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Homocysteine – The New Cholesterol
By Dr. Lorraine Parker, DC, MS

            Heart disease is ranked as American’s No. 1 killer. The causes of heart disease are influenced mostly by lifestyle.

            The more common form of heart disease is atherosclerosis. It’s characterized by plague formation on the inside of artery walls. The plaque consists of cholesterol and calcium and forms a hardened patch. If the plaque forms in the coronary (heart) arteries and thickens, the blood flow to the heart decreases. It’s the moderate decrease that produces the intense chest pain or angina.

            When blood flow to the heart is severely decreased due to plaque build-up which occludes more or a coronary artery, a heart attack occurs. The symptoms of a heart attack include chest pain, shortness of breath, pain in the arm, and tightness in the chest. For a woman, the symptoms can be different which means it’s harder to diagnose. A woman’s symptoms are usually nausea, fatigue, and dizziness.

            The American Heart Association includes the following as risk factors for heart disease:

• Smoking
• Hypertension (blood pressure greater than 140/90)
• Total cholesterol greater than 200 mg/dL
• High LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol – greater than 130 mg/dL
• Low HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol – less than 35 mg/dL
• Obesity (especially central obesity which is the fat around the stomach area)
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Lack of exercise
• Heredity
• Male gender
• Women after menopause

 

            High cholesterol levels have been considered a major risk factor for heart disease for years. However, according to the American Heart Association, it’s the saturated dietary fat and trans-fatty acids in foods that increase a person’s blood cholesterol and not the total dietary cholesterol. The Association recommends that a person’s daily diet contain no more that 30 percent of their Calories from fat: 10 percent from saturated fat which is found only in animal products such as meat and dairy foods and also in palm and coconut oil, and the balance from monounsaturated fats such as olive and canola oil. The trans-fatty acids, which act like saturated fat with respect to blood cholesterol, are only found in foods after the oil (for example, soybean or canola)  has been “hydrogenated.” If the products you buy contain hydrogenated oils, make sure the label says: “contains no trans-fats.” In addition, the Association suggests limiting your intake of daily dietary cholesterol to no more than 300 mg/day.

            There is another theory which is looking “beyond cholesterol” and linking an amino acid called homocysteine to heart disease. It’s not a new theory. It was first proposed in 1969 by Dr. Kilmer McCully, a Harvard physician, and then mostly ignored or scoffed at by the medical community. The theory is now enjoying resurgence and homocysteine is being called the “new cholesterol. Dr. McCully stated in his book, The Homocysteine Revolution that this substance is a hot “new” topic because doctors realized that the traditional factors didn’t account for a large percentage of heart attacks. A number of research studies have shown a strong correlation between high homocysteine levels in the blood and an increased risk factor or clogged arteries and mortality.

            You can measure your own homocysteine levels with a blood test. However, you’ll have to request it because it’s not a routine test yet. The protein-rich foods in the American diet contain an amino acid called methionine. The methionine is converted to homocysteine during digestion and then absorbed into your bloodstream. As it travels around your body, it damages and scars your arteries. To repair the damage and smooth over the scar, your body uses cholesterol which adheres to the inside wall of an artery like a band-aid. As calcium is attracted to the area, it forms a hardened plaque. Over time, this plaque accumulation leads to total coronary artery blockage and a heart attack.

            To defend your arteries against homocysteine damage, you need three B vitamins in your diet – vitamins B12, B6, and folic acid. These three B vitamins are needed by your body’s enzymes to convert the homocysteine into a harmless substance which cannot damage and scar your arteries.

            These vitamins are found in the following foods:

• Vitamin B12 – is found only in animal products (strict vegetarians can be deficient) such as meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is 2.4 micrograms/day.
• Vitamin B 6 – is found in green leafy vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, nuts, whole grains, legumes and fruits. The RDA is 1.3 milligrams/day.
• Folic acid – is found in green leafy vegetables, peas, fruits, whole grain products, fortified cereals, legumes and seeds. The RDA is 400 micrograms/day.

 

            Everyone agrees that heart disease has multiple risk factors. However, following the “rule of five” and eating at least five servings each day of fruits and vegetables will benefit, not just your heart, but your whole body.

            In addition to checking your homocysteine levels and including B vitamins in your diet, eliminate the other risk factors listed above from American Heart Association. There are only two risk factors that can’t be changed – your genes and your gender.

 

OTHER ARTICLES BY
DR. LORRAINE PARKER, DC, MS

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Type 2 Diabetes – The Silent Killer

Homocysteine – The New Cholesterol

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How you can save your aging brain. 

Olive oil, almonds, and tomatoes – three foods that provide “super” health benefits. 

Vitamin D:  Research shows it’s good for more than your bones.