and left. As it got darker and colder, I took refuge in the back seat of the car. My parents, not unfamiliar with my intentions, waited for me to return. As the evening grew later and I was still not back, they got into the car to drive to the police station to report me missing and found me asleep on the back seat.

My uncle had witnessed some of my food bouts as a child. He wrote me recently that he was having lunch in a restaurant and thought of me when he saw a picture on the wall of a young John Lennon with his mother standing over him. John had a look on his face much like I did those days, of a child unwilling to eat something on his plate. And the caption over Mrs. Lennon said, “All I am saying, is give peas a chance.”

Try It, You’ll Like It

Back then, meals were a battle and I didn’t think I liked food much. But I was wrong. When I was a grad student at Columbia University in New York, my Dad and his business partners came to the city for some meetings. They had dinner planned at La Cote Basque and I was invited—likely because they felt sorry for me being a poor student in the city. I knew nothing about the restaurant other than that I had to dress nicely. I was reluctant to spend money but I didn’t own a single skirt so I went to Macy’s to buy something to wear. It turned out to be one of the best investments I ever made.

The menu was all in French and while my French was decent, there were food words I didn’t know, like foie gras. So my Dad ordered for me, knowing what I’d like. I also got to try a bite of everything he ordered. My life was forever changed; in that moment, I became a “foodie.”

Elaborate Became Simple

Before I had kids, I loved to cook big elaborate meals, often experimenting with French sauces and throwing multi-course dinner parties. It was fun! Soon, however, life got busier and the fun was no longer worth the hours of clean up afterward. I began to cook more simply. As I became more health conscious, my simple meals evolved into healthy, organic food, cooked with love.

I found that it was easy to make delicious meals with just a handful of ingredients and do it quickly, taking no more time than making a processed food alternative. I became passionate that everyone should know how to prepare a few simple healthy delicious meals. I believe we should teach families in our communities and kids in school how to cook and eat well.

Spreading the Word

I have also become passionate about improving the food in schools. The meals my kids would be fed at school are full of sugar, especially high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, MSG and a host of other additives that aren’t keeping kids healthy, let alone helping them stay focused and alert in school.

The food in my daughter’s upper-middle class public school is shocking: nachos, hotdogs, fries and pizza. But the food in my son’s school, where kids are all facing language-based learning challenges, is even more shocking to me because these are kids who need every advantage to help them learn. Processed foods with preservatives, dyes, additives and chemicals make learning (and paying attention) that much more challenging to kids who are already struggling.

Don’t our kids deserve a healthy school lunch? (For more on this topic, see my article on ammonia in meat.)

Starting with Children

Shouldn’t we be teaching our kids foundation food skills, from shopping to cooking to eating?

It can be hard, especially for children who want to fit in, to navigate food choices. If everyone else can have soda and eat at McDonalds, why can’t I?

It takes a little time to educate kids about food choices. But once they have that information, they can—and will—make better choices. To make it less stressful, I encourage mine to live by an 80/20 rule. If they are eating well and making good choices 80% of the time, then the other times, they can indulge in their treat of choice and not feel guilty.

I might say, “If you’re going to have soda and pizza at that birthday party, have a really good healthy lunch before.” or “If you want ice cream for dessert, be sure you have filled up with fresh vegetables, healthy fats and fiber beforehand so that you are not hungry and your portion size will be more moderate.”

I also teach my children that there are two ways to make positive changes: One is to do more positive things, the other is to do fewer negative things. If one feels overwhelming or hard, then follow the other path for a while. So while my kids struggle at times resisting temptation (and don’t we all!), they know they can always add in some good. They can go for a bike ride, grab an apple or some carrots or drink a big glass of water—knowing that empowers them.

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—

It’s About Wellness

Both my kids are very lean. For them, like for many of you, it’s not just about obesity; it’s about wellness. A friend who is in his 50s confessed to me recently that he eats too many sweets. But being lean and active, he figures it’s ok. And while most things in moderation are fine, lifelong patterns do add up over time. Just because some of your bad food habits haven’t caught up with you in terms of weight gain does not mean they are not wreaking havoc inside your body.

Many lean active people suffer from type 2 diabetes. Often, seemingly healthy people are surprised when they face a health challenge that appears to come out of nowhere, but in truth, it has been building for years from too much sugar, not enough fiber and healthy fats, too many chemicals and processed foods, not enough fresh whole foods, too much stress and not enough sunshine and physical activity.

