How was erectile dysfunction treated a century ago? Before the era of Viagra, Cialis, and genetic transfer therapy?

In the early 1900’s Chas. A. Tyrrell, M.D. published a best selling book entitled “The Royal Road To Health, or The Secret of Health Without Drugs.”

As an advocate of a natural hygienic approach to life, Tyrrell was strongly opposed to the use of drugs and medications.

He cautioned his readers “do not be deceived by the lying advertisements of unprincipled charlatans, that any drug can help you.”

Instead, he favored a lifestyle that promoted clean living and purity of mind. This included adequate sleep, fresh air and sunshine, moderate eating, daily exercise, and focusing on spiritual thoughts.

“The treatment must be hygienic and thorough, and may necessitate a change in your whole mode of life,” Tyrrell wrote.

His book includes descriptions of numerous diseases and natural methods of treatment. Amongst these is a section on “Lost Manhood.”

“Lost Manhood” was the term used for impotence in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He blamed this ailment, as was common in his day, on “conjugal excesses” and “the baneful widespread practice of masturbation, or self-pollution.”

Tyrrell outlined a six step program for regaining one’s vitality and sexual virility. These included:

1. Firstly, the colon must be kept clean, as faecal accumulations there irritate the sensitive nerves.

2. Secondly, practice breathing and bodily movements and take all the exercise you can in the open air, as these things are important factors in strengthening the nervous system and hastening a cure.

3. Thirdly, special attention must be paid to diet. If you can practice vegetarianism for a time, so much the better, choosing those articles most easily digested.

Only plain toast or boiled beef should be eaten (if any meat be taken at all) shun all hot condiments, also tea, coffee, tobacco and alcohol – especially the latter, for nothing can help you while you use these articles.

4. Fourthly, after flushing, take a cold bath every night, or, if this is impracticable, bathe the genital organs, and the spine (up to the base of the brain) in cold water, and rub down vigorously with a crash towel.

5. Fifthly, resolutely form cleanly habits of mind, as well as body; take up a course of good reading to occupy the mind, and divert it to healthy channels, and shun all reading of a sensational nature.

6. Sixthly, avoid thinking impure and lascivious thoughts, and do not allow your mind to dwell upon your condition, but cultivate self control.

In conclusion, to offer his readers a positive reinforcement he wrote:

“The above treatment has cured hundreds of bad cases, and will cure you, if steadily persevered in, but a strict abstinence from sexual indulgence, and an absolute abandonment of the pernicious vice is an indispensable condition.”

To those who followed Tyrrell’s advice but were still not cured , he added:

“Frequently quite aged men write us, complaining of their sexual disability – to all such, we say that the restoration of lost power after fifty years of age is in the highest degree improbable, and after the grand climacteric (63) is passed – it is practically impossible.”

“My system of treatment is true in philosophy, in harmony with nature, and thoroughly rational in practice.”

The author M.Welt offers an in depth look at the causes, symptoms and methods of treatment for erectile dysfunction (conventional and alternative) on his website: http:// www.Erectile-Dysfunction-Facts-You-Need-To-Know. com

If you want the body of a Greek god or goddess, you don’t have to hurl thunderbolts or battle one-eyed monsters - simply eating like the ancient idols may help you get a physique that members of the opposite gender will worship.

The Mediterranean way of eating, which is a diet featuring an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, olive oil, whole grains and red wine, can help you arrive at the ideal shape. The Mediterranean weight loss diet has also been linked to a healthier heart and a longer life span. Red meat, fatty dairy products and foods with refined sugar are rarely consumed, if ever.

Thousands of years after the physically powerful gods shook things up, the Mediterranean style of eating still makes great sense as a way of life because you get full on a lot of high-fiber, low fat foods that leave you feeling sated longer. The fruits and vegetables eaten as part of the Mediterranean way of eating are naturally low in calories, and are full of antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids, nutrients your body must have to create new and healthy cells.

