Monday, January 30, 2023

“AGAINST THE GRAIN” Turning the tide in my battle with heart disease

I just made one small step for myself, but straight out of a giant, foreboding pit for mankind. And I'm feeling like Astronaut Neil Armstrong must have felt when he said something similar, but far more positive on the Moon. As you might imagine, my excitement could not have happened without a stunning revelation to go with it.

This is a subject far beyond my calling or comfort zone. I wrote it because it is probably the most relevant and important thing I will ever write concerning worldly matters...

YOUR REAL HEALTH PROGNOSIS IS DECIDED BY YOUR DIET AND GENETICS

We are told my ancestors from Europe ate lots of mutton, wild game, cod and other seafood, and some crude barley bread, for thousands of years. They had no “medicine” or doctors as we know them and had to treat themselves through prayer, herbs and nutrition. Then came Science and all of its “improvements.” Today in America, ancient nutrition habits have taken the back seat to diet diversity and experimentation, where doctors propose to fight our dietary abuses with drugs, liposuction and gastric bypasses. Touted for decades as cholesterol reducers, statin drugs have led the way for maintaining our heart health in spite of our unhealthy diets. But over time, they have been proven to be poor performers. Heart disease is still rampant, but sadly, pitifully statin drugs are the main medicinal line of defense which doctors have to offer against it. Physicians argue that at least the statins stabilize the plaque, and that is worth something. But our physicians have only helpless sympathy concerning the statin side-effects, and no explanation as to why heart disease is still the number one killer in our country. (Yes, even worse than COVID).

Even more telling, doctors cannot explain why their most popular solution for heart disease has provided no improvement in our life expectancy, in randomized trials; Why Duke University researchers actually found through a study of terminally ill patients that those taken off of statins lived over a month longer than those who were kept on their statin meds; Why the Pharmacology community had no answer to an article in their own trade journal whose title declared “How statistical deception created the appearance that statins were safe and effective in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease.” Bottom line, for all of their good intentions and effective marketing, statins failed miserably to impact the one thing we heart patients cared about the most: Our outcomes.

Doctors have known now for a generation that peoples all over the world enjoy good heart health, much better than ours, and the farther away from our diet paradigm the better. Researchers have suggested these healthier hearts were due to their high fish intake, or crushed grape skins in wine-making, or whatever, but there has never been much doubt that something in the American diet was the problem. In the end, early research suggested that fats were a contributing factor, and high cholesterol was the problem, and fats became enemy number one. Decades later, doctors quietly conceded that later research discriminated between “good” cholesterol and “bad,” and coffee, eggs, nuts, avacadoes and other shamed foods were released back into the American diet with fewer equivocations. Still, the average American doctor was only equipped to tell you what you should not eat... and he was no longer sure about that.

What nobody seemed to be wondering, was what about all of the native American plants which European Americans were consuming as major elements in their daily diets? For centuries, few scientists cared whether or not Euro-American physiological systems could process corn, wheat, tomatoes, potatoes or many other things found naturally in North America. Food was food, right? People are all the same, right? They had never heard of lectins, or knew much about what a high starch, or high carb diet might do to a person over time.

I was like most people, heart disease was not a problem for me. I looked and felt healthy. But I got concerned after my first heart attack in my 50's. I was suddenly introduced to a bizarre modern world of doctors who did not believe that nutrition was that relevant to my health. I remember begging my doctors for a heart-healthy diet, so I could know where to make adjustments. They were not too interested in the idea. I learned later that they were passively aware of genetics, and did not believe that people would follow healthy diets even if they knew what they ate was killing them. Right after my first heart attack, my young, well-educated cardiologist looked me in the eyes and said,

“I'll give you a diet... if it tastes good, spit it out!”

Funny. If one can find humor in the fact that for many of us, some food has become our number one health risk. And we don't even know for sure which food!

This same doctor prepared me for my future, of taking the statin drugs for the rest of my life and yet with my artery blockages, he fully expected to see me back on the operating table in less than a year... for open heart surgery. In his mind, there was little anyone could do to prevent it. That got my attention.

