Fill Up on Filling Foods

By Al Sears, MD

Last weekend, I went to a picnic at my son’s school. (The warm weather here in Florida allows us to barbeque during the winter.) As I stood in line to get my burger, I watched the other parents piling huge mounds of food onto their paper plates. Then I watched many go back for seconds of French fries, potato salad, and homemade brownies.

This made me think of a pair of studies I read recently.

In 1984, researchers from Penn State asked the students who were participating in their study to eat their meals in the school cafeteria … and to take as much food as they wanted. Then, in 2003, researchers from Rutgers did the same thing - and they found that their subjects put 20 percent to 50 percent more food on their plates than the Penn State students did in 1984.

Clearly, people are eating more than they used to. But why?

Here’s my take: It’s the kind of food we’re eating that makes us eat more. High-carb and highly processed foods lower sensitivity to a hormone called leptin. Leptin is the messenger that tells your brain "I’m full." Without it, you keep eating and eating.

The easiest way to eat smaller portions is to eat foods that make you feel full sooner. So instead of trying to deny yourself, focus on foods high in protein - like lean meats, poultry, fish, and nuts. These foods trigger the leptin receptors in your brain and give you the feeling that you’ve "had enough."

Another winning strategy is to use the glycemic index. Foods that score below 40 keep your blood sugar and insulin at low levels. This is the key to preventing weight gain if you’re going to a party or out to dinner and expect to be eating a lot.
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Worth Quoting: Rachael Ray on Persistence

"You have to be open-minded when those early opportunities present themselves. Take advantage of them, whether they’re going to make you a lot of money or not. I did 30-Minute Meals for five years on local television, and I earned nothing the first two years. Then I earned $50 a segment. I spent more than that on gas and groceries, but I really enjoyed making the show and I loved going to a viewer’s house each week. I knew I enjoyed it, so I stuck with it even though it cost me."

(Source: Business 2.0)
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Word to the Wise: Indolent

Someone who is "indolent" (IN-duh-lunt) - from the Latin for "not suffering pain" - is inclined to avoid work or other physical exertion.

Example (as used by John Bayley in Elegy for Iris): "We worked very hard - at least Iris [Murdoch] did; I was more naturally indolent."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #1940, 01-16-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"Make the iron hot by striking it." - Rita Mae Brown

Help for Your Ringing Ears

By Al Sears, MD

Are your ears ringing? It’s a condition called tinnitus that affects millions of people. Mainstream medicine has no answer - but I have at least a partial solution for you: Boosting your blood levels of CoQ10 can lower the volume of the ringing. It’s not a cure, but it provides some relief for the majority of people who try it.

German researchers recently published a new study confirming that CoQ10 helps reduce the expression of tinnitus. This was especially true for those who had low levels of CoQ10 to begin with.

As I’ve explained before in ETR, CoQ10 is a critical co-enzyme that generates energy in the "powerhouse" or mitochondria of every cell in your body. It’s known for its role in maintaining heart health and preventing heart attacks and strokes. But its regenerative powers have been linked to many other health issues too, including gum disease and migraines.

CoQ10 is found naturally in red meat and the organ meat of wild animals. But to get relief from tinnitus, you may need a supplement. I recommend 200 mg of a high-potency, highly absorbable CoQ10 formula. Stay away from the "powder" or dry tablet forms. They’re ineffective and are not absorbed into your bloodstream.
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It’s Fun to Know: About Extreme Gas Mileage

Want to save money by making your gas last as long as possible? Take your cue from"hypermilers," drivers who are obsessed with gas mileage.

Forget about boring techniques like keeping your tires inflated properly or using cruise control. Hypermilers get 50 miles per gallon and more in non-hybrid vehicles by doing unorthodox things like rolling down hills with the engine off.

(Source: Mother Jones)
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Word to the Wise: Eremite

An "eremite" (ER-uh-mite) - from the Greek for lonely/solitary/desolate - is a hermit, especially a religious recluse.

Example (as used by Cynthia Ozick in a New York Times article about writers): "He is in the private cave of his freedom, an eremite, a solitary; he orders his mind as he pleases."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2028, 04-28-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead & rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing." - Benjamin Franklin

"What exercise is to the body, employment [in the sense of 'activity' or 'engagement'] is to the mind and morals."

