Margarine Not Heart Healthy

Again, an important warning about a topic we have covered for years - margaine is not a health promoting food.  Further the use of GMO oils in these products is an unknown risk.  And recal that Unilever is known to do unnecessary animal testing on many of its produtcs.

Unilever: Omega-3 margarine study will not affect usage advice

By Shane Starling, 31-Aug-2010

Related topics: Nutritional lipids and oils, Cardiovascular health

Omega-3 spread maker Unilever says a 40 month study that found omega-3 spreads don’t protect elderly heart attack sufferers from further cardiac events, requires further analysis and won’t affect approved methods of usage.

“The outcome does not question the current authoritative dietary recommendations and advices for omega 3 intakes on which our products are based,” Unilever’s Flip Dotsch told NutraIngredients.com this morning.

The ALPHA-OMEGA trial saw almost 5000, 60-80 year old male and female heart attack survivors consuming varying levels of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) via non-commercial Unilever omega-3 spreads developed for the study for 40 months.

One group consumed 376mg of marine sourced DHA and EPA; another had 1.9g of soy and walnut sourced ALA; a third group had a spread fortified with all three fatty acids and a fourth was placebo.

After the 40 months, 13.9 per cent of the participants, who were 75 per cent male and 24 per cent obese, had suffered another cardiac event among all the groups.

Surprising

Unsurprisingly, Unilever said it found the results surprising, especially when the body of EPA/DHA scientific literature was considered.

“The study outcome for EPA and DHA is surprising considering the weight of evidence published to date,” Unilever said in a statement. “This could be the result of methodological issues such as the relatively low daily dosage compared to previous studies or the fact that in this study serious cardiovascular events were much lower than in studies performed in the past. This is probably due to extensive drug treatment that is nowadays applied.”

It said its “science experts” were looking at the paper in greater detail.

The European Food Safety Authority has issued opinion on ALA, saying it supports lowering of blood cholesterol, But EPA/DHA were not backed for the same effect in an opinion published in October 2009.

No effect

Lead researcher, Daan Kromhout, PhD, of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, said that while the study found omega-3 fatty acid-enriched margarines "had no effect on the rate of major cardiovascular events”,improvements in medical treatment could have been a factor.

The EPA-DHA daily dose of 400mg was half that recommended by the American Heart Association.

Kromhout noted "the patients in this trial were very well treated" with many taking blood pressure and cholesterol drugs, a factor that made, “beneficial effect of low doses of EPA-DHA difficult to prove."

The findings were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress and simultaneously published in theNew England Journal of Medicine.

Unilever added: “We welcome this well-executed study as a valuable addition to the growing body of evidence on the role of omega 3s in cardiovascular health. Unilever is proud to have supported this important study and has a long history of supporting scientific investigation into cardiovascular disease and its management through diet and lifestyle.”

Source: New England Journal of Medicine

‘n–3 Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Events after Myocardial Infarction’

10.1056/nejmoa1003603

Authors: Daan Kromhout, M.P.H., PhD, Erik J. Giltay, M.D., PhD, Johanna M. Geleijnse, PhD

© 2000/2010 - Decision News Media SAS - All right reserved

from Natural Health News

PUFAS Lead to Increased Inflammation

Jul 24, 2009

In the UK, people consume on average about 10g per day of linoleic acid, found in around nine level teaspoons of polyunsaturated margarine or three teaspoons of sunflower oil. In the study, the people who consumed the most linoleic acid ...

A downside to using "plant sterols"

Dec 09, 2008

Forty-seven subjects were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups: margarine without added plant sterols or stanols, plant sterol-enriched margarine, or plant stanol-enriched margarine. Changes in lipid-adjusted serum ...

Best Life? Whoa Oprah, didn't Bob tell you ?

Jan 05, 2009

Healthy fats do not include Smart Balance margarine and as you will note in other articles on Natural Health News, plant sterols are generally soy and canola oil, genetically modified and have a negative impact on vitamins such as ...

Natural Health News: Promise not to

Jan 02, 2008

I did find the Promise margarine ingredients and it made me worry about exactly what is in Activ. Like all inquiring minds I wanted to know exactly what is in this product. I phoned the company this morning and received help from a nice ...