So I began to read and study on my own. I'll spare you the details. I desperately experimented with diets... avoided red meat and fats, as suggested by most heart experts. I juiced fruits and vegetables for meals, swore off cokes and ice cream... But I still had another heart attack and eventually a total of SEVEN stents were inserted into my arteries. It was very hard to find a healthy, sustainable, successful diet. I avoided that open heart surgery, but it was a battle. And the statin meds prescribed by my cardiologist caused depression, lethargy, muscle cramping and other side-effects, which adversely affected my job performance. Being self-employed, I would often get fed-up and get off of them and then the withdrawals had their own alarming side-effects. I would explain my symptoms and all of the doctors would shrug. It couldn't have been the statin, its manufacturer promised that, “on the average, there were very few side effects!” I spent a lot of money getting various expensive tests trying to understand what was happening inside of my body, (bloating, gassiness, blood in my stool, my creativity gone...) with no hard answers except hospital bills.

On both occasions, during my heart “events” my local hospital medical professionals assured me that my “numbers were not right for me to be suffering a heart attack.” I learned the hard way the mystery and subjectivity of Cardiology. It required technology unavailable at your local clinic to discern some heart attacks. After my second heart attack, I knew I had to prepare my family for... my impending demise, since there seemed to be no real solutions to heart disease. We moved to Bell County so my wife would be near our daughter... just in case the inevitable happened. My wife was precious as she prepared for me every thing possible you could make out of turkey; turkey spaghetti, turkey stroganoff, King Ranch turkey, turkey enchiladas, etc., etc. We even tried veggie meatballs, veggie burgers, and they actually weren't that bad. But the battle to reduce my cholesterol was still just that. No matter what I did, I was still clogging up my arteries with plaque.

I was more or less stuck with my already clogged arteries. All I could do was reduce the plaque which I was adding to them. Statin drugs supposedly kept those gradually growing artery obstructions stable, preventing further deadly events, and the daily aspirin helped to thin my blood so it could flow easily in the avenues left. With two heart attacks under my belt, it seemed that my prospects were dim. That being said, my assumption was that living near Scott & White Hospital in Temple was a smart move.

But in a town crawling with interns, and stocked with long established cardiologists who were always over-extended, I was unable to engage a permanent cardiologist. Think about that for a moment. In our system today, someone with a history of heart disease cannot qualify for a steady, seasoned professional to provide him or her care. After several years, one day I found myself in front of a semi-retired, veteran cardiologist “temp” who had tons of experience. After sending me to get my blocked stent cleared out, (Amazing!) he scolded me.

“You've been dealing with this disease for over ten years!” He exclaimed. “It's time to come up with a different strategy!” And he was right. He went on to chastise the cavalier attitude which I displayed, and even called me a few unkind names. He wanted me to consider some new meds which had not even been put on the market yet. I was not against a new medicine, if it was actually effective. But I believed that I had just learned of a more reliable action that would lower my cholesterol, and so I followed a different plan. And it was one he could never relate to. I was already sure it was time for all of us, and especially people in his profession to adopt a new strategy. One that worked.

I had just read a book (published 2018) by Dr. Richard Gerhauser. Everybody needs to own this book. It is titled the The Secrets of Underground Medicine. I love this book. Newer versions of this wonderful, paradigm-smashing book are now available. Dr. Gerhauser also has a newsletter which he puts out on the Internet, where he discusses effective, natural alternatives to treating most common diseases. [www.naturalhealthresponse.com] Bottom line, as my four-year LDL Cholesterol chart demonstrates, I found some real solutions while reading his book. So let me summarize for you, the major take-away for me:

GO AGAINST THE GRAIN

Suspend what you think you know about heart disease. As another published doctor puts it, “What if I told you that everything you've ever been told about cholesterol is a lie?” And Dr. Gerhauser goes farther to identify the real problem which contributes to American heart disease; Grains, or at least the most popular ones, as we process and use them, are THE DEVIL; very little nutritional value... except those artificially injected with vitamins like Iron. Corn is the real culprit... the beginning of the bad cholesterol (LDL) nightmare... fed to the cows in the feed lots... passed on to us through feed-lot raised beef, or ingested as Fritos, tortillas, grits, cornbread, roasted corn, popcorn, corn pops, Corn Chex, corn dogs, corn flakes, corn oil, corn syrup... God help us! And we were never meant to eat any of this stuff!

