Dr. Sinatra's Daily Heart Health Blog

There is an interesting video that has been abuzz on the Internet this summer. This simply done animated tale is an 8-minute tongue-in-cheek look at our cosmetic industry. And while humor abounds, the take-home message is clear: most of us have no idea what is in the cosmetics we put on our body every day, let alone the safety of the myriad of unknown chemical ingredients that go into them.

Like the book Radiation Safety, this video also seems to have been made by a conscientious woman who started exploring what was in the everyday products she used at home—and learned more than she bargained for. Kudos to women who are proactive in getting answers when they are concerned about the safety of their homes and their children! I am in awe of the time, energy, patience, and determination that it takes to undertake such a project.

Produced by Free Range Studios, “The Ugly Truth of Toxins In, Toxins Out” also has a companion informational Web site. Both are part of the Story of Stuff Project. I love the creative minds at work!

After a presentation on the story behind cosmetics, we are all urged to be wary that our own bathroom may be a minefield of toxins. Some of the compounds in things like our daily shampoos contain chemicals that have never been tested for safety in terms of human consumption. Others may contribute to physical dilemmas ranging from cancer to infertility.

We have long known that fragrances in perfumes, hair sprays, and even some skin creams can trigger asthma and other lung issues for those who are environmentally sensitive. Dr. Sinatra and I have even seen cases where a cardiac arrhythmia was provoked by a toxic agent. 

On a positive note, I like their solution of finding “green chemists” who will safeguard our products. As is pointed out, we cannot trust our manufacturers and the FDA to make the changes in our regulatory system. It’s like leaving the wolf in charge of the hen house.

If you find this video as provocative as I did, then please pass it on. We do need to understand the system in order to step in. And sometimes laughing at a situation can poignantly accent the absurdities in our culture. After all, raising awareness about of the scope of any PROBLEM is the first step toward change.

For more information on overall health, cardiovascular problems, or heart risk factors, visit Dr. Sinatra’s Web site.

One of the common conditions cardiologists treat has nothing directly to do with the heart itself, but rather with blockages of blood vessels going to and from the kidneys, stomach, arms, legs, and feet. We call this condition peripheral vascular or arterial disease. You may know it as “poor blood circulation,” a phrase often used in the ads you see on television.

An estimated 12 million Americans are affected by the disease, and its incidence increases with age—about one-fifth of people age 70 and older have it. The condition is sometimes called a smoker’s disease because it’s particularly prominent among people who have smoked at some point in their lives.

Doctors agree that peripheral blood circulation problems are typically due to the buildup of plaque in the affected blood vessels—similar to the kind of buildup we see in the coronary arteries that feed the heart or the carotid arteries leading to the brain. The result is restricted blood flow, discomfort, tiredness, heaviness, and, often, cramping. In the early stages of the disease, patients commonly complain of cramping and fatigue in the legs and buttocks during activities like walking. Because the symptoms tend to subside when the person sits down, we refer to the problem as intermittent claudication.

To improve blood circulation, doctors often use the drugs advertised in the ads I mentioned earlier. Angioplasty or surgery is also sometimes necessary. My approach takes a different tack. I focus on the muscle cells and how to get rid of their metabolic by-products, which become increasingly toxic because of the poor blood circulation.

As the muscles are used, they burn energy and release waste. This waste causes the cells in the muscles to swell and press against adjacent blood vessels. In a person whose arteries are already compromised by plaque buildup, the swelling causes further vasoconstriction, or narrowing of the vessels. Worse yet, the toxins themselves have a vasoconstricting effect of their own—so you’re hit with a triple whammy of sorts. And as you would imagine, the more toxins that accumulate, the worse the condition gets and the more difficult it becomes to walk.

The solution is to help remove the toxins. To do this, I suggest taking 1 gram daily of glycine propionyl-L-carnitine (GPLC), a form of L-carnitine that’s proven to help improve blood circulation and blood pressure levels, as well as offsetting the destructive nature of inflammatory compounds, cellular waste products, and toxins.

For more information on natural ways to avoid circulatory problems or other cardiovascular problems, visit www.drsinatra.com.

It’s a well-known fact that obesity is on a steady rise in U.S. since the introduction of high fructose corn syrup to our foods. Look for high fructose corn syrup on the your labels—some foods you may not even suspect have sugar in them!—and you may be amazed at how much sugar you are actually getting in your diet.