The Mediterranean way of eating allows a higher fat intake than most weight loss diets, but it’s healthy fat that comes from olive oil and nuts, which are rich in beneficial monounsaturated fats, and low in unhealthy saturated fats, like those found in beef, ice-cream or cheese.

Just keep in mind that for higher calorie items, like the olive oil, whole grains and red wing, you still have to focus on overall calorie intake and serving sizes. The key to any successful weight loss diet is consuming fewer calories while still feeling satisfied.

When you feel sated, it makes it a little easier to defeat cravings that most people who are trying to follow a weight loss diet face. What good is a diet if you cannot adhere to it because your appetite is out of control? Before beginning any weight loss diet, you will need to find a safe, effective technique to eliminate your urges, cravings and appetite to overeat. Lose weight self hypnosis is a wonderful tool to help you curb your cravings.

The average person experiences cravings and an urge to eat for two central reasons:

A. When you pair eating with any other behavior, the other behavior will trigger cravings and an impulse to eat.

B. When you feel anxious, you feel compelled to put something into your mouth for pleasure and relaxation.

Let’s look at Part “A” first. Over 70% of the population learns much more quickly and easily by seeing, rather then by hearing. Think about it: If you feel an urge to eat when watching TV, it is because your mind recorded the video image of food in your hand, and then associated that image with the image of the TV. From that point, every time you watch TV, your unconscious flashes the image of the food in your hand, and you get an urge.

You’ve actually “programmed” your unconscious mind to make you feel cravings and urges as a “conditioned response” to watching TV. The same thing happens when you eat in your car or while on the phone, etc.

Weight loss self hypnosis will erase the conditioned responses simply by reprogramming your subconscious mind to have it trigger unconscious images of you watching the TV without eating, and that will eliminate the urge to eat. It will also give you an urge to reject food in that scenario!

But what about Part “B”? Our sensations of anxiety are generated by our thoughts. If you think negative thoughts, you feel stressed and upset. If you think happy thoughts, you feel calm and relaxed.

If you have a negative thought while you are sitting at your computer, your mind can associate that thought with the computer. Thereafter, when you are sitting at your computer, you have a conditioned response; your mind will flash to that negative thought and you will feel stress. Self hypnosis techniques can help you conquer these patterns almost immediately.

The techniques used in some of the most effective hypnosis programs are based on Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). This technology works based on the utilization of a person’s existing thought processes instead of post-hypnotic suggestion.

Video weight loss hypnosis can program your subconscious to use negative thoughts as a trigger for relaxing thoughts. So if you begin to think of something that is distressing, your unconscious will automatically change to a relaxing thought in a millisecond. You become calm, so there are no sensations of anxiety to set off your cravings. And without an appetite to overeat, it’s much easier to lose weight and keep it off forever.

Adhering to a sensible weight loss diet plan, like the Mediterranean style, along with self hypnosis means you can finally overcome your cravings to attain the body of a Greek god or goddess.

Alan B. Densky, CH developed the use of video weight loss through hypnosis and received a U.S. Patent on the technology. His hypnosis authority site offers several different weight loss hypnotherapy programs designed to fit every problem. Visit for Free hypnosis videos, newsletters, and articles.

Do you know which foods are high enough in fiber to help you reach the recommended level of 25-35 grams of fiber every day? Here are 5 easy ways to remember which foods to eat for at least 25 grams of fiber in your daily diet.

1. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious Pink Lady, Granny Smith and McIntosh apples each provide around 5 grams of fiber.

Apples are quite possibly, the easiest, high fiber foods to eat. There are many varieties to choose from, and in a few minutes you can quickly pick up 5 grams of fiber. No cooking or preparation required, except for a little rinsing. You can eat them on the go, in the car, at work, or even in bed. Of course we all have heard, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. The choices are plenty, they’re relatively inexpensive and apples provide a perfect source of nutritional fiber in a convenient, ready to eat package.

2. “Beans, beans, good for your heart…” Black beans provide as much as 7g of fiber per quarter cup of dry beans. A quarter cup of Pinto Beans ring up a hefty 12g of fiber per serving and Garbanzo Beans are the tops with 9g of fiber per 1/4 cup serving.

