Heart Health: A Woman's Guide

Heart Health: A Woman's Guide -- Dean Ornish, MD -- 2/5/2004

Heart Disease (Coronary Artery Disease) Slideshow 15 Tips for Avoiding Heart Disease Slideshow Heart-Healthy Foods Slideshow

By Dean Ornish
WebMD Live Events Transcript

Heart disease doesn't get the media attention that many other conditions get, but it's the No. 1 health threat to women, by far. But the good news is, heart disease can be prevented, and even reversed. We discussed women's heart health, including diet, stress, love, and the effects of menopause, with Dean Ornish, MD, on Feb. 5.

Ornish: Many women don't realize that heart disease is as common in women as in men. In fact, heart and blood vessel diseases kill more women than all other diseases COMBINED. That's the bad news.

Women had been told to take HRT (hormone replacement therapy) to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease even though it was known that it increased the risk of breast cancer and uterine cancer. The rationale was that heart disease was more common, so the net effect would be worth it. Yet most women would be unwilling to trade heart disease for cancer.

Our research and that of others indicates that women can reverse heart disease easier than men, whether through diet and lifestyle or lipid-lowering drugs, or both. Women who undergo revascularization with bypass surgery or angioplasty generally don't do as well as men, so this is yet another reason why women may benefit from diet and lifestyle changes.

And these changes in diet and lifestyle can also help prevent breast cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, colon cancer, and obesity, and the only side effects are good ones.

For the complete transcript of Dr Ornish's interview click here.

Anti-Inflammatory Diet Tips

Anti-Inflammatory Diet Tips

Courtesy of Dr. Weil on Healthy Aging

It is becoming increasingly clear that chronic inflammation is the root cause of many serious illnesses - including heart disease, many cancers, and Alzheimer's disease. We all know inflammation on the surface of the body as local redness, heat, swelling and pain. It is the cornerstone of the body's healing response, bringing more nourishment and more immune activity to a site of injury or infection. But when inflammation persists or serves no purpose, it damages the body and causes illness. Stress, lack of exercise, genetic predisposition, and exposure to toxins (like secondhand tobacco smoke) can all contribute to such chronic inflammation, but dietary choices play a big role as well. Learning how specific foods influence the inflammatory process is the best strategy for containing it and reducing long-term disease risks. (Find more details on the mechanics of the inflammation process and the Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid.)

The Anti-Inflammatory Diet is not a diet in the popular sense - it is not intended as a weight-loss program (although people can and do lose weight on it), nor is it an eating plan to stay on for a limited period of time. Rather, it is way of selecting and preparing foods based on scientific knowledge of how they can help your body maintain optimum health. Along with influencing inflammation, this diet will provide steady energy and ample vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids dietary fiber, and protective phytonutrients.

You can also adapt your existing recipes according to these anti-inflammatory diet principles:

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General Diet Tips:

• Aim for variety.
• Include as much fresh food as possible.
• Minimize your consumption of processed foods and fast food.
• Eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables.

Caloric Intake

• Most adults need to consume between 2,000 and 3,000 calories a day.
• Women and smaller and less active people need fewer calories.
• Men and bigger and more active people need more calories.
• If you are eating the appropriate number of calories for your level of activity, your weight should not fluctuate greatly.
• The distribution of calories you take in should be as follows: 40 to 50 percent from carbohydrates, 30 percent from fat, and 20 to 30 percent from protein.
• Try to include carbohydrates, fat, and protein at each meal.

Carbohydrates

• On a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, adult women should consume between 160 to 200 grams of carbohydrates a day.
• Adult men should consume between 240 to 300 grams of carbohydrates a day.
• The majority of this should be in the form of less-refined, less-processed foods with a low glycemic load.
• Reduce your consumption of foods made with wheat flour and sugar, especially bread and most packaged snack foods (including chips and pretzels).
• Eat more whole grains such as brown rice and bulgur wheat, in which the grain is intact or in a few large pieces. These are preferable to whole wheat flour products, which have roughly the same glycemic index as white flour products.
• Eat more beans, winter squashes, and sweet potatoes.
• Cook pasta al dente and eat it in moderation.
• Avoid products made with high fructose corn syrup.

