High cholesterol is becoming an epidemic in America. And what's worse, the mainstream solution could be more dangerous than the problem itself. The cold hard truth about cholesterol lowering statin drugs isn't pretty. Studies link them to liver damage, brain impairment, and even cancer. But despite this danger, doctors are prescribing drugs like Lipitor® or Zocor® in record numbers. Now, new research is proving them wrong...

Today I'm going to reveal a new study showing what many doctors refuse to have faith in: exercise alone is enough to significantly lower your risk factors for deadly cardiac events like heart attack and stroke.

* Statins Can't Stand Up To Exercise *

Three doctors at the Cardiovascular Health Center at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans decided to investigate just how necessary statins are in lowering risk for a major cardiac event. They took patients already suffering from coronary heart disease-- 277 men and women most doctors would put on statins. Instead, these doctors put them on exercise cycles. The results were undeniable...

After just three months in the exercise program they all experienced a significant decrease in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, - this is the protein that predicts heart attacks and strokes better than cholesterol does. Too much of it in your blood indicate inflammation and oxidation that can eventually lead to a stroke or heart attack. These patients also experienced significant fat loss and an improved exercise capacity. These are two other proven risk factors for cardiac events. (What statin can do that?)

* Exercise and Protect Your Heart *

Before choosing statins to lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk for heart disease, try exercise. I recommend a progressive exercise plan like your PACE program we've talked about before. The idea behind PACE is to advance the right component of your exercise over time. As simple as this seems, very few people do it. But this is what makes exercise effective. Focus on that little bit extra you do this week that you didn't do last week.

To use the PACE program effectively you must employ two important features:

The progressive component must be some measurement of intensity. It can be pace or distance in the same amount of time. It can be resistance, slope or weight. This is not to say you must exercise harder. You can begin very light as long as you gradually add resistance or pick up the pace as your capacity increases. This can be as simple as walking the stairs more quickly or adding small weights to your ankles.

Accelerate your exercise sessions. This means the peak you are achieving during exercise should come sooner as your cardiovascular capacity increases. When you are de-conditioned or have low cardiopulmonary capacity, it will take you several minutes to get your breathing and heart rates up. But as your heart, lungs and blood vessels get more accustomed to the challenge, they will gear up faster. Focus on this gradual change and you will train your body to have more cardiovascular capacity ready on demand.

Avoid increasing duration over time. This only trains your body to build more fat because fat is the most efficient fuel for long-term exercise. Keep your regular sessions at no more than 15 minutes straight. Short bursts will use energy from carbohydrates stored in muscle rather than from fat. Carbs are capable of burning energy at a much higher rate. You then burn much more fat for energy during the recovery period as you replenish the carbs.



Al Sears MD