- Henry David Thoreau

The Aerobics Craze - a Monumental Mistake

By Al Sears, MD

Back in the 1970s - while studying at the University of South Florida - I made a curious discovery when running a series of tests on the gymnastics team.

I had picked out the gymnasts with low pulmonary function (lung capacity). The goal was to improve their performance by increasing their lung volume - and everyone believed that sustained running at an "aerobic level" would do that for them. But their next round of scores was even lower.

This triggered a wave of revelations that laid the foundation for my PACE® exercise system. Thirty years and dozens of clinical studies later, I can tell you this: The aerobics craze has been a monumental mistake.

Doing aerobics isn't a smart way to exercise, and it doesn't build your lungs or breathing capacity as the name implies. In fact, aerobics actually shrinks your heart and lungs - making you more vulnerable to fatal heart attacks.

If you exercise only within your current aerobic limits, you do so without improving your aerobic capacity. In other words, you never push hard enough to stop to catch your breath.

This kind of aerobic exercise trains your body for endurance and efficiency. And that sounds great, right? Well, it may sound great, but it's not. Because this kind of exercise causes "shrinkage" - smaller muscles, smaller heart, and smaller lungs. What's worse, it wipes out your lungs' reserve capacity.

Reserve capacity is what your lungs use to deal with a sudden increase in stress or high exertion (like lifting, carrying, running, or climbing stairs). Injuries or physical trauma, a shocking emotional blow, a particularly intense session in the bedroom with your partner - these all demand reserve energy. Without reserve capacity, you're much more likely to drop dead from a heart attack when faced with one of these situations.

It's normal to lose lung capacity as you age. By the time you're 70, you'll lose about 50 percent of it. But if you practice aerobics, you're going to make that loss even worse.

You don't hear much about this in the media, but the damage caused by lost lung capacity is far worse than you might imagine.

In the 1980s, a pioneering doctor named Ward Dean did extensive research on lung capacity. He discovered some remarkable statistics from the Framingham Heart Study. (If you're not familiar with it, the Framingham study has been running for over 50 years. It has no interference from drug companies, and is the most reliable source of data relating to heart health.)

Ironically, one of the study's most startling discoveries had nothing to do with the heart. It found that lung capacity is the best predictor of longevity - hands down. Simply stated, the bigger your lungs, the longer you live.

This is why reserve capacity is so critical - and why I'm so concerned about the popularity of aerobics. Aerobic exercise actually takes years off your life.

But a different kind of exercise builds reserve capacity ... and it gives you many other health benefits.

I call this kind of exercise supra-aerobics. It is the key to higher lung capacity, good muscle tone, high energy, and a strong heart. Plus, it takes a fraction of the time to achieve much better results.

Think of your lungs as a car engine. Traditional aerobics trades power for a smaller engine. Sure, a smaller engine is fuel-efficient. But fuel efficiency is not the best goal for your body in our modern world. And God help you if you need to quickly get out of the way of an oncoming truck. You just don't have the power.

Supra-aerobics, on the other hand, gives your heart and lungs a turbo boost that can get you out of a jam.

Other researchers are corroborating my findings: A Harvard study revealed that participants who used supra-aerobic principles in their workouts reduced their risk of heart disease by 100 percent more than those who practiced ordinary aerobic exercise. And a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that men and women who exercised with supra-aerobic methods had:

- Lower blood pressure

- Lower triglycerides (blood fat)

- Higher HDL (good cholesterol)

- Less body fat

But to get these results, you have to exercise beyond your current aerobic capacity and cross your aerobic threshold.

Aerobic means "with oxygen." Your aerobic metabolism combines oxygen with carbs, fats, and proteins to make energy. Because walking is not a strenuous activity, when you walk you have plenty of oxygen available to make the energy required. This is why you can walk for hours.

You can also sustain jogging with aerobic metabolism.

But let's say you start sprinting. You can't sustain that high output of energy with oxygen alone, so your anaerobic system kicks in. (This is known as crossing your aerobic threshold.)

Anaerobic means "without oxygen." The anaerobic system converts carbs - and some fats - into energy without using oxygen. When you're using your anaerobic system, you are training your high-energy output system. You're successfully building up reserve capacity in your heart, expanding your lung volume, triggering the production of growth hormone, and melting away fat.