No wonder so many of us become sugar junkies without even realizing it. Our tendency to grab a quick carb pick-me-up can lead to anything from “brain fog" and fatigue to mood swings and cardiovascular problems. And that’s just what’s happening to non-diabetics.

People with type-2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance get heart disease at an alarming rate. That’s because they have problems with sugar metabolism. And sugar is useless in the body anyhow—it’s full of dead calories.

Whenever you eat sugar and refined carbohydrates, you get an insulin response. We know now that insulin is a pro-inflammatory hormone. People are drinking loads of sugary sodas, adding sugar to their tea and coffee, and consuming breads and pasta, bagels, and donuts and cookies in alarming amounts—we’re a sugar society. And then there’s that artificial high fructose corn syrup, which is even worse than sugar.

These sugars and refined carbs turn on an insulin response, and insulin causes inflammation of blood vessels. If you have surging insulin levels bouncing from high sugar to insulin, back to high sugar, then insulin and so on (i.e. the blood sugar rollercoaster), your cells to become inflamed and the first stage is set for inflammatory atherosclerosis.

The key is to avoid refined sugars and, to swear off high fructose corn syrup for good. And, if you want to read more about the dangers of sugar and how to cut sugar sources from your diet, I highly recommend Dr. Sinatra’s book Sugar Shock! How Sweets and Simple Carbs Can Derail Your Life—and How You Can Get It Back on Track, which he co-authored with self-proclaimed sugar addict in recovery Connie Bennett.

For more information on general or cardiovascular nutrition, as well as heart risk factors, visit Dr. Sinatra’s Web site.

There are four key heart risk factors that affect women more than men. They include:

Diabetes. Diabetic women have a higher risk for heart disease than diabetic men. This is because the incidence of diabetes and its complications (including heart disease) is much higher in women. If you are a diabetic woman, your risk for heart disease is five to seven times normal, compared with a risk of only two to three times normal for a diabetic man. For you, proper heart sense means you should increase your physical activity and adhere to good cardiovascular nutrition to maintain a healthy body weight.

Overweight. Women have a higher heart disease risk from being overweight than men do. Studies indicate that being only 20 pounds overweight doubles a woman’s risk of heart disease. If you are overweight, I don’t want you to go on a diet. Instead, get physically active—it’s your most powerful weapon against fat—and eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, and lean poultry.   That’s the “Dr. Sinatra” way to safe weight loss.

Cholesterol. Women have a higher risk for heart disease than men if they have low levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol. For men, high levels of LDL present a greater risk, but for women, research indicates that a low HDL, not a high LDL, is the more significant risk factor for developing heart disease. The good news is that HDL is sensitive to factors such as smoking, obesity, and lack of exercise. So you can easily increase your HDL cholesterol by quitting smoking and dropping excess weight through a combination of healthy heart nutrition and physical activity.

High Triglycerides. When you get your cholesterol checked, also have your doctor check your level of triglycerides, which are another type of blood fat. A high triglyceride level (above 200 mg/dL) is more dangerous for women than for men, especially if you are a diabetic. Diabetic women with high triglycerides are up to 200 times more liekly to develop heart disease. A healthy triglycerides level can be obtained through exercise and weight control.

Though you should take the above risk factors very seriously, I want you to keep in mind that you can substantially reduce all of them. There are no secrets to doing this. Healthy eating, weight control, and regular physical activity are your weapons for keeping heart disease at bay.

For more information on heart risk factors or other cardiovascular problems for women, visit www.drsinatra.com.

Contrary to popular belief, cholesterol is not a villain. Your body needs cholesterol to synthesize certain nutrients and hormones, construct the semi-permeable membranes around each of the 100 trillion cells that make up your body, and facilitate cell communication and memory in the brain.

Cholesterol moves through the body with the help of two proteins: LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, and HDL, or high-density lipoprotein. LDL carries ready-to-use cholesterol molecules that can be absorbed by cells that need it, and HDL picks up excess cholesterol and carries it back to the liver for recycling and excretion.

