• Blood Tests Can Reveal Your Risk for Heart Disease
• Getting Your Digestive System to Work for You!
• Natural Immune-Building Prevention—All Year Long!
• Pancakes, Waffles, Fruits & Nuts…

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Dear Health Conscious Individual,

Welcome to House Calls with Dr. Cutler™!

In this week’s issue, I will discuss some valuable markers for heart disease that only blood tests may reveal. It’s important to stay on top of your health and discussing some of these optional tests with your physician is the first step!

Plus, you may think because it’s summer that you have escaped the threat of the flu or flu-like illness. Well, there are many natural supplements you can take all year round to help keep the nasty virus at bay.

And, do you know how the digestive process works? You will after reading today’s article!

Yours for healthy living,

Michael Cutler, M.D.
Medical Advisor, True Health™

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Blood Tests Can Reveal Your Risk for Heart Disease

The number one killer in American men and women is cardiovascular disease and it’s important to understand the risks and the tests that can be performed to detect heart disease. Blood tests are just one way to reveal markers for heart disease, or atherosclerosis. When your lab results are abnormal in these areas it is more evidence of what you can do to stop and reverse the causes involved.

• High fibrinogen is a marker of easy clotting. Fibrinogen is one of the clotting proteins that accumulates at the site of blood vessel injury. It is also found in higher amounts with any endothelial lesion. It then contributes to plaque buildup and arterial blockage after an unstable atherosclerotic plaque ruptures. Lowering your fibrinogen levels can be accomplished by modest alcohol consumption (one drink twice weekly), exercise and with increased HDL (good) cholesterol.
• Highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is a non-specific indicator of acute inflammation anywhere in the body, including the heart vessels. C-reactive protein is produced by the liver and interacts with the complement system as part of your immune defense system. It also directly damages the endothelium. It initiates endothelial damage and also accelerates the progression of existing artery plaque.
• High glucose can directly cause heart disease and studies show that high sucrose diets of subjects with peripheral vascular disease significantly increase platelet adhesion. Sugar also indirectly promotes heart attack by lowering the good cholesterol HDL. High amounts of sugar circulating in the blood are thought to attach to proteins, which are involved with atherosclerosis development.
• High insulin in the blood actually inflicts direct damage to the endothelium. High insulin is typical for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
• High iron indicates the liver is in trouble. High levels of iron promote oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol in the damaged endothelium.
• High total cholesterol (above 200 mg/dl) and high LDL cholesterol (above 100) or low HDL cholesterol (below 45) are associated with increased heart attack rates. More important to the development of atherosclerosis are causes of inflammation compared to the level of cholesterol itself.
• Low HDL (the good cholesterol) is also linked to increased heart disease.
• High triglycerides are clearly tied into high insulin levels and high simple sugar intake over time. It is one of the markers of early metabolic syndrome (discussed below). Having high triglycerides is an independent risk factor for heart disease.
• High blood homocysteine levels promote oxidation of lipids, platelet stickiness and the binding of an important fatty protein involved in clotting called lipoprotein to fibrin. Vitamins B6, B12, folic acid and trimethylglycine (TMG) are supplements proven to lower homocysteine levels.
• Low testosterone in men appears to interfere with the normal function of the endothelium. It is commonly found to be low in men as they age. It is an independent risk factor for heart disease.
• High levels of lipoproteins are a significant risk for stroke in men. These are proteins that bind to fat molecules and carry them from the intestinal blood stream where they are absorbed into the liver to become usable by the body.

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Getting Your Digestive System to Work for You!

Let’s talk a little bit about the digestion process. You must first digest your food adequately in the mouth and stomach before you can absorb nutrients through the wall of the small intestine. The enzymes of the mouth (amylases) are the first chemicals that your body produces and uses to break down food.

The process begins the moment food enters your mouth. Ptyalin is the name given to the amylase found in saliva that breaks down starch into maltose and dextrin. By chewing food, you use both a mechanical and a chemical digestive process. I recommend that as your age increases, so should the number of times you chew each bite of food. And when you do, you’ll get better digestion and less gas, as I’ll explain further.

If you’ve ever had gas or bloating, then you have experienced inadequate digestion. The bacteria in your digestive tract feed on the undigested food particles to create gas. For example, the next time you bite into an apple, quickly chew it a few times and then swallow. Did you know that most of the unchewed apple chunks get all the way to the small intestine—undigested?

Certainly your mouth enzymes and stomach acid do what they can to break these chunks down, but they are largely ineffective. By eating refined foods and sugars that are super easy to digest over the years, the average person essentially causes their own stomach acid and digestive enzymes to down-regulate, or turn down production.

The result is gas and bloating from undigested fibrous chunks that remain in the intestinal tract. The bacteria feed on this food and create gas by fermenting carbohydrates, putrefying proteins and turning fats rancid.

Contrast this with an apple that gets thoroughly chewed all the way into mush. In the mush state, the surface area of the food bolus gets coated with enzymes, acids and later bacteria so that it quickly becomes a molecule size perfect for absorption through the small intestinal wall. It’s good to know that the stomach itself contributes a number of enzymes such as gastrin (which stimulates stomach acid secretion), pepsin (which breaks down proteins) and intrinsic factor (which is largely responsible for absorbing vitamin B12 required to make red blood cells).

If you’re a person who eats the typical American diet, you’re probably experiencing poor nutrient digestion due to insufficient or under active digestive enzymes from your pancreas. When digestive enzymes are lacking in the small intestine it leads to inadequate breakdown of fats, carbohydrates and protein as mentioned earlier. The net effect is poor nutrition to the cells of your body. The secondary effect is unhealthy microbes such as yeast and anaerobic bacteria dominating your colon.

Did you know that approximately 60 percent of your stool consists of microbial organisms? Therefore, even a small decrease in pancreatic output contributes substantially to poor nutrient digestion and may have far-reaching effects in chronically ill patients.

Absorption
Absorption of nutrients occurs predominantly in the small intestine with the aid of digestive enzymes. These nutrients can only reach the blood stream by passing through the wall of the small intestine, or intestinal mucosa. The mucosa is covered with villi which are small, projected cells. These are, in turn, covered with microvilli. The villi and microvilli are only one cell layer thick, yet they perform multiple functions of absorbing nutrients, blocking harmful molecules from being absorbed and supporting healthy bacteria that colonize there.

Once digested down to microscopic size, these food nutrients can then migrate through the cells of the specialized intestinal wall mucosa. Therefore, it takes sufficient digestive enzymes to make this absorptive process happen.

Assimilation
Once absorbed into the blood stream, the food molecules must be carried to the tissue cells of the various organs throughout your body. At this point they must be assimilated through the cell membranes of these organs.

Sometimes the cells won’t let the nutrient molecule in so it can be utilized. Such is the case with insulin resistance—sugar can’t get into the cells of the skeletal muscle, brain, heart and other active organs. As a result, the sugar stays in the blood stream where it circulates and over time damages the body organs—especially the blood vessels that feed the heart, brain, kidneys, eyes and the sensory nerves of the feet.

Unfortunately, other less healthy food nutrient molecules are absorbed even though they are in a synthetic form. Take trans-fatty acids for an example. These unhealthy fat molecules are assimilated into the cell membranes and into the delicate intracellular manufacturing processes—to your long-term detriment. Compare the effect of synthetic trans-fats with the healthier omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, olive and flax oils. These are also utilized by the cell, but instead of harming your body, they reduce inflammation, build healthy tissue starting with the cell membrane and ease the pain from chronic illness!

Utilization
The final step is for food particles to be utilized by the internal organelles of your cells. Of course, the best nutrients come from whole foods and natural sources. These supply what we call micronutrients, making up the vitamins, minerals, enzymes, co-enzymes, phytochemicals, antioxidants, healthy oils and fiber that are required to turn the rest of the protein, fat and carbohydrate of your food into healthy tissue.

