Question:
What is a functional food? What is nutraceutical? Sounds like some buzz terms dreamed up by an advertising agency. I have enough trouble with English. Hate Latin. But "spammerese" is beyond my ability to understand. Guy Williams
Response:
This post not CC’d by email Th point is it doesn’t much matter whether the cholesterol originally came from diet or was internally manufactured.
This comment must be taken in context. Phytosterols block the absorption of cholesterol in the gut. The first reaction to that might be to think it only affects the dietary cholesterol component since fairly obviously that component is absorbed from the gut. What isn’t so obvious is that even endogenous cholesterol, cholesterol that one produces all by oneself also gets removed with bile salts and passes down through the gut and where some of it is reabsorbed. It does if the problem is you’re eating too much cholesterol, and changing your eating makes your blood cholesterol go down (maybe even to normal range).
Are you concerned the cholesterol levels might get too low? Cholesterol is needed to produce hormones, estrogen and testosterone among other things. Statistically the risk of death does go up at very low levels. Quite what underlies the risk is a matter of conjecture. Whatever. A 10% or 15% drop isn’t all that drastic. Many, many people get a much bigger drop when they get their bg under firm control. For some people, lifestyle changes don’t work, and meds are necessary. (sounds a lot like bg control here!)
For a very good reason. The difference is in what you can do about it. bj
Hey, I am a strong advocate of doing what is necessary … and being damn sure of what is and was isn’t necessary. When I started my HDL was 70% of normal. It was so low my GP was disinclined to treat it writing it off as genetic. Since low HDL is pretty much par for the course for people with insulin resistance the sensible course as I saw it was to deal with the insulin resistance first. My GP happened to agree. As it happens there are pretty good protocols out there for GPs to decide which things to tackle first when multiple conditions present themselves. Put simply the optimal order isn’t the same for every situation. My HDL now makes minimal normal levels. Naturally I’d like it higher because the stats for centenarians make a good case of higher than minimum levels. Best wishes, — Quentin Grady ^ ^ / New Zealand, #,#< [ / / "… and the blind dog was leading." http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin
Response:
Here we go again…something you don’t understand so you call it SPAM… By the way have you tried SPAM? I kinda liked it when I was growing up! Perhaps that might explain my predisposition for it now! I’ve no problem eating SPAM if my test results indicate its doing me some good…that’s what I mean by investigate… Have you tried eating some SPAM recently? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I don’t object to taking pills if I don’t have any alternative. However, I do strive to minimize the ingestion of man-made chemicals And so it begins. Spam city here we come You’re DEFINITELY in with the in crowd aren’t you. You use that word like a star salesman would concentrate the natural nutrients found in food And the natural toxins too presumably. So basically, you’re here to tout the wonders of natural crap and NOT actually "investigate" it like your first post said! Just another shitpot full of spam.
Response:
Here are some of the results due to this "SPAM"… 1. 10-22% reduction in total cholesterol; 14-22% reduction in LDL in 2-8 weeks with no side effects! 2. 5% reduction in total cholesterol by changing to a cereal with this "SPAM" stuff 3. What to find out more anout this "SPAM"? Read what the following research scientists have to say: Dr Scott Grundy; Dr Tu T Nguyen; Dr Tatu Miettinen 4. Some other light "SPAM" reading for you: New England Journal of Medicine, vol 333, Nov16 1995, pp 1308-12; Diabetologia, vol 37, pp 773-80; European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol 52, no 5, May 1998, pp 334-43; Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, vol 75, 1997, pp 217-27; This is what you are calling "SPAM". Try eating some…you might enjoy it! And, more importantly, it might, god forbid, do you some good! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I don’t object to taking pills if I don’t have any alternative. However, I do strive to minimize the ingestion of man-made chemicals And so it begins. Spam city here we come
Response:
Malcolm who never met a scam he didn’t like. — — Ronnie Ruff "The government could take away all the drugs in the world and people would spin around on their lawns until they fell down and saw God.