LDL, often referred to as the “bad cholesterol” only becomes unsafe when it interacts with molecular fragments called free radicals. The effect of such interaction is that the LDL becomes oxidized. Unlike normal LDL, oxidized LDL has toxic effects on the cells it attaches to. This is especially troublesome when oxidized LDL penetrates the endothelial cells lining the arteries because it contributes to—and accelerates—the inflammatory process.

When you get down to it, though, the real problem is not cholesterol—it’s whether your body’s antioxidant system can effectively neutralize the free radicals that damage LDL molecules.

In order to enjoy healthy cholesterol, it’s important to adhere to a cholesterol lowering diet, like my PAMM diet.  You’ll also want to exercise on a regular basis, which will also help to keep other cardiovascular problems away.

For more information on good cholesterol levels or reducing cholesterol, visit www.drsinatra.com.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is by far the most common cardiovascular problem.

You may have heard of the term atherosclerosis, which refers to the buildup of plaque in the blood vessels. Essentially, coronary artery disease is a form of atherosclerosis that affects the arteries leading to the heart. As plaque in the coronary arteries builds up and blockages grow, the level of oxygen and nutrients provided to the heart decreases, limiting the heart’s effectiveness. Should an artery become blocked completely—due to plaque buildup or the inability of a clot to pass through the narrowed opening—a heart attack results.

Informing a patient that he or she has coronary artery disease is never pleasant for me. But what the patient says to me in the next few minutes can make all the difference in that individual’s course of recovery. In over 35 years of practice, I have found that the single most important question that can come from a patient is: “Dr. Sinatra, what can I do to help myself?”

I tell them that, in almost every case, coronary artery disease is a story about an unhealthy lifestyle. I probably don’t have to remind you traditional heart risk factors can predispose you to it, including:

• cigarette smoking,
• high blood pressure levels,
• diabetes,
• physical inactivity,
• obesity,
• unhealthy cholesterol levels, and
• emotional stress.

Research has clearly demonstrated that the more heart risk factors you have, the greater your chances of developing serious coronary artery disease.

I challenge my patients, as I’m challenging you now, to become proactive and do what it takes to reduce your heart risk factors and take control of your health. You must realize that all of the advice, medicine, and technology in the world won’t help you if you continue to abuse your body and live an unhealthy lifestyle.

For more information on coronary artery disease or other cardiovascular problems, visit www.drsinatra.com.

One of Dr. Sinatra’s safe at-home summer grilling tips is to always marinate your meat, fowl, or fish in the refrigerator, not the kitchen counter.  Set aside any extra sauce you wish to use for basting before it touches the raw foods.  We also follow the American Cancer Society warning to trim off visible fat before grilling, and cook it at a higher rack position so that it is farther from the heat. (Use only the minimum number of flames sources needed on your grill in order to reduce exposure to higher temperatures.)

But our KEY extra pointer that works is to rub your meats with rosemary. In the summer months, we have small pots of herbs on our patio so we can pick them fresh off the plant, but store-bought or dried rosemary can also work.

Rosemary helps to prevent the buildup of toxic carcinogens in the meats and even contains compounds that prevent skin cancers. It’s also a great antioxidant. You can add a drizzle of a light olive oil to the aid in the rosemary rub. Grapeseed oil is even better because it does not break down with high heat as much as olive oil can.

Lamb is the perfect complement to rosemary. Lamb is a rich, natural source of L-carnitine, an antioxidant that is one of Dr. Sinatra’s Awesome Foursome. A 4-ounce serving of lamb will net you about 75 mg of L-carnitine, a great energy substrate for cardiac muscle cells—and the entire body!

Remember, food can be your medicine. Here is a fun recipe that put our taste buds into orbit this summer.

And, stay tuned for more on Dr Sinatra’s new book about foods that heal. For even more great recipes and information on cardiovascular nutrition, check out Dr. Sinatra’s Web site.

Lamb a la Rosemary

• one organic New Zealand rack of lamb
• 1-2 tablespoons of grapeseed (preferred) or extra virgin olive oil
• leaves from a 3-4 inch sprig of fresh rosemary, finely chopped ( or1/2 tsp dried rosemary)

Combine oil and rosemary and rub lamb on both sides. Place in refrigerator for one to two hours. Remove and salt and pepper to taste. Cook on both sides over propane grill to desired doneness (at least 145 degrees). Place on clean place and garnish with sprig of fresh rosemary to serve.