Therefore, it’s not enough to just eat foods and expect them to turn into long-term health for you. You must be keenly aware of the nutrient concentration of foods you consume, how you chew, whether you have adequate stomach acids and digestive enzymes for digestion and the function of your liver, pancreas and intestines. Once you’ve realized all these factors, you can be on your way to experiencing a healthier digestive process!

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Natural Immune-Building Prevention—
All Year Long!

Think that flu season is the only time to worry about building your immune system? Wrong. Remember, it is far more valuable to know what you can do to act early. And it goes far beyond just relying on 10 pills of Tamiflu® and hoping for the best! Here is a list of natural immune-building interventions everyone can use during the flu season, or as soon as flu-like symptoms appear:

• Garlic in doses of four to eight times the usual dosing shown on the bottle. Garlic should be taken throughout the flu season as a preventative measure, before the flu bug hits you. Look for an allicin-containing garlic supplement.
• Herbal teas such as chamomile, Echinacea and ginger root are an excellent way to slow nausea and fight viral infections directly. The added benefit is that they will keep you hydrated during a viral flu-like illness.
• Echinacea contains several stimulant compounds. The German government has approved Echinacea for the treatment of influenza-like symptoms.
• DHEA at a high dose in the mornings during a flu infection has scientific merit. It has been shown to boost immune response and protect against the cytokine storm that can occur with some viral infections.
• Melatonin is found to have an intricate involvement with the measurable markers of the immune system in mice experiments. For example, melatonin is beneficial in fighting the following viruses: Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis, encephalomyocarditis, Semliki Forest, West Nile and leukemia retrovirus. It is also known to activate several immune system functions in immunodeficiency states and to fight cancer.
• Lactoferrin is an immune booster found naturally in mother’s milk. It has been shown to potentiate the immune system and inhibit viral attachment to cells.
• Zinc lozenges taken twice daily within 24 hours of the start of a viral illness can inhibit the virus from attaching to your cells. A number of published studies show a significant reduction in the severity and duration of cold virus symptoms.

Now that you are equipped with the knowledge to ward off flu-like illnesses all year round, why not incorporate these tips into your daily routine? That way you can stop the infection before it happens and before it takes you away from your activities with family and friends!

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Dr. Cutler’s Nutrition and Recipe Corner

I want to share some healthy and delicious recipes from my kitchen to yours. These recipes can be enjoyable for the whole family to join in making, and can help you on the way to a nutritious lifestyle today! This recipe and more can be found in my monthly advisory newsletter, Easy Health Options™. For more information on Easy Health Options™, visit www.easyhealthoptions.com.

Whole Wheat Pancakes & Waffles

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (store bought or ground from wheat kernels)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder (non-aluminum)
Pinch of Celtic sea salt
1 Tbsp. pure olive oil
1/2 cup almond milk
3/4 cup water
Add 1 Tbsp. Grade B maple syrup to batter (optional for sweetness)

Add dry ingredients to a mixing bowl. Pour in oil, almond milk and water. Mix batter leaving a bit lumpy. Cook on non-stick or lightly oiled skillet. Cook first side of pancake until bubbles pop and then flip over. Continue cooking until the underside is golden brown. Or use batter in an electric waffle iron.

*Hint: A fruit/nut smoothie is a great alterative to syrup to top pancakes or waffles.

Anytime Fruit & Nut Smoothies

1/2 cup crushed ice
1 cup water
Generous squirt of flax oil or flax seeds
1/2 cup almond, rice or soy milk
2 handfuls of raw almonds
1 scoop protein powder (vanilla flavor)
One or two fresh fruits of your choice (peeled and no seeds)—apple, banana, orange, kiwi, grapes, or even a carrot or a tomato!
3/4 to 1 bag frozen fruit: Cherries, tropical mix, blueberries, etc. (I recommend no strawberries unless you add a banana or other sweeter fruit)

Blend until smooth. Great to use as “syrup” for your pancakes and waffles. Don’t have time for breakfast? Hand a smoothie off to your kids as they are running out the door. Great for after school snacks, too! Be creative. You can add oatmeal, plain yogurt or even some cold cereal to your concoction.

All the best!
Michael Cutler, M.D.