| Here are some of the results due to this "SPAM"… | 1. 10-22% reduction in total cholesterol; 14-22% reduction in LDL in 2-8 weeks | with no side effects! | 2. 5% reduction in total cholesterol by changing to a cereal with this "SPAM" | stuff | 3. What to find out more anout this "SPAM"? Read what the following research | scientists have to say: Dr Scott Grundy; Dr Tu T Nguyen; Dr Tatu Miettinen | 4. Some other light "SPAM" reading for you: New England Journal of Medicine, vol | 333, Nov16 1995, pp 1308-12; Diabetologia, vol 37, pp 773-80; European Journal | of Clinical Nutrition, vol 52, no 5, May 1998, pp 334-43; Canadian Journal of | Physiology and Pharmacology, vol 75, 1997, pp 217-27; | | This is what you are calling "SPAM". Try eating some…you might enjoy it! And, | more importantly, it might, god forbid, do you some good! | |
| | I don’t object to taking pills if I don’t have any alternative. | However, I do | strive to minimize the ingestion of man-made chemicals | | And so it begins. Spam city here we come |
Response:
4. Some other light "SPAM" reading for you: New England Journal of Medicine, vol 333, Nov16 1995, pp 1308-12; Diabetologia, vol 37, pp 773-80; European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol 52, no 5, May 1998, pp 334-43; Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, vol 75, 1997, pp 217-27;
The titles of these journals do not guarantee truth. However they do carry a little more weight than a knee-jerk declaration of "spam" Personally, I think a polarized categorization of substances as "natural" and "synthetic" is not a very useful way to make health decisions. I don’t think that is what you are doing, but it comes off that way in your posts. — Wes Groleau http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~wgroleau
Response:
In order to make it clear what I’m doing and where I’m coming from… For 49 years I was rarely sick or took drugs or supplements (apart for spasmodic use of a multivit and vit C). I didn’t even take over-the-counter drugs for headaches. I had to force myself to start seeing a doctor once a year about 5 years ago because I read that people in their 40’s should! My preference is not take any drug or supplement, synthetic or natural. But I will take any food, drug, or supplement (synthetic or natural) that I think, based on the best research available to me, will help me control my diabetes better either now or in the years to come. My only reason for prefering "natural" over "synthetic" is that synthetic sources are often missing ingredients found in natural sources, and with our current state of knowledge leaving out something might be critical to product effectiveness. An example of this is the effectiveness of Vitamin E; Vitamin E derived synthetically is not as effective as Vitamin E derived from natural sources (denoted by d-alpha); and, more recently, the most effective form of Vitamin E has been shown to contain both d-alpha and mixed tocopherols (d-beta, d-delta, and d-gamma). I would prefer, for example, not to take any Metformin but, at present, such a step is not medically indicated. However, I have managed to reduce my Metformin from 1000mg/day to 500mg/day. If I’m taking a supplement that I subsequently learn might do more harm than good, then I stop taking it; for example, I was taking Chromium Picolinate but I stopped taking it when I learned about new research that indicated it might be causing gene defects. Cost is another issue. My supplements cost me about C$200/month. I’d rather spend the money elsewhere! But I honestly believe, and can justify from solid medical research, that it is money being well spent. My medications and drugs are free. So I could take as much Metformin as it takes to bring my blood glucose to a normal level. But I don’t! Why? Because drugs are not dealing with the root cause of the problem, they only deal only with the symptoms due to the root causes. I only take those supplements which I believe will help my body deal more effectively with the root causes of my diabetes and help my body heal itself or at the very least minimize the need for drugs. Anyway, have to go…got visitors… Personally, I think a polarized categorization of substances as "natural" and "synthetic" is not a very useful way to make health decisions. I don’t think that is what you are doing, but it comes off that way in your posts. — Wes Groleau http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~wgroleau
– The only constant is change, learn to embrace it!
Response:
This post not CC’d by email Have you tried eating some SPAM recently?
