Total Health Breakthroughs: Free Natural Health Newsletter and Alternative Health Articles

There is one thing you MUST do to burn fat effortlessly and improve your health in every measurable way. Limit the sugar, grains and high-glycemic carbohydrates in your diet.
A high-glycemic diet stimulates the production of insulin – the “fat storage hormone.” Chronically high insulin levels make fat burning virtually impossible. It is also a cornerstone [...]

“If you had to give me just one piece of advice about health, what would it be?” Rob asked.

I was at a Christmas party this past weekend, catching up with our family friend Rob. I was telling him about Total Health Breakthroughs and what I do. And he was telling me about the positive changes he has made to his health in the past year.

Several things came to mind to answer his question. “You should be sure that you are getting enough vitamin D,” I said. “Eat an antioxidant rich diet. And cut out the sugar and stick to low-glycemic foods.”

“That is three things,” he said. “If you could tell me just ONE thing to do, what would it be?”

“Consume more omega-3 fatty acids,” I said.

Rob and I were just making conversation. Of course, there is more than one thing you should do to maintain and protect your health. But eating a diet rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids is certainly near the top, in terms of importance.

Omega-3 fatty acids are vital for your brain and your heart. They can boost your immunity. They can improve athletic performance. They can tame inflammation. They improve lung function. They can even help you lose weight.

In fact, there are more positive, peer-reviewed studies about the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids than any other food or nutrient. You would be hard pressed to find a single health condition that cannot be improved by optimal omega-3 levels in the body.

As soon as she answered the phone, I could tell something was wrong…

“Is she okay? What happened?” my wife asked.

“Well, thank goodness the hospital is so close. How is she doing now?”

I could only hear half the conversation, but I knew Kelley was talking about her grandmother. Joyce is 86 years old, but seemed to be in great shape. She is perfectly lucid. She works in the yard. And still drives wherever she goes. I was surprised to learn that she was rushed to the hospital.

Kelley’s grandmother has never had heart problems. But she was short of breath, her chest was tight and her heart was palpitating. The doctors thought she was having a heart attack. And the symptoms were serious enough that they kept her in the hospital for three days to monitor her condition.

It turned out that she wasn’t having a heart attack. Thankfully, her forward-thinking physician checked her mineral levels. Kelley’s grandmother was suffering from an acute magnesium deficiency.

Fortunately, the only prescription she left the hospital with was one for a magnesium supplement. And to think that for less than five cents a day she could have avoided a near-death experience… and a costly visit to the hospital!

In Friday’s issue of Total Health Breakthroughs, I wrote about inflammation – the silent killer. When inflammation occurs on your body – often associated with redness, pain and swelling – it is obvious. When it is associated with a fever or infection in your body, it is obvious then too.

But chronic, subclinical inflammation leaves very few clues. And yet, it is a cornerstone of physical aging and the primary cause for a host of degenerative diseases. That is why it is important to know how much inflammation is in your body – and take measures to lower it.

The best marker for inflammation is C-reactive protein. I recommend that you have your CRP measured the next time you go for a checkup. But there is something you might need to watch out for. More on that below…

The Hidden Danger in Getting Your CRP Tested

“I can’t sell my house,” Adam told me.

“What do you mean, you can’t sell it?” I asked. “You haven’t even put it on the market yet.”

“Exactly!” he blurted. “And I can’t put it on the market until it is rebuilt.”

“Rebuilt? Your house is beautiful. What are you talking about?”

“I wanted an appraisal before I listed it,” Adam said. “So the inspector came by today.”

“What’s the problem?” I asked.

“Termite damage,” he said. “Wait. Let me rephrase that. Termite destruction.”

I couldn’t believe it. I had been to Adam’s house a few weeks before. It is an older home, but it feels contemporary and new. Clean and well decorated. Impeccably furnished. Fresh paint on the walls. There wasn’t a single outward sign that his house was falling apart. But it was.

Adam told me he hadn’t been in the crawl space for years. It was the inspector who broke the news. The entire supporting structure of the house would have to be jacked up and replaced. Some of the interior structure was damaged too. Major repairs were necessary before he would even have a chance of selling it.

“Red Meat Causes Cancer”
About four months ago, this headline appeared in just about every mainstream health publication. It was on the nightly news. Even the Wall Street Journal ran coverage of the story.
Oh… and don’t forget about heart disease too!
But the hysteria about the dangers of “red meat” is totally off base. [...]

What you are about to read requires an open mind. You have to look at facts instead of massive advertising and failed, faulty theories. Are you ready?

Fact: From 1900 to 1980, obesity rates in the US remained stable at 14% to 15% of the population. Since 1980, however, obesity rates have skyrocketed. Today, nearly 66% of the population is overweight or obese. This spike is directly linked to the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) creation of the food pyramid, advocating 11 daily servings of grains and cereals. This is not a coincidence.

For most of my 25 year career and 5,000 heart surgeries, I accepted low-fat dieting theories. I also believed the theory that dietary cholesterol was a primary cause of heart disease. But as heart disease continued to soar, year after year, my doubts began to haunt me.

I treated thousands of patients after they became ill. The question that haunted me was what was causing heart disease, obesity and diabetes in the first place? As I examined the data, it was clear that these conditions spiked in the 1980s and continued to climb.

You say you’re a health reporter. Aren’t you worried about all that cholesterol?”

I was having breakfast with an old friend last weekend. Carter wanted to know how I could justify my breakfast of over-easy eggs. “Doesn’t that contradict what you write about?” he asked.

Oh, great… here we go again, I thought.

I withheld the explanation of the flawed ‘lipid hypothesis.’ And I didn’t tell him why the ‘cholesterol theory of heart disease’ is bogus. But I did let him know that dietary cholesterol is not a concern of mine.

“Did you know that half of heart attacks occur in people with ‘normal’ cholesterol?” I asked.  This was shown in the Women’s Health Study – a study or more than 28,000 women. Researchers discovered that 46 percent of all first-time cardiovascular events occurred in women with cholesterol levels under the ‘desirable’ target set by the National Cholesterol Education Program.

15 minutes is all it took…
I started this morning like I often do. Two eggs scrambled and a few slices of avocado. There is nothing like protein and healthy fats in the morning to boost your brainpower, fire up your metabolism and turn off the hunger switch.
For a mid-morning snack, I grabbed [...]

One of the most unfortunate developments in modern healthcare is that the practice of medicine has become the business of medicine. The goal is not to make people healthy. It is to make a profit.
“Modern medicine” has little interest in preventing disease, because there is little profit in it. That [...]