Trusting vs. Knowing
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I trust you are having a perfect day. Well actually, I don’t trust, I absolutely know your day is just perfect. Perfect doesn’t always mean fantastic, by the way (by traditional measures). Sometimes perfect means full of juicy contrast and enriching experiences.
Let’s go back to the word “trust” for a moment. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when someone says, “Trust me”? Well, for me, sometimes I struggle to trust my own self, so to trust someone else (especially with things that really matter to me) is to diffuse my joy and power.
Trust involves effort. Trust is like cautiously optimistic wishful thinking. The path of most ease is the path of knowing.
Recently, trust alone just wasn’t making the grade for me. It infers placing your chips in something other than you and your connection to All That Is. I had to leap beyond that paradigm (because it was tiring) into the realm of expanding my knowingness, the cellular experience of my unlimited self just being aware of what is True. When I go there, I no longer need the word trust; I just know!
Our heads can be scary neighborhoods. Some interesting life options get presented to us and it is amazing to me how our brains instantly attempt to find peace by figuring it all out before we make any decisions. Meanwhile our hearts are calling us toward the path of most peace and joy.
We know, we always know. And at first, courage may be needed. Eventually though, courage is not necessary. When you trust, there is an option not to trust. When you know, you just know.
Jennifer Hough
Reversing High Homocysteine and Heart Disease
Filed Under Dr. Zoltan Rona (MD) | Leave a Comment
In my last blog, I explained how high homocysteine levels can cause heart disease. This week I will discuss how to lower high homocysteine levels, helping to prevent or reverse heart disease.
Normalizing elevated homocysteine
One of the answers to high homocysteine levels is to increase one’s intake of vitamin B6, B12, and folic acid. While most conventional medical practitioners and dietitians do not recommend supplementing the diet with any of these B vitamins in capsule or tablet form, they do advise the public to at least increase their intake of high folic acid–containing foods. The American Heart Association, for example, advises a “healthy, balanced diet that’s rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products.”
The current RDA for folic acid is 400 mcg, the minimum dose thought to prevent neural tube defects in the fetus of a pregnant woman. Dark leafy greens, kidney beans, lentils, oranges, and orange juice are especially good sources of folic acid.
Folate content of foods:
Fresh spinach (1 cup)—262 mcg
Kidney beans (1 cup)—229 mcg
Lentils, cooked (½ cup)—179 mcg
Chickpeas, cooked (½ cup)—145 mcg
Asparagus, cooked (½ cup)—131 mcg
Orange juice (1 cup)—109 mcg
Broccoli (1 cup)—107 mcg
Split peas, cooked (½ cup)—64 mcg
Good sources of vitamin B6 are meat, poultry, fish, fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products. A daily intake of 50 mg is optimal.
Vitamin B12 can be obtained in highest amounts from meat, poultry, fish, milk, and dairy products. B12 is not found in fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, nuts, or seeds but may be found in cultured soy products, algae, and seaweeds. A daily intake of 500 mcg is considered to be optimal.
Regular aerobic exercise (more than 3 times weekly) also lowers the harmful levels of homocysteine.
Adequate amounts of trace minerals in the diet can also help lower homocysteine. Minerals such as zinc, copper, and magnesium are required as cofactors for enzymes that lower homocysteine to function properly and maintain proper DNA methylation.
Betaine (1000 mg) a.k.a. trimethylglycine (TMG) is yet another important nutrient. Derived from sugar beets, betaine functions as a methyl donor (much like folic acid) and also helps lower homocysteine levels.
Poor absorption
One unsuspected problem for some people is the inability to assimilate or absorb certain nutrients from their foods. For example, older individuals (age 65 or older) may not produce enough stomach acid to help absorb vitamin B12, folic acid, zinc, copper, manganese, iron, and dozens of other nutrients. Others may be deficient in the gut levels of intrinsic factor and pancreatic digestive juices. Still others have had damage to their intestinal absorption capacity due to illnesses like celiac disease, food allergies or chronic gut infections. In some people vitamin B6 is not converted efficiently enough to its active form (pyridoxyl-5’-phosphate). Supplementing these people with pyridoxyl-5’-phosphate (50 mg) directly is necessary.
