Research & Technical Articles Diet and Heart Disease: Not What You Think < continued from previous page An excess of vegetable oils, even when not hydrogenated, seems to play a role in causing heart disease because they cause an imbalance in the production of prostaglandins, localized tissue hormones that play a role in all of the body's complex chemical processes; and because industrially processed vegetable oils contain bee radicals that damage the arteries, thereby initiating plaque deposits. Arterial plaque contains cholesterol because the body actually uses cholesterol to repair injuries, tears, and irritations to artery walls. However, like rancid vegetable oils, cholesterol that has been oxidized by high temperatures and exposure to air can itself irritate the arterial walls and initiate pathological buildup. High temperature spray production of powdered milk and eggs, used as additives in many processed foods, began in the early part of the century. Consumption of both hydrogenated fats and products containing oxidized cholesterol increased greatly after the war. A recent study found that excess consumption of omega-6 fatty acids, the kind found in commercial vegetable oils made from corn, soy, safflower, and canola, increases the amount of oxidized cholesterol in the arterial plaque. Like sugar and white flour, these vegetable oils, produced by high temperature industrial processing, are new to the human diet. It is the polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acids — not saturated fat — that form the major fat component of arterial plaque, yet for many years the American Heart Association and many establishment nutrition writers advocated consumption of polyunsaturated oils for the heart. The role of vitamin D in protecting against heart disease has been neglected. Vitamin D is essential for the intestinal absorption of many minerals, but particularly calcium and magnesium. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with defective calcification of the bones and pathogenic calcification of the arteries. Synthetic vitamin D added to milk has the same effect as vitamin D deficiency — it causes abnormal calcification of the soft tissues, particularly the blood vessels. Our bodies can manufacture vitamin D from cholesterol by the action of sunlight on the skin, but natural dietary sources give added protection. Vitamin D is found only in animal fats. Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have anti-microbial effects and protect against the kind of viruses and bacteria that contribute to heart disease. Best sources of these helpful fats are the tropical oils, especially coconut oil, which have largely disappeared from the American food supply due to unfounded assertions that these healthy fats contribute to heart disease. Caffeine in coffee causes the body to excrete calcium and stresses the adrenal glands, leading in some cases to general exhaustion, including exhaustion of the heart muscle. This theory has been subject to intense criticism. Detractors note that heavy coffee drinkers tent to indulge in a number of habits considered unhealthy by orthodox researchers — such as smoking and lack of exercise — as well as consumption of sugar and processed foods, leading to deficiencies not yet accepted by the medical establishment as being contributors to CHD. Anti-oxidants such as beta-carotene, selenium, and vitamin E may protect us against damage from highly processed vegetable oils and oxidized cholesterol. Orthodox medicine has ignored or ridiculed vitamin E therapy for heart disease, pioneered by the Shute brothers, physicians in Canada, who found that 100 mg of natural vitamin E from wheat germ oil gave excellent long-term protection from coronary heart disease. Fresh fruits and vegetables supply beta-carotene and hundreds of other carotenoids; butter is a particularly rich source of selenium. Other theories related to heart disease include lack of exercise, overweight, high blood pressure, smoking, and exposure to carbon monoxide gas. > Heart Disease continued Home | Product Line | Endorsements | FAQs | Research | Order Products VITAL PRODUX™ 44 Mine Rd. Suite 2, PMB 209 Stafford, Virginia  22554  USA 540-286-2400 – FAX: 540-752-4765 E-mail: info@VitalProdux.com Copyright © 1996-2003, VTI, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Text, graphics, and HTML code are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without explicit permission. Vital Produx™ is a trademark of VTI, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.