As you may know, there’s an email that periodically floats around the Internet regarding what is supposedly an easy test for whether someone is having a stroke. And I often have concerned patients come into my office and ask, “Dr. Sinatra, is there any truth to it?”

Well, I checked it out, and I’m happy to report the information there is correct. Hopefully you never need to apply it, but in case you do, the simplicity of it can perhaps make a difference in saving someone’s life or minimizing their symptoms.

Note the key words in each of these first three steps. Smile. Talk. Raise. The words start with the first three letters of the word stroke: s, t, r.

• Step No. 1: Ask the individual to smile.
• Step No. 2: Ask the person to talk. Try a simple sentence, like “it’s rainy (or cloudy or sunny) outside.” Look for coherence in how the person speaks.
• Step No. 3: Ask the person to raise both arms.
• Step No. 4: Ask the person to stick out his or her tongue. A “crooked” tongue that curves outward to one side or the other is another easy-to-recognize indication of a stroke.

If the person has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, then seek immediate medical attention.

Again, my hope is that you’ll never need to apply this.  I hope you’re adhering to good cardiovascular nutrition, exercising daily, and trying to maintain healthy blood pressure levels.  Doing this will go a long way toward helping you to avoid a stroke, as well as other cardiovascular problems.

For more information on strokes or other cardiovascular problems, visit www.drsinatra.com.

I love summertime dining, farm stand meals, and harvesting my own crops from my container garden. (This week, I even cut and zip locked our own fresh basil, oregano, mint, and chives to take on vacation with us!)

But, I was recently perusing a friends gardening eLetter when I came across an important tip. If you reside in an older home that was ever painted with lead paint—even if those painted wood, shingles, trim, stucco, brick, or what-have-you was covered over with some kind of siding—never plant any edibles in beds next to the house. That means never plant fruit, veggies, herbs, or fruit-bearing trees in the soil near the house known—or suspected—to have been painted with lead-based paint.

Lead can leach out of weathered paint and remain in the soil for a long time. The lead is then absorbed by the plants, which is very dangerous.  We should be especially aware of this exposure for pregnant women and children.  Of course, all of us must avoid lead contamination!

When I shared this info with Dr. Sinatra, he was reminded of a famous French vineyard that was planted close to a highway. Leaded gas fumes penetrated the soils, and the wine was contaminated with lead when it was tested.

In the cardiology world, higher levels of lead in the body are associated with high blood pressure levels and an increased risk for heart attack in men. Excess lead in the body can cause also renal failure, and for our children, behavioral problems and more.

So, if you have an older home that may have been painted with a lead-based product, just don’t take any chances. Plant colorful flowers and shrubs for display close to the house, but nothing that could end up on your plate and/or in your body.

For more great information on cardiovascular nutrition or ways to lower blood pressure levels, visit Dr. Sinatra's Web site.

The following eight tips can help you improve blood circulation and even reduce your risk of stroke:

• Address any lifestyle-related or heart risk factors you have with your doctor.
• Follow a good cardiovascular nutrition eating program, such as the PAMM diet.
• Take 1–3 grams of fish oil daily.
• For women over 65, take 100 mg of aspirin (equivalent to 1.25 baby aspirin) a day. (Beware of stomach bleeding, though, which is always a possibility with long-term aspirin use.)
• Drink 1 to 3 cups of green tea and 2 ounces of pomegranate juice daily.
• Take a 500–1,000 mg garlic supplement or eat one crushed clove daily. (Avoid this tip if you’re taking Coumadin.)
• Be aware of your high inflammation marker scores: CRP, homocysteine, fibrinogen, and Lp(a).
• Maintain good cholesterol levels, including an HDL less than 40.

Following these tips will minimizes your chances of having a stroke and will also help to keep other cardiovascular problems at bay. For more information on stroke, heart risk factors, cardiovascular problems and overall heart health, visit www.drsinatra.com.

Often when patients come to my office, I will find their blood pressure levels to be high. However, when they go home and measure it themselves, their blood pressure levels are normal. Occasionally they’ll ask if the instruments in my office are off, or if my staff misread the result.

The actual problem, however, is a common condition called white coat hypertension. It’s used to describe people who become anxious over a visit to a physician, holistic health practitioner, dentist, or other medical facility. Such visits evoke a fight-or-flight response, and their blood pressure levels go up. But research has shown that abnormally high blood pressure readings in a medical setting could be more than just a benign byproduct of anxiety. Although the condition is poorly understood, WCH could be a precursor to high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems.

A Danish study published in the Journal of Human Hypertension found a heightened cardiovascular event risk for patients with WCH over a 10-year period. A Japanese study reported in the journal Hypertension Research suggests that white coat hypertension contributes to carotid arteriosclerosis. And in another Japanese medical report, based on eight years of observation, researchers suggest that white coat hypertension is a “transitional condition to hypertension” and may carry a “poor cardiovascular prognosis.”

If you experience white coat hypertension, I suggest you introduce a regular stress-reduction program into your life. That could include activities such as exercise, T'ai chi, meditation, or yoga.

You may also want to start taking blood pressure-friendly supplements on a daily basis—such as fish oil (2–3 grams), magnesium (400–800 mg), hydrosoluble CoQ10 (100–200 mg), and a garlic supplement high in allicin (500–1,000 mg).

Finally, consider my book, Lower Your Blood Pressure in Eight Weeks (Ballantine Books, 2003). It has lots of great, practical tips for lowering blood pressure levels.

For more information on natural ways to lower blood pressure, visit www.drsinatra.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters or subscribe to Dr. Sinatra’s monthly newsletter, Heart, Health & Nutrition.

I am a self-proclaimed "Farm Stand Queen." I love to get local fruits and vegetables to add color, texture, nutrition, and healing perks to our summer meals at home. Plus, you get all of the perks of fresh fruits and vegetable—phytonutrients, antioxidants, carotenoids, fiber, enzymes, and so on. My personal favorite is asparagus on the grill—a family favorite and mainstay that can help lower blood pressure levels.  

Since dining on raw vegetables can offset the possible carcinogen exposure you may get by grilling meats and fish, I like to serve up colorful, raw vegetables on our patio dinner table. In addition to being refreshingly cooler, they are brimming with live enzymes that aid digestion and offset concerns we may have about high heat exposure to the main dishes. 

Two important vegetables that work in synergy to prevent cancer are broccoli (rich in sulphoraphane) and tomatoes (high in lycopene). They make great stand-alone side dishes. Serve them raw with hummus or add them to a fresh salad.

When it comes to safe and heart smart summer outdoor cooking, we are ON IT at www.drsinatra.com, which has just been updated and revamped, so we hope you will visit often.

Follow our blogs this summer for more recipes and info on summertime cooking.

I’ll never forget a patient I treated a few years ago who was living with chronic hypertension.  One Easter Sunday, he ate his fill of canned ham (packed with salt) and found himself in the hospital emergency room the next day.  He was in a hypertensive crisis and suffering with acute heart failure. His heart just couldn’t handle the large amount of salt he had consumed.

His was an extraordinary situation, but it underscores the need to be careful with salt intake. So please let his story be a lesson to you.   And please share it with family and friends who may be dealing with cardiovascular problems.

Here are some things you need to know about salt consumption:

• Your body requires sodium (a component of salt) to regulate fluid balance and distribution, as well as nerve and muscle cell function. Although you need some sodium, the standard diet includes way too much.
• “Salt sensitivity” is a key factor in determining the response to dietary salt intake. Cardiovascular problems, including heart attack and stroke, are more common in “salt sensitive” patients than in “salt resistant” ones.
• The current recommendation for salt consumption is less than 2,400 mg of sodium a day, which amounts to about one teaspoon of salt. Recent research suggests that people ingesting less than 1,500 mg of sodium a day are better able to control high blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure, you should definitely aim for that kind of level. Don’t use salt from the shaker, and read labels to add up the amount you’re taking in.
• Many items at fast food restaurants are high in salt, so you can easily exceed the recommended level with one serving.
• You can easily make up for the reduced salt in your diet by cooking with fresh herbs and spices such as basil, garlic, oregano, rosemary, chives, parsley, and onion. What’s more, all of these flavorings contain natural substances that are good for your health. Garlic, in particular, has been shown to have a positive effect on blood pressure when consumed on a daily basis.
• Beware of cutting your salt consumption too much. You need a minimum amount of sodium in your system to maintain proper electrolyte balance, regardless of your blood pressure status. For that reason, don’t let your daily salt intake fall below about 500 mg.

