PART IV OF A FOUR-PART POST

When statin drugs were first beginning to be commonly prescribed, many physicians were amazed at the near-miraculous-cholesterol-lowering results of the drugs, and I often heard physicians jokingly say that “They should put the stuff (referring to statin drugs) in the drinking water.” That was prior to any real public knowledge of the many negative side effects of statin drugs, and many of those physicians have certainly re-thought their whole-hearted endorsement of the drugs. But there is some irony to the idea of putting statin drugs into the drinking water, in that the most important cholesterol-lowering cure may be untainted drinking water, in and of itself.

The consumption of adequate amounts of water each day provides documented health benefits to an extent that it may be suggested that a person can not claim to seriously care about their personal health if they are not consistent and disciplined in their daily hydration. Stated another way, adequate daily water consumption is always the first step toward good health. The move toward improved health does not require one to purchase a fitness club membership, or to visit a physician, or to purchase a dieting book, or to spend fortunes on dietary supplements. Although a person may want to eventually do all of the foregoing, the first, simple step to good health should always be to turn on the water tap. The late Dr. F. Batmanghelidj, who probably was the foremost expert on proper hydration, recommended a daily water intake in an amount equal to 1 ounce per 2 pounds of body weight. So if you weigh 200 pounds, you need to drink 100 ounces of water every day.

There are numerous health benefits associated with adequate water consumption that we will discuss in a future article, but it can be argued that the most signicant health benefit of water is it's role in lowering cholesterol levels. We will discuss here two ways in which drinking water may lower cholesterol.

Firstly, the research conducted by Dr. Batmanghelidj suggests that increased cholesterol production in the body is the direct result of dehydration. Dr. Batmanghelidj says that the body increases it's cholesterol production as a means of “drought management,” and he asks the following interesting question: If it is the stickiness of the cholesterol that causes plaque build up in the arteries, then why does it not cause this same plaque build-up in the veins? Indeed, when a person's blood-cholesterol levels are tested, the testing is done on veinous blood from the arms. Dr. Batmanghelidj states that there has never been a report of plaque build-up in these veins in our extremities, and that, if anything, these veins should be more susceptible to plaque build-up because in the veins of the extremities the blood is moving very slowly, as opposed to the arteries where the blood is better-mixed, under greater pressure, and less susceptible to stagnation due to it's constant pulsating nature. Dr. Batmanghelidj states that “Actually, cholesterol serves as a 'waterproofing bandage' on the abrasions and tears in the arterial walls that get damaged when the blood becomes concentrated and acidic as a result of dehydration.”

It was Dr. Batmanghelidj's position that “cholesterol is important to life,” and that “the body would not make more of it unless it really needed to do so.” It was also his position that giving cholesterol-lowering drugs would ultimately serve to cause more life-threatening diseases, and the side-effects of Lipitor that are being reported daily would seem to validate his position.

Secondly, drinking water provides your body with magnesium, and magnesium regulates cholesterol. Dr. Mildred Seelig describes the way that magnesium regulates cholesterol in her book, The Magnesium Factor. In her book, Dr. Selig states that “Magnesium exerts it's effects on cholesterol in two primary ways. First, it regulates enzymes that control cholesterol production. Second, it raises the level of HDL (good) cholesterol while lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol.”

You will recall from Part II of this discussion that Lipitor works by inhibiting the production of an enzyme that is known as HMG CoEnzyme A reductase which is produced by the liver. You will also recall that HMG CoEnzyme A reductase is necessary for the production of CoenzymeQ10, which is critical for the body. But HMG CoEnzyme A reductase is also converted to a compound known as mevalonate, a fatty acid derivative. Mevalonate is then converted to several plaque-forming processes or is converted to cholesterol, which is then converted via sunlight to Vitamin D or through steroids to several hormones needed by the body.

According to Dr. Seelig, as long as the body has adequate magnesium, the body is able to naturally regulate the production of HMG CoEnzyme A reductase and the resulting production of mevalonate. As a result, cholesterol production is impeded. But if the body is deficient in magnesium, the conversion of HMG CoEnzyme A reductase to mevalonate is enhanced causing cholesterol and plaque forming processes to increase.

Referring back to our previous posts on this issue, we noted that the incidence of heart disease in America saw increases that paralleled increases in smoking and increases in the consumption of partially hydrogenated vegetables oils. It is significant to note that the increase in incidence of heart disease also coincides with the reduction in consumption of water precipitated by the increase of consumption of soft drinks by Americans, and the increase in heart disease also coincides with a reduction in magnesium intake by the American public.

Dr. Pepper was invented in 1885, Coca-Cola was invented in 1886, Pepsi-Cola was invented in 1898, automated production of glass soda bottles began in 1899, soft drink sales increased in each subsequent year until the present, and America's heart disease became as much a part of our culture as the soft drinks that we were drinking.

Soft drinks provide a double whammy to the magnesium requirements of the body. First, their consumption is in lieu of water, so the body is deprived of the magnesium that clean drinking water provides. Second, soft drinks contain phosphoric acid which depletes the body of both magnesium and potassium.

In addition to the advent of mass production and consumption of the soft drink, the American diet saw a tremendous reduction in magnesium during the 20^th century as a result of highly processed foods. Consider this: All purpose white flour, which became predominantly used in the 20^th century, contains 364 calories and 22 milligrams of magnesium per 100 grams, whereas whole wheat flour contains 339 calories and 138 milligrams of magnesium per 100 grams. White sugar contains 387 calories and 0 milligrams of magnesium per 100 grams, whereas brown sugar contains 376 calories and 29 milligrams of magnesium per 100 grams, and molasses – the rawest form of sugar cane – contains 235 calories and 215 milligrams of magnesium per 100 grams. Clearly, the more highly processed the food is, the less magnesium it contains, and the foods that have been marketed in the United States for the past 100 years are very highly processed.

There are many things that can be done in order to increase one's magnesium intake and the following is just a short list:

1. Eat only whole grain bread.

2. Eat plenty of leafy, green vegetables, such as spinach. Spinach delivers a very high concentration of magnesium, and I eat it at least four times a week.

3. Do not soften your hard water. While hard water is hard to wash with and stains many of our kitchen and bathroom fixtures, it also provides the magnesium that your body needs. What is more important to you -- the look of your bath tub or the look of your arteries?

4. Stop drinking soft drinks.

5. Supplement with magnesium. Magnesium oxide is poorly absorbed, but just about any other form of magnesium will absorb well. Caution: Many magnesium supplements are combined with zinc, and if you take it on an empty stomach, zinc is very likely to make you very nauseated. I learned this the hard way. Also, magnesium supplements will make your stool soft, and if you overdo it, you will experience diarrhea.

Finally, the last lifestyle change which you should consider prior to subjecting your body to Lipitor is to simply get out and walk. In addition to all of the documentable changes in the American diet over the past century which have clearly contributed to our increase in heart disease, and in addition to the clear connection that heart disease has to smoking cigarrettes, it is also very apparent that our trend toward a sedentary lifestyle is complicit in our poor heart health.

Study after study has shown that a one hour walk each day will lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. You don't need to buy a Bowflex. You don't need to pay for a health club membership. Just get out and walk. And the added benefit of walking is that it gives you an hour each day to commune with your Creator.

Prior to committing to the dangers of Lipitor, consider the possibility that just a few changes in your lifestyle – changes that are considerably less expensive – can provide you with the heart healthiness that you seek.

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