Modern hybrid corn is the agricultural equivalent of Frankenstein's monster. But it is easily raised, and keeps the American farmer in business. Wheat, especially bleached flour, is the same song, second verse. But it is considered a “staple” even though everybody knows that inside our bodies it all turns to sugar, sugar and more sugar. White bread and all of its forms are slowly sabotaging American health. And these grains are the main culprits in spiking our cholesterol.

This whole scam began back over 50 years ago when Congress released a scathing report demonizing red meat and the fat that comes with it. Senator George McGovern, the former Democratic candidate for President, led these sensational charges and the crusade against meat- and thus cattlemen and ranches and our way of life... as “enlightened” Americans embraced vegetarianism. They were convinced that people should not eat animal flesh- or any animal bi-products. These half-wits taught that American heart disease was attributable to the cow flesh we consumed, and cholesterol was our deadly enemy, ignoring that our brains need meat to develop properly, and are made up of mostly cholesterol and that we have to have animal fat regularly to maintain them.

What followed was a rush for Big Pharma to develop cholesterol-lowering drugs... which became BIG, BIG business... which (duh!) led to a spike in American dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Initially a 1,500% increase! McGovern and the Medical profession apparently believed the the lower the cholesterol level in our bodies, the safer we would all be... even if we all became as stupid as a fence post in the process. These spikes in American dementia were ignored... until they have risen to astronomical levels... something like 14,000 % increase over the past decades!

Today even the Mayo clinic has said that we need fat... and meat .. and eggs... much more than what heart patients have been told, and much fewer carbs, medical advice which will help Americans fight this onslaught of dementia... if they would only listen.

IDENTIFY THE REAL PROBLEM

SUGAR, SUGAR, SUGAR. Americans are so fat, and so unhealthy they have become a caricature of their worst fears. Our diets are packed with carbs and soft drinks and processed foods. Most of these things have little nutritional value and harbor addictive, truly insidious ingredients which we have learned to love. And nobody seems to be concerned about it.

So, not surprisingly, Americans are getting fatter and fatter, and enjoy the worst health of any modern country. Dr. Gerhauser educated me about this national health emergency, a national scam, which by now ought to be a national reform movement, but which has been obscured and prevented by Big Pharma, Big Government and Big Agri-businesses. Aw Hell, Kellogg's and Mazola too...

Folks we are outgunned here, and you had better read up on it... or risk you or your loved ones dying an early and miserable death. Until Americans stop trusting the “Bigs,” and learn to inform themselves, they will continue to belly up at the McDonald's and relish in corn-fed beef and sugar bread, and pay the consequences. But as of now, they ignorantly trust the Big American Agri-Pharmaceutical complex. I hate to point this out, but with the imminent failure of Social Security, the U. S. Government has no incentive to help educate us or extend our life-spans.

COMPREHEND THE MOTIVES BEHIND OUR “STANDARD” AMERICAN DIET.

Grains were elevated to a bogus status back during the Great Depression, when the government learned that it could feed us cheaply- and put the farmers back to work, while fortifying their grain products and thus insure that we did not starve or die of anemia. Grains were advertised by the government as one of the “five main food groups,” all required for a healthy life. But the people who were already mature then, like my grandparents, lived longer and healthier than we will, regardless that they defied modern medical recommendations, and ate “unhealthy” things like bacon and eggs. More importantly, they could easily obtain fresh, organically raised fruits and vegetables. During their developing years, there was no sliced white bread, and sandwiches were not that common. Cattle was grass fed. There were few hamburger stands, and no pizza parlors. People grew and cooked their own food. My grandparents and their generation were the last Americans to live under this ancient, unscientific paradigm.

Weirdly, we grain-raised “Baby Boomers” will not enjoy the long lives of our grandparents, (My wife and I had three grandparents who lived past or near 100) who smoked and drank and ate whatever they wanted. Our parent's generation signaled the backward health trend with a significant rise in heart disease, diabetes and cancer. None of our four parents, raised as children on Post Toasties and Cream of Wheat, even made it to ninety. In fact their average lifespan was just 76 years. My parent's lifespan average was only 71. That's two whole decades shorter than their parents! I'm not that great at math, but I think that is a very significant difference, given the so-called scientific advances of our age.

It was not beef or fat that killed the “WWII generation.” Two of them never smoked. The other two consumed only moderate or little alcohol. None were morbidly obese. It was cancer and its treatments, mountains of pills and what had been introduced into the American diet in a huge way in the 1930's... It was the grains! Then enter our generation- with cereal breakfasts, french fries, daily sandwiches and a tsunami of carbohydrate snacks which now fill our relentlessly hungry stomachs. We are dead men walking.

PREPARE TO UPSET YOUR DIET PARADIGM

It's NOT THE FATS! Our bodies not only crave, but depend on fats to survive. Your brain for instance is made up mostly of fat, and it cannot maintain itself without a steady source of it. Modern science has been barking up the wrong tree. It's the grains. Carbs leave you unsatisfied. Thus they encourage you to eat more of them, along with the sugar and salt that is often making them so tasty. And Dr. Gerhauser points towards them as a major threat to our health.

My chart here, the basics provided by my hospital, (and custom labeled by me) proves it to any skeptics. My battle with heart disease took a decided positive turn this past summer after I read Dr. Gerhauser's book. Just look at the results. We went to work, found substitutes for wheat-based bread... (YES there are some!) and cut out all corn and wheat products... (while dutifully still avoiding pork and red meat...) and in a short period, an astoundingly short period, we cut my LDL Cholesterol number in half. It was so dramatic, and so wonderful, my cardiologist was reluctant to believe the results of the labs.

Over time, he solidified that sentiment. Still, he had to admit that something was working, and he could not and did not try to credit the statin meds (Crestor) with my amazing results. “Whatever you are doing, KEEP ON DOING IT.” He proclaimed. We were encouraged and pressed on.

BUT, and this is very important, not being a nutritionist or any kind of scientist, I grossly underestimated the important IRON present in the bread and carbs I ate, and still avoiding meat, found myself in an unwitting jam when I became seriously anemic. Iron is an essential player in the blood-clotting process. Too much or too little Iron in our blood can lead to disaster. And I was having one. Normally our bodies regulate it and we live without thinking about keeping it in balance. Beef and wild game has always been an important source of Iron in our diets, for millions of years, but has fallen into disfavor in the past five decades. Doctors have wrongly warned against red meat and their fats for two generations. So for many Americans, especially heart patients who listen to their doctors, fortified flour is a main source of Iron. But since I had become suspicious of grains, I had severely restricted my intake of bread... without finding a new source of Iron, and my body began to break down... and unchecked by sufficient Iron, the prescribed blood thinners I was taking began to cause internal bleeding in my upper intestine. Sufficient Iron was not there to help clog the routine bleeding from the aspirin and Effient I was taking. And I was bleeding a lot... and losing the Iron in my system... and I did not even realize I needed to be concerned until it was too late.

Obviously, I lived, but it was a perfect storm which could have killed me. My Hemoglobin count got down to just above the danger line at 7 (Should be 15). Feeling like another heart attack was imminent, I went to the ER, and ended up in the hospital for several days. Incredibly, the heart doctors refused to take me off of the blood-thinning meds which were racing through my gut with my anemic blood and dumping into my upper intestine. I was seriously anemic and bleeding to death. Meanwhile the doctors ran blood tests... performed an upper G.I. search, and wanted to run one more, so for a couple of days solid food was withheld from me to keep my system clear for these G.I. procedures. Over three days, I only received one meal, all clear liquids, in my hospital room. This was consistent with modern medicine philosophy which considers nutrition an afterthought. I was scheduled for a “pill cam” in a day or two, which would supposedly explore possible hemorrhaging in my upper intestines... (which of course there was, and doctors already know this bleeding occurs. But with no food in days, especially low on IRON, I was weak, miserable, and yet I knew instinctively what I needed to do. And that was to get out of there. I refused any more tests for the time being and sought release from the hospital, and turned to someone who would restore my strength: My wife!