When you exceed a rate you can sustain with oxygen and start using both your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems ... this is when you've crossed over into your supra-aerobic zone.

Remember ... aerobic exercise is low to medium output held for an extended period. Supra-aerobic exercise is high output, but short in duration.

To move your workout into the anaerobic range, you have to create an "oxygen debt" by asking your lungs for more oxygen than they can supply at that moment. You do that by exercising at a pace you can't sustain for more than a short period.

For instance, pedal a bike as fast as you can for 15 seconds. When you stop, you'll be panting - the sign that you've created an oxygen debt in your body. You can't sustain this kind of high-output challenge for very long. You have reached the supra-aerobic zone. This is very different from doing an aerobic workout for 45 minutes.

In a matter of weeks, you can:

- Lose pounds of belly fat

- Build functional new muscle

- Reverse heart disease

- Build energy reserves that will be available on demand

- Strengthen your immune system

- Reverse many of the changes of aging

By making small changes in your workouts, you can achieve remarkable results with supra-aerobics. And it takes only 12 minutes a day.

[Ed. Note: Supra-aerobics is the basis of Dr. Sears' PACE® system, which he's been using for 25 years. Recently, he added progressivity to the system to increase its benefits.]
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Word to the Wise: Vainglory

"Vainglory" (VANE-glor-ee) - from the Latin for "empty pride" - is excessive pride in one's achievements, abilities, qualities, etc.

Example (as used by Fen Montaigne in Reeling in Russia): "Spurred by the vainglory of being the first person in recent memory to catch a Solovki canal trout on a fly, I fished with newfound intensity."

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These articles appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #1870, 10-26-06], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice." -Wayne Dyer

"I don't know much about being a millionaire, but I'll bet I'd be a darling at it." - Dorothy Parker

Worth Quoting: Donald Trump on Success

"There’s a lot to the credo that success breeds success. It puts you on a high that makes more success like a magnet. I’m a positive thinker who does frequent reality checks. Negatives turn into positives, problems can be solved, things can turn around. The image of success is important, but even more important is the ability to focus on solutions instead of on problems. That way, you’ll never be thinking like a loser, and you probably won’t look like one either."

(Source: Business 2.0)
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Low-Fat Foods Are Not "Guilt Free"

By Al Sears, MD

In a recent study, researchers gave people a choice of two bags of granola to snack on while they watched TV. One bag was labeled "Low-Fat Rocky Mountain Granola"; the other was "Regular Rocky Mountain Granola." The people who chose the low-fat granola ate 32 percent more than those who chose the regular granola. The researchers repeated the experiment with low-fat and regular chocolate - and the results were almost identical.

The reason this concerns me is that low-fat foods have proportionately more carbohydrate. And, per calorie, carbohydrates - not fats - are the most fattening foods you can eat, especially refined carbs (like breads, breakfast cereals, and sodas). When you eat these nutrient-poor foods, you’re signaling your body that you are starving. That shifts your metabolism toward fat building, regardless of how little fat you’re actually consuming.

It’s counterintuitive, I know… but overeating low-fat foods because you think you can get away with it is a prescription for packing on the fat. At the same time, your risk of chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease skyrockets.

Keep fat in your diet. Eat a well-rounded selection of red meats and fish. Have a bag of nuts on hand when you feel the urge to snack. Walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, and cashews are good choices. Those are the real guilt-free snacks. Eat as much of them as you want. You’ll get full… and you won’t get fat. Try it.

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This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2022, 04-21-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"All the great speakers were bad speakers first." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Labeling Bloopers

April 13, 2007 Edited by Associate Publisher: Jim Chrzan


Welcome to Global Packaging Minute's Labeling Bloopers edition. In a blog from Japan, the following labels were listed under a headline, "Dumb and funny warning labels." We don't know if these were cases of bad translation from another language or just really funny. Enjoy!

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Toilet Plunger

Caution: Do not use near power lines.

Bowl Fresh

Safe to use around pets and children, although it is not recommended that either be permitted to drink from toilet.

Hair Coloring

Do not use as an ice cream topping.

Christmas Lights

Warning: For indoor or outdoor use only.

Komatsu Floodlight

This floodlight is capable of illuminating large areas, even in the dark.

Nabisco Easy Cheese

For best results, remove cap.