Nah. But the Okinawans adopted eating spam from the American occupation forces. Before WW2 their life expectancy wasn’t particularly remarkable. Now they out live most everyone. Of course there were many other changes besides the introduction of spam. The percentage carb in their diets dropped from 80% to 54%. Their salt intake decreased. The variety of vegetables increased till 7 to 13 serves a day is normal and they import seaweed etc. — Quentin Grady ^ ^ / New Zealand, #,#< [ / / "… and the blind dog was leading." http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin
Response:
I don’t object to taking pills if I don’t have any alternative. However, I do strive to minimize the ingestion of man-made chemicals
And so it begins. Spam city here we come <snip Most doctors I’ve encountered stress the importance of getting most of my nutrients from food.
Really?? How novel THAT idea must be and how amazing that doctors actually want you to eat FOOD! Nutraceuticals You’re DEFINITELY in with the in crowd aren’t you. You use that word like a star salesman would concentrate the natural nutrients found in food
And the natural toxins too presumably. to focus on dealing with specific dietary deficiciecies caused by specific diseases. This focus is on prevention of a problem rather than dealing with it, by taking a pill, after it occurs. To me this seems a far superior treatment approach, and is likely to become a more prevalent one in the future, than treating disease complications after they occur with a pill designed to treat symptoms rather than root causes. That, I believe, is the focus of nutraceuticals.
So basically, you’re here to tout the wonders of natural crap and NOT actually "investigate" it like your first post said! Just another shitpot full of spam.
Response:
I’m generally suspicious of this sort of thing–there’s so much BS in the popular market. Cooper’s books on exercise from 20-30 years ago were based on research rather than speculation. So IMHO his reputation is good, but I’d still be on guard for comments that sound logical but have no empirical evidence.
HIs reputation is deteriorating. It couldn’t have gone the other way, of course; Ken Cooper coined the term "Aerobic Exercise" and the Cooper Aerobic Institute did a lot of important research. But he’s been spouting things the last couple of years that directly contradict the results his own research institute have found. I don’t know what’s going on, whether he’s selling what people want to buy because they don’t want to believe that you actually have to *exercise* in order to build fitness, or if he’s gone around the bend, or what. He *is* seventy…. deke — She wants a man of principle, who will take interest. She’s been dating bankers….
Response:
Th point is it doesn’t much matter whether the cholesterol
originally came from diet or was internally manufactured. It does if the problem is you’re eating too much cholesterol, and changing your eating makes your blood cholesterol go down (maybe even to normal range). For some people, lifestyle changes don’t work, and meds are necessary. (sounds a lot like bg control here!) The difference is in what you can do about it. bj
Response:
strive to minimize the ingestion of man-made chemicals into my body to treat
The line between is very vague. Some "natural" substances have potent effects on the body. And some "drugs" are merely concentrated plant or meat extracts. — Wes Groleau http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~wgroleau
Response:
So it’s still a man-made process (and I don’t mean just cooking the food) that you’re depending on, it’s just a different one. And perhaps I’m just not as convinced as some are of the difference between "man made" and "natural" chemicals. I understand the difference between vitamins-in-a-pill and vitamins-in-an-apple — but that has to do with the other stuff in the apple, not the particular vitamin that’s been prepared/purified in the pill. Don’t the nutraceuticals have any side-effects?
I don’t object to taking pills if I don’t have any alternative.
However, I do strive to minimize the ingestion of man-made chemicals into my body to treat disease symptoms rather than the cause of the symptoms. … Most doctors I’ve encountered stress the importance of getting most
of my nutrients from food. Nutraceuticals concentrate the natural nutrients found in food to focus on dealing with specific dietary deficiciecies caused by specific diseases. …. I don’t understand the objection to taking pills if you are
willing to eat the additives in the foods or the "plant derivatives"…. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
Response:
This post not CC’d by email And as I understand it, some people just make too much cholesterol inside themselves, regardless of what they eat or their exercise.
G’day G’day bj I puzzle over that one for while. Here is the "official" version as put out by those selling the yuppie margarines. It at least makes sense. Most people make bile salts that remove some cholesterol included some damaged cholesterol into the gut. The cholesterol has a fifty fifty chance of going doing the gurgler or being reabsorbed back into the liver. The phytosterols block the reabsorption process so that a higher percentage of cholesterol ends up in the pan. The phytosterols go the same way. Th point is it doesn’t much matter whether the cholesterol originally came from diet or was internally manufactured. — Quentin Grady ^ ^ / New Zealand, #,#< [ / / "… and the blind dog was leading." http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin
Response:
This post not CC’d by email Thanks Quentin. Very interesting and informative comments. The whole idea of functional foods is new to me, but the concept of functional foods makes a lot of sense to me and I shall certainly be focusing on learning more about them over the next few months.
