“Life is not merely to be alive, but to be well.”

 -Marcus Valerius Martial

In a special report published on the Track Your Plaque (TYP) website, five foods that are generally considered healthy are highlighted as “landmines” of diet.  TYP recommends staying away from these foods to avoid weight gain, pre-diabetes, and unfavorable lipid and lipoprotein patterns. 

 Bananas:  Fruits generally contain a good source of flavonoids, which provide blood pressure-lowering, plaque-shrinking, and cancer-preventing benefits.  However, bananas have very low levels of flavonoids with HUGE amounts of sugar, taking away most of the nutritional value.

 Low-fat or Non-fat Salad Dressings: A principle ingredient in these products is high-fructose corn syrup, which causes a huge rise in triglycerides, resulting in abnormal lipoprotein particles, like small LDL, VLDL, and a drop in healthy HDL. 

 Whole Wheat Bread: The glycemic index (blood sugar raising effect) of whole wheat is almost identical to basic table sugar.  The result is raised triglycerides, increased small LDL, and lower HDL. 

 Wheat Bran Cereals:  While the insoluble wheat fibers in these cereals are good for bowel health, they do not contribute much to anything else, including heart health.  These foods raise blood sugar substantially and provoke similar responses as those for whole wheat bread.

 Potatoes:  White potatoes contain too much sugar and release it too quickly to be considered healthy.  In some cases, the glycemic index even exceeds that of table sugar.

“I think you might dispense with half your doctors if you would only consult Dr. Sun more.”

-Henry Ward Beecher

According to an article published on the Track Your Plaque websites, fish oil can have an effect on the rate of aging.  A new study among coronary artery disease patients discovered a connection between fish oil and the rate at which telomeres shorten.

Telomeres are a part of the DNA that is thought to keep track of aging.  The older a person is, the shorter the telomeres.  The lead researcher, Dr. Farzaneh-Far said that this is the first study “that shows that a dietary factor may be able to slow down telomere shortening…This is yet another reason for cardiologists to try to convince their patients to take either a fish-oil supplement or eat regular fatty-fish meals.”

The bottom line of this study was that participants with lower omega-3 fatty acids had a high rate of telomere shortening compared to those with high omega-3 blood levels.

 To read the full article, click here.

My name is DeeDee and I have 3 wonderful children. About 2 years ago I was talking to Richard about the challenges my children were going through. Braxton, my oldest, was having anxiety before he would go to school. I tried everything to try and help him with his anxiety, but nothing worked. Richard gave me some vitamin D and Super Omega-3 Fish Oil (They call it the “brain food”) and after about 5 months Braxton’s anxiety was controlled. He is getting A’s in all of his classes and he really enjoys school. 

Bridger is my youngest.  When he was 1 1/2 he was hospitalized for 7 days because of asthma. Bridger has been rushed in an ambulance to Primary Children’s Hospital 5 times because of asthma. Richard and I started Bridger on Vitamin D 2 years ago. This is his 2nd winter on vitamin D and we have not even had a trip to the doctor’s office for a cold. I am so grateful to Richard for sharing with me and my family the great power of vitamin D and Omega 3 Fish Oil.  My sons are healthier mentally and physically because of the vitamins.

“In Health there is freedom.  Health is the first of all liberties.”

-Henri Frederic Amiel

Vitamin D has many positive health effects.  There have been various studies that have found additional benefits of vitamin D.  The following is a list of conditions/diseases that can be positively affected by the use of vitamin D:

*Allergic Hypersensitivity                       *Alzheimer’s Disease                             *Ankylosing Spondylitis

*Asthma                                                     *Autism                                                   *Autoimmune Illness

*Breast Cancer                                         *Celiac Disease                                        *Cerebral Palsy

*Chronic Pain                                           *Cognitive Function                               *Colon and Rectal Cancer

*Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia              *Bladder Cancer                                     *Brain Cancer

*Gaucher’s and Fabry’s Disease          *Graves’ Disease                                   *Heart Disease

*HIV and AIDS                                      *Inflammatory Bowel Disease              *Hypertension

*Influenza                                              *Innate and Adaptive Immunity          *Liver Cancer

*Liver Function                                    *Lung Cancer                                         *Lymphoid Cancer

*Melanoma                                           *Mental Illness                                      *Mineral Metabolism

*Mortality                                            *Multiple Sclerosis                                *Muscular Weakness

*Obesity                                               *Osteoarthritis                                      *Osteomalacia

*Osteoporosis                                     *Parathyroid Function                         *Parkinson’s Disease

*Stroke                                               *Premenstrual Syndrome                   *Renal Function

*Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease                                                     *Tuberculosis