Yes, it’s true, beans are good for your heart and they are really good food to eat for their high fiber content. Very few foods with as much nutrition are as versatile, economical and flavorful as beans. There are many ways to prepare beans or to order them while dining out. Soups often provide a good source of beans. You may even enjoy a few beans in a salad, or try the ever popular, rice and beans. Fast food chains sometimes have bean burritos, bean chili, or salads with beans on the menu.

3. “Breakfast is the most important meal”. A bowl of shredded wheat, a piece of toast with multi grain bread, or an all bran muffin are wholesome high fiber food choices for breakfast. Each one can give you 3-5g of fiber or more and they are easy to prepare.

It may or may not be the most important meal, but breakfast is usually the first opportunity to start your day with plenty of fiber. Orange juice and apple juice go nicely with an all bran muffin for fiber first thing in the day.

4. “Shake it up and go”. Get 5g of fiber in a cold, delicious chocolate or strawberry shake.

Now, it’s easy to find, on the Internet, some high quality health drinks that provide excellent sources of soluble fiber. In fact, one high fiber protein drink even provides FOS, fructooligasacharides, a pro-biotic soluble fiber that is typically found in foods like onion, garlic, oats, and barley. High fiber health drinks make it easy to mix up a delicious shake with a few pieces of frozen banana or other fruit, for a cold, creamy, tasty way to start the day with 5g of fiber.

5. “High fiber food is good for your mood”. When you eat plenty of fiber you feel better. Try a high fiber food bar for a quick snack any time of day and feel good about yourself without the guilt of snacking on junk food.

People eat candy bars, power bars, and all kinds of bars that offer little or no fiber. If you are going to eat a meal replacement bar or a healthy snack, then why not eat one with plenty of fiber? A high fiber food bar should give you at least 4g of fiber in a serving. If it doesn’t, then it isn’t worth the calories. You can find them on the Internet, but not in convenience stores. Look for “all natural high fiber food bars” to get the most nutrition and the most fiber for your dollar.

Methionine is one of the 10 essential amino acids which cannot be manufactured in the body, and must therefore be obtained from the diet. Like other amino acids, methionine is vital for the formation of the countless proteins which make up not only the body’s dry tissue, but many of its vital enzymes. Logically enough, as it is an essential component of protein, it is protein foods which are the best source of dietary methionine. Meat, poultry, fish and dairy products are known as first class proteins because they contain all of the essential amino acids. A diet containing a good supply of each of these food groups should normally provide sufficient amino acids, including methionine, for most purposes, but vegetarians can also achieve satisfactory intakes through careful food combining.

Particular attention, however, has been focussed on methionine as the precursor of s-adenosyl methionine, also known as SAM or SAM-e, a compound produced naturally in the body by the metabolism of methionine. S-adenosyl methionine was isolated in Europe in the 1950s, and has been used there as a prescription drug, but it has only very recently been seen as a food supplement in the US. A large number of biochemical reactions are known to require its presence, including the transmission of nerve impulses between cells. Conventional medical opinion insists that healthy people should obtain all the SAM-e they need for these purposes from their intake of dietary methionine, but various clinical or sub-clinical conditions may affect the body’s ability to metabolise SAM-e in this way.

In particular, the brains of sufferers from depression have been observed to be deficient in s-adenosyl methionine as well as serotonin, the so-called “feel-good” hormone. There is some good research evidence from Europe that supplementation with between 800 and 1,600 mg per day of SAM-e increased serotonin levels, significantly improved the condition of patients suffering from moderately severe clinical depression, and was also helpful in some more severe cases. This research appears to validate the long standing practice of methionine supplementation by psychiatrists interested in the possibilities of nutritional therapy.

So there appear to be encouraging grounds for believing that methionine or SAM-e may be useful alternatives to conventional drug therapies in some cases of depression, and may offer similar benefits without the side effects of drugs.