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/

Not Balanced

Feb 07, 2009

I was visiting a friend recently and happen to notice two tubs of that margarine on her counter claiming to reduce cholesterol. I've spoken against the use of these plant sterol products in classes I teach, in articles I've written, ...

Canola Comments

Mar 12, 2009

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Heart Month?

Feb 05, 2009

And please don't eat that plant sterol margarine no matter what they tell you; real butter (unsalted) and high quality olive oil blended together by your hand at home is a much healthier spread. ...

Why to Avoid Genetically Modified Food

Jun 09, 2008

You will find, if you read the label, that Promise margarine ( other brands too) and Promise 'shots', CardioWise vitamins, Dannon products, and even products sold in health stores contain soy and canola. Many other products contain this ...

Eating healthfully & real food

Jan 24, 2008

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More products plied with plastic

Sep 12, 2008

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Gallbladder dis-ease

Sep 23, 2008

Too much fat is a concern, wrong fat is a concern (like margarine and canola or soy oils) fast food, and lack of fiber, magnesium, calcium/phosphorus metabolism, and lack of other key nutritional factors. ...

Natural Health News: Fake Foods: Oprah, Bob and General Mills

Jan 20, 2007

It is a long-term toxin that has serious adverse health effects including hair loss and blindness. It has no place in the diet of man nor beast. Avoid all margarine including the plastic fat Becel. 10:36 AM. Anonymous said. ...

Triglycerides: The Real Fat That Can Kill You

New blood fat heart disease
I am not sure where medicine or these alleged researchers have been burying their heads in the sand but I've known about the impact of triglycerides for a hell of a long time.

I've also known that the problem with the rapid rise in cardiovascular dis-ease began rising in the mid to late 1950s when the dairy industry began homogenizing milk.

The problem with homogenization is that the fat globules become so small that they flow by osmosis through the digestive system directly into the blood stream.

Now they want to make you believe that this is a "new" blood fat. And yes it is different than cholesterol, which generally is not known to kill you.

Since I've known about this from college studies in medicine and nutrition, about 45 years has whistled by.

Things must be pretty dusty in the brains of mainstream medicine.

New blood fat heart disease link
A type of blood fat different from cholesterol may play a key role in heart disease, a study suggests.
Cambridge University researchers looked at the role of triglycerides, which is produced in the liver and derived from foods such as meat and dairy products.
The analysis of 350,000 people from 101 previous studies found those with higher levels of the blood fat were more likely to have heart disease.
But experts warned more research was needed to confirm the link.

The analysis centred on a specific gene which is known to influence the levels of triglycerides, the Lancet medical journal reported.

“ It could yet prove to be an important step towards tackling cardiovascular disease but we mustn't get ahead of ourselves ”
Mike Knapton, British Heart Foundation

Previous research has looked into the issue, but has been inconclusive.
But the latest study found those with the variation in the gene which boosted triglyceride levels had an 18% greater risk of heart disease than those that did not.
Lead researcher Dr Nadeem Sarwar said the findings suggested the blood fat could be causing heart disease in some way.
But he added further research involving the lowering of the levels of the blood fat was now needed to confirm the suspicion.
"Such trials should help establish whether lowering triglyceride levels can reduce the risk of heart disease."
Mike Knapton, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "It could yet prove to be an important step towards tackling cardiovascular disease but we mustn't get ahead of ourselves.
"There still needs to be larger trials before we can know whether lowering triglyceride levels can reduce heart disease risks.
"For now, people should continue to follow advice on diet, exercise, stopping smoking and medication which are still the best ways to tackle your heart disease risk."
Dr Sonia Anand, of Canada's McMaster University, agreed.
"The true nature of triglycerides effect on coronary risk still needs further clarification."

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8664917.stm
Published: 2010/05/06 © BBC MMX

LDL Cholesterol - The Heart's No.1 Enemy

By Ned Dagostino

Cholesterol is a vital element for our health and
well-being. There are two basic types of cholesterol: HDL
cholesterol is good for our health, LDL cholesterol is bad
for our health.

The LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels are
maintained within a normal range by the body's natural
regulatory mechanism. Sometimes this regulatory mechanism
malfunctions, or maybe the body is flooded with cholesterol
by ingestion. In any case the blood cholesterol level
exceeds the normal range. This leads to a serious condition
which can lead to severe health problems.

LDL means 'fatty proteins of low density'. This in turn
means that LDL cholesterol tends to be loose and thick. LDL
cholesterol circulates with the blood and sticks to the
inner walls of the blood vessels, forming plaque and
gradually reducing the vascular passage. This condition is
called arteriosclerosis which results in atherosclerosis,
meaning degeneration of the blood vessels.

Blood backs up from this point leading to high blood
pressure which severely stresses the heart. Worse, small
bits of the LDL cholesterol blockage can get dislodged and
flow down with the blood. If these bits of LDL cholesterol
enter a capillary, which is a very fine blood vessel, the
capillary gets blocked starving the areas served by the
capillary network of vital blood. If this happens in the
brain, then areas of the brain just shut down leading to a
form of paralysis called a 'stroke'. If the blood flow to
the heart itself is cut off, a heart attack occurs possibly
leading to a fatality. These are just two situations which
can occur when LDL cholesterol exceeds the normal limit.
There are a great number of similar situations, collectively
called cardiovascular disease, which are directly linked to
the excessive LDL cholesterol level.

Heart disease can be prevented, or the risk of getting it
can be reduced, if we follow some very simple health
guidelines. The first is to counterattack the invasion of
LDL cholesterol into the body. LDL cholesterol gains entry
into the body with the food we eat. So you should mount a
watch on the kind of food you eat. Saturated fats are heavy
with LDL cholesterol and must be shunned. You can and should
include the healthy fats into your diet (e.g. omega-3 fats
found in fish) because they actively help to reduce the bad
LDL cholesterol. lots of water helps the circulatory and
excretory functions of the body, which at once improves
health and eliminates the bad LDL cholesterol.

Change your cooking medium from heavy saturated fats to
unsaturated fats and oils. Virgin olive oil is good for your
heart. These dietary changes will be very beneficial in your
battle against heart disease.

Cigarette smoking is bad for health. It harms the body in
more than just one way. Smoking increases the level of LDL
cholesterol. So quit now and your LDL cholesterol will be
gone tomorrow! The steps outlined in this article are very
easy to implement. You will avoid the risk of heart disease
if you follow them.

Medical research shows that stress leads to LDL cholesterol
buildup. Lowering your stress level will lower your blood
LDL cholesterol too. The moral of the lesson is that you
should relax more often, give up those activities that add
to your stress, and pick up those activities that reduce
your stress.

To sum up, LDL cholesterol can be controlled by eating foods
which are free of saturated fats, exercising, quitting
smoking and ridding yourself of stress. The worst thing you
can do is to panic about high LDL cholesterol levels. This
article is meant to educate you about the cause and
prevention of heart disease, not scare you. Use what you
have learnt in this article to control the LDL cholesterol
situation. Once that is under control, you can say that the
risk of heart disease is under control.

So, have you had your cholesterol tested lately?

To read more about
(http://www.reduce-high-cholesterol.com/Reduce_Cholesterol.html)
how to reduce cholesterol go to
http://www.reduce-high-cholesterol.com. You'll also find out how an
easy
(http://www.reduce-high-cholesterol.com/Cholesterol_Test.html)
over the counter cholesterol test can help you keep an eye
on your levels and decrease the number of costly trips to
the physician.

Beyond Your Type 2 Diabetes Symptom

Just because you don't have the symptoms doesn't mean you
don't have. This may not always be true though and
understanding the true nature of a type 2 diabetes symptom
may help save your life.

The Figures

Having the condition means that the cells in your body are
not reacting properly to the work of insulin which is
supposed to open up the cells to glucose. Without glucose in
your cells you will have no clear source of energy.

More people suffer from Type 2 diabetes than type 1 diabetes.
It is estimated that at least 90% of diabetics belong to
the type 2 category. The sad fact though is that more than
6% of diabetics are not aware that they have the condition.
The lack of awareness may be due to a dismissal of seemingly
harmless type 2 diabetes symptoms or a total lack of warning
signs.