The Food Revolution

When I heard that Jamie Oliver, the famed British Chef who had taken on school lunches back in England, was tackling obesity in America in a new television show, I was excited. I read that Oliver would focus on bringing people back to simple healthy cooking and address the school lunch problem. I marked my calendar for the March 26 premiere of his new show, called “Food Revolution” on ABC at 9 p.m. I can’t wait!

After my welcome letter went out to new subscribers to New England Health Advisory, a friend of mine sent me a note. He said that Jamie Oliver and I are aligned in views and asked if I had seen his speech at the recent TED conference. (TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.) I said I had not; between our school vacation and gearing up for the launch of New England Health Advisory, I had not had the time.

My friend told me I had to watch Oliver’s presentation because we are both “surfing the same wave.” I wish I had seen the presentation before I wrote my welcome letter, but even now, it’s clear that we agree on many important points. I’m thrilled TED recognized him with a $100,000 prize.

I highly recommend you take the 20 minutes to watch it as well. Here’s the link:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jamie_oliver.html

It has been my mission to change the way we think about food and wellness in this country for some time now, and I’m glad that if you are reading this, you have decided to join me on this venture.

I will be cheering and I hope you’ll be there too.

It’s not too late. The time is now.

Along with fellow surfer Jamie Oliver, we can be part of a Food Revolution, and together make a difference in our future, and the futures of our children and grandchildren.

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

P.S. Lose weight effortlessly with the help of the results of a new clinical study. The people in this study—which was published in the medical journal Lipids in Health and Disease—lost an average of 28 pounds and 6 inches off their belly. And they didn’t change their diet or exercise habits. Click here to learn more.

P.P.S. Jamie Oliver has a petition to go along with his new TV show that you can sign to support his assertion that America’s kids need better food at school and better health prospects. Jamie plans to take his petition to the White House after the TV series airs, to show the president and first lady how many people across the country really care about this and ask for their support. The link below will take you to the petition.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition

—

Welcome Readers!

What is Stress?

Just Breathe

Welcome to your first issue of New England Health Advisory! I’m pleased that you’ve decided to join us on our journey toward a happier, healthier and longer life. Today, I’m going to talk about stress, something that we in New England have had a lot of experience with lately.

Last week, we had a severe storm in New England that knocked out power lines across the region. I lost my power on Thursday evening and the kids and I did homework by candlelight. It was kind of fun sitting together in the dark without the normal daily distractions. We talked about a lot of things, including what it must have been like for kids years ago to eat and do homework by candlelight with no TV, radio, Nintendo DS or Wii.

While some in the area began to get their power back on Friday, we remained without power until late Sunday afternoon. Over the weekend, I had planned to write this newsletter and some other pieces as well. Instead, I dealt with water in my basement and no heat, electricity or water where I needed it! So this week, as we talk about managing stress, I can assure you I have practiced what I will preach in this issue.

It has been estimated that 75%-90% of visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related concerns. Stress was called the “Epidemic of the Eighties” by Time Magazine and was referred to as our leading health problem at that time. But many studies confirm that Americans today believe they are under even more stress now than they were a decade or more ago. Stress is pervasive in our busy lives and stress definitely affects our health.

But it doesn’t have to. There are simple techniques I will explore in this newsletter that you can use to release stress in order to find peace in the moment–and to restore balance to your body over time.

So many of my friends tell me they are stressed out: No time, running around in circles, feeling they are always behind, feeling like there is no time for themselves. One friend told me she got a gift certificate to a spa from her partner for Valentine’s Day, a break she sorely needs. But she was certain it would remain unused–at least until summer–because she simply had no time to fit in such an indulgence.

We want to be super moms and amazing dads while still holding down our jobs and fulfilling all of our commitments and obligations. But as the flight attendant on the airplane instructs you, in case of an emergency situation, you should put the oxygen mask on yourself first before assisting any other passengers. And that is equally true in life.

If you are run down and exhausted, stressed and tired, you cannot truly give of yourself until you re-charge and re-fill your own gas tank.

According to Brian Luke Seaward, a leading expert in managing stress, “In Eastern philosophies, stress is considered to be an absence of inner peace. In Western culture, stress can be described as a loss of control. Noted healer Serge Kahili King has defined stress as any change experienced by the individual. This definition may be rather general, but it is quite correct.”