There are some good online publications to be found using Google. Best wishes, — Quentin Grady ^ ^ / New Zealand, #,#< [ / / "… and the blind dog was leading." http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone have any experience in using functional or nutraceutical foods for lowering cholesterol levels? Do I hear what are they? Briefly… I’m currently investigating ways to lower my cholesterol level with minimal use of drugs and I’m currently reading Dr Cooper’s book "Controllong Cholesterol the Natural Way". Dr. Cooper stresses the importance of controlling what we eat rather than taking drugs to control the effects of what we’ve eaten. In conjunction with proper diet and exercise, Dr. Cooper advocates the use of functional foods, or nutraceuticals, rather than pills, to control the excessive accumulation of cholesterol. Functional food examples: Benecol (plant stanols derived from "tall oil" wood pulp of pine trees; for example, McNeil spreads, salad dressings, and yogurt; Becel Pro-ACTIV (margarine with plant sterols); Take Control (plant sterol derived from soybeans; for example, Lipton spread); Phytrol (plant sterol-phytosterols-extracted from wood pulp; for example, Novatis food additive found in margarine, salid dressings, and mayonnaise; also see the Altus Foods joint venture with Quaker); Psyllium (grain-seed husk; for example, Kellogg’s All Bran Buds).
My doc says that the statin drugs have two functions: a. they reduce the probability of heart attack b. they improve your lipid numbers. The interesting fact is that he says the two effects are somewhat independent. Therefore, it looks like the best strategy is to use the functional foods AND take the statin drugs. If you skip the statin drugs, you are taking a big gamble. I have a friend who experienced the worst side-effects of the statins and had to stop taking them. If the side-effects hit hard, you can stop taking the statins. If the heart attack hits, your choices are more limited. Old Al (T1 since 94, 38 units H + U via 4 injections daily) A retired engineer who loves his Lipitor
Response:
Does anyone have any experience in using functional or nutraceutical foods for lowering cholesterol levels? Do I hear what are they? Briefly…
<snip Some years ago I had high cholesterol. I didn’t want to take any drugs for it. At the time, my only option was some nasty powder that had to be mixed with juice or some other drink. There may have been other drugs on the market, but since I was getting my medical care at a military facility, that was all that was available to me. I told my Dr. that I didn’t want to use it. He gave me niacin instead. It worked well for me. I have read reports that using niacin might not be so wonderful, but now I can’t remember why. I stopped using the niacin when pregnant and also quit smoking. I think the smoking affected the cholesterol more than anything. I don’t have high cholesterol now. I had tried the diet approach. But this was some years back and we didn’t have those cholesterol lowering foods that we have today. Changing my diet didn’t do a thing in terms of affecting the cholesterol. — Type 2 http://www.redshift.com/~juliebove/
Response:
I don’t object to taking pills if I don’t have any alternative. However, I do strive to minimize the ingestion of man-made chemicals into my body to treat disease symptoms rather than the cause of the symptoms.
Then the symptom is still doing damage just you cant tell anymore you must treat what is causing the problem not the problem In addition, probably because of the highly-effective focus on dealing with specific symptoms, most pills have major undesirable side-effects. Try reading the prescribing information sheets on any of the medications you are currently taking. I do! What I read frightens me!
But they are required by law to put them there not just a discaliamer that you cant hold me responsible because whats said on the bottle may or may not be in here and it has never been really tested hey i am not a drug but something that nmay or may not help but who cares i tiold you im not responsible Most doctors I’ve encountered stress the importance of getting most of my nutrients from food. Nutraceuticals concentrate the natural nutrients found in food
but does this make them better do they work by themselves or as part of the food can they be dangerous if concentrated is tii much of a "good" thing better or worse? to focus on dealing with specific dietary deficiciecies caused by specific diseases. This focus is on prevention of a problem rather than dealing with it, by taking a pill, after it occurs.
