4 common supplements make your arteries soft and supple

I’ve told you for years that I prefer to get my vitamins and minerals from food rather than supplements. But there are times when supplements are absolutely vital. In fact, if you’re one of the millions of people with risk factors for heart disease, certain supplements are critical to prevent a heart attack.

One of the big hallmarks of arterial disease is the elasticity of your blood vessels. That is, they need to expand while your heart is contracting. And while your heart is at rest, like a balloon expelling its air, your arteries continue to expel the blood they contain.

Scientists did a randomized, placebo-controlled study with 70 patients. They all had multiple cardiovascular risk factors. The intervention group took a daily regimen of vitamin C (100 mg), vitamin E (400 IU), CoQ10 (120 mg), and selenium (200 mcg). Compared to the placebo group, the supplemented group saw significant increases in large and small artery elasticity. Additionally, the supplemented group had better glucose control and higher HDL (“good”) cholesterol.

This natural compound drops cholesterol by 17.4%

Does your doctor still hound you with warnings about cholesterol? Do you feel the pressure to knuckle under to his demands and take a dangerous statin? I’ve always said that I see no place for statins in 99% of people. Here’s more proof. Common molecules in plants can dramatically lower your cholesterol, and totally without risk.

In this study, researchers followed 93 healthy subjects with slightly elevated cholesterol 193-309 mg/dl. They wanted to see if plant stanols could lower their cholesterol. Stanols are molecules in plants with a very similar structure to cholesterol called phytosterols.

The researchers divided the subjects into four groups. They gave the patients either a control product or a stanol product daily for four weeks. The stanol product was a margarine/soy-based “yogurt” that provided 3, 6, or 9 grams of plant stanols. Each stanol group had lowered cholesterol. But the 9 gram group lowered the most – 27mg/dl. The 9 gram group dropped cholesterol a whopping 17.4%.

What makes asthmatics more likely to get osteoporosis?

Most people wouldn’t connect asthma to osteoporosis. But a new study says asthmatics should be concerned about the bone disease.

As you may know, osteoporosis is one of the biggest dangers we have to face as we get older. Osteoporosis not only makes your life very miserable, it also can kill you. Each year, more than one-third of Americans aged 65 and older will experience a fall. And, according to the Centers for Disease Control, close to 16,000 of those people will die from the fall because their bones are so weak.

As a result, the drug industry is pushing osteoporosis drugs (Actonel, Aredia, Boniva, Didronel, Fosamax, Reclast, Skelid, and Zometa) like they are candy. But they aren’t candy.