For decades cardiovascular disease has been, and remains today, the number one killer not only in the United States, but throughout the developed world. Currently, one out of every three deaths in this country is attributable directly to cardiovascular disease, and making these statistics particularly frustrating is the fact that by all accounts implementing proper dietary and lifestyle changes would go a long way towards obliterating this worldwide epidemic.
But, if you’re like many relatively young and reasonably healthy people these statistics probably elicit little more than a nice big yawn.
We’ve heard for years how proper diet and exercise can help to prevent the ravages of heart disease but the message seems to have largely fallen on deaf ears, especially among the younger generation.
After all, heart disease is something that only “old” people need to worry about, right?
Wrong.
According to a nationwide poll 78 percent of Americans believe that heart disease is a disorder which begins in middle age. But simply because middle age happens to be the time when the accumulated burden of a lifetime of dietary and environmental abuse manifests in the form of heart attacks and strokes doesn’t mean that the disease process BEGINS then. The brutal fact is that largely as a result of our pitifully degraded, artificial, and overly processed food supply, the early stages of heart disease have now been found to actually begin in childhood.
While it’s not terribly surprising that the epidemic of overweight, obesity and diabetes which has exploded among this nation’s children predisposes them to heart disease later in life, very few people seem to realize that atherosclerosis – characterized by plaque build-up in the coronary arteries - can actually occur in children. The fact is that not only are many of our nation’s children at risk for heart disease, many of them are already exhibiting the early stages of it – even if most medical doctors don’t yet think to take notice.
This study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=9614255&dopt=Abstract
published in the New England Journal of Medicine found fibrous-plaque lesions in the coronary arteries of:
8% of children between the ages of 2 and 15
30% of children between the ages of 16 and 20
50% of people between the ages of 21 and 25
69% of people between the ages of 26 and 39
These young people didn’t have any outward symptoms of heart disease whatsoever, but when the researchers looked for it, sure enough, they found arterial plaque beginning to clog the arteries of even the youngest of subjects.
Not surprisingly, the older we get the more likely we are to accumulate arterial plaque; and this study also showed clearly that once arterial plaque starts to build, it’s like a snowball rolling downhill – it just grows and grows and grows.
As mentioned earlier, the latest research available from the American Heart Association indicates that cardiovascular disease (heart attack, stroke, and atherosclerosis) is responsible for approximately 1 out of every 3 deaths in the United States – a statistic that is also mirrored internationally, as developing countries have largely abandoned their traditional diets in favor the cheaper and more profitable processed variety. If you’re living anywhere in the world and eating a “modern” diet, you can’t possibly feel good about those odds.
But we don’t all have to be ticking time bombs.
If we are to prevent heart disease the research makes it clear that we simply must make a life-long commitment to choosing our foods and nutritional supplements wisely.
But That’s Easier Said Than Done.
Part of the reason it’s so difficult to make truly healthy choices is because so many unhealthy foods in our society are advertised so effectively. The situation is made particularly tricky when processed junk foods are advertised as, and therefore generally thought of as “healthy.”
At Integrated Supplements we have been one of the very few supplement companies willing to expose some of the less-than-desirable ingredients commonly found in nutritional supplements, and in relation to the research posted above, we’ve attempted to teach our customers how even some of the ingredients commonly found in nutritional supplements may have a particularly detrimental effect on cardiovascular health.
For example, as we’ve outlined in this blog, and on our website, www.IntegratedSupplements.com, the whey protein concentrate found in many protein powders, weight gainers, diet shakes, and meal replacement drinks may be particularly prone to damage the arteries because of the powdered, and oxidized cholesterol it contains. Cholesterol in powdered form can combine with oxygen, or oxidize, much more readily than that in fresh foods as has been found in many studies like this one:
Study: Atherogenic effect of oxidized products of cholesterol
Scientists are increasingly noticing that cholesterol is prone to cause arterial plaque formation ONLY after it is oxidized, and that many processed and dried foods including protein powders, protein bars and “nutrition” shakes may contain huge amounts of oxidized cholesterol.
Nutritional Supplements for Teenagers?
But, the sad fact is that many young people, including millions of high school and college athletes, are enticed by the allure of such nutritional supplements. While these student-athletes dream of becoming champions, and building healthy, strong bodies, little do they know that their dreams are largely being sabotaged by supplement companies who care more about making a quick buck than about making a quality, nutritious product.
In light of the above study, it’s truly frightening to think of just how much damage could be done to the arteries of children who eat a junk food diet and supplement it with oxidized cholesterol-containing nutritional products. To feed ambitious, active, children such things in the prime of their life, while their brains and bodies are in prime developmental stages, is a scenario that is as heartbreaking as it is common.