Fat

• On a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, 600 calories can come from fat - that is, about 67 grams. This should be in a ratio of 1:2:1 of saturated to monounsaturated to polyunsaturated fat.
• Reduce your intake of saturated fat by eating less butter, cream, high-fat cheese, unskinned chicken and fatty meats, and products made with palm kernel oil.
• Use extra-virgin olive oil as a main cooking oil. If you want a neutral tasting oil, use expeller-pressed, organic canola oil. Organic, high-oleic, expeller pressed versions of sunflower and safflower oil are also acceptable.
• Avoid regular safflower and sunflower oils, corn oil, cottonseed oil, and mixed vegetable oils.
• Strictly avoid margarine, vegetable shortening, and all products listing them as ingredients. Strictly avoid all products made with partially hydrogenated oils of any kind. Include in your diet avocados and nuts, especially walnuts, cashews, almonds, and nut butters made from these nuts.
• For omega-3 fatty acids, eat salmon (preferably fresh or frozen wild or canned sockeye), sardines packed in water or olive oil, herring, and black cod (sablefish, butterfish); omega-3 fortified eggs; hemp seeds and flaxseeds (preferably freshly ground); or take a fish oil supplement (look for products that provide both EPA and DHA, in a convenient daily dosage of two to three grams).

Protein

• On a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, your daily intake of protein should be between 80 and 120 grams. Eat less protein if you have liver or kidney problems, allergies, or autoimmune disease.
• Decrease your consumption of animal protein except for fish and high quality natural cheese and yogurt.
• Eat more vegetable protein, especially from beans in general and soybeans in particular. Become familiar with the range of whole-soy foods available and find ones you like.

Fiber

• Try to eat 40 grams of fiber a day. You can achieve this by increasing your consumption of fruit, especially berries, vegetables (especially beans), and whole grains.
• Ready-made cereals can be good fiber sources, but read labels to make sure they give you at least 4 and preferably 5 grams of bran per one-ounce serving.

Phytonutrients

• To get maximum natural protection against age-related diseases (including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative disease) as well as against environmental toxicity, eat a variety of fruits, vegetables and mushrooms.
• Choose fruits and vegetables from all parts of the color spectrum, especially berries, tomatoes, orange and yellow fruits, and dark leafy greens.
• Choose organic produce whenever possible. Learn which conventionally grown crops are most likely to carry pesticide residues and avoid them.
• Eat cruciferous (cabbage-family) vegetables regularly.
• Include soy foods in your diet.
• Drink tea instead of coffee, especially good quality white, green or oolong tea.
• If you drink alcohol, use red wine preferentially.
• Enjoy plain dark chocolate in moderation (with a minimum cocoa content of 70 percent).

Vitamins and Minerals
The best way to obtain all of your daily vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients is by eating a diet high in fresh foods with an abundance of fruits and vegetables. In addition, supplement your diet with the following antioxidant cocktail:

• Vitamin C, 200 milligrams a day.
• Vitamin E, 400 IU of natural mixed tocopherols (d-alpha-tocopherol with other tocopherols, or, better, a minimum of 80 milligrams of natural mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols).
• Selenium, 200 micrograms of an organic (yeast-bound) form.
• Mixed carotenoids, 10,000-15,000 IU daily.
• The antioxidants can be most conveniently taken as part of a daily multivitamin/multimineral supplement that also provides at least 400 micrograms of folic acid and 2,000 IU of vitamin D. It should contain no iron (unless you are a female and having regular menstrual periods) and no preformed vitamin A (retinol). Take these supplements with your largest meal.
• Women should take supplemental calcium, preferably as calcium citrate, 500-700 milligrams a day, depending on their dietary intake of this mineral. Men should avoid supplemental calcium.

Other Dietary Supplements

• If you are not eating oily fish at least twice a week, take supplemental fish oil, in capsule or liquid form (two to three grams a day of a product containing both EPA and DHA). Look for molecularly distilled products certified to be free of heavy metals and other contaminants.
• Talk to your doctor about going on low-dose aspirin therapy, one or two baby aspirins a day (81 or 162 milligrams).
• If you are not regularly eating ginger and turmeric, consider taking these in supplemental form.
• Add coQ10 to your daily regimen: 60-100 milligrams of a softgel form taken with your largest meal.
• If you are prone to metabolic syndrome, take alpha-lipoic acid, 100 to 400 milligrams a day.

Water

• Drink pure water, or drinks that are mostly water (tea, very diluted fruit juice, sparkling water with lemon) throughout the day.
• Use bottled water or get a home water purifier if your tap water tastes of chlorine or other contaminants, or if you live in an area where the water is known or suspected to be contaminated.

Join Dr. Weil on Healthy Aging for more in-depth information on the anti-inflammatory diet, plus over 200 anti-inflammatory recipes, dozens of diet tips designed to help prevent age-related disease, and an exclusive version of Dr. Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid!