Sometimes the only way that these individuals can be helped is by intramuscular or intravenous injections or high dose oral vitamin and mineral supplementation combined with digestive enzymes like glutamic acid and pepsin, pancreatin or others. If one suspects an absorption or nutrient assimilation problem, this can be verified by tests done through a health care practitioner.
Dissenting voices of ultra orthodoxy
Despite considerable evidence to the contrary, the conservative forces of orthodoxy within the medical profession and dietetics establishments continue to downplay the importance of keeping homocysteine levels under control. The main bulk of literature from similar bastions of ultra orthodoxy continue to claim that the only known risk factors for heart disease are age (being 45 or older for men; 55 or older for women), a family history of early heart disease, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, and diabetes. There are even several recent studies funded by the manufacturers of cholesterol-lowering drugs concluding that there is no relationship between homocysteine and heart disease.
While it is always wise to make health decisions on sound scientific principles, there is no harm in taking a daily B complex and multi-mineral supplement while we wait for the scientific, economic, and political conflicts to play themselves out.
The bottom line
While it may cost you some money ($50–$100), get at least one blood test for homocysteine done. If the test shows a high level, change your diet to include foods high in folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12. Also, take at least one high potency B complex vitamin and multi-mineral supplement daily. Keep rechecking your homocysteine blood test until it normalizes.
If there is no improvement, discuss vitamin injections or other options with your natural health care provider. Chances are you will prevent a great deal more unpleasant future medical attention.
Dr. Zoltan Rona
References
American Heart Association website: http://www.amhrt.org
Challem, Jack. Homocysteine: The New “Cholesterol”, Keats Publishing, New Canaan, CT, 1996.
Malinow MR, Bostom AG, Krauss RM. Homocyst(e)ine, diet, and cardiovascular diseases: a statement for health care professionals from the nutrition committee, American Heart Association. Circulation 1999; 99:178-182.
Malinow MR, Duell PB, Hess DL, Anderson PH, Kruger WD, Phillipson BE, Gluckman RA, Block PC, Upson BM. Reduction of plasma homocyst(e)ine levels by breakfast cereal fortified with folic acid in patients with coronary heart disease. N Engl J Med 1998; 338:1009-1015.
McCully K. The Homocysteine Revolution. Keats Publishing, New Canaan, CT,1997.
McCully KS. Editorial: Homocysteine, folate, vitamin B6, and cardiovascular disease. JAMA 1998; 279:392-393.
Nygard O, Nordrehaug JE, Refsum H, Ueland PM, Farstad M, Vollset SE. Plasma homocysteine levels and mortality in patients with coronary artery disease. N Engl J Med 1997; 337:230-6.
Rimm EB, Willett WC, Hu FB, Sampson L, Colditz GA, Manson JE, Hennekens C, Stampfer MJ. Folate and vitamin B6 from diet and supplements in relation to risk of coronary heart disease among women. JAMA 1998; 279:359-364
Welch GN, Loscalzo J. Review: Homocysteine and atherothrombosis. N Engl J Med 1998; 1042-1050.
The Dance of Life
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I just love dancing. I know, I know, not everyone does. Many people think they aren’t good at dancing, so they don’t do it. But dancing is like art. It is impossible to be a “bad” dancer. Each person has their own interpretation of music, how they hear it, and how their body moves to it. Not everyone naturally takes to dancing (or singing for that matter), and that’s OK.
However, if you judge yourself for how you dance or make it about getting it “right” so that it looks pretty, you miss the journey of moving to the beat. Hmmmm … maybe dancing is like life? Ya think?
Dancing is like a heart smile in motion. Dance with life! You don’t need music—just willing partners (including yourself).
Do you judge the dance you do? I say that the ones most likely not to win the Jitter Bug contest are the ones that don’t enter it. Know what I mean? It’s not about getting it right; it’s about getting on the floor!
Jennifer Hough
Rosemary—Part 2
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There is no better place to look for recipes using rosemary than Southern Herb Growing by Madalene Hill and her daughter, Gwen Barclay.