Different Symptoms

Although type 2 diabetes is more common than type 1, the
former is much easier to deal with since it does not involve
the pancreas and insulin production. Despite the difference
in cause however, both types of diabetes share the same
symptoms. A diabetic might begin to feel frequently tired,
thirsty and may have occasionally blurry vision and wounds
that do not heal quickly.

The main difference between the two types is in the onset of
the symptoms . A type 1 diabetes symptom can develop rapidly
and worsen in the span of a few weeks. Even with the rapid
symptom development however, cell damage may already have
been occurring for some time before type 1 diabetes is
finally discovered. A type 2 diabetes symptom on the other
hand is not as obvious and as bad as a type 1 symptom.

Effects of No Symptoms

Effects of not detecting or not having a type 2 diabetes
symptom may be drastic. The key to effectively managing this
chronic disease is early detection. Once you fail to detect
a type 2 diabetes symptom however, you can suffer from
complications that are even more difficult to reverse. Some
diabetics only realize that they have type 2 diabetes
because of complications like retinopathy, heart ailments,
kidney problems and nerve deaths. A complication is
therefore their only type 2 diabetes symptom.

Uncommon Risk Factors

A family history of diabetes and one's weight should be
enough to warn you about the condition. You should however
also consider yourself at high risk of developing diabetes
if you are over 45 years old, had a baby over 9 pounds and
had a history of gestational diabetes or pre diabetes. For
undetermined reasons, individuals who are Asian, African,
Hispanic and American are at greater risk of developing
diabetes.

What Has to be Done

Naturally, you would need to consult experts in diabetes to
help you manage your condition or your type 2 diabetes
symptom. There are however basic things you should remember
on your own. You should monitor your glucose levels, take
your medication as prescribed, follow your diet and exercise
plans and watch and manage your weight.

Heart Health - Talk To Your Doctor

An essential step in preventing and managing heart disease
is being open with your doctor about your questions and
concerns. You're not alone when it comes to difficulties in
talking to a medical practitioner about your health
concerns. But when it comes to heart wellness no question
should be left unanswered.

There are those who hope that their questions will be
answered through the course of an examination, rather than
having to actually voice them. Physicians don't always have
as much time as they would like with each patient due to
their demanding schedules and long waiting lists. In
particular, women need to voice their concerns, since heart
disease isn't as readily associated with women, even though
they are equally at risk.

Questions that you should ask your doctor include what your
blood pressure is recorded as and what is normal for you.
Glucose and cholesterol levels need to be checked to see if
they're in an acceptable range. Ask your doctor which tests
are suggested for people of your age, both currently and in
the future.

If medication has been prescribed, do not hesitate to ask if
there are side effects, what the drug is supposed to do, and
whether you should take other medication, even over the
counter, with your prescribed medicine. Also find out if
this is a long term medication or temporary. Tests to
monitor the effects of the medication you are taking should
be conducted at a later date if it is recommended by your
doctor. The liver is one organ that most doctors consider
testing when a patient is on certain medicines.

If you always get home and remember something that you
forgot to ask the doctor, make a "need to know" list and
take it with you on your next visit. Do not forget to bring
with you the medications that you are presently on as well.
This is essential if you are under the care of more than one
health care practitioner.

Add to your list any surgeries or relevant illness that you
have had and been treated for in the past few years. This
should be in your medical chart so that the doctor can be
aware of anything that might cause a problem.

In conclusion, if you think that you may forget what you
physician has told you, you can always write it down or
record the appointment for later referral. Do not be afraid
to check around for a second opinion if you are not
comfortable with the treatment that your doctor recommends
or if you do not feel that he or she listened to your
worries or questions.

