Things They Don’t Teach You

As you know, I base my life on current clinical studies.  This was a a big mistake 20 years ago.  Fat was evil back then, so I swore off all fat.  Never realizing the damage this was doing to my body.  We need fat to build many of our hormones and enzymes. As time passed, I adapted and so did the studies.

As it turns out, it’s not fat that is evil.  There are 3 things we need to fear.  Whether you believe in evolution or not is irrelevant.  We creatures called homo sapiens were either designed or evolved, or both.  However, we got here, the DNA of our ancestors grew up on, and adapted to, a particular type of fuel.  We definitely need the polyphenols from plants to stabilize us.  But, it is not animal fat that is our enemy and causing bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels.  The 3 DNA enemies are:

• Processed sugar;
• Omega-6 fatty acids;
• Heavy metal contamination (lead, mercury, cadmium, etc.)

These 3 are given and accepted. Over and over again we see comparisons of natives migrating from non-Western diets that are very low in sugar intake, to areas of Western diets high in sugar.  The end result is that peoples with low heart disease, low cholesterol, and low blood pressure, now have dramatically higher values once they start eating the Western sugar diet.  The Tokelau Island Migrant Study is an excellent example of this.

Omega-6 fatty acids are found in vegetable oils, poultry, eggs, etc.  Omega-6 actually increases pro-inflammatory compounds in the body.  There is a delicate balance here.  We need omega-3 fatty acids to balance the omega-6.  But with soybean oil and high fructose corn syrup in everything we buy, we are tilted to inflammation—which equates to accelerated aging.  People living in high fish consumption areas (Japan, Norway) have much lower cancer than people eating Western diets (which are low in omega-3).

And heavy metal contamination of our food supply  is rampant.  Jets flying overhead dump unburned jet fuel into the eco system by thousands of tons.  Mercury in the oceans (only buy distilled fish oil) and lightbulbs (break a CFL and you have a biohazard).  And good Lord, lets don’t talk about lead poisoning!  Sexual dysfunction, mental decline, hypertension, heart disease.  A study published by New England Journal of Medicine said that for every 10 mcg/dl of lead increase in the blood, IQ drops by 4.6 points!

But, there is one additional enemy that you may not be aware of.  Its called the FDA.  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/prescription/hazard/independent.html

The FDA is owned by Big Pharma; pharmaceutical companies pay for the majority of FDA funding.  Very much like the fox watching the henhouse.

This has led to medical doctor’s “standards of care.”  Note the next time you visit your doctor.  He/she carries a book that has a list of drugs to treat every disease/symptom.  The doctor may or may not choose to use their diagnostic skill to evaluate your problem and try to help you.  They may just look in their little book and give you the “standard of care” for your set of symptoms.  The standard of care takes away possibly dangerous medicine, but it also removes the search for what is wrong with you— and creative ways for fixing you.

I discovered this a few years back.  For various reasons (injuries, etc.), I developed low testosterone.  I was lethargic, had no drive or energy to do just the basic things in life (this developed over several years).  I went to the doctor, and it was their opinion that I could be fixed by boosting my T3/T4.  So I was given a script for thyroid hormone.

Over a period of months, I found my energy levels increased.  I was feeling better.  But then I started having trouble sleeping.  And my head was pounding constantly.  I made several trips to the ER because I felt like my head was going to explode.  I went to see my doctor, and my blood pressure was running 160/100.  VERY HIGH!

So he prescribed blood pressure medicine.   The BP medicine fixed the problem, but I rapidly started feeling worse, even though my BP was now normal.  I had the constant feeling that I was about to fall off a cliff; as if any moment, my heart would just stop.

In my research, I read an article that correllated high T4 levels with high mortality.  I was taking Synthroid, which is T4.  I found another article that suggested I should treat low testosterone directly.  So I stopped the Synthroid.  My BP came down once I stopped the Synthroid, and I started Testim (testosterone) 1% gel.  Within weeks, I was feeling great.

What did I learn from this experience?  The Synthroid was causing my high blood pressure.  Instead of taking me off the Synthroid, I was prescribed another medication to lower my BP.  I was starting the classic downward spiral so many Americans have taken:  one med causes side effects, another is prescribed to treat the side effects, it causes side effects, and another med is prescribed to treat those.

Suddenly, you’re on a dozen medications, and you feel like you want to die.  All based on the “standards of care.”  Doctors are not completely at fault.  If they do something beyond the “standards of care,” they could lose their medical license, their livlihood, and be subject to fines, lawsuits, jailtime, etc.  Its terrible that they can’t use their brains to fix the problem.  Remember, the FDA is not here to help you.  The FDA is here to sustain their existence, validate their reason to be.  And Big Pharma pays the light bills.

In the end, I fixed the problem, not the symptoms.  Watch yourself.  Don’t get caught on the drug merry-go-round.