Why should we devote lots of time and attention to taking care of ourselves?
“I eat pretty well and I exercise occasionally – surely I don’t need to spend any more time on lifestyle stuff?”
Well, the answer is obvious, isn’t it?
A basic principle of all the world’s great wisdom traditions tells us that whenever we do things that “expand our awareness,” we receive a corresponding little extra shot of joy.
Those traditions tell us that we have five instruments by which we can increase our happiness: body, feelings, will, mind, soul.
Notice that, of these five “happiness tools,” the outliers at either end – body and soul – are the ones we can’t actually grab hold of and squeeze out a dollop of happiness.
Left to its own devices, the body just sits there, a lump.
The soul, too, is beyond our reach – we can invite it to infuse our thoughts, feelings, and actions with its boundless wisdom, compassion, and joy. But we can’t grab hold of it.
On the other hand, the remaining three instruments of happiness and joy are within our grasp.
Whenever we do things that give us greater health and vitality for the body, or expansive feelings of kindness, compassion, and empathy for the heart, or calm wisdom and joy for the mind and soul – we find our happiness naturally and lawfully increasing.
Still – we can only actively take charge and do stuff that that will reliably increase our happiness by using the “inner three” tools of happiness: our feelings, will, and mind.
And it all starts with the body. That’s because a healthy body gives us the energy we need to expand our feelings, will power, and mind.
As holistic physicians for many decades, we never cease to be amazed by the creative ways people find to undermine their health.
And that’s a tribute to the power of Maya – the power within us that takes us onto paths that lead straight into the ditch of unhappiness and suffering.
One ancient scripture calls it “the glamorizing power of the mind.” Actually, it’s our feelings that lead us into temptation – “Oh my, I’m salivating over those chips saturated with carcinogenic trans fats, and that dip that the cancer cells in my body are hungrily waiting to munch on and multiply.”
It’s particularly sad, from our perspective as naturopathic physicians, because we’ve realized personally how wonderfully enjoyable our lives are when we make simple, delicious changes to our diet, and when we adopt other simple, expansive lifestyle habits of the heart, will, and mind.
For most people, the easiest way to “choose health” is by adopting these simple, ultimately far more enjoyable and rewarding lifestyle options.
That said, let’s start where health always begins – the body.
We’ll look at the latest wisdom regarding one of the most common, dangerous ailments: cardiovascular disease.
Fair warning, we’ll be “talking medical” to a certain extent, though we’ll try to keep it simple.
LIPOPROTEIN AND CARDIOVASCULAR RISK
When evaluating a person’s individual risk of cardiovascular disease, medical science typically looks at the sizes of the LDL, VLL and HDL particles, as well as oxidized LDL and lipoprotein a.
Of course, in our naturopathic medical practice, we conscientiously look at these measures on our at-risk patients’ labe studies. We also look at oxidation, which lets us evaluate the extent of the damage to these important particles.
Lipoprotein is a bit more complicated. High Lipoprotein a is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease that has a strong genetic determinant.
Talking medically here: Lipoprotein a can block fibrinolysis, precipitate strokes and aortic stenosis, and promote early cardiovascular disease – that’s medical speak for some very serious health consequences.
While statin drugs do lower cholesterol, they don’t address lipoprotein a.
However, all is not lost. Before the advent of statins, niacin was prescribed for many years, because it also lowers both cholesterol and lipoprotein a.
However, conventional medicine disparages niacin because of the unpleasant skin flushing associated with its use, and the need to monitor liver enzymes.
Researchers now are working on RNA-based medications that can reduce lipoprotein a, but the results and the side effects have yet to be properly understood.
Already available and helpful is lumbrokinase (“Boluoke”), an enzyme that we use in our naturopathic practice to help our patients lower their fibrinogen and help prevent blood clots.
Lumbrokinase has begun to be recognized as a possible way to lower lipoprotein a, and thus decrease cardiovascular risk.
However, its efficacy for lowering lipoprotein a has yet to be proven. Functionally speaking, though, lumbrokinase does help break down fibrin and clots and can reduce blood viscosity, thus lowering the cardiovascular risk of high lipoprotein a.
(Lumbrokinase should not be taken with aspirin, anticoagulants, or other fibrinolytic enzymes).
Other protective functional approaches involve addressing both oxidized phospholipids and inflammation of the endothelial lining of blood vessels.
Proven “formulas” include an array of fruits and vegetables high in polyphenols. Foods high in antioxidants and polyphenols , such as pomegranate extract, olive oil, and green tea can help, and Omega 3 fatty acids are also useful.
Drs. Connie and Marcel Hernandez
DrConnie@DrsHernandez.com
DrMarcel@DrsHernandez.com