That is not what you said above you take the supplements to counteract the symptoms To me this seems a far superior treatment – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -approach, and is likely to become a more prevalent one in the future, than treating disease complications after they occur with a pill designed to treat symptoms rather than root causes. That, I believe, is the focus of nutraceuticals. I don’t understand the objection to taking pills if you are willing to eat the additives in the foods or the "plant derivatives". And as I understand it, some people just make too much cholesterol inside themselves, regardless of what they eat or their exercise. bj Does anyone have any experience in using functional or nutraceutical foods for lowering cholesterol levels? Do I hear what are they? Briefly… I’m currently investigating ways to lower my cholesterol level with minimal use of drugs and I’m currently reading Dr Cooper’s book "Controllong Cholesterol the Natural Way". — The only constant is change, learn to embrace it!
" The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do" "The internet is probably not the cheapest and easiest way of purchasing anything or doing anything"
Response:
Thanks Quentin. Very interesting and informative comments. The whole idea of functional foods is new to me, but the concept of functional foods makes a lot of sense to me and I shall certainly be focusing on learning more about them over the next few months. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This post not CC’d by email Does anyone have any experience in using functional or nutraceutical foods for lowering cholesterol levels? Do I hear what are they? Briefly… If you mean experience by using phytosterols and phytostanols in commercially prepared foods myself then the answer is no. Of course the concept of functional foods goes much wider I’m currently investigating ways to lower my cholesterol level with minimal use of drugs and I’m currently reading Dr Cooper’s book "Controllong Cholesterol the Natural Way". Dr. Cooper stresses the importance of controlling what we eat rather than taking drugs to control the effects of what we’ve eaten. In conjunction with proper diet and exercise, Dr. Cooper advocates the use of functional foods, or nutraceuticals, rather than pills, to control the excessive accumulation of cholesterol. Functional food examples: Benecol (plant stanols derived from "tall oil" wood pulp of pine trees; for example, McNeil spreads, salad dressings, and yogurt; Becel Pro-ACTIV (margarine with plant sterols); Take Control (plant sterol derived from soybeans; for example, Lipton spread); Phytrol (plant sterol-phytosterols-extracted from wood pulp; for example, Novatis food additive found in margarine, salid dressings, and mayonnaise; also see the Altus Foods joint venture with Quaker); Psyllium (grain-seed husk; for example, Kellogg’s All Bran Buds). Bill Shrapnel writes a readable book called "The Pro-active Plan" subtitled the ultimate cholesterol lowering diet. Many people won’t know Bill Shrapnel and I wouldn’t either if I hadn’t read the foreword. He worked for Unilever and was instrumental in developing the process that removed trans fats from Australian and New Zealand table margarines and for that IMHO he deserves a round of applause. (As I understand it they still lurk in the frying compounds and table margarines in some other countries.) Not surprisingly he was involved in the development of local sterol enriched yuppie margarines. Naturally one would expect him to be pro the sterol enriched margarines and he is. What I find interesting is that he is forthcoming with some tidbits of information that might not be generally available. The following are a summary of his opinions based on others research. 2 to 3 grams of sterol linked to fat is as effective as 30 grams of straight sterol. 2 grams a day of sterol with fat is sufficient. Vegetarians average 0.6 to 0.7 grams per day from food with others averaging 0.2 to 0.4 grams per day, so function foods are required if one decides to follow this path. Only 3 to 5% make it into the blood stream. Research was carried out to find out if they prevented the absorption of fat soluble Vit A, D, E and K. Fortunately the didn’t appear to affect absorption. Eating fruit and vegetables counteract a tendency to decrease carotenoid absorption. Plant sterols do not affect insulin or the oral medications for diabetes. (It might be wise to check if you are on something new.) And the results. 10% or better drop in LDL in 3 weeks seems reasonable. HDL is not affected. Does this have me rushing out to by some? Well…no. I don’t eat much bread, perhaps a slice a day and use olive paste or tahini. Best wishes, — Quentin Grady ^ ^ / New Zealand, #,#< [ / / "… and the blind dog was leading." http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin
– The only constant is change, learn to embrace it!