Herbal butters
Herbal butters are a wonderful way to incorporate herbs with food, combining good health and great taste. Here is a versatile recipe from Madalene and Gwen’s book:
• Cut or finely chop some fresh Italian parsley, chives, and rosemary.
• Work ½ pound of softened butter smooth with a spoon.
• Mix in 1 tablespoon each of chopped parsley, chives, and rosemary.
• Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.
You can substitute your favorite herb for the rosemary—but by all means, do try the rosemary first!
Wendy
Persistence and Impermanence
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I pace upon the battlements and stare
On the foundations of a house, or where
Tree, like sooty finger, starts from the earth;
And send imagination forth
Under the day’s declining beam, and call
Images and memories
From ruin or from ancient trees,
For I would ask a question of them all.
— W.B. Yeats, The Tower
Wandering through the ruins of the sixth century Irish monastery, Clonmacnoise, I was struck by the persistence of the monks who rebuilt here after each attack of foreign and domestic invaders. Over a thousand years ago the Vikings first burned the monastery, then came back numerous times to pillage again. The Irish themselves sacked the place regularly until it was finally finished off by Oliver Cromwell’s army in the 17th century. Thirty times the holy place was ravaged. Yet, time after time stone was placed upon stone to rebuild the small, crude houses of worship.
The golden chalices and reliquaries are gone. The illuminated scriptures are gone. The people are gone. The stones remain. Two round towers and the broken walls of eight small churches persist in the rain.
Above the green bank of the River Shannon, standing at St. Ciaran’s 1500-year-old grave, I marvel at the endurance of his followers who stayed put despite their fears. What was it that held these monks to this spot for 1100 years despite attack after attack by forces of darkness? What power did they have to carry on their work in the face of persistent disaster?
Along with marvel at incredible persistence comes the thought that despite all their efforts, this place is a ruin. No work, no prayer could stand against the ravages of time and events. Material things, given enough time, fall to ruin.
The enduring legacy of these monks was not the physical structures they built, though these are inspiring in themselves. The true gift they gave us was their love of learning, their desire to know the truth. While the rest of Europe was falling into the darkness of ignorance, they studied and preserved ancient knowledge. They flourished in their literacy, and reseeded Western Civilization with the love of scholarship. Without these prayerful, tenacious souls carrying the word back to Medieval Europe, who knows where we would be now?
Some questions to ponder:
• How well do I persist in the face of adversity?
• Do I rebuild after being pillaged, or do I tend to give up?
• Am I easily discouraged from creating something new or preserving something worth saving?
• What in my sphere of influence is worth preserving?
• What is it in my power to create?
• How can I more fully realize my creative potential?
• What will be my lasting legacy?
• Will it be noticeable to those that come behind me?
• Will it be of a material nature?
• Will it be intellectual? Emotional? Spiritual?
• How can I enjoy the spirit of creativity while appreciating the impermanence of the fruits of my work?
Tom Barrett
Recognizing Soul Sisters and Brothers
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Wow, what a ride last week. I was speaking at a conference and made some deep and powerful connections with special people. Sometimes we can get in the mindset that these kinds of interactions are supposed to only be few and far between, and only at special times, in special places. What if our special connections with people actually are showing us how life is meant to be—instead of simply special little snippets of luck and fairy dust?
Have you recently been in connection with people that you just know that you’ve known them before? You seem to have an instant affiinity for them, even though you’ve never physically met in this lifetime before. Why does that happen?
Well, these people will validate how you’ve been feeling. You are like a tuning fork that resonates with all other tuning forks of the same frequency. You will see those people glow in a crowd. Maybe not physically glow, but you will feel them. It’s like going home.
When you are blessed by those connections, it is not luck or being temporarily spoiled. It is how it is supposed to be. Given that we are each a magnificent extension of all of Creation, there is no such thing as being spoiled—only blessed.
You’ve heard of avant garde, right? It means “ahead of the norm.” Well, avant coeur is a heart ahead of the curve of society, where your ability to connect with others, nature, and love is expanding to places that are unfamiliar and beautiful.
