Coconut Water May Drive the Statin Drug Industry NUTS

Coconut Water May Drive the Statin Drug Industry NUTS


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Post date: Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - 13:39





The Coconut Water vs. Lovastatin Study

In Dec. 2008 the Journal of Food Chemistry & Toxicology published an animal study entitled Comparative evaluation of the hypolipidemic effects of coconut water and lovastatin in rats fed fat-cholesterol enriched diet. The study conclusion was as follows:



"Coconut water has lipid lowering effect similar to the drug lovastatin in rats fed fat-cholesterol enriched diet." GreenMedInfo.com Source Link



Studies like this, of course, will never make it to the level of a human clinical trial necessary to gain FDA drug approval owing to one simple fact: coconut water is not patentable, and therefore will not provide market exclusivity or the return on investment necessary (and legally mandated) to capitalize such a venture. For more on the "Kiss of Death" which is FDA drug approval, read our previous article on the topic.



Statin Drugs: Defrauding the Public of Their Money & Health

When the water of a coconut is at least as effective as the drug that started the "statin revolution" - lovastatin - you know the 25 billion dollar statin drug industry is based on a fundamentally erroneous premise: namely, that synthetic patentable chemicals are superior to natural ones, and therefore can be sold for inconceivably high mark-ups.



Unfortunately the statin drug industry is not only defrauding the people of their money, but also their health. As we reported in a previous post, the Journal of Clinical Cardiology in 2009 confirmed that these drugs weaken the heart muscle. Moreover, we have identified 71 adverse unintended consequences of statin drug use, with the top 23 listed below:







Click To View All 71 Related Ailments



Beyond the "Lipid Hypothesis"

While lowering cholesterol is not a priority for me, as I am not a "lipid hypothesis" convert, people who do believe that lowering cholesterol reduces cardiovascular disease progression and/or cardiac mortality should at least be well informed as to the natural evidence-based alternatives that exist to drugs.



After all, anything would be more reasonable than taking a metabolic poison to inhibit the production of cholesterol and/or lipoproteins on a cellular level. If we feel we must abide by largely drug industry determined lipid guidelines, e.g. keeping LDL below 100 mg/dl, natural substances like policosanol or red yeast rice can "do the job" quite effectively. In fact, we have collected research on over 100 natural substances with lipid lowering properties.



I am far more interested in the broad range of factors that contribute to atherosclerosis than simply suppressing cholesterol/lipoprotein levels through the "by any chemical means necessary" approach. Here are some relevant sections on our database, along with plenty of research on natural substances and therapies which contribute to preventing these factors from adversely affecting our health:



Arterial Calcification

Arterial Hardening: Elasticity

Arterial Plaque

Atherosclerosis

Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiac Arrhythmias

Cardiac Hypertrophy

Cardiac Mortality

C-Reactive Protein

Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary Bypass Surgery

Endothelial Dysfunction

High Cholesterol

High Homocysteine

Hypertension

Intima Media Thickening

Heart Disease NOT Caused By A Lack Of Drugs





Heart Disease NOT Caused By A Lack of Any Drug



While it is untrue to say that cardiovascular disease is be caused by a lack of a statin drug, or any other synthetic man-made chemical, it is absolutely true to say that a lack of a nutrient or food can contribute to causing cardiovascular disease. This profound difference is the reason why biologically-based, nutrient-oriented medicine is the only true medicine when we are dealing with the root causes and solutions for the degenerative Western-associated diseases that afflict us. How it came to be that NATURAL medicine is now considered quackery and UNNATURAL/CHEMICAL-BASED medicine considered the authentic, true medicine, is beyond me.











Pomegranate UNCLOGS Arteries



Take Pomegranate as an example. There is compelling evidence that pomegranate actually REVERSES heart disease. Participants in the following human study saw up to 30% reduction in the intima media thickness of their arteries, i.e. pomegranate UNCLOGS arteries!



Abstract Title:

Pomegranate juice consumption for 3 years by patients with carotid artery stenosis reduces common carotid intima-media thickness, blood pressure and LDL oxidation.



Abstract Source:

1: Clin Nutr. 2004 Jun;23(3):423-33. GreenMedInfo Link



Abstract:

Dietary supplementation with polyphenolic antioxidants to animals was shown to be associated with inhibition of LDL oxidation and macrophage foam cell formation, and attenuation of atherosclerosis development. We investigated the effects of pomegranate juice (PJ, which contains potent tannins and anthocyanins) consumption by atherosclerotic patients with carotid artery stenosis (CAS) on the progression of carotid lesions and changes in oxidative stress and blood pressure. Ten patients were supplemented with PJ for 1 year and five of them continued for up to 3 years. Blood samples were collected before treatment and during PJ consumption. In the control group that did not consume PJ, common carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) increased by 9% during 1 year, whereas, PJ consumption resulted in a significant IMT reduction, by up to 30%, after 1 year. The patients' serum paraoxonase 1 (PON 1) activity was increased by 83%, whereas serum LDL basal oxidative state and LDL susceptibility to copper ion-induced oxidation were both significantly reduced, by 90% and 59%, respectively, after 12 months of PJ consumption, compared to values obtained before PJ consumption. Furthermore, serum levels of antibodies against oxidized LDL were decreased by 19%, and in parallel serum total antioxidant status (TAS) was increased by 130% after 1 year of PJ consumption. Systolic blood pressure was reduced after 1 year of PJ consumption by 12% [corrected] and was not further reduced along 3 years of PJ consumption. For all studied parameters, the maximal effects were observed after 1 year of PJ consumption. Further consumption of PJ, for up to 3 years, had no additional beneficial effects on IMT and serum PON1 activity, whereas serum lipid peroxidation was further reduced by up to 16% after 3 years of PJ consumption. The results of the present study thus suggest that PJ consumption by patients with CAS decreases carotid IMT and systolic blood pressure and these effects could be related to the potent antioxidant characteristics of PJ polyphenols.



There are thousands of nutrients and phytocompounds in this complex food. It is likely that we developed a genetic co-dependence/inter-dependence with certain components in fruits like the pomegranate over of countless eons of ingesting them. Therefore we may require a certain quantity of these known and unknown plant/food factors in order to maintain cardiovascular health. Food is not just medicine but THAT without which we may not attain full health, i.e. undergo a disease process.