Response:
I don’t understand the objection to taking pills if you are willing to eat the additives in the foods or the "plant derivatives". And as I understand it, some people just make too much cholesterol inside themselves, regardless of what they eat or their exercise. bj
Does anyone have any experience in using functional or nutraceutical
foods for lowering cholesterol levels? Do I hear what are they? Briefly… I’m currently investigating ways to lower my cholesterol level with
minimal use of drugs and I’m currently reading Dr Cooper’s book "Controllong Cholesterol the Natural Way". – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
Response:
I’m currently investigating ways to lower my cholesterol level with minimal use of drugs and I’m currently reading Dr Cooper’s book "Controllong Cholesterol the Natural Way".
I’m generally suspicious of this sort of thing–there’s so much BS in the popular market. Cooper’s books on exercise from 20-30 years ago were based on research rather than speculation. So IMHO his reputation is good, but I’d still be on guard for comments that sound logical but have no empirical evidence. — Wes Groleau http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~wgroleau
Response:
This post not CC’d by email Does anyone have any experience in using functional or nutraceutical foods for lowering cholesterol levels? Do I hear what are they? Briefly…
If you mean experience by using phytosterols and phytostanols in commercially prepared foods myself then the answer is no. Of course the concept of functional foods goes much wider – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I’m currently investigating ways to lower my cholesterol level with minimal use of drugs and I’m currently reading Dr Cooper’s book "Controllong Cholesterol the Natural Way". Dr. Cooper stresses the importance of controlling what we eat rather than taking drugs to control the effects of what we’ve eaten. In conjunction with proper diet and exercise, Dr. Cooper advocates the use of functional foods, or nutraceuticals, rather than pills, to control the excessive accumulation of cholesterol. Functional food examples: Benecol (plant stanols derived from "tall oil" wood pulp of pine trees; for example, McNeil spreads, salad dressings, and yogurt; Becel Pro-ACTIV (margarine with plant sterols); Take Control (plant sterol derived from soybeans; for example, Lipton spread); Phytrol (plant sterol-phytosterols-extracted from wood pulp; for example, Novatis food additive found in margarine, salid dressings, and mayonnaise; also see the Altus Foods joint venture with Quaker); Psyllium (grain-seed husk; for example, Kellogg’s All Bran Buds).
Bill Shrapnel writes a readable book called "The Pro-active Plan" subtitled the ultimate cholesterol lowering diet. Many people won’t know Bill Shrapnel and I wouldn’t either if I hadn’t read the foreword. He worked for Unilever and was instrumental in developing the process that removed trans fats from Australian and New Zealand table margarines and for that IMHO he deserves a round of applause. (As I understand it they still lurk in the frying compounds and table margarines in some other countries.) Not surprisingly he was involved in the development of local sterol enriched yuppie margarines. Naturally one would expect him to be pro the sterol enriched margarines and he is. What I find interesting is that he is forthcoming with some tidbits of information that might not be generally available. The following are a summary of his opinions based on others research. 2 to 3 grams of sterol linked to fat is as effective as 30 grams of straight sterol. 2 grams a day of sterol with fat is sufficient. Vegetarians average 0.6 to 0.7 grams per day from food with others averaging 0.2 to 0.4 grams per day, so function foods are required if one decides to follow this path. Only 3 to 5% make it into the blood stream. Research was carried out to find out if they prevented the absorption of fat soluble Vit A, D, E and K. Fortunately the didn’t appear to affect absorption. Eating fruit and vegetables counteract a tendency to decrease carotenoid absorption. Plant sterols do not affect insulin or the oral medications for diabetes. (It might be wise to check if you are on something new.) And the results. 10% or better drop in LDL in 3 weeks seems reasonable. HDL is not affected. Does this have me rushing out to by some? Well…no. I don’t eat much bread, perhaps a slice a day and use olive paste or tahini. Best wishes, — Quentin Grady ^ ^ / New Zealand, #,#< [ / / "… and the blind dog was leading." http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin
Response:
Does anyone have any experience in using functional or nutraceutical foods for lowering cholesterol levels? Do I hear what are they? Briefly… I’m currently investigating ways to lower my cholesterol level with minimal use of drugs and I’m currently reading Dr Cooper’s book "Controllong Cholesterol the Natural Way". Dr. Cooper stresses the importance of controlling what we eat rather than taking drugs to control the effects of what we’ve eaten. In conjunction with proper diet and exercise, Dr. Cooper advocates the use of functional foods, or nutraceuticals, rather than pills, to control the excessive accumulation of cholesterol. Functional food examples: Benecol (plant stanols derived from "tall oil" wood pulp of pine trees; for example, McNeil spreads, salad dressings, and yogurt; Becel Pro-ACTIV (margarine with plant sterols); Take Control (plant sterol derived from soybeans; for example, Lipton spread); Phytrol (plant sterol-phytosterols-extracted from wood pulp; for example, Novatis food additive found in margarine, salid dressings, and mayonnaise; also see the Altus Foods joint venture with Quaker); Psyllium (grain-seed husk; for example, Kellogg’s All Bran Buds).
