3 studies came out in July that show just how powerful supplements can be in preventing and treating disease.
The first study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and was authored by Chenchen Wang and associates from Tufts-New England Medical Center. The report showed that Omega 3's from fish oil supplements containing EPA & DHA, had strong heart health benefits. Because there has been controversy on whether Omega 3's are effective in the areas of heart health, they decided to only consider studies that lasted for more than 1 year and that reported Omega 3 intake levels and outcomes after there use. The dosage range was from approximately 270 mgs to 4.8 gms per day. The largest study using 850 mgs of both EPA & DHA, was found to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality by 21 per cent, cardiac death by 35 per cent, and sudden death by 45 per cent.
Another study, also published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that fish oils are more effective than the use of the statin drug Lipitor, in positively affecting the levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol in obese and insulin-resistant men. In the six-week study, fish oils and Lipitor were given to 48 men, both separately and combined. Together both the Liptior & the fish oil greatly lowered plasma triacylglycerols and raised HDL cholesterol levels, but only the fish oil influenced HDL cholesterol in such a way as to improve it's breakdown metabolically from complex molecules metabolically, into simpler ones for removal from the body.
In yet another study, published in the American Diabetes Association Journal, and sent to me by The Life Extention Foundation, showed that Alpha-lipoic acid completely prevents atherosclerosis in diabetic mice.
In this study, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that giving alpha-lipoic acid to mice in whom diabetes was induced prevented the increase in cholesterol, atherosclerotic lesions and health deterioration that the disease would otherwise cause. Alpha-lipoic acid is a potent antioxidant that increases the effects of Vitamin C & E in the body and has been used to treat diabetic neuropathy in the past successfully. However, nobody yet had studied its effects in diabetic cardiovascular disease.
After four weeks on a regular diet, diabetic and nondiabetic mice were given a high fat diet enhanced with alpha-lipoic acid or the same diet without alpha-lipoic acid. After twenty weeks, both diabetic and nondiabetic animals supplemented with alpha-lipoic acid had lower markers of oxidative stress and higher levels of red blood cell glutathione compared to mice that did not receive the compound.
"Remarkably," said the authors write, "alpha-lipoic acid completely prevented the increase in plasma total cholesterol, atherosclerotic lesions, and the general deterioration of health caused by diabetes."
"In summary, our study demonstrates that dietary supplementation of alpha-lipoic acid for 20 weeks completely protects apoplipoprotein E-negative mice from enhancement of aortic atherosclerosis caused by STZ-induced diabetes," the authors conclude. "Our results suggest that dietary alpha-lipoic acid is a promising agent for reducing cardiovascular complications of diabetes."
Please see just how powerful ALA is especially when combined with L-Carnitine.
Understand fats - which ones are really good for you and which are bad.
Christopher Wiechert, C.N.C.
Christopher Wiechert's Healthblogger is for educational or informational purposes only, and is not intended to diagnose or provide treatment for any condition. If you have any concerns about your own health, you should always consult with a healthcare professional. If you decide to use this information on your own, it's your constitutional right, but I assume no responsibility.
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