Managing your salt intake is just one of the natural ways to lower blood pressure that are highlighted here. For even more information on reducing hypertension visit www.drsinatra.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters or subscribe to Dr. Sinatra’s monthly newsletter, Heart, Health & Nutrition.

Summer time always brings back-to-back yard basics, gathering on decks and patios to reconnect with family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. There is something just so primitive about sitting around a fire source as our ancestors have for centuries to warm ourselves as well as to celebrate rituals, tell stories, sing and chant, or dance to an eternal drum beat. All that is conjured up in spirit as we move outside in warmer months to be more at one with the earth.

But we need be mindful that we face more toxic substances with our artificial fires than in days gone by. For example, Dr. Sinatra and I used to love to barbeque chicken until I realized that grilling any meat over an open flame increases its carcinogenic potential twenty-fold! For a while, Dr. Sinatra even hung up his tongs and put the grill into semi-retirement until we learned some safer ways to grill.

Safe Summer Grilling Basics

Charcoal grilling releases carcinogenic agents—called PAH’s (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and HCA’s (heterocyclic amines)—as fat drips off the meat and onto charcoal. The longer the cook time, the more HCA’s are released by the fat in “muscle meats” whether they are broiled or pan-fried. The National Cancer Institute has identified 17 different HCA’s that we may be getting from pork, fish and foul (not just grilled meats) that increase our risk for colorectal and breast cancers.

Your best option is to use a propane-fueled gas grill.  Unlike charcoal that “burns dirty,” releasing sooty particles that produce natural hydrocarbons, gas grills burn clean.  Plus, you don’t have to worry about dangerous carcinogenic agents like you would with charcoal grilling.

Next, you want to make sure you’re practicing safe food handling.  Because outdoor barbecue grilling involves dry heat, many of us like to marinate food ahead of time to tenderize and flavor it. Dr. Sinatra and I are big marinade fans, but I always keep meats refrigerated during the marinating process.  If I want additional sauce, I set a portion of the marinade aside.  Or, if I decide to flavor the sauce with some of the meat juices, I make to sure to boil it first for at least one minute.

In addition to marinating your meat safely, you want to make sure it’s cooked thoroughly. I like my meat on the medium rare side, to preserve the nutritious enzymes they contain. But I make sure it’s heated up properly to avoid unwanted bacteria.  I cook vegetables the same way—using simple healthy seasonings like garlic and olive oil.

It’s also important to never serve your food on the same plate you used when you brought it out to the grill. The raw juices are full of bacteria. Keep your meat hot; the side of the grill rack is perfect for that. And, of course, scrub up that rack after each grilling so it’s clean for next time!

Finally, you can protect yourself from the high temperatures of barbeque grilling by marinating with a sauce that's 10 percent plain soy sauce and 1 percent sugar. See our August 12, 2009 blog for the recipe, and another discussion on COPs and HCAs, the highly carcinogenic compounds released from the fat of muscle meats.

For even more information on cardiovascular nutrition or other health concerns, visit www.drsinatra.com.

Uncontrolled blood pressure levels (or hypertension) are a leading risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Often, there are no symptoms, which is why hypertension is called the “silent killer.” You may not know you have it unless you have your blood pressure checked regularly.

Your blood pressure reflects how hard your heart has to work to pump adequate blood through your arteries. Each contraction of your heart pumps out a wave of oxygen-rich blood that causes the flexible arterial walls to expand. After the wave passes, the walls deflate. The intensity of this sequence is your blood pressure. The first number is your systolic reading (the pressure of the blood against arterial walls at the wave’s peak), and the second number is the diastolic reading (the pressure when the wave passes).

Years ago, we thought a reading of 140/88 was the upper limit of normal. These days, a reading that high is unacceptable. Research shows that you want your systolic pressure to be in the 120s and your diastolic pressure to be in the high 70s or low 80s.

Unfortunately, our arteries become more rigid and calcified as we age, making it harder to attain these optimum blood pressure levels. Think of your arteries as rivers full of twists and turns. Just as the force of rushing high water can eat away at the bank of a river, high blood pressure has a potentially damaging effect on the inner layer of the arterial wall. The arteries are especially vulnerable where they bend or form branches.