Parents: Weight Won’t Budge? Get Your Zzz’s

Feature Article

Parents: Weight Won’t Budge? Get Your Zzz’s
By JJ Virgin

You seem to be doing everything right: exercising regularly, eating three lean, clean meals per day, drinking water instead of soda or coffee. How come you still haven’t shed those extra pounds?

Sleep may be the culprit. More specifically, lack of sleep.

Many people are chronically sleep-deprived and don’t even realize it because they’ve been living that way for so long! However, numerous studies confirm the importance of quality sleep as part of a healthy lifestyle. In fact, people who get five hours of sleep per night are 50% more like to be obese. Those who get six hours are 23% more likely to be obese.

Sleep is especially important when you’re exercising because that’s when your body repairs and rebuilds muscle. Just one night of poor sleep can make you hungrier, more stressed, better at storing fat, and worse at burning it off.

This is why I urge you to get a solid seven to nine hours of sleep per night if at all possible. Yes, I’m a mother myself, and I get that sleepless nights or intermittent sleep is sometimes part of being a parent.

But quality sleep will improve your mood, your mental acuity, and your overall health, which can make you a better, more patient parent. If you can fit in a catnap in the afternoon after lunch between 1 and 3 pm, studies show that you wake up and have the same mental acuity that you did first thing in the morning. Ideally, your nap would last at least 20 minutes, but no longer than 2 hours, so rest up while your little one does.

Another sleep strategy is to trade off with your partner. One night you get up when baby cries, and the next night it’s his responsibility. Then on weekends, you get one day to sleep in and he gets the other day.

Other sleep saboteurs include caffeine, alcohol, and cigarettes. Nicotine mimics the effects of adrenaline, keeping you from falling asleep. There are plenty of other health hazards of smoking, so make quitting a priority if you smoke.

It’s sometimes challenging as a parent to get enough sleep, but it’s necessary for health and weight loss.

©2010 JJ Virgin & Associates, Inc. Celebrity nutrition and wellness expert JJ Virgin is a media personality, in-demand public speaker and best-selling author of Six Weeks to Sleeveless and Sexy, The 5-Step Plan to Sleek, Strong and Sculpted Arms. Get her biweekly LEANzine chock full of tips to get you slim and sexy fast at www.jjvirgin.com.

The Anti-Inflammatory Diet, Part 2:

The Anti-Inflammatory Diet, Part 2: Foods That Affect the Inflammation Response

By G. Douglas Andersen, DC, DACBSP, CCN

As promised in part 1 of this article (Sept. 23 issue), this installment includes lists of foods that tend to up-regulate and down-regulate the degree of inflammatory response during the metabolic processes that follow ingestion. They are not inclusive. It is important to note that small amounts foods which up-regulate inflammatory reactions will not nullify the effect of a mainly anti-inflammatory meal.

An example would be a packet of sugar and pat of butter on a large bowl of oatmeal. On the other hand, foods that down-regulate inflammation may lose some or all of their benefit if they are prepared incorrectly, such as battered, deep-fried vegetables.

In part one, we identified the five major dietary causes that promote an imbalance favoring an excessive inflammatory response. Four of them - too much saturated fat (and the related partially hydrogenated family),¹ too many refined carbohydrates (including sugars)¹ and the dietary ratio imbalances of omega-6/omega-3 oils² and sodium/potassium³ - are well-known. However, energy imbalances that cause body-fat accrual are often overlooked as a cause of systemic inflammation.