But depression is only one of the conditions for which s-adenosyl methionine appears to offer therapeutic value. There’s also good evidence from European studies that supplement doses similar to those used to tackle depression may be useful in tackling problems with liver function, including hepatitis and even cirrhosis. And given SAM-e’s apparent potential for boosting emotional and psychological health, it has been suggested by some therapists that it may be useful in the rehabilitation programs of alcoholics and drug addicts.

At least one large scale study has shown the anti-inflammatory effects of s-adenosyl methionine to provide to relief from the symptoms of osteo-arthritis, and there are some more speculative grounds for believing that it may also be of benefit to sufferers from Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

Orthodox medical opinion, however, insists that more research is required before the potential value of s-adenosyl methionine for any of the above conditions can be definitively established. While these concerns may appear to reflect undue caution, it is certainly true in any case that supplements of methionine or any other amino acid should not be taken in isolation for any extended period of time because of the risk of creating an imbalance.

And importantly, in the case of s-adenosyl methionine, it needs to be noted that there is a potential risk of supplementation leading to a build up of homocysteine. This is another amino acid produced naturally in the body, but excess levels of which are known to be a factor in increasing the risk of cardiovascular and related diseases. Fortunately, however, this is a risk which may be easily avoided simply by ensuring a generous intake of the B vitamins, folic acid, B6 and B12. And, as always with the B complex, these do not function correctly in isolation, so that a good dietary supply of the entire complex is also required.

With this important caveat, and although its potential benefits have perhaps been exaggerated in the media, it does appear that supplementation with s-adenosyl methionine may be worth trying for sufferers of the specific conditions highlighted above, whose natural levels of methionine and SAM-e are likely to have been depressed both by their condition itself and other factors.

Your organs, systems, and cells run on glucose, a sugar molecule you burn to produce the energy you need. You get this necessary glucose from carbohydrates, which are composed of units (molecules) of sugar.

As soon as you eat high-carb foods, you digest – separate –the compound inti its sugar units. As you can see from the “Classifying carbohydrates” side-bar, some of these sugar units are plain glucose. Others are compounds such as sucrose, which can be broken apart quickly into more glucose.
Insulin – an enzyme secreted by your pancreas – moves the glucose into your cells. If you need the glucose for instant energy, your body burns it right away. If you have enough glucose for your immediate needs, the extra supply on hand is converted to glycogen (“animal starch) and tucked away as stored energy in your liver and muscle cells, which can accommodate about 400 grams (ounces) of glycogen.

One gram of carbohydrates has 4 calories, so a quick multiplication (4 x 400) shows that you can store approximately 1,600 calories of energy as glycogen. If you take in more carbs than you can store as glycogen or glucose, the rest becomes stored fat (ugh!)

In addition to giving you energy, carbs also do the following for your body:

* Regulate the amount of sugar circulating in your blood.
* Protect your muscles
* Influence your mood

Carbs And Blood Sugar

Healthy people produce enough insulin to process all the sugars from the carbs they consume. Folks with certain metabolic problems such as diabetes do not produce enough insulin to carry all the glucose into their body cells. As a result, the glucose continues to circulate in their blood stream until it is excreted through the kidneys. (One way to check for diabetes is to test the level of sugar in urine)

Other people can’t digest carbohydrates because they lack the specific enzymes they need to break the bonds that hold a carbohydrate’s sugar units together. The best known example is lactose intolerance, an inability to digest the sugar in milk. Nearly three-quarters of all adults (other than those from northwest Europe) are deficient in lactase, the enzyme that splits lactose (milk sugar) into glucose and galactose. The undigested lactose provides a rich banquet for intestinal bacteria, which chomp away on it an excrete gas which people with this particular problem gassy.

Some recent weight loss programs such as Sugar Busters! Base their dietary recommendations on the assumption that eating carbs provokes your body to release lots of insulin, which makes you hungrier, makes you eat more and make you gain weight.

Healthy people can cope with high-carb diets. But if you have a metabolic disorder, you should seek your physician’s advice in setting up a diet – don’t merely rely on pop diet book.