The leading causes of high blood pressure include stress, genetics, being overweight, a high-sugar diet, heavy metal toxicity, and lack of exercise. Stress-related hormones, for instance, cause the peripheral vessels to constrict. This forces the heart to pump harder in order to move blood through the narrowed channels, and leads to more pressure at the bends.

Obviously, it’s better to prevent hypertension than to have to treat it. For more information on natural ways to lower blood pressure, visit www.drsinatra.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters or subscribe to Dr. Sinatra’s monthly newsletter, Heart, Health & Nutrition.

Many of you have probably been hearing and reading about the ongoing Avandia controversy. Anyone with diabetes—especially those who taking this drug that’s been designed to keep blood sugar at bay—have reason to be concerned. Those of you who subscribe to my newsletter have gotten my take on Avandia, as well as alternative solutions to treat diabetes, over the years.

But the drug is back in the news this week, so let’s update you all on the subject. After years of discussion regarding the safety of the drug, our FDA is poised to decide the fate of Avandia, and it looks like there are three possible outcomes: they will demand even more warnings on the Avandia label; only specific MDs will be allowed to prescribe it; or it will be taken off the market.

When folks ask me what I think, my answer is that as long as there is any whiff of danger—and there is question about an increased risk for both heart attack and heart failure in those taking Avandia—then the potential risks out-trump the benefits. It’s just a no-brainer. Why put yourself in harm’s way if there is even a slight doubt?

My Recommendation

If you have mild diabetes, are 20 to 30 pounds overweight, and your MD wants to put you on an oral hypoglycemic, you should know about intriguing research I mentioned in my Heart, Health & Nutrition newsletter.

In a stellar study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, researchers compared people taking Metformin—a oral hypoglycemic mainstay preferred by many MDs—with a group of folks who made serious shows lifestyle changes.  The lifestylers exercised, follow a sound low glycemic diet, and lost weight. AND they lifestylers had a more significant reduction in their blood sugar levels than the people taking Metformin!

For those of you who do need to rely on medication to control your diabetes, talk with your physician about using a pharmaceutical with a tried and true track record like Metformin, and start making the lifestyle changes (i.e. low glycemic diet, increased exercise, etc.), so that you can eventually lose weight and possibly take a lower dose, or even wean off the drug. 

Most people know there can be side effects from drugs, but they don’t realize that medications can interact with other medications, supplements, and even food. These interactions can drain vital nutrients from your body and counteract the healing powers of the drugs. As you deal with heart risk factors, including age, your nervous system becomes more sensitive, and you are more prone to developing side effects. The more medications you take, the more likely it is that adverse reactions will occur.

If you’re like many people dealing with cardiovascular problems, you may see a number of different specialists and holistic health practitioners. Please be sure to tell each one of them every drug you take.

This is mportant because they can unknowingly prescribe medications that interact adversely with something you’re already taking. Keep a list of all your drugs and supplements, and take it with you to every doctor’s appointment.

I write a lot about and prescribe CoQ10 to many of my patients. And I know that there are several drugs can interfere with CoQ10-dependent enzymes, lowering its concentration in the body. These include prescription drugs prescribed to help you maintain healthy cholesterol, as well as popular beta blockers.

Talking to your doctor and holistic health practitioner about your medications is vital to your ongoing good health.

For more information on cardiovascular problems, visit www.drsinatra.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters or subscribe to Dr. Sinatra’s monthly newsletter, Heart, Health & Nutrition.

Did you know that children laugh an average of 400 times a day, while adults giggle only 15? Somewhere on the way to adulthood we lose the ability to laugh 385 times a day!

Up your laughter quotient with comedy videos or playing with your kids, grandkids, nieces, or nephews. In one study with cardiac patients, which lasted more than a year, individuals who watched a comedy show on a daily basis had significantly lower stress hormone levels and blood pressure levels, and they needed less medication.

Dr. Sinatra and I personally love to laugh along with Jerry Seinfeld, George Carlin, or Robin Williams. Dr. Sinatra is also a huge fan of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and never fails to laugh and laugh every time he watches that movie.