Foods Generally Considered Pro-Inflammatory American cheese, bacon, bologna, bratwurst, brownies, (white) breads - including buns, rolls and bagels, butter, cake, candy, cereals,* cheese (American, cheddar, creamed, gouda, jack, mozzarella, provolone, Swiss) cookies, corn chips, corn syrup, crackers*, cream, croissants, corn chips, Danish, doughnuts, egg rolls, French fries, French toast, (deep) fried foods, fruit juices, granola,* hamburgers, hash browns, honey, hot dogs, ice cream, jam/jelly, margarine, molasses, muffins, noodles,* onion rings, pancakes, pastrami, pepperoni, pie, pickles, pita bread,* pizza, pasta,* popcorn, potato chips, pretzels, puddings, relish, ribs (beef or pork), rice (white), salami, sausage, sherbet, shortening, sodas/soft drinks, syrup, tortillas (flour), tortilla chips, waffles, whipped cream, whole dairy. *Unless 100% whole grain and high fiber. Foods Generally Considered Anti-Inflammatory Acai, amaranth, anchovies, apples, apricots, arugula, artichokes, asparagus, avocado, bananas, beans (green beans, black beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, pinto beans, lima beans, soy beans), bean sprouts, beets, berries (blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, goji berries gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries) bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, canola oil, cantaloupe, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, dairy (nonfat), eggplant, endive, gooseberries, grapes, grapefruit, herring, honeydew, kale, lemons, lentils, mackerel, mango, mangosteen, millet, mushrooms, mustard greens, nectarines, noni, nuts - raw (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, chestnuts, filberts, hazelnuts, macadamia, pecans, peanuts, walnuts), oats, okra, olive oil, onions, oranges, papaya, parsnips, pears, peas, peaches, peppers (bell and hot), persimmons, pineapple, pomegranate, plums, poultry (no skin), prunes, pumpkin, quinoa, rhubarb, rutabaga, salmon, sardines, scallions, seeds (flax, poppy, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower), spices (cinnamon, cayenne, garlic, ginger, green tea, parsley, pepper, nutmeg, oregano, rosemary, turmeric), spinach, squash (butternut, crook neck, summer, winter, zucchini), sweet potatoes, tomatoes, trout, tuna (water-packed), turnips, water chestnuts, watermelon, wild game, yams.

It appears that simply eating too much, too often may be the most powerful factor in the promotion of an exaggerated inflammatory response.⁴ For example, 444 teenagers (249 boys and 195 girls) were studied for the purpose of evaluating how fitness can prevent cardiovascular disease.⁵ They were divided into four groups: normal body-weight and physically fit; normal weight/unfit; overweight and fit; and overweight/unfit. Testing revealed serum levels of C-reactive protein were not associated with fitness level. Rather, CRP corresponded to the subjects who were overweight:

• Twenty-three percent of the normal-weight, fit teens had CRP elevations.
• Twenty-four percent of the normal-weight, unfit teens had CRP elevations.
• Fifty percent of the overweight, fit teens had CRP elevations.
• Fifty-six percent of the overweight, unfit teens had CRP elevations.

Body weight had a much greater effect on systemic inflammation than the degree of fitness did. The dietary imbalances we discussed in part 1 yield a food pattern (fatty, starchy, sweet and salty) that promotes overeating by triggering neurochemical responses that hyperstimulate our appetites. We prefer to eat these foods together; therefore, they drive inflammation by both their individual biochemical properties and the overlooked effect of hunger amplification during consumption.

For example, consider how a plate of celery and carrot sticks affects your appetite compared to the same plate filled with fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. When you start eating the celery and carrot sticks, after a few you've had enough. But with cookies (each of which has 10-20 times more calories than the celery/carrot sticks), the more you eat, the more you want until you're really full. And what do we get when we eat chocolate chip cookies? Refined starch, sugars and saturated fat.

Although there is not a significant amount of sodium in chocolate chip cookies, my analysis of five brands/recipes revealed sodium/potassium ratios from 7:1 to 3:1, with an average of 5:1. The recommended daily allowance for sodium and potassium (2,400 mg and 3,500 mg, respectively) works out to a 1:1.5 ratio.

Finally, chocolate chip cookies are not a significant source of polyunsaturated fats. However, the small amounts they do have yield a 10:1 omega-6/omega-3 ratio. That is not as bad as the 15:1 ratio the average American consumes, but is still high enough to promote inflammatory marker increases and symptoms in some conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.⁶

References

1. Esmaillzaded A, Azadbakht L. Home use of vegetable oils, markers of systemic inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction. AJCN, 2008;88(4):913-21.
2. Zhao G, Etherton TD, Martin KR, et al. Dietary alpha-linolenic acid reduces inflammatory and lipid cardiovascular risk factors in hypercholesterolemic men and women. J Nutr, 2004;134:2991-97.
3. Cook NR, Obarzanek E, Cutler JA, et al. Joint effects of sodium and potassium intake on subsequent cardiovascular disease. Arch Intern Med, 2009;169(1):32-40.
4. Basu A, Devaraj S, Jialal I. Dietary factors that promote or retard inflammation. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 2006;26:995-1001.
5. Warnberg J, Ruizn JR, Sjostrom M, et al. Association of fitness and fatness to low-grade systemic inflammation in adolescents. The AVENA Study. Med Sci Sport Exerc, 2006;38(5):S8, A-613.
6. Simopoulos AP. The importance of the omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio in cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. Exp Biol Med, 2008;233:674

ATRIAL FIBRILLATION, ARRHYTHMIAS AND IODINE

ATRIAL FIBRILLATION, ARRHYTHMIAS AND IODINE
By Bruce West, D.C.