Jennifer Hough
Paper Towels
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Recently, I noticed a big box store was selling rolls of brown paper towels (nostalgia from public school washroom trips, if you will). Before starting a cleaning business, I thought these were budget-conscious and low-quality paper products. However, I quickly learned that while not the best for hands, they are fabulous for cleaning glass as well as general areas.
The actual term for this paper is called kraft paper (or kraft rolls). Kraft rolls are renowned in the cleaning world because they leave a lot less lint than conventional white paper towel.
Moreover, they are not bleached, which (depending on the company) makes them chlorine-free. I am finding more and more environmentally responsible producers, and one company I found stated on the package that not a tree was killed in producing the paper towels since all the materials were recycled.
What a great thing to do—use paper towels that are better for cleaning, chlorine-free, and environmentally conscious!
Melissa
Homocysteine and Heart Disease
Filed Under Dr. Zoltan Rona (MD) | Leave a Comment
Homocysteine is an amino acid normally used to build many proteins in the body. It has been over 30 years now since Kilmer McCully, a Harvard pathologist, discovered a connection between high blood levels of homocysteine and cardiovascular disease.
At the time, McCully noted that children suffering from a rare metabolic disorder called homocystinuria had a severe build-up of plaque resembling atherosclerosis in their arteries. He theorized a link between the diseased arteries and the high levels of homocysteine but was met with a great deal of opposition by the proponents of the cholesterol causation of heart disease.
Since that time, the cholesterol cult has been all but silenced by a growing body of scientific evidence confirming the relationship between elevated homocysteine levels and cardiovascular disease. These studies include the Physicians’ Health Study, the Tromso Study from Norway, the Framingham Heart Study, and a meta-analysis of nearly 40 other studies. In fact, it is now believed by some scientists that one’s homocysteine level is about 40 times more predictive than cholesterol in determining the risk for cardiovascular disease.
As the following list indicates, high homocysteine levels have been associated in the medical literature with many more adverse health conditions than just heart disease.
High homocysteine levels may cause:
• Abnormal blood clotting
• Angina pectoris
• Arterial muscle wall damage
• Atherosclerosis
• Circulation problems (e.g., intermittent claudication, brain damage)
• Cirrhosis of the liver
• Coronary artery disease
• Depression
• Fibromyalgia
• Heart attack
• High blood pressure
• Impotence
• Memory loss secondary to poor circulation
• Osteoarthritis
• Oxidation of blood fats
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Stroke
Mildly elevated levels of homocysteine have been documented in 21% of people with coronary artery disease, 24% of those who have suffered a stroke, and 32% of those with peripheral vascular disease like intermittent claudication.
Mechanism of destruction
In the healthy human, homocysteine is made from another amino acid called methionine. Once homocysteine is no longer needed by the body for protein synthesis, it converts to several beneficial compounds required for energy including ATP, cysteine, and S-adenosylmethionine (SAM-e), an amino acid derivative used therapeutically to treat depression and osteoarthritis.
If homocysteine is not completely broken down, it begins to cause oxidative damage to the walls of the arteries, oxidation of blood fats, and abnormal blood clotting by making platelets stick together. Homocysteine also enhances the binding of lipoprotein-a to fibrin, initiating a series of biochemical reactions eventually leading to blockages. Blockages may be followed by heart attacks, strokes, and other circulation calamities.
There are several possible reasons why homocysteine is not broken down:
• A mutated or defective gene may be responsible for an ineffective enzyme needed to break down homocysteine.
• More commonly, deficiencies in enzyme cofactors, especially vitamin B6, B12, and folic acid (a.k.a. folate) are the cause of the failure of optimal enzyme function, poor DNA methylation, and homocysteine clearance from the circulation. In other words, deficiencies of vitamins B6, B12, and folic acid can lead to heart disease and all the adverse health conditions associated with high blood levels of homocysteine.
Smoking and birth controls pills elevate homocysteine levels, possibly because both destroy B complex vitamins. Smokers generally have lower levels of folic acid and vitamin B12. Homocysteine levels also naturally rise with age, regardless of smoking.