Response:
I don’t object to taking pills if I don’t have any alternative. However, I do strive to minimize the ingestion of man-made chemicals into my body to treat disease symptoms rather than the cause of the symptoms. In addition, probably because of the highly-effective focus on dealing with specific symptoms, most pills have major undesirable side-effects. Try reading the prescribing information sheets on any of the medications you are currently taking. I do! What I read frightens me! Most doctors I’ve encountered stress the importance of getting most of my nutrients from food. Nutraceuticals concentrate the natural nutrients found in food to focus on dealing with specific dietary deficiciecies caused by specific diseases. This focus is on prevention of a problem rather than dealing with it, by taking a pill, after it occurs. To me this seems a far superior treatment approach, and is likely to become a more prevalent one in the future, than treating disease complications after they occur with a pill designed to treat symptoms rather than root causes. That, I believe, is the focus of nutraceuticals. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I don’t understand the objection to taking pills if you are willing to eat the additives in the foods or the "plant derivatives". And as I understand it, some people just make too much cholesterol inside themselves, regardless of what they eat or their exercise. bj Does anyone have any experience in using functional or nutraceutical foods for lowering cholesterol levels? Do I hear what are they? Briefly… I’m currently investigating ways to lower my cholesterol level with minimal use of drugs and I’m currently reading Dr Cooper’s book "Controllong Cholesterol the Natural Way".
– The only constant is change, learn to embrace it!
Response:
It has been proven what we eat can only control poor lipid numbers to a very limited extent. Sometimes the liver has a mind of its own. Sometimes drugs are needed. They are not always a bad thing Malcolm. — — Ronnie Ruff "People should realize, we are just jerks like them." (Bono of U2)
| Does anyone have any experience in using functional or nutraceutical foods for | lowering cholesterol levels? Do I hear what are they? Briefly… | | I’m currently investigating ways to lower my cholesterol level with minimal use | of drugs and I’m currently reading Dr Cooper’s book "Controllong Cholesterol the | Natural Way". | | Dr. Cooper stresses the importance of controlling what we eat rather than taking | drugs to control the effects of what we’ve eaten. In conjunction with proper | diet and exercise, Dr. Cooper advocates the use of functional foods, or | nutraceuticals, rather than pills, to control the excessive accumulation of | cholesterol. Functional food examples: Benecol (plant stanols derived from "tall | oil" wood pulp of pine trees; for example, McNeil spreads, salad dressings, and | yogurt; Becel Pro-ACTIV (margarine with plant sterols); Take Control (plant | sterol derived from soybeans; for example, Lipton spread); Phytrol (plant | sterol-phytosterols-extracted from wood pulp; for example, Novatis food additive | found in margarine, salid dressings, and mayonnaise; also see the Altus Foods | joint venture with Quaker); Psyllium (grain-seed husk; for example, Kellogg’s | All Bran Buds).
Response:
If it wasn’t for the IR link to my Accu-Chek Active, I wouldn’t use Pocket Compass in a pink fit. It’s database management is complete rubbish. Cheers, John Carney.