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Cardiovascular disease is the reigning champion Cause of Death in the western world. Even though the medical world has known for decades that hardening of the arteries is the single greatest predictor of heart failure and stroke, cardiovascular disease remains at the top.
Knowing the indicators have not given us the ability to stop heart disease.
Only recently have we begun to understand why arteries harden. And it is this why that leads to a new understanding, an integrated approach to restoring flexibility in the arteries. And it all points to one key vitamin to turn it around.
The Willow and the Oak: Why Hardened Arteries Cause Heart Attacks
Most people have heard the fable of the willow and the oak tree. The short version goes like this:
A big storm comes and while the flexible, pliable willow tree gets blown around in the gale-force winds, the big, stiff oak tree snaps and falls to the ground.
It couldn’t handle the force.
Your arteries are naturally designed to bend and flex with the pulse of your blood. Like the proverbial willow tree in the storm, this ability to dynamically move with the physiological stress of blood pressure keeps you healthy.
When arteries become hard, they become brittle. And like the oak tree, they can snap and rupture.
Hidden Cause of Hardened Arteries
The physiological cause of hardened arteries is calcium deposits [1]. Doctors have known this for years. This is not new information.
What is useful is why the calcium gets there, because the calcium isn’t the cause, it’s the symptom. Underneath these calcium deposits are injuries: damaged arteries trying to heal.
What kind of damage? Damage from toxins, from pathogens, and from inflammation. This creates a very specific biochemical environment on the wall of the artery.
One that attracts calcium.
When there is free calcium floating around in the blood, it binds to the damage site, calcifying the wound site, hardening arteries, and paving the way for heart attack and stroke. [2,3]
This implies a new path to heart health: managing inflammation and detoxification. But there’s one more thing going on here, one that, when addressed, can help reverse arterial hardening in just a few weeks.
Why is there free calcium in the blood?
The Vitamin K Connection
Normally, when an artery is injured by toxins or inflammation in a healthy adult, the tissue will become inflamed, the immune system will quickly clean up the problem, and the wound will heal in a few days.
However, when calcium is circulating in the blood, it attaches to the wound site and stays there.
Under normal circumstances, 99% of calcium is stored in the bones, with very little in the blood. The calcium stays in the bones because of a vitamin that acts like glue: Vitamin K.
Vitamin K is actually a group of many different related vitamins, of which K2 is the most famous. This group of compounds acts together to help bind calcium into the bone matrix. When you become deficient in the vitamin K complex, the glue begins to fail and calcium leaches into the bloodstream. [4]
This means underneath the big umbrella of cardiovascular disease lies a hidden Vitamin K deficiency that turns systemic inflammation and toxicity into heat attacks and strokes.
Reverses Hardened Arteries
Clinical trials in humans show that vitamin K complex can actually “unstick” this calcium from the arteries and help it get back to the bones.
A single vitamin functionally reverses the symptom of hardened arteries [5,6]
Where do we get it?
The vast majority of our body’s vitamin K is produced by our gut bacteria, adding cardiovascular disease to the long list of conditions helped by rebalancing your microbiome. Before spending large amounts of money on expensive probiotic pills, try incorporating more fermented foods into your diet:
Raw yogurt (pasteurization destroys the probiotics)
Kefir
Miso
Saurkraut and other fermented vegetables
Komboucha
The next major source of vitamin K is our diet. Dietary sources of vitamins are naturally complexed with other compounds that make them easier to absorb. Vitamin K is most abundant in leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli. Any quality green-drink powder will also contain high levels of vitamin K (try our Perfect Greens Formula).
The richest natural source, however, is the Japanese fermented bean paste Natto. (Tip: start slow with natto, while remarkably healthy, it can be something of an acquired taste).
Guide to Supplementation
After gut bacteria and dietary sources, supplements are the next step you want to take. There is a synergistic relationship between vitamin K and vitamin D. Vitamin D pulls calcium into the bones, and vitamin K keeps it there. Therefore, you will want to look for vitamins that combined these two together for maximum benefit.
Also, both vitamin K and vitamin D are fat soluble so you want to be sure to take them with fat to ensure maximum absorption and get the most from your money.