A 1993 study at Tufts University analyzed blood samples drawn from elderly participants in the Framingham Heart Study and found that one in three participants had homocysteine levels that were too high. About two-thirds of these cases could be traced to a diet low in vitamin B6, vitamin B12, or folic acid. In 1996, Canadian researchers reported that people who had the least amount of folic acid in their diet were 69% more likely to die of a heart problem than those whose diet was richest in this vitamin.
In my next blog, I will discuss specific ways to normalize elevated homocysteine.
Dr. Zoltan Rona
Being Alone
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Not an escape from loneliness, or a plan, not strategy and resolution, but direct facing of one’s loneliness with courage, letting be all that is in its fullness, this is a requirement of creative living.
— Clark MoustakasSitting alone, resting alone,
going forth alone, without laziness;
he who understands deeply
the roots of suffering
enjoys great peace,
while dwelling in solitude.
— Dhammapada
Sometimes we are alone, and sometimes we are lonely. When our aloneness gives us pain we say we are lonely. To be with people with whom we feel a connection is a strong human drive. To be alone is an inevitable human condition.
At the moment of birth we cry out in our separation. As we grow in infancy, we howl for our missing mothers. In our teens and beyond, we cry for the lost lover. In old age, we see our friends pass away, and face the ultimate dissolution of self that can only be accomplished alone.
At each stage of life, we desire connection. When we don’t feel it, we experience pain. This painful loneliness is one of the most torturous of human emotions. Many of our social problems, from gangs to sexual addiction, have their root in the alienated loneliness of a mass society. Sometimes destructive and addictive behaviors are intended to create connection, sometimes they are to simulate connection, and sometimes they are to mask the pain of separation.
Painful loneliness is not an inevitable consequence of aloneness. Sometimes being alone is a welcome respite from the pressures of a social life. Being alone can allow you to take a breath and think more clearly. It can be an opportunity for creativity. It can enable a peacefulness that can be difficult to find in the presence of other people. In that peace one can find a connection that precludes loneliness.
When the mind is still and the heart is open we may sense a subtle but imperturbable connection with all that is. We can gain awareness that in our isolation we are one with all beings. We can see and feel that our compassion reaches out to the world, and the world supports us in our individuality. With deep contemplation we become aware that our sense of a separate self is an illusion
Practice:
Think about your own responses to loneliness.
• What is your first memory of being lonely?
• What is a recent memory of being lonely?
• How are they different?
• How are they similar?
• How do you manage painful loneliness?
• Do you seek out other people?
• Do you get depressed?
• Do you mask the pain through activity or addictive behaviors?
• When have you ever been alone and happy about it?
• What part of being alone was pleasant?
This week, take some time for solitude. Allow yourself a period of time to be alone, and enjoy it. In solitary activity, remind yourself to be mindful of what you do. Seek awareness of your thoughts and movements.
Spend some time in solitary meditation. Contemplate your individuality and your connectedness. Smile inwardly at the individual person you are. Grant yourself compassion for the aloneness of your human existence. Be thankful for the many ways you are connected to the rest of life.
Tom Barrett
Why Do We Get Stuck?
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Asking why you are struggling is like asking why there is no money to pay the bills. Would you rather know why, or would you rather just find the money?
Attempting to figure out why we are stuck is something that so many are addicted to. Sometimes I do it, too. What I know for sure is this: spending my life figuring out the “why” of anything only results in a really good explanation for how come I am stuck. I does not necessarily lead to being unstuck.
There are only a few reasons why anyone would ever be stuck:
1. You are focused on the problem instead of allowing the answer. And yet—the answer appeared the instant the problem was observed.
2. Perfect timing has not happened yet. But remember: the Universe’s timing is what you want, not yours.
3. You are attached to the result and think that your idea is the only way, leaving no room for miracles. Ask for how you want to feel about the results instead of specific results. Then there is room for miracles.
4. You are waiting for things to change in order to be happy one day. Find peace and joy now instead of waiting. It’s your choice!
Jennifer Hough
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