Vitamin C Effective in Reducing Inflammation

Inflammation is involved in numerous health issues from allergy to post-op surgical reactions. Life Extension provides this chart -

Allergy: Inflammatory cytokines induce autoimmune reactions

Alzheimer's: Chronic inflammation destroys brain cells

Anemia: Inflammatory cytokines attack erythropoietin production

Aortic valve stenosis: Chronic inflammation damages heart valves

Arthritis: Inflammatory cytokines destroy joint cartilage and synovial fluid

Cancer: Chronic inflammation causes many cancers

Congestive heart failure: Chronic inflammation contributes to heart muscle wasting

Fibromyalgia: Inflammatory cytokines are elevated

Fibrosis: Inflammatory cytokines attack traumatized tissue

Heart attack: Chronic inflammation contributes to coronary atherosclerosis

Kidney failure: Inflammatory cytokines restrict circulation and damage nephrons

Lupus: Inflammatory cytokines induce an autoimmune attack

Pancreatitis: Inflammatory cytokines induce pancreatic cell injury

Psoriasis: Inflammatory cytokines induce dermatitis

Stroke: Chronic inflammation promoted thromboembolic events

Surgical complications: Inflammatory cytokines prevent healing

The more vitamin C you take the less inflammation you will experience.

The important information about anti-oxidant vitamins is certainly something you aren't reading in the mainstream press or hearing on TV or radio.

Certainly vitamin C is much less expensive than a statin drug and isn't replete with serious side effects or death. The important concern is to purchase a mineral bound ascorbate form of the vitamin, or those with food based formulas. The vitamin C blend we have been offering our our clients for the last decade or more contains both food and mineral-ascorbate sources and is organic as well(C5 or C5+).

The USDA-RDA dose of sixty milligrams of vitamin C daily will prevent scurvy but it is not therapeutic enough to prevent or reverse health problems.

Outside the issue of CRP, adequate vitamin C intake daily is one of the best preventive measures against macular degeneration you can use.

Of course the choice is yours, but there is quite enough information I've posted about CRP and related issues here on Natural Health News to get your brain cells itching for relief of inquiring mind syndrome.

An article scheduled to appear in the January 1, 2009 issue of Free Radical Biology and Medicine reports the finding of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley that supplementing with vitamin C reduces C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Berkeley professor emeritus of epidemiology and public health nutrition Gladys Block and her associates randomized 396 nonsmokers to receive 1000 milligrams vitamin C, 800 international units vitamin E, or a placebo for two months. Serum C-reactive protein levels were measured before and after the treatment period.

Although no effects for vitamin E were observable, and no effect for vitamin C was noted among those with desirable CRP levels, for participants with elevated C-reactive protein (defined as 1 milligram per liter or higher), vitamin C lowered CRP by 0.25 milligrams per liter compared to the placebo, a reduction similar to that associated with statin drug treatment.

"This is an important distinction; treatment with vitamin C is ineffective in persons whose levels of CRP are less than 1 milligram per liter, but very effective for those with higher levels," stated Dr Block. "Grouping people with elevated CRP levels with those who have lower levels can mask the effects of vitamin C. Common sense suggests, and our study confirms, that biomarkers are only likely to be reduced if they are not already low."

Dr Block noted that a trial reported earlier this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which found no association between supplementation with vitamins C and E and the risk of stroke or heart attack, failed to screen participants for CRP elevation, which is important in the determination of who might benefit from vitamin C.

In another recently reported study ( the Jupiter trial), Harvard Medical School researchers showed that statin drugs reduced cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular mortality in individuals with normal lipids and elevated CRP. The trial found a 37 percent reduction in CRP associated with statins compared to treatment with a placebo. "One of the strengths of the Jupiter trial is that only persons with CRP levels greater than 2 milligrams per liter were enrolled," Dr Block remarked. "Researchers found very important effects of lowering CRP in people who had high levels to begin with."

"Major studies have found that the level of CRP in the body predicts future risk of cardiovascular disease, including myocardial infarction, stroke and peripheral artery disease, as well as diabetes," Dr Block stated. "Some believe CRP to be as important a predictor of future heart problems as high levels of LDL and low levels of HDL cholesterol."

"This is clearly a line of research worth pursuing," she added. "It has recently been suggested by some researchers that people with elevated CRP should be put on statins as a preventive measure. For people who have elevated CRP but not elevated LDL cholesterol, our data suggest that vitamin C should be investigated as an alternative to statins, or as something to be used to delay the time when statin use becomes necessary."