What tickles your funny bone? Let us know so we can all enjoy the benefits of laughter together!

For more information on alternative therapies for cardiovascular problems, visit www.drsinatra.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters or subscribe to Dr. Sinatra’s monthly newsletter, Heart, Health & Nutrition.

Patients dealing with cardiovascular problems often ask me if the newer form of CoQ10 supplement, ubiquinol, is better than the form used in most supplements, ubiquinone.

I first applaud them for asking about CoQ10 and for knowing of its proven ability to reduce heart risk factors. I then go on to explain the difference between ubiquinol and ubiquinone… 

Ubiquinone is the oxidized form of CoQ10. Once ingested, enzymes “reduce” ubiquinone to ubiquinol, the “active” antioxidant form that makes up practically all of the circulating CoQ10 in the body. Ubiquinol was developed as a commercial supplement a couple of years ago, and one small study suggested that it had excellent absorption properties when compared with the powdered form of CoQ10.

Ubiquinol is promoted as a major improvement in CoQ10 supplementation. Some say that ubiquinol can be absorbed up to eight times better than other forms of CoQ10, but I haven’t seen any evidence to truly support that claim.

Secondly, I tell my patients about my own informal three-month study I conducted with 12 volunteers. I had half of them take either 200 mg of ubiquinol or ubiquinone for the first month. In the second month, I had them take nothing. In the third month, the participants switched to the other form of CoQ10.

I checked their CoQ10 blood levels each month and found that both achieved excellent results, with ubiquinol resulting in only slightly higher levels in most people. In one person, ubiquinol actually resulted in a significantly lower CoQ10 blood level when compared to ubiquinone.

More importantly, though, I was disturbed by feedback from several volunteers who complained of fatigue when they took ubiquinol. I also heard about complaints of fatigue from two respected colleagues who are nutrition experts. On the contrary, the usual feedback from ubiquinone takers is that they feel they have more energy, not less.

Based on these comments and approximately equal CoQ10 blood levels—not to mention the fact that ubiquinone costs less than ubiquinol—I see no reason to switch. I’m sticking with hydrosoluble ubiquinone as the best kind of CoQ10 supplement to supplement your cardiovascular nutrition program.

For more information on healthy heart nutrition, visit www.drsinatra.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters or subscribe to Dr. Sinatra’s monthly newsletter, Heart, Health & Nutrition.

One fairly common problem that comes with aging is leaking heart valves. When valves become damaged from the effects of time or illness, blood can leak backward through the heart and cause a strain on the organ. This problem may manifest as shortness of breath, palpitations, rapid heart rhythm, irregular or skipped heart beats, discomfort in the chest, or ankle swelling.

Severe shortness of breath was the symptom that recently brought a new patient to see Dr. Sinatra. She was a 78-year-old newsletter reader who had attended a subscriber seminar last year. Her heart rate was faster than normal, and whenever she became emotionally upset, her breathing difficulties got worse. Her problem was a leaking mitral valve—a frequent site of dysfunction, especially in people over 60. When you add emotional stress, you are really looking for trouble. Blood pressure levels go even higher, there’s more leakage, and the heart strains even more.

Dr. Sinatra reminded her that she had to be extra careful about emotional stress because of the condition of her valve. She was already quite aware that stress was a problem for her. Years ago, she took low-dose tranquilizers to calm her down, but she hadn’t wanted to stay on the drugs because she feared addiction.

Dr. Sinatra suggested she consider yoga, T’ai chi, meditation, or some other good method to reduce stress. She said she liked T’ai chi and already did it. He told her to do it more.

He then asked her if she allowed herself to cry. She said yes. That’s good because crying is great release for emotional stress. Her husband, who had come with her, wondered why about laughter. Wasn’t laughter better for stress release and helpful for ailing hearts?

Both are good, and they are certainly better than holding emotions in the heart. Sometimes you laugh to the point of crying. When you cry or laugh a lot, the body releases endorphins. Endorphins are the body’s own painkillers. They have a natural tranquilizing effort. In other words, releasing these emotions is good for you mind, soul, and body!

For more information on alternative therapies for cardiovascular problems, visit www.drsinatra.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters or subscribe to Dr. Sinatra’s monthly newsletter, Heart, Health & Nutrition.