Nytol sleep aid

Warning: may cause drowsiness.

Korean kitchen knife

Warning keep out of children.

Package of Fisherman's Friend throat lozenges

Not meant as substitute for human companionship.

Helmet mounted mirror used by us cyclists

Remember, objects in the mirror are actually behind you.

Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding

Product will be hot after heating.

Swann frozen dinners

Serving suggestion: Defrost.

Hershey's Almond Bar

Warning: May contain traces of nuts.

Source: www.ansarishare.com

[from Global Packaging Minute e-mail newsletter at www.packworld.com.]

"Change brings opportunity." - Nibo Qubein

"To show resentment at a reproach is to acknowledge that one may have deserved it."

- Tacitus

How to Handle Being Badmouthed at Work

By Michael Masterson

What do you do when you discover that an employee or colleague has been badmouthing you?

An example:

Several years ago (over the course of six months), I reduced Ellen’s responsibilities (and job title). Although she had many excellent qualities, she was someone who saw business as a struggle for personal power rather than a struggle toward a common goal - which is not the way a good leader should think. On top of that, we had different ideas about the way a major project should be handled.

But since Ellen was very strong in some ways (a hard worker, passionate, tough, and motivated), I didn’t want to fire her. Instead, I figured out a way to create an important job that she could excel at.

Although we never talked about it, I felt that she understood what I tried to do. That seemed like a reasonable expectation, since I had simplified her job, focused her attention on work she could do well, and maintained her income level even though her work load was considerably reduced. All subsequent communications from her were as positive as ever, so I decided that the transition had, indeed, gone well.

I was wrong. As it turned out, she didn’t like it at all. And she expressed her bad feelings in very strong terms in several memos sent to a few colleagues.

Those memos made their way back to me, and I was shocked to see how she felt.

My first reaction was, "After all the time and effort I spent trying to find a new job for her! I should have just fired her!"

But I got over that and eventually came back to the idea that I always come to when I hear that someone’s been talking negatively about me behind my back: You can’t pay attention to what people say about you when you are not present.

There are three reasons:

1. They are venting - so much of what they are saying is exaggerated. (Haven’t you ever said something about someone that was an exaggeration?)
2. The feelings they are expressing in the heat of the moment may be temporary. (Think about how your opinion of certain colleagues has changed over the years.)
3. Most of the negative feelings that turn out to be permanent really won’t affect you. It’s just talk.

So don’t worry about what people say behind your back. It is mostly a reflection of how powerless they feel. Focus on doing what you think is best, and hope that your detractors will come around to seeing the wisdom of your ways.

If you want to succeed, you must learn to be a leader. Leadership implies change. Change involves fear and loss. When fear and loss are present, resentment is commonplace. Blame too.

So steel yourself against resentment, because it is the price you pay for making things better.

If you do get word that there are grumblings against you, pay them no mind. Don’t make the mistake of thinking it might be better to confront the offender. You’ll only make matters worse. Instead, continue focusing on your common business goal, as opposed to your relationship, and hope the emotional bruises heal.

If the grumbler’s productivity decreases measurably, you can probably conclude things will go from bad to worse. In such a situation, it’s advisable to dismiss him. But if you can get the relationship back on track, chances are it will be a good one.

What is said about you behind your back usually means nothing, and it always says more about the speaker than it does about you. Ignore it. Pay attention to what people say to your face. Expect to be treated with respect - and demand it if it doesn’t come. Focus on the work and not the personal drama.
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You Don’t Need Drugs for a Healthy Heart

By Al Sears, MD

Last month marked the failure of another drug.

Pfizer pulled its much-touted new cholesterol drug torcetrapib after trials revealed an increased risk of heart complications and death. This was the first drug designed to raise levels of HDL (good cholesterol) instead of lowering levels of LDL (bad cholesterol).

While the new drug stimulated scientists and researchers to recognize the importance of HDL in heart health, keep in mind that relying on toxic drugs to boost HDL is unnecessary.

Niacin - a simple B vitamin - raises HDL better than any drug, boosting it by as much as 35 percent. This usually requires a higher dose - about 2,000 milligrams per day. It also lowers LDL and reduces artery-clogging triglycerides by as much as 50 percent.

