Things They Don

Did your Momma ever make you take a tablespoon of cod liver oil when you were a kid?   OMG, that stuff is nasty.   The first few weeks, Momma had to hold me down, pry open my mouth and pour it in.   A lot of gagging and screaming occurred.   After a while, you adapt, get used to it, and develop a taste for it.   Sort of like Stockholm syndrome.

My Mother always told me fish was brain food; the more fish I could eat, the smarter I would be.   I don’t know about the smart part, but it is certainly turning out to be the healthy thing to do!   I love fish.   When I’m on the road, that’s all I eat — morning, lunch, and supper.   Primarily salmon.

Of course, mercury is always a concern, so I also take fish oil capsules (molecularly distilled).   And I also take 5 grams of modified citrus pectin (MCP)  early in the morning to remove the mercury from my innards.

Reuters published a story about MCP’s  ( June 3, 2008) ability to work as well as chemo (without the toxicity) in advanced disease states.   MCP slows the progression, metastasis, and angiogenesis of several cancers.   A landmark study published in Clinical Medicine: Oncology, showed significant improvement of life for patients with breast, prostate, colorectal, kidney, lung, uterine, liver, pharynx, pancreatic, stomach, and melanoma cancers.

But, that’s not why I take MCP.   It also removes heavy metals.   A study published in 2006, had 8 healthy people taking 15 grams of MCP daily for 5 days.   The investigators found that significant amounts of arsenic, mercury, cadmium and lead were removed from the body (urine samples).   The study used Pectasol MCP (which is what I use).

But back to the fish story.   A new study (reviewing 3 decades of data) published in Heartwire concludes that there is extensive evidence that omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil EPA & DHA) are beneficial for everyone — not just heart patients.

Dr. Carl J Lavie of Ochsner Medical Center, New Orleans, LA, published their report in the Journal of American College of Cardiology August 3, 2009.

“We reviewed everything that was published on omega-3 that was clinically important, and the major finding is that there are a tremendous amount of data to support the benefits of omega-3, not just as a nutritional supplement–people have known that for years–but evidence that it prevents and treats many aspects of cardiovascular disease,” Lavie told heartwire .   The largest study of 40,000 participants was the most compelling.

Lavie elaborated to heartwire : “The benefit is different in different studies but can be as much as 30%.” The effects are seen on total mortality, sudden death, CHD mortality, and cardiovascular mortality.

They are recommending to physicians that all patients should get at least 500 mg per day of EPA/DHA (equal to two fatty-fish meals per week).   If you have heart disease, up that to 1,000 mg per day.

I have taken 6000 mg of fish oil (2100 EPA, 1500 DHA) every day for the last 9 years.