Carbs and your muscles

Carbs protect your muscles and a carb deficient diet can cause your body to burn its own protein tissues (muscles) for energy. A diet that provides sufficient amounts of carbohydrates keeps your body from “eating” its own muscles, so a diet with enough carbs is sometimes labeled “protein sparring”.

Carbs and your mood

Yes, indeed milk and cookies will make you feel mellow. So will pasta. Or a sweet roll. Forget what you’ve heard about sugar pepping you up. All carbs, including sugar, are super calmer-downers.

Your emotional responses arise from the transmission of impulses between nerve cells in your brain. To transmit impulses, these cells require chemicals called neurotransmitters (neuro = nerve) to be present in the liquid surrounding the cells.

The neurotransmitters (dopamine, norepinephirene, and serotonin) are made from tyrosine and trytophan, amino acids (components of proteins) found abundantly in protein foods. Tyrosine is the most important ingredient in dopamine and norepinephrine, the “alertness” neurotransmitters. (This explains why a high protein meal makes you feel alert and peppy) trytophan is the most important ingredient in serotonin, the “calming” neurotransmitter.

All amino acids get to your brain eventually, but tyrosine usually zips up there way ahead of trytophan. But when you eat carbs, which provide glucose, your pancreas releases that old reliable insulin, which – in addition to pushing glucose into your body cells – keeps tyrosine circulating in your blood. As a result, trytophan can slide into your brain to increase your production of serotonin. And voila! After a meal of starchy high-glucose pasta, you’re calmer. Or, some people complain, too mellow to clinch a deal at lunch.

How many carbohydrates does it takes to make this happen? One ounce of sugar plus two ounces of protein food are enough to groove your mood. And maybe increase the odds of you sticking to your weight loss plan.

Jin is a 29 year old Singaporean who managed to cut his weight from 65 kg to 56 kg in almost 2 months. He applied a very advanced and effective weight loss program available on the internet right now. To learn more, please visit:

www.nofatplease.com

High quality liquid vitamins and nutritional supplementation is essential to make up the deficit of nutrients in our food. The transition from pill form to liquid vitamins and minerals is taking place and the wave of the future for the health industry and nutritional supplements is liquid vitamins. These vitamins are digested as they pass through the intestinal tracts and the step of breaking down the pills is eliminated. Liquid Vitamins are much better absorbed than pill vitamins while pills are more taxing on your digestive system and much harder to swallow! They also help you achieve better health much faster than pill form. A recent study showed that while 98% of liquid vitamins are absorbed by your body, only 10-20% of pill vitamins are absorbed. Are you starting to see the importance of liquid vitamins and minerals?

Maximum absorption is always key when it comes to liquid vitamins. Why should you use a liquid supplement? Pills will not always digest, but the liquid is absorbed through the blood stream. The main reason why liquid vitamins are more effective than pills and tablets is due to the nature of their liquid base. Medical studies have shown that pills and capsules only have a 25%-40% absorption rate at the cellular level, while liquid nutritional products exceed a 90% absorption rate. In most cases your vitamins will come in other flavors to appease the palate. Feed your 300 million new cells the nutrition they need to thrive with a complete,good tasting and powerful liquid vitamin available. A person with acid-refux disease is going to have a harder time with liquid vitamins because of the high concentration of acid built up. These liquid dietary supplements are high potency formulas you can count on. Multiples (in liquid form) give your body more daily vitamins and minerals through whole food vegetation (than pills).

Today’s health and nutrition is not what it used to be and is headed no where fast. Whether you are in good health or not, proper nutrition is essential for good health. Health is a major concern in the United States, from vitamins and minerals, to the proper nutrition and intake, it is hard to get the proper amount of nutrition you need everyday from just the regular foods you intake. Like all of us, we take vitamins with the intention of getting good nutrition, but when they are pushed out of our system virtually undigested then that creates a problem. with the fast paced world we live in today, it’s hard to get the right vitamins, minerals, and nutrition into our body everyday. The body’s cells are always starved for proper nutrition.