Decades after the first clinical tests linked niacin and heart health, the medical establishment is finally giving it the recognition it deserves. Niacin is completely natural and has no dangerous side effects. It can occasionally cause a flush when the blood vessels dilate, but this is not serious.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Sears, a practicing physician and the author of The Doctor’s Heart Cure, is a leading authority on longevity, physical fitness, and heart health.]

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Travel Tip: Turn Your Pictures Into Postcards

By Lori Appling

I’ll never buy another postcard.

The United States Postal Service has a cool feature you might not know about. If you go to the USPS website, you can upload an image (your own or one that they provide) and they’ll create, print, and mail a postcard for you.

Go to usps.com/netpost and click on Stay in Touch With Family & Friends. Then click on Premium Postcards.

I used to use the NetPost service a lot when I lived in Paris. It allowed me to make postcards out of my own photos as well as avoid the international postage rates. For a premium postcard, it’s only $.84.

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It’s Good to Know: About Caesar Salad

No, it wasn’t invented by Julius Caesar or at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The ever-popular Caesar salad was created by Italian chef Caesar Cardini at the Hotel Caesar in Tijuana, Mexico in 1924.

Despite the inclusion of anchovies in some modern versions, there were none in the original recipe. It used Worcestershire sauce, which has anchovies as one of its ingredients.

(Source: Wikipedia)

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Word to the Wise: Progeny

"Progeny" (PRAHJ-uh-nee) - from the Latin for "beget" - are the immediate descendents of a person, animal, or plant.Example (as used by Liesl Schillinger in a New York Times review of Walking on Eggshells by Jane Isay): "We could perhaps learn something from the female leatherback turtle. She lays her clutch of eggs then departs forever, never to discover how her progeny fared for the rest of her long life."

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These selected articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2015, 04-13-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

Word to the Wise: Bacronym

You know what an "acronym" (AK-ruh-nim) is - a word formed from the initials of several other words. For example, scuba for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus," asap for "As Soon As Possible," and ram for "Random Access Memory."

Well, a "bacronym" (BAK-ruh-nim) is formed when the letters of an existing word are expanded into separate words, sometimes with humorous intent. For example, a bacronym for Adidas (which was originally formed by combining the first and last names of founder Adolf "Adi" Dassler) is "All Day I Dream About Sports," and a bacronym for golf is "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden."
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This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2019, 04-18-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

Relieve Your Aching Joints Naturally

By Al Sears, MD

A common mineral called MSM safely relieves the inflammation that causes chronic pain. MSM stands for methylsulfonylmethane, a form of sulfur that your body can absorb.

Scientists at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and the Arthritis Health Center in Arizona tracked 50 adults over the age of 40 who had been diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee. One group took MSM twice a day; the other group took a placebo.

At the end of the study, both groups were evaluated. Those who used MSM enjoyed a dramatic decrease in arthritis pain and impaired physical function. MSM also improved their ability to perform daily activities. What's more, the MSM group saw reductions in both homocysteine - a risk factor for heart disease - and malondialdehyde - a marker of oxidative stress.
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A Tool to Make Your Writing Easier to Read

By Krista Jones

You may have heard that most Americans read at a 7th-grade level. Sounds pretty scary to me, but it does show us why we should keep our writing clear and simple.

If you use Microsoft Word, you can test the "readability" of your writing by clicking on "Tools" then "Options" and then "Spelling and Grammar." Then click the check box at the bottom that says "Show readability statistics."

After you spell-check your document, a box will pop up showing the number of words you used, the number of paragraphs, the number of sentences, the number of sentences per paragraph, the number of words per sentence, and the percentage of passive sentences. It will also give you two indicators that are based on the Flesch-Kincaid formula for readability. These indicators measure reading ease (based on 100 points, with 100 being the easiest) and grade level.

I use these stats all the time. My writing used to be in the 50-55 range for reading ease, and now it generally ranges from the low 60s to the mid-70s. When the reading ease is 65 or higher, that tells me I have a good chance of connecting with my reader.

[Ed. Note: Krista Jones, a former environmental scientist, is a freelance copywriter specializing in personal development and business opportunity.]
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It's Fun to Know: About U.S. Currency

The largest currency denomination ever printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing was the $100,000 Series 1934 Gold Certificate, featuring the image of President Wilson. Not circulated among the general public, these notes were in print for less than a month.

(Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury)
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Word to the Wise: Gormless

"Gormless" (GAWRM-lis) is an informal British word that means dull or lacking intelligence and vitality.

Example (as used by Roger Ebert in a review of the movie Shaun of the Dead): "I like the way the slacker characters maintain their slothful gormlessness in the face of urgent danger, and I like the way the British bourgeois values of Shaun's mum and dad assert themselves even in the face of catastrophe."
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These selected articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2020, 04-19-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"There is one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life - reciprocity." - Albert Camus

"It is exercise alone that supports the spirits and keeps the mind in vigor." - Marcus Tullius Cicero

"I've been on a diet for two weeks and all I've lost is fourteen days."

- Totie Fields

The Diet Myth That Could Be Ruining Your Health

By Anthony Colpo

In 1989, at the age of 21 and after a few years of inactivity, I made a visit to the doctor. I learned that I had a cholesterol level of 213, which (according to the doctor) placed me at "moderate risk" for heart disease. I left that day with a handful of literature that, among other things, advocated the restriction of saturated fat.

To me, good health had always been about physical fitness - how much weight I could lift or how easily I could climb a steep hill on my bike. So I began training again. But I also paid a lot more attention to what I ate, and I began to study everything I could get my hands on about nutrition.

Everything I read reiterated the same message: "Fat is BAD. Complex carbohydrates are GOOD!" The message appeared to be unanimous, and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

When my father, an active, well-built man who appeared to be very fit for his age, experienced a heart attack in 1990, my resolve to eat what I believed to be a heart-healthy diet was further strengthened.

I resolved to eat only the leanest meats and low-fat fish. And because my intense training required a high caloric intake, I began consuming copious amounts of carbohydrates: rye bread, brown rice, sweet potatoes, whole-meal pasta, rolled oats, buckwheat, and millet.

I began partaking of the delights of butter-less toast, egg whites, salad without oil, and water-packed tuna. If I were served meat that had - shock, horror, gasp! - visible fat, I would surgically trim it away before taking a bite. I wouldn't even think of buying any new food item until I had scrupulously examined the nutrition label for fat content.

When I calculated the average amount of fat that I was taking in, I was proud to find that it was less than 10 percent of my daily caloric intake. I wore my low-fat habits like a badge of honor.

But reality began to bite several years later. Despite my "healthy" diet, strenuous training regimen, and strict avoidance of cigarettes, alcohol, and recreational drugs, my blood pressure had risen from 110/65 (a reading characteristic of highly conditioned athletes) to an elevated 130/90. It was increasingly hard to maintain the lean, "ripped," vascular look I had always prided myself on. Instead, my physique was getting smooth and bloated.

My digestive system became more sluggish and my stomach often felt heavy and distended after meals. I frequently felt tired after eating. I began to rack up a rather impressive list of irreversible food sensitivities. I had never been much of a coffee drinker, but I was now trying to fight increasing fatigue by sipping a strong black or two before workouts. My fasting blood glucose level was below the normal range, indicative of reactive hypoglycemia.

In short, I felt terrible and my health was suffering.

Despite monumental effort and discipline, my supposedly wholesome low-fat diet had raised my blood pressure, sapped my energy, and left me with a screwed-up blood sugar metabolism. Ironically, these changes increased my risk of the very thing I was trying to avoid: heart disease.

This disheartening revelation was the catalyst for an extended period of self-experimentation, during which I anxiously tried a number of highly touted popular diets. It was only after settling into a high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate plan - the exact opposite of that recommended by most health authorities - that I was able to reverse the negative changes brought about by years of high-carbohydrate eating. My blood pressure and glycemic control finally returned to normal, while my digestive function, mental focus, energy levels, and overall sense of well being improved dramatically.

This experience caused me to question everything I had ever learned about nutrition. I wanted to know why the revered low-fat paradigm had failed me, while a diet in which the bulk of calories were obtained from supposedly "dangerous" animal fats made me feel better than I had in a long, long time.

Rather than simply take for granted the existence of data showing saturated fat to be harmful - as does so much of the public, medical, and research communities - I insisted on viewing this data for myself. My burning desire for the facts drove me into an intensive search of the medical literature.

What I discovered astounded me.