I am not sure which of the definitions I like best.  While they are all accurate, and perhaps in the end, all the same, the way each is expressed evokes different thoughts and responses in me.

What is Stress?

The actual term for stress came from endocrinologist Hans Selye. He found that all animals undergo a similar series of reactions to stimuli. It begins with alarm, during which adrenaline will flow to try to generate what has come to be termed as the “fight or flight response.”

Resistance comes next, as the body tries to find a way to cope with the stressor. At first the body adapts, but then over time, resources are depleted. The final stage is exhaustion, wherein the body is no longer able to maintain normal function. If the final stage is extended, long-term damage can be done to systems and glands, particularly the adrenal gland and the immune system.

Extended periods of stress wreak havoc on our bodies. But so does the repetition of moving through these phases over and over again.

Our ancestors knew no real stress other than the occasional wild animal chase, whether they were the hunter or hunted. We seem to experience it on a daily or weekly basis. The challenges of the daily commute, work deadlines and family responsibilities did not exist in the way they do now. The human body is experiencing something very new in our lifetimes, and we may not have the physiology to support it.

Stress and Wellness

Stress results in inflammation in the body. Inflammation is only just beginning to get the medical recognition it deserves, but many experts already believe that inflammation is the underlying cause of many chronic illnesses.

While many people can be confronted with stress and remain healthy, extensive research shows that stress contributes to disease. Stress has been shown to contribute to cancer, suppression of the immune system, heart disease, flu and viruses, colds, allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcers and colitis, asthma, tension and migraine headaches, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJD), irritable bowel syndrome, metabolic syndrome, type II diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, obesity and myriad other medical issues.

While we may be able to remove some, we cannot eliminate all of the stressors in our lives. But what we can do is change the way we react to them and how we deal with their effect on our bodies.

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Breathing

It is generally recognized that we do not breathe as we should. We take short shallow gulps from our lungs instead of long deep inhales and exhales emanating from our diaphragms. While some modern Western physicians, among them Dr. Andrew Weill, have written extensively about breathing, many ancient cultures recognized proper breathing as an essential component of a healthy life.

These cultures not only believed in the importance of proper breathing, they have structured rituals and physical exercise programs around the power of the breath. Yoga and tai chi are two effective ways to integrate physical movement with breath, and as a result, to combat stress. Integrating physical exercise with breathing is especially helpful for stress release, since it combines two powerful stress release tools–breathing and exercise–into one activity.

However, simply taking a few moments to take a deep breath, or two or three, can be a quick de-stressor. I was taught a method years ago as a means of bringing heart rates down rapidly after exercise. But I found it has the same beneficial effect when a driver cuts you off or your boss says he needs that report today.

Close your mouth and breathe in through your nose slowly for a full count of four seconds. Hold the air for another full count of four seconds. Then slowly release the air out through your mouth for a full count of eight seconds, trying to ensure that you have enough air to get all the way to eight. It may take some practice! Doing that three times in a row will bring a rapidly racing heart down 10-15 beats per minute, so it’s an immediate coping strategy for a stressful situation.

Meditation

I probably will write an entire newsletter on the health benefits of meditation, but for today, I’ll give a basic overview. Meditation has been shown to improve a very long list of conditions and concerns and bring more peace and joy into your life. But despite the volumes of evidence on its behalf, many people tell me they struggle with it.

I think that’s because they have ideas about what it means or how it should be done that might get in the way. Some tell me they can’t quiet their mind or they fall asleep and that makes them even more stressed because they feel like they are doing it wrong!

But there is no wrong when it comes to meditation.

Meditation is about taking time to just be. Time to focus on your breathing and to quiet your mind.

Have you ever noticed how sometimes when you have a quiet moment, whether it’s in the shower or in the car, that an idea comes through or you suddenly remember something you’d forgotten? That quiet space in between is where we release stress and heal, where we find ourselves again, where we touch base with our inner dreams and yearnings, and get great ideas about everything from what to make for dinner to how to solve a problem that has been perplexing us.

And we usually emerge from that moment inspired, peaceful and happy.  How do you meditate?

How to Meditate

There are so many different practices and there are different forms of meditation depending on what you want to achieve. But when I teach people to meditate, I tell them to forget about all of that and not to worry about what they think or heard it should be.

Start by sitting or lying down and getting really comfortable. If it’s possible, wear loose clothing and take off your shoes. Close your eyes and just focus on your breath going in and out. Hear it, feel your abdomen rise and fall as the air moves through. Try to block out everything else around you except your breath.

If being this still just isn’t working for you, try adding some music to help calm and focus you. I’ll be writing more about this type of music therapy in the future.

If thoughts come into your head, that’s fine. Allow them in; they want to be heard. But don’t follow them or attach to them. I like to use the analogy of each thought being a red balloon. As thoughts come through, assign them a red balloon and then set that balloon free. Thank the balloon if you want to. But let it go and watch it float away.

At first the thoughts may be very mundane, such as I have to pick up milk. Over time, the thoughts will be deeper and more insightful, such as I have to forgive my mother. Or I want to take up painting to express myself.

It doesn’t matter what the thoughts are or how many there are: Just accept what comes, assign it a red balloon, and set it free. The goal over time will be–with practice–to see if you can expand the space in between the thoughts. To slow down the rate at which those thoughts come popping in and leave more stillness in between them.

While many people extol the praises of meditation for an hour or more in the morning and an hour or more at night, that is not realistic for–and would be challenging for–most of us. If you can do that, great! Otherwise, start with what’s manageable. Can you take a minute for yourself? Are you worth that? Remember the oxygen mask!

Could you take 10 minutes before the kids get up or after the alarm goes off before you get in the shower? Could you find time during lunch or in between meetings? While you wait to pick up your kids at soccer practice? Instead of listening to the radio or doing work, take a few quiet moments for yourself and close your eyes and breathe. Even one minute will make a difference, and with practice, as with everything, you get better.

If possible, try to find even just a few moments before you start your day and somewhere near the end.  If you finish your quiet time with a moment of gratitude, finding a way to give thanks for the good things in your life–even if you have to really stretch to find them in that moment–your life will become more peaceful and more joyful over time.

Other Options

There are many other stress management therapies, including humor, art and music therapy, behavior modification, progressive muscular relaxation, exercise, nutrition, visualization, resource management, communication skills, creative problem solving, massage, and journaling.

Until we get a chance to cover them, I encourage you to try breathing and meditation. It takes practice, so don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t come easily at first. If one technique doesn’t work for you after several tries, try another one. Your physical body deserves a few moments of peaceful rest and your soul is craving a quiet moment to reconnect with you. They will both thank you.

To your health!

Inger Pols
Editor of New England Health Advisory

P.S. Please send us your feedback by commenting on this issue. We’d love to hear what you think of New England Health Advisory so far and how we can improve it to better serve your needs.

Dear Reader,                                                                     March 2, 2010

Nearly 40 years ago, in October 1970, my father published the first issue of Cabot Market Letter, driven by a sincere desire to help people become better investors. I joined the company full-time in 1986, and took the reins when my father retired in 2004.

Over the decades, we’ve helped hundreds of thousands of investors, while becoming a trusted authority on investing.

But while investing was (and is) my father’s major passion, my interests are broader, and if you’ve been reading Cabot Wealth Advisory a while, you know that. Over the years, I’ve used the freedom of my position to learn about–and write about–topics as diverse as The Pig War, Columbus Day, Bison and rowing across the Atlantic.

But in all my writings nothing has stirred my readers like my writings on the health of Americans.

Last November, I pointed out that the debate over a national health care bill was all about money, and not about health, writing, “What we really need, as I’ve said before, is a focus on health … on staying healthy through diet, exercise and education. And quite possibly a big tax on junk food. But no one with big money is lobbying for those changes.”

In response, a reader wrote, “I think the fundamental issue is that we as a nation have lost the habit of eating a ‘whole foods diet’ that is plentiful in fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. Then to add insult to injury, we drive around in our metal boxes every day and only a small fraction of us take the time to stop at the gym for some exercise. It is no wonder that most patients when they first meet with me simply want an ‘herb or supplement’ to help them with whatever is ailing them … a quick fix to go along with their fast-paced lives. Like the fast-food industry, the health-food industry is FULL of fancy theories and expensive products to be sold on the basis of such theories. There is BIG MONEY in this industry and it is leaving our nation overdrawn in our bank accounts and costing us our health.”

Last June, when I wrote about the insanity of our health care system, one reader commented “ … and look at Lipitor. 20mg costs exactly the same as 40mg. 10mg costs about $5 less and 80mg about $5 more than the 20mg or 40mg, which runs about $120/month. So the annual cost for 20mg is $1,440. Or I could buy 80mg for $125/month and split it into fours. Now my cost is $375/year. Or I could diet and exercise and maybe not need it at all.”