Supplementation of liquid vitamin nutrition is the secret to protecting you and your family against disease, staying healthy and looking and feeling youthful. Whether it is helping people to quit smoking (the #1 preventable cause for sickness and death in the civilized world) — Help with solutions for weight loss and obesity (the #2 preventable health threat) — Cleaning up our endangered and irreplaceable fresh water supplies with our extraordinary laundry detergent alternative — Or simply getting the proper comprehensive nutrition to stay healthy with potent liquid vitamins.When it comes to our health goals, many of us fall short of the basics. The key is to eat well and to supplement your diet with healthy amounts of a variety of important nutrients. These nutrients also assist the body in expanding oxygen production, assisting clear flow through vessels, promoting healthy cholesterol and homocysteine levels, as well as enhancing mental clarity and recall. Vitamins are necessary in today’s world. The toxins in our air to the water we drink, we need to protect ourselves and enjoy the best possible health! I hope this will give you a guide for better health for you and your family.

NEW YORK  - Reuters Health

 Stents coated with the drug sirolimus are safe and effective for treating elderly heart patients with blocked coronary arteries, according to a new report.

For elderly patients undergoing angioplasty with insertion of stents to prop open their coronary arteries, the risks are 2- to 4-fold higher than for younger patients, the authors explain in the American Heart Journal.

The so-call sirolimus-eluting stents, which go by the brand name Cypher, have been shown to reduce the chance of arteries becoming blocked again, and therefore the need for another operation. However, so far, there has been limited experience using the stents in patients older than 75 years.

Dr. Marcus Wiemer from University Bochum, in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany and colleagues compared outcomes in 954 patients older than 75 years with 5801 younger patients enrolled in the German Cypher Registry.

The team found that the mortality rate in the hospital was higher in the older patients (1.0 percent) than in the younger patients (0.3 percent), but there was no significant difference in heart attacks or the need for repeat procedures.

After 6 months, the overall mortality was 3-fold higher in the elderly group, but both groups showed significant improvement in symptoms, the report indicates.

The investigators say even between octogenarians and patients younger than 80 years old, there were no differences in hospital deaths or major adverse coronary events after 6 months.

These results provide “strong evidence that sirolimus-eluting stent implantation in the elderly and in very old patients is feasible and … should be recommended,” the authors conclude.

“A common concern of doctors and patients that the elderly will have more problems or side effects during or after interventions” was not seen in this study, Wiemer told Reuters Health.

He explained that even these newer stents don’t improve the prognosis for people with coronary artery disease, “but we can improve the symptoms significantly.”

Angina caused by coronary disease is not only painful, “it causes fear of death,” he continued. To deny elderly patients treatment that eases these symptoms is “unethical.”

SOURCE: American Heart Journal, October 2007.

Wrinkles are a fact of life. They come with age and there is no stopping them. The simple truth is, that when you get one wrinkle, more are sure to follow. There are steps you can take when you first start to see the fine lines that outline your eyes and mouth.

Whether you choose expensive cosmetic surgery or try the over the counter remedies, your main focus should be on how well the procedures or creams work for you.

You should understand that there are a number of different options available to you when it comes to wrinkle reducing remedies. Taking proper care of your skin can also assist you in reducing wrinkles.

The most important thing that you can do to take care of your skin and prevent wrinkles is to stay out of the sun. If you enjoy being outdoors, as many people do, then use a sunscreen at all times. As pleasant as the sun feels on your skin, it can cause more damage than anything else by depleting your skin of moisture. The ultra violet light of the sun has also been proven to cause skin cancer.

Keeping your skin clean is a crucial step to reduce the chances of getting wrinkles. Cleansing creams may be a little more expensive than regular soap, however you will notice the results when your skin has a healthy glow. You need a cleanser that will clean your skin without drying it out. If your skin is already dry, you will need a cleanser that has a moisturizer in it. Using a product with an exfoliant in it will remove the dead layers of skin keeping it at its healthiest. When follow a good cleansing regimen, you will find that your skin will continue to look and feel healthy.