But worse yet, in the never-ending search for profit at all costs, many nutritional supplement companies have actually begun to market their products specifically towards high school children. In fact, one of the largest sports nutrition companies in the country has recently embarked on a national advertising campaign aimed at high school-age athletes and their parents.
In the face of several negative stories in the mainstream media, the focus of these advertisements is to allay the fears of parents that nutritional supplements may be spiked or contaminated with performance-enhancing drugs. While products they produce contain some of the highest levels of cholesterol in the industry, this particular company has been able to create a positive public image by proclaiming their products to be free of banned substances. However, if you’re inclined to think of nutritional supplements as quality nutrition simply because they don’t contain performance-enhancing drugs, or substances banned by athletic associations, may I remind you that neither do doughnuts.
The fact is that most parents have NO IDEA what these products may be doing to their children’s health. No, these supplements may not pose an immediate danger, this much is true - but they may very well be even more damaging to their children’s health than many of the junk foods they are meant to replace – a fact that would certainly lead most well-meaning parents to think twice before giving these “nutritional” products to their children. But as it stands now, it appears that even the most astute and protective parents are rarely any match for the marketing propaganda employed by many companies within the nutritional supplement industry.
It's Still About The Money
As scientists continue to unlock the mysteries of heart disease, don’t necessarily expect to see even the most groundbreaking research make front-page news. The findings that heart disease begins in childhood, and can be exacerbated by processed food and supplements containing oxidized cholesterol, is a huge piece of the heart disease puzzle, but it is also a black eye to the food and supplement industries who survive by selling processed and powdered food to every segment of the population.
For example, lest you think that targeting school-aged children with low-quality nutritional supplements represents the depths to which these companies will stoop, realize that many of the same companies also produce infant formulas which contain toxic oxidized cholesterol in the form of the very same whey protein concentrate.
So, if you think about it, maybe the reason heart disease begins at such a young age isn’t because it’s an inevitable process, but because we’re all being fed such low quality nutrition from such a young age. And maybe the reason we don’t recognize this low-quality nutrition is the same reason a fish doesn’t recognize water – because it’s everywhere, and we’re completely immersed in it.
But if there is a silver lining to this dark cloud it’s this – once we realize what’s going on, we can think for ourselves and take control of our health.
So, What Can We Do?
Although you’ll probably never hear it from the companies selling processed foods and supplements, a very important step towards a healthy diet is to simply avoid all foods and nutritional supplements produced with cholesterol-containing powders.
That means:
Avoid protein powders, protein bars, meal replacement shakes, and “ready-to-drink” protein drinks produced with whey protein concentrate. In essence, ALWAYS make sure any nutritional supplement you take contains zero cholesterol. Despite what many companies may want you to believe, nutritional supplements are very highly processed, and if they contain cholesterol, this cholesterol is very much prone to be oxidized. There is simply no need for cholesterol in any nutritional supplement product.
(Of course, as you probably know by now, Integrated Supplements Whey Protein Isolate was specifically produced to contain ONLY the highest quality CFM® whey protein isolate with zero cholesterol – absolutely no whey concentrate is used).
Avoid mass-produced baked goods containing egg and milk powder, or ANY shelf-stable (non- refrigerated) product containing cholesterol (grated cheeses, processed meats, macaroni and cheese, etc.).
Avoid restaurant (especially fast food) meals with scrambled eggs (which are almost always produced from powdered eggs).
Avoid baking mixes (including pancake mixes) which contain powdered eggs and milk.
Avoid soft-serve ice cream (which is produced from powdered mixes).
And again, it can’t be stressed enough that unoxidized cholesterol from fresh, minimally processed foods poses little risk, but oxidized cholesterol in particular, like that found in these processed food and supplements, is the real dietary evil. When you think about how prevalent these foods are in the diet of the average American, is it any wonder that heart disease is so common, or that its beginnings occur so early in life?
Naturopathic physician and author Bruce Fife N.D. has repeatedly warned about the harmful nature of oxidized lipids and oxidized cholesterol in his many books. He points out that even a seemingly small amount of cholesterol, if oxidized, is capable of doing serious harm. Dr. Fife adamantly opposes the ingestion of any foods and supplements containing powdered cholesterol and even goes so far as to say that “. . . eating such foods will surely clog your arteries faster than any other substance known on the face of the earth."
These are strong words, but they are certainly something to think about the next time you’re lured in by the convenience of processed foods, or the next time you’re tempted to try and save a few bucks on a cheap tub of whey protein. Check the level of cholesterol on those labels, and even if there is just a “small” amount avoid it like the plague.
Remember, no matter how old you are the choices you make today will make a difference to your health tomorrow. Will that difference be for the better, or for the worse? The choice is up to you.
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