The low-fat, anti-cholesterol paradigm was a complete sham right from the outset. It began in the early 1900s when Russian researchers noted that feeding rabbits cholesterol caused a build-up of fatty deposits in their arteries. However - unlike humans - rabbits are herbivores. They are not metabolically equipped to eat animal products. (Plant foods do not contain cholesterol.)

In the mid 1950s, health authorities were at a complete loss to explain the rising prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD). Inspired by the utterly irrelevant findings of the Russian rabbit experiments, scientists began examining possible links between fat, cholesterol, and CHD in humans.

One of those individuals, Ancel Keys, plotted CHD death rates from a mere six countries on a graph, and was able to show an almost perfect correlation between fat consumption and CHD mortality.

But what Keys didn't share with his readers was the fact that he handpicked his data - even though relevant statistics were available for 22 countries. Other researchers demonstrated that when data from larger numbers of countries were included, the alleged association between fat and CHD vanished into thin air. Keys, however, was on the nutrition advisory committee of the powerful American Heart Association, and his erroneous theories were officially incorporated into AHA dietary guidelines in 1961.

The cholesterol theory of heart disease has been largely built upon "epidemiological" research, which examines disease trends among certain populations. Such population-based research can be useful in identifying leads for further research - but, due to many confounding factors, should never be used as conclusive proof of anything.

For example, one of the arguments commonly used in support of the lipid hypothesis is that countries with high levels of saturated fat consumption have the highest levels of heart disease. Sure they do. But they also have high levels of psychosocial stress, the highest consumption of sugar, refined carbohydrates, polyunsaturated vegetable oils, and trans-fats, and the lowest levels of physical activity. All these factors have been implicated in the development of CHD.

To conclusively prove that saturated fat causes CHD, we need to conduct randomized, clinical trials comparing low-saturated-fat diets with saturated-fat-rich diets, in which all other possible confounding variables are controlled.

Indeed, over the last six decades, numerous controlled studies have tested the effect of saturated fat restriction on cardiovascular and overall mortality. But supporters of the lipid hypothesis rarely mention them, instead focusing on the epidemiological data. That is because none of those controlled clinical trials have ever demonstrated a beneficial effect of saturated fat restriction or cholesterol lowering.

In fact, a number of these studies directly refute the cholesterol theory.

Ironically, statin drugs - the only cholesterol-lowering interventions that have demonstrated any ability to save lives - do not work by reducing cholesterol. A mountain of evidence shows that these drugs work via anti-clotting, anti-inflammatory, artery-dilating, and antioxidant mechanisms. Thankfully, taking toxic cholesterol drugs is not the only way to achieve those effects.

Despite almost half a century of intense research, the indisputable fact is that heart disease is still the industrialized world's number one killer - occurring with the same frequency as it did 50 years ago.

And the great tragedy is that the dietary and lifestyle factors that do increase CHD risk remain neglected or even completely ignored. Modern medicine has become far more adept at saving the lives of those who already have heart disease - but it has achieved little in the way of preventing the disease from occurring in the first place.

This situation will not change until health authorities drop their cholesterol obsession. But don't hold your breath. The upper echelons of modern medicine are dominated by politics and money, and cholesterol paranoia is way too profitable for those who wield the most influence. The welfare of ordinary folks like you and me ranks far behind that of the powerful vested interests who lobby and fund health policy makers.

That's why it is up to you to learn about the things that really matter when it comes to heart disease. These include reducing stress; avoiding elevated blood sugar; ensuring the adequate intake of omega-3 fats and avoiding excessive omega-6 fat intake; shunning heavily processed, nutrient-depleted foods; eating a diet that emphasizes fresh, nutrient-rich meats and vegetables; maintaining optimal antioxidant status through the use of proper diet and supplementation; avoiding high bodily iron stores; exercising regularly; and eschewing both passive and active cigarette smoking.

[Ed. Note: In The Great Cholesterol Con: Why Everything You've Been Told About Cholesterol, Diet, and Heart Disease Is Wrong! Anthony Colpo destroys every defense of the cholesterol theory of heart disease. This book could save your life!]
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Word to the Wise: Eschew

To "eschew" (es-CHOO) - from the French for "to flee from" - is to avoid.

Example (as used by Anthony Colpo today): "It is up to you to learn about the things that really matter when it comes to heart disease. These include... eschewing both passive and active cigarette smoking."
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This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2004, 03-31-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
- Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet