Saturday, May 27, 2006

Type of Fat That Can Kill You Instantly

By Robert J. Rowen, MD

I'm sure you've known someone who died of heart attack suddenly and without warning. One day they seemed the picture of health. The next day they were gone, leaving behind bereaved spouses and children.

Sadly, this is quite common. In fact, of the half million Americans who die of cardiac arrest every year, almost half have none of the recognized warning signs. That's right. No high blood pressure. No high cholestrol. No previous heart problems. Nothing at all to indicate there might be a problem.

While medical professionals have known about this sudden death syndrome for years, they've never understood the cause. After all, when death comes so quickly and without warning, it's difficult to study. But now, a major new study has identified the cause, and it has medical researchers amazed. You see, the researchers were expecting to find something like genetics or stress to be the underlying cause. Instead, they found out that the culprit is a fatty acid.

The killer fatty acid is called non-esterified fatty acid, or NEFA for short. NEFA was recently linked to cardiac death in a study of 5,240 middle-aged Parisian men. The men in the study were given complete physicals, ECGs, blood tests, and questionnaires about their health habits. They were then followed for over 35 years until they had all died.

As expected, the study found that the men most likely to die of heart disease were those who were overweight, smoked, or had high blood pressure and cholesterol. But what about the seemingly healthy men who had none of those risk factors yet still died of cardiac arrest? The study found that the main thing they had in common was that their blood contained high levels of NEFA!

So what is NEFA? It's a substance caused by a build-up of omega-6 fats in the body. As you may know, omega-6s are the fats found in corn, peanut, sunflower, and safflower oils.

I've been telling you for years that if you consume too many omega-6 fats and not enough omega-3 fats, you can end up with all sorts of health problems. But now we know there's a more immediate problem with omega-6 fats: when they're converted to too much NEFA, it can result in a sudden heart attack!

What to Do

Fortunately, it's easy to lower your NEFA levels. All you have to do is balance the omega-6 fats in your diet with a hefty helping of omega-3s. You can get these omega-3s by eating walnuts, flaxseeds, leaft lettuce, and cold-water fish. Be careful with the fish, though. Much of it is tainted with mercury and PCBs. The safest bet is to eat wild salmon from Alaska.

Or better yet, take a molecularly distilled fish oil supplement, like Nordic Naturals or Biotech brand, and use as directed. You can also take flax oil capsules, but you'll probably have to take 4 capsules a day. Another supplement that protects you from NEFA is carnitine. Research shows the carnitine carries fatty acids into the mitochondria of your cells where they are quickly burned for fuel. I recommend 500 mg of acetyl-l-carnitine, three times a day.

Yes, taking carnitine and fish oil can stop NEFA and save your life. But there are so many more things you can do. There are safe, natural, inexpensive ways to lower your triglycerides, fibrinogen, homocysteine, and more. That's why I've written a new Special Report called Make Yourself Heart Attack Proof. This report reveals dozens of secrets to a healthy heart.

For example, it shows you how to lower c-reactive protein with a common kitchen spice. It reveals how you can detect early warning signs of heart disease simply by looking in your mouth. And it tells you about a new generation of oral shelation products that really do clear out your arteries of nasty plaque.

But that's not all. If you've already had a heart attack, this report shows you how to make sure you never have another one. It even tells you how you can literally re-build your heart! That's right. Scientists have now discovered that it's possible to re-generate heart cells.

http://www.secondopinionewsletter.com




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