And when I wrote about health care last March, a reader wrote, “This is the FIRST VOICE OF REASON I’ve heard on how to fix our health care system, beginning with what you’ve said about nutrition and preventative health care and through to the last about the health care insurance companies. Now please get Obama’s ear with these ideas.”

What I learned from these letters–and hundreds like them–is that you care. You care about fixing our country’s health care system. You care about the misplaced incentives that direct more money to treating sickness than maintaining health. Most of all you care about maintaining and improving your own health.

You want to know the truth about cholesterol medications like Lipitor. Does it really increase the risk of diabetes?

You want to know if a daily dose of fish oil is beneficial for everyone, or if a regular healthy diet is enough.

You want to know if the cardiac benefits of running outweigh the risks of knee and hip damage.

And you want to know if going to the hospital to get a flu shot is worth the trouble … or if it’s better to stay away from the sick people who will be there.

In short, you want honest guidance on how to live the longest, most productive life possible.

Well, that’s what I want, too, and I’ve decided to do something about it.

I’m starting a new enterprise called New England Health Advisory. Its mission is to provide you with the information and advice that’s most beneficial to your health and wellness. And I’d like you to join me as a Charter Reader.

It’s free, just like this Cabot Wealth Advisory.

It arrives in your email inbox, just like Cabot Wealth Advisory.

But it won’t come as frequently, at least to start. You can expect to hear from us once or twice per week.

Furthermore, unlike Cabot Wealth Advisory, it’s not written by me. You see, I don’t feel qualified to be your health and wellness guru. Sure, I can write an occasional article, but I’ve always been more comfortable with hard science like computers and communications and energy, and a little mystified by what I call “squishy” science.

Plus, I already have a job that keeps me pretty busy.

So I looked long and hard and I found just the right person to lead this new venture.

Her name is Inger Pols (that’s an amalgam of Swedish and Dutch). She has an MBA from Columbia University. She’s a mother of two. And she’s devoted her life in recent years to untangling the conflicting claims about health and nutrition, so that she can make all of America healthier, while raising her family in the healthiest way possible.

(Also, she has a good hearty laugh, and that’s a big plus in my book.)

Inger’s main job in New England Health Advisory is to discover and communicate the truth about health and wellness in an interesting way.

When news comes out about a new medical study–the recent ill-received advice on mammograms is a perfect example–she’ll give you the straight truth.

When a pharmaceutical company comes out with a new drug, she’ll tell you if it’s worth looking at … or if the company is just trying to make money.

She’ll tell you the truth about broccoli; is raw really more healthful than cooked?

And if you send her a question by email, she’ll answer … just like we do at Cabot.

It costs nothing to join the group, and there’s no obligation. In fact, after you join, if you change your mind, you can ask to be taken off the list at any time.

But I think you’ll stay, once you start reading Inger’s weekly emails and start implementing her advice.

Because at bottom, her advice will be well informed and sensible. You’ll find no fad diets, no junk science, and no scare tactics. Just useful information and advice.

And to get you started, Inger is giving away a free new Special Report called “The Truth About Sugar: It’s Not all Equal,” which you’ll receive in the first issue of New England Health Advisory.

We are consuming more sugar than ever before; the average Westerner consumes 142 pounds of sugar a year. Most of us know there is too much sugar in our diets, but what you may not know is that not all sugars are the same. Just as cholesterol comes in a good form and a bad form, sugar comes in different forms as well. One of these forms is the basis of energy for all our cells, the other can be metabolized in our body like a poison. Learn the truth about sugar in this free Special Report.

If you’re wondering, “What’s the catch?” I completely understand. So let me be absolutely clear. New England Health Advisory is a no-cost service. What’s more, I can assure you that your confidentiality will be completely respected. Your email address will never be passed on to anyone else.

Bottom line: If you care about your own health and wellness, you owe it to yourself to try New England Health Advisory.

To get started, click this sign up link.

Yours in tireless pursuit of wisdom,

Timothy Lutts

Publisher of Cabot Advisories

P.S. Sign up for New England Health Advisory now and receive your free Special Report, “The Truth About Sugar: It’s Not all Equal,” in the very first issue. Simply click to sign up.

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