Chemical Sabotage
One of the most surprising findings of recent studies is that many widely prescribed pharmaceutical drugs actually suppress the actions of vitamin K. Most of these are popular blood pressure prescriptions like warfarim, phenprocoumon, and acenocoumarol. [7]
If you are taking any of these drugs, you will want to take extra precautions to supplement vitamin K and vitamin D.
Also, becasue of the gut’s role in vitmain K production, be aware of antibiotic use. If you are on antibiotics, you will need to repair your gut and may want to supplement vitamin K and vitmain D until your microbiome is rebalanced.
Dr. Minkoff’s Recommended Mulit-Vitamin
If you’re looking for the highest quality multi-vitamin to cover all your bases in one source, try BodyHealth’s Complete-Multi + Liver Detox. It was personally formulated by Dr. Minkoff so he could have a multi-vitamin he felt comfortable recommending to his patients. The result is one of the most comprehensive and bioloigcally effective vitamins on the market.
Dr. Minkoff graduated from the University of Wisconsin Medical School in 1974 and was elected to the “Phi Beta Kappa” of medical schools, the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Medical Fraternity for very high academic achievement. He then worked as an attending physician in infectious disease, co-directed a neo-natal intensive care unit and worked in emergency medicine until 1995.
In 1997, his interest in alternative and complementary medicine led him to open LifeWorks Wellness Center, which has become one of the foremost alternative medicine clinics in the U.S. His search to find a source of the highest quality nutritional supplements led him to establish BodyHealth in 2000, a resource that could provide doctors with the best possible supplementation and education for their patients. Today, the BodyHealth products are used by hundreds of practitioners and individual consumers who seek all-natural wellness and detoxification supplements with a demonstrated high level of quality and effectiveness.
In addition to their use by patients looking to heal disease, the BodyHealth products are also used by sports enthusiasts interested in achieving and maintaining optimal performance. As a 42-time Ironman triathlon finisher, (including 8 appearances at the Ironman World Championships) Dr. Minkoff has first-hand experience to help athletes achieve optimum conditioning. His expertise in protein synthesis, detoxification, and nutrition allow them to run, swim, and bike faster and longer.
Today, Dr. Minkoff is an alternative healthcare expert, guest lecturer, writer, tv and radio show guest. He also authors two weekly newsletters, the BodyHealth Fitness Newsletter and the Optimum Health Report.
by Dr. David MinkoffOctober 26, 20205 min read0 Comments
Imagine yourself in a group of 100 people – roughly half of the number that will fit in the average movie theater. Now consider this: Roughly 15 of those people are actively suffering from a B12 deficiency. They are tired, weak, predisposed to illness, suffer from memory loss and nerve dysfunction. Some experience fairly severe symptoms, while others are gradually feeling worse – usually without even realizing it!
And no – this is not a joke or an exaggeration. According to the National Institute of Health, up to 15% of people are deficient in B12, which makes it one of the most common nutritional deficiencies.
With this in mind, we believe it is important that everyone becomes educated on this critical nutrient: What it is, what it does for your body, where to get it, how to avoid a deficiency, and then finally, the BEST ways to reap the benefits of having optimal B12 levels.
by Dr. David MinkoffOctober 22, 20208 min read0 Comments
Over the last 50 years, “fat” has become a bad word.
Foods are marketed as “low fat” and “fat-free” based on the idea that dietary fats are bad for your heart and are linked to weight gain.
Fortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth, according to modern scientific research by experts in the health field.
Dietary fats, in their pure, unadulterated forms, are exceptionally healthy – especially when consumed in proper ratios. They are involved in many important bioactive functions, let's review these...
by Josh TaylorOctober 22, 20205 min read0 Comments
Have you thought about addingAncient Superfoods to your diet, like those found in 100% Grass-Fed Glandular Organs?
When you go to your local grocery store to buy meat, you usually pick out some steaks, chicken breasts, ground beef, or another tasty meat – right? You buy them for the protein content, heme iron, B12, and most importantly, the delicious flavor of a juicy steak.
Here is the scientific truth: The liver, heart, pancreas, kidneys, and spleen are all jam-packed with vital nutrients that can help supercharge your energy levels, digestion, and overall health – not to mention that they provide a high concentration of protein… but who wants to eat them?
Signup for the BodyHealth Newsletter and get a FREE digital copy of "The Search for the Perfect Protien" by Dr. David Minkoff and discover the key to weight loss, depression, fatigue, insomnia, and osteoporosis!
