Conventional doctors don’t see it.
It’s not that they don’t believe it… they’re just trained to stay in one lane… evaluating your symptoms, assigning you with a diagnosis and treating your “ailment” with the corresponding drugs.
The problem with that is it’s missing the BIG picture. The connections that can mean the difference between you living a vibrant, healthy life and being saddled with a declining life filled with doctor appointments and more and more drugs.
What I’ve discovered is the connection between the changes to our way of life and the skyrocketing epidemic of chronic disease.
I realized long ago… if you focus on diagnosing one symptom at a time, you’re missing the real opportunity. You’re missing the chance to identify and FIX the root cause of the ailments.
Without that insight, you’re strapped to the merry-go-round of more drugs… more surgeries… and a cascade of diseases.
As you’ll remember, I call this connecting factor Syndrome Zero. And with each passing day it becomes more and more critical to the health of our country.
You see, cancer, heart failure, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s… they’re all occurring at unprecedented rates. I’m quite sure that you, or someone close to you, is dealing with at least one… maybe several… of these challenging diseases right now.
The good news is… when we look at the total picture… when we examine the root cause of disease… we begin to see the light.
That’s because all chronic disease shares a common cause.
Big Pharma and its supporters deny this. Instead, they blame it on aging as if it’s some inevitable consequence of adding years to your life.
But they’re wrong about that.
Every society has long-lived elders, but it doesn’t mean as they age they become sick. As a matter
of fact, in many cultures the indigenous elders maintain their vitality and vigor far into their twilight years.So why, then, is chronic disease suddenly out-of-control in our country? And not just in older populations.
An alarming new study reveals heart disease and stroke are occurring at younger ages than ever before.
It’s not old age.
The true cause is Syndrome Zero.
Let me explain.
84% Jump in Heart Disease Under 40
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden wanted to know whether heart disease and stroke are affecting more young people.
And what they found is astonishing.
Researchers followed 1.2 million young people for two decades. At the end of the study — when the people were about 40-years old — their risk of heart-failure had increased by a stunning 84%.
Their risk of stroke rose 43%.
And their risk of a brain hemorrhage was up 30%.1
We’re talking about 40-year olds… not people in their 80’s or 90’s.
The Swedish researchers also detected a related trend. Obesity among the conscripts rose by a staggering 250%. It’s a classic symptom of Syndrome Zero.
That’s because Syndrome Zero stems from the mass consumption of ultra-processed carbohydrates and sugars. Your body was never designed to withstand this deluge.2
Over time, cells become insulin resistant. The body stores carbohydrate-based calories as fat, causing weight gain. Then, regardless of age, chronic disease is sure to follow.3
Big Pharma gets rich off its drug treatments to treat chronic disease. But it ignores the root cause… Syndrome Zero.
Three-Point Plan to Cancel Syndrome Zero
Syndrome Zero and the impact of chronically high insulin affects your entire body and contributes to all the chronic diseases we face today.
Today, I’ll show you how to support your heart from the ravages of this overlooked epidemic. In future letters, I’ll focus on specific support for other concerns like your brain.
So how to do that? Here are three heart-protective strategies I recommend for everyone:
- Replace sugar and carbs with healthy fat. This simple advice gives you a tremendous edge in your battle to protect your heart. For decades, doctors told patients not to eat grass-fed beef, eggs, nuts, and unprocessed vegetable oils like olive oil. Yet these are some of the healthiest foods around. And what replaced those healthy fats? Trans-fat laden carbs that put patients on the path to systemic illness.
Saturated fats aren’t bad for you. The key is to strike the right balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. For most of human history, people consumed about a 2-to-1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats. But over the last 75 years that’s soared to over 20 to 1. The severe imbalance activates the COX-2 enzyme triggers inflammation and accelerates aging.4
So look for protein sources loaded with omega-3s… including wild-caught salmon and grass-fed beef, and enjoy healthy fats. Your heart will express its gratitude every time it beats. - Raise your HDL cholesterol. In fact, a new study indicates your HDL level can be used to predict your heart-disease risk.5 If you can elevate your HDL cholesterol enough, your risk of heart attack drops to virtually zero.
That’s because HDL snags dangerous LDL particles clinging to your artery walls, and tugs them back into the bloodstream to be hauled off to the liver for disassembly and elimination.Statins, unfortunately, lower cholesterol indiscriminately, including protective HDL.
To raise your HDL, increase your intake of vitamin B3… also known as niacin or nicotinic acid. Food sources include meat, fish, some mushrooms, and nuts – but I recommend that you supplement with 750 to 1000 mg daily. By the way, the no-flush version of niacin doesn’t increase HDL… I’d avoid it.5 - A trifecta of heart nutrients. L-arginine, L-carnitine, and CoQ10 each play a special role in your heart’s vital supply chain.
L-arginine reduces LDL and triglycerides, while increasing HDL.7 It also helps generate nitric oxide, signaling your arteries to relax, expand, and carry more blood and nutrients to your heart.
L-carnitine transports long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondria so they can be used as fuel to generate energy. You must have it to keep your heart muscle healthy.Finally, CoQ10. Your power-generating mitochondria need this powerful antioxidant to synthesize adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the main form of energy currency used by your cells. As I wrote in my book, The Doctor’s Heart Cure, over 100 studies at major universities link CoQ10 deficiency with heart disease.
Statins deplete CoQ10 by up to 40%, so anyone on a statin needs to supplement with 100 mg a day of CoQ10. And I recommend 30 mg a day for anyone over 30, and 60 mg a day for those over 60. Look for the form called ubiquinol… it’s much more easily absorbed. And taking it with food can triple its absorption.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
References:
1. Åberg, N. D., Adiels, M., Lindgren, M., Nyberg, J., Georg Kuhn, H., Robertson, J., … Rosengren, A. (2021). Diverging trends for onset of acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, stroke and mortality in young males: role of changes in obesity and fitness. Journal of Internal Medicine.
2. Diabetes.co.uk. (2019, January 15). Insulin resistance occurs when insulin levels are sufficiently high over a prolonged period of time causing the body’s own sensitivity to the hormone to be reduced.
3. American College of Cardiology. (2019, March 7). Heart attacks increasingly common in young adults: Youngest heart attack survivors have same likelihood of dying as survivors 10+ years older; substance abuse may be contributing to trend. Retrieved from ScienceDaily website.
4. Patterson, E., Wall, R., Fitzgerald, G. F., Ross, R. P., & Stanton, C. (2012, April 5). Health Implications of High Dietary Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids.
5. Jia, C., Anderson, J. L. C., Gruppen, E. G., Lei, Y., Bakker, S. J. L., Dullaart, R. P. F., & Tietge, U. J. F. (2021). High-Density Lipoprotein Anti-Inflammatory Capacity and Incident Cardiovascular Events. Circulation.
6. Lee, Dr. T. (2010, March). Ask the doctor: Is no-flush niacin as effective as other kinds of niacin? Retrieved May 3, 2021, from Harvard.edu.
7. Tripathi, P., Misra, M. K., & Pandey, S. (2012). Role of l-Arginine on Dyslipidemic Conditions of Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients. Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry, 27(3), 296–299.