[In Health Alert, June 2006, Volume 23, Issue 6. To order, call 831-372-2103, weekdays. Or write Health Alert, 100 Wilson Road, #110, Monterey Ca 93940.]



Too many years ago medical experts determined that high doses of iodine were dangerous, despite a hundred-year history of extremely high doses (in today’s terms) of iodine prescribed by doctors for just about everything—with great results. As is often the case, the flawed results of this study became medical dogma. And today, more than 50 years later, organized medicine still follows that dogma when it comes to iodine therapy.

This is particularly sad for those who do not have access to alternative medical care and are suffering from problems with thyroid and goiter, female reproductive diseases, menopause, diabetes, obesity, liver disease, polycystic ovaries, breast disease, heart disease, and most especially arrhythmia problems.
Missing Link
Iodine supplementation may be the missing link in a good percentage of heart arrhythmia cases, especially atrial fibrillation. The body needs adequate stores of iodine for the heart to beat smoothly. After close to a year now of using Iodine Fulfillment Therapy, I can attest to this fact. Most of the stubborn cases of cardiac arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation that we were unable to completely correct with our cardiac protocols have now been resolved with adequate supplies of iodine added to the protocol.

Even I was fooled for years—fooled away from using adequate doses of iodine. But thanks to bona fide experts like Dr. Abraham, I was able to see the decades-old medical iodine phobia for what it really was—a mistake. Carefully and slowly at first, I started having patients take sufficient doses of iodine. Much to my surprise, there were no problems, just many great results, especially with arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation.
Iodine Fulfillment
Iodine fulfillment means the entire body has adequate stores of iodine to function properly. Although iodine can be found in every organ and tissue in the body, some areas utilize more iodine than others. It is not only the thyroid gland that uses iodine but also the heart, breasts, ovaries, muscles, liver, and adrenal glands. We are also discovering that while it may take smaller doses to fulfill the thyroid’s needs, it often takes much larger doses to fulfill the rest of the body’s needs, including the needs of the heart.

These parts of the body are iodine sensitive—that is, if they are starving for iodine, they do not function properly. Since there are so many iodine-sensitive sites in the body, medical experts are finding that iodine therapy can be a “panacea” of sorts for all types of stubborn problems. Just as physicians noted 60 to 100 years ago, iodine therapy can help people with hypo- or hyperthyroid (with or without goiter), fibrocystic breasts, polycystic ovary syndrome, brain fog, constipation, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. In addition, it may prove essential treatment if you suffer from heart disease, arrhythmias, and atrial fibrillation.

In the past, with just about every patient with heart problems, arrhythmias, and atrial fibrillation, I would always use a protocol from Standard Process that included Cataplex F. Cataplex F is a combination of liver extract, omega-3 fatty acids, and iodine. But the typical dose of four to six Cataplex F tablets contains less than one milligram of iodine. While this dose was adequate for most people, some failed to respond, or only got partially better. Old-time physicians used to routinely prescribe up to 100 milligrams daily for all kinds of problems with excellent results. Now I know that they were on the right track.
How Much Iodine, and For How Long?
As I see people with stubborn arrhythmias getting better on 10, 20, 30, and even up to 50 mgs of iodine daily, I know that large doses are sometimes needed by the body. This is what Iodine Fulfillment Therapy is all about. Iodine fulfillment simply fulfills all of the body’s needs for iodine. For those deficient, this may require up to 50 mgs daily for three to four months.

If you have been unable to resolve your heart arrhythmia with one of my protocols, the simplest way to proceed with Iodine Fulfillment Therapy is to add Prolamine Iodine from Standard Process to your heart protocol. Begin with one Prolamine Iodine tablet daily. If there are no problems after a few days to a week, increase the dose to two daily. Continue this procedure, increasing the dose by one more daily until your heart begins to beat smoothly. At this point, you have reached iodine fulfillment. Stay at this dose for a full three months.