I went home and ate beef steaks and liver and spinach... and let my hands heal from the I.V. needle insertions, which had been taped to each. I got a little stronger and visited my semi-retired cardiologist, who finally agreed to take me off of the blood-thinning meds which were still causing copious internal bleeding. But he was confused by my situation. He intimated that the anemia might always have been a problem for me... and that it had been undetected. Of course, I was convinced my anemia was relatively new and caused by my steady loss of blood for weeks, exacerbated by my abandonment of bread (thus iron) and the foolhardy continuation of all the daily aspirin and the blood-thinners I was taking. So the recovery could finally begin, once I was taken off of the Effient- and I also temporarily reduced my intake of aspirin for good measure.

Then we were shocked. Before my consultation was over, my wise old cardiologist insisted that my earlier, wildly encouraging LDL blood test results, which came after my initial low-carb diet, were some kind of mistake! He confessed that he did not believe the numbers. They were unbelievable; not reliable enough to plan for my future treatment. He returned to his only answer, insisting it was past time for that new strategy! He suggested that new drug again, still not released to the medical world... He was more than ready for me to play Guinea Pig, and so was I. But think about that. After a lifetime of treating heart patients, my veteran cardiologist's last, best hope for me was something not even available to most heart patients. What did this say about his wizened confidence in the practices of his lengthy career? Then he told me to cancel the next scheduled blood tests, as they would not be necessary.

But I didn't cancel them. I disagreed with him. I wanted to know how much my anemia had improved, if at all... I wanted a number. Remember my serious ANEMIA? When I left the hospital it was barely up to 8. I wanted science to keep me informed as my Iron intake improved my Hemoglobin numbers. At this point, I trusted the labs more than my cardiologist. I'm sure he is a good doctor, but he is like most men of science, who constantly throw out facts which do not support their most basic assumptions. I've seen it for years in archaeology, geology and ethnology. At this point I came to the same conclusion as both of my brothers, both of whom have heart disease: You have to educate yourself. You have to follow your own wisdom. It is the only one you can always trust.

I was still weak, dizzy, and desperate for some good news. Strangely my doctors could not have been less interested in that or the progress in my blood count. Anyway, after the worst prescribed med (effient/prasugrel) was finally discontinued, (Thank you Lord!) suddenly I got a whole lot better. The bleeding stopped. This was no surprise to me. Then I went and gave blood for the labs and BINGO... now the evidence was in. My anemia was barely improved, but once again the results of the low-carb diet were amazing. I am grateful that Scott & White Hospital in Temple provides such handy charts to track my health over the years. The evidence is plain, and they have provided it. (All the colorful wordage was added by me.)

Once again, I had been able to bring my LDL (bad) Cholesterol way down... by omitting grains... very quickly, and yet now I was eating meat! Lots of it, just like my ancestors. Pork, beef and liver. I had to, to save my iron-poor blood. And these new, good lab results supported the great results of that first Gerhauser-inspired diet, which my unbelieving doctor dismissed and considered was a lab-error.

Finally I understand my condition and how to deal with it. And all I had to do to save myself was to go against the grain and give up breads. I consider it an easy trade. Not everybody has a body which reacts this way, but many of you need to do the same thing, and “Go Against the Grain.” Just remember to take an Iron supplement!

If I am wrong, and Dr. Gerhauser is a quack, all I gave up was some useless carbs. With my past track record, my heart was not going to go the long route and I had little to lose. But if we are right, I will live significantly longer, while most of America experiences a travesty and heads into a colossal health tragedy. And you will eventually know, one way or another... but it is not too late right now for you to make the same adjustments. Ones that could make a world of difference in the quality and quantity of your existence.

Just start by avoiding bread... or corn products, and see if your Cholesterol numbers improve. I believe you will be as shocked, and as thrilled as I was! So now it's up to you... what you do with this information. But it could change- and maybe save your life.

MORE: A silent killer is waiting for those who fall between the cracks of Medicine.

A third of the population suffers from gum disease, and among this large group are 40% of all heart attack victims. In fact persons with gum disease are 49% more likely to suffer a heart attack. Studies indicate that people with gum (periodontal) disease have a two or three times greater risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or some other serious cardiovascular event.

The bacteria which infect your gums can also move out and cause blood clots, which could cause a stroke or heart attack, and they often do. Every time you ignore an abscessed tooth, or your dentist does oral surgery on you, and you run the risk of infection, you not only increase the odds for having a stroke, but you also raise your chances dramatically for heart failure.

In 2012, Circulation, the American Heart Association journal published a report made by many qualified medical professionals which happily headlined “No proof that gum disease caused heart disease or stroke.” This no doubt put many dentists as ease, since those accusations could make their world much more complicated. The important point here is the seriousness which the industry responded with to warnings from other studies that said otherwise. But since then, many more studies have surfaced which erased the gleam from their smiles.

In less than ten years, the link between heart disease and gum disease has been well recognized and documented. Now we are learning that gum infections can also assist Alzheimer's Disease. But don't be surprised if you never heard about it. And don't be surprised if you are an elderly person with heart issues and your faithful dentist suddenly forgot that you existed. Almost overnight, you became a huge liability.

It was in the blink of an eye that the facts about this clandestine, insidious yet largely unknown relationship went from suspicious coincidence to “old news,” getting mild shrugs from dentists while this fact winsomely streams across the monitor at your dentist chair. “Did you know?”... they offer, as if everybody already knows. As usual I was the last to know. But many dentists were not prepared for this serious complication, much less the protocol necessary to protect their patients.

Suddenly the proven risks, especially for persons with previous heart issues, now arguably required extra care, verbal warnings, perhaps legal release forms. But mum was the word. There was no revolution in dental hygiene, no huge increase in dental insurance, not even stern announcements on television by health experts. But no doubt many dentists were forced to upgrade their facilities or change their methods to better avoid what had been treated for centuries as routine gum infections- which could be fatal. God only knows how many folks have died of a heart attack prompted by gum disease!

Medical professionals have had to learn another essential skill not developed in medical or dental schools: CYA- via patient winnowing; Thinning out patients who are at risk with stroke or heart issues. Insurance is dang expensive, and now brought into the light, this exposure was going to be a killer for everybody. For smaller practices, high risk heart patients probably had to be... dropped.

At the same time that it became obvious that gum and heart disease were deadly partners in crime, Doctors and dentists had to cope with even worse bad news in the pain-killer department. Ibuprofen, acetaminophen and other pain killers, the last line of defense since the sudden rationing of stronger prescription-only pain-killers, now almost unavailable to many patients, have been proven to be bad for us... even dangerous in high levels and after prolonged use. And Antibiotics, also being rationed, were proving to be losing their effect, as germs morphed and became immune to them. The threat of procedure failure and infection complications exploded overnight, not to mention the increase in excruciating pain for many patients. I am sure I am not the only dental patient who has called his dentist in the middle of the night, desperate from maddening dental pain, to find out that the effective pain-killers of yesterday were no longer available to me... and feeling somewhat betrayed by my health care provider. But the sudden drug stinginess is not their fault. The Feds have been monitoring them closely. Doctors are seriously questioned if they dispense more pain killers than the Feds think is normal... and ironically, they are questioned just as much if they are not prescribing them enough... as if they might be consuming them themselves...

One of my brothers has pioneered this significant discovery about gum disease via his own mouth. Only after he suffered from serious symptoms of heart disease, and was prescribed statins and a strict diet, did he learn of a bad infection in his gums which could have killed him. Hearing of the connection between the two maladies, he immediately engaged in a stringent practice of using his water pik- after every meal and often with Hydrogen Peroxide mixed with Listerine (rather than plain water) to kill the bacteria which might lead to a blood clot. He eventually found that his “heart disease” retreated significantly. So much so, he is convinced the gum disease was the source of his problem... not his heart.

Afterwards, when hearing about it, his cardiologist agreed that he was aware of the connection between heart disease and gum disease, and he always sent his patients to a dentist if he noticed they had bad teeth. He appeared oblivious to all of the folks like my brother who have what appear to be sound mouths, but in fact harbor a deep infection about which they are totally unaware.

This is the deadly, professional gap between the doctors and the dentists, which have been killing many heart attack victims. Some day, Dentists will require patients to have heart check ups before dental surgery, to be able to assess the risks, and they will treat gum disease very seriously. Cardiologists in the future will inquire of patients suffering heart pains whether they have had any dental surgery in recent days... which might change their prognosis or their diagnosis... but until then, you must boldly ask these questions yourselves, or fall between the cracks of Medicine.

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