Since each Prolamine Iodine tablet contains 3 mgs of iodine, your body may require from 1 to 15 tablets daily for three months. Most people achieve results after 3 to 10 tablets daily. After three full months at your iodine fulfillment dose, begin to cut the dose back by one to two tablets daily each week. If you begin to feel your heart act up again, you have gone past your maintenance dose. Add back one more tablet daily. You will generally end up with a dose of one to four daily—and this dose should be maintained for 12 months. Thereafter, you will probably need even less.
Don’t Take Prolamine Iodine and Amiodarone
Amazingly, while medicine shuns iodine therapy, their most popular anti-fibrillation drug, Amiodarone, actually is iodine in a toxic, sustained-release form. This drug can produce a smooth heartbeat when the body has accumulated about 1,500 mgs of iodine—the exact amount of iodine retained by your body when iodine fulfillment is achieved by natural supplementation with Prolamine Iodine.

Unfortunately, Amiodarone is an extremely toxic form of iodine used by the medical profession. The side effects are often too great (and even life threatening) for most people to endure long enough to achieve a normal heartbeat. In addition, once you stop this drug, your original problem returns. Iodine therapy, on the other hand, fulfills the body’s needs safely, then maintains the smooth heartbeat with a low-maintenance dose.

Because Amiodarone is iodine, you cannot use iodine fulfillment therapy while you are taking this drug. Rather, your doctor needs to wean you off this drug first, so you can then begin natural iodine treatment. In other words, iodine fulfillment therapy is done in place of Amiodarone, not together with it. Amiodarone and iodine at the same time can be dangerous.

If you are on a heart protocol that has been only partially effective, or your arrhythmia or atrial fibrillation problem is stubborn, you will need to test iodine fulfillment therapy. However, you will maintain your original heart protocol with one change. Once iodine therapy has started (even at one Prolamine Iodine tablet daily), you will no longer need to take Cataplex F. Everything else in your protocol remains the same.
The Iodine Test
In the past we held that if it took less than 24 hours for tincture of iodine to disappear from the skin then there was a need for iodine supplementation. Today, I am not so sure this is a good indicator of iodine need. There are just too many variables involved in how quickly the tincture disappears from the skin.

However, tincture of iodine, available in drug stores everywhere for pennies, cannot hurt. Common sense dictates that if the iodine first disappears in a few hours, but stays in place for more than 24 hours after iodine fulfillment therapy, it is a good test. I will leave it up to you if you want to challenge this test.

As far as I’m concerned, I am finding more and more people deficient in iodine—even those I would not have thought would have this problem. At this stage, unless you know you are allergic to iodine (a very rare condition), it would be best to fulfill your body’s needs for iodine if you have any of the problems mentioned in this article.

Simply proceed with caution, slowly and carefully. For anyone setting out on a course of iodine fulfillment therapy, please send us a self-addressed envelope with two stamps and say IODINE. We will send you our full article so you will know exactly how to proceed. The best course of action is to proceed with iodine therapy safely, as there have been some problems reported in certain individuals. I recommend that you proceed only when you have our Iodine flyer in your hands.
Problems and Allergy to Iodine
Few problems have been reported when iodine therapy is accomplished slowly and safely—as outlined in my flyer. Sensitive individuals may experience skin irritation; watery eyes, nose, and saliva; nervousness or headache. Some highly sensitive individuals may also experience a racing heart or irritation of the esophagus. These are extremely rare (I’ve seen very few of these potential problems), and they are easily resolved by either immediately reducing the dose or quitting the iodine.

The greatest problem arises when an individual with a known allergy to iodine tries iodine therapy. This therapy cannot be used by these folks unless their allergy to iodine is resolved.

Resolving an allergy to iodine may be possible with an acupuncture technique called NAET. To find out if your allergy to iodine (or other substances, for that matter) can be resolved, check out the acupuncture site of an old friend of Health Alert, Dr. Devi Nambudripad, at

http://www.naet.com.



The second greatest problem can occur if you try iodine therapy while taking an iodine drug like Amiodarone. This will cause problems that can require medical attention. Do not attempt to take large doses of iodine when you are taking Amiodarone, Pacerone, or Cardarone. If you want to try iodine therapy, your doctor will first have to wean you from these drugs.

In conclusion, if you suffer from heart arrhythmias or atrial fibrillation, or any of the problems listed in this article, keep iodine therapy in mind. If you use iodine therapy, please feel free to send me your results. As I’ve said, I have been nothing but pleasantly surprised with results coming back better and better. And I can finally reach some of those really stubborn arrhythmia and fibrillation cases that just would not respond completely to my protocol containing only a milligram or two of iodine.

It is now beyond a doubt that adequate iodine is necessary for a smooth heartbeat. This ongoing research is truly wonderful news.