You have probably heard all of your life to eat your vegetables. This is in fact one of the best things that you can do to keep your skin healthy. Green leafy vegetable contain large amounts of antioxidants which clean your blood and get rid of free radicals that have been determined to cause many different types of illnesses. By getting rid of these aggressors, you are assisting your body to produce clean healthy skin.

When you develop a regimen for skincare, it will have to be followed everyday. Preventing wrinkles is not a one-time treatment; you will have to do it for the rest of your life. Healthy skin needs attention everyday to maintain its health. If you fail to follow the regimen, then you will ultimately get more wrinkles.

As facial plastic surgery becomes progressively more common and increasingly more affordable, a larger percentage of the general population are beginning to have it done.

There was a time when only the rich and well-to-do got facial plastic surgery, because only they could pay for it. These days, though, as facial plastic surgery becomes progressively more common and increasingly more affordable, a larger percentage of the general population are now starting to have it done.

The bringing back of a youthful look or the improvement of a particular facial feature is not seen as a big deal anymore. Nevertheless, if you are contemplating any category of facial plastic surgery, you should contemplate your choices carefully. Plastic surgery is a serious undertaking no matter what kind of plastic surgery you have performed, and before you make any final decision to have it done you need to know all the relevant details and, with a bit of luck, have a certain plastic surgeon in mind.

A lot of of the facial plastic surgery completed at present is done as an elective process. A party may feel uncomfortable regarding some facial attribute or want to moderately enhance their appearance with plastic surgery. This can be a considerable confidence booster for certain individuals, but they all the same need to understand what to expect concerning the outcome of their plastic surgery.

Problems related to plastic surgery can comprise difficulties with evenness, infection, swelling and in very rare cases death. Thus it is important to select your plastic surgeon carefully in the same manner you would any health professional. One good way to get more of an idea of what your plastic surgery will involve is to find a person who has had similar plastic surgery recently carried out.

I’ve written many times in the last couple years about the mistaken beliefs in society about saturated fat and the false perception in the media AND with MOST health professionals that saturated fat is bad for you.

If you’ve seen in some of my articles, I’ve even showed you why saturated fat can even be GOOD for you in some cases, despite every health/fitness professional in the world just accepting the false belief that it’s bad for you.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to FINALLY see a big name publisher have some guts to publish an article about why everyone in the world may be wrong about their beliefs about saturated fat.

I received my new issue of Men’s Health magazine over the weekend, and they have a huge 6-page article in there about the faulty research in the past about saturated fat, and some new emerging research that is showing why it may actually be more good for you than you would believe.

I’ve got to give them credit… the article was VERY well researched and put together beautifully to summarize where the studies in the past have gone wrong, and why recent studies are showing that everyone may have been wrong for the last 5 decades about saturated fat.

I’d highly suggest you read the entire article if you can. If not, I’m going to try to give you a quick summary of the findings here since it was a long article…

First of all, did you realize that although doctors, nutritionists, fitness professionals, and the media all have told you that it’s a FACT that saturated fats are bad for you, this “FACT” has actually never been proven!

It’s actually not a “fact” at all. It was a hypothesis! This goes all the way back to a flawed research study from the 1950’s where a guy named Ancel Keys published a paper that laid the blame on dietary fat intake for the increasing heart disease phenomenon.

However, there were major flaws to his study. For one, in his conclusions he only used data from a small portion of the countries where data was available on fat consumption vs heart disease death rate. When researches have gone back in and looked at the data from all of the countries, there actually was no link between fat consumption and heart disease deaths. So his conclusions were actually false.

Second, his blaming of fat intake for heart disease was only one factor that was considered. There was no consideration of other factors such as smoking rates, stress factors, sugar intake, exercise frequency, or other lifestyle factors.

Basically, his conclusions which blamed heart disease deaths on fat intake were really just a shot in the dark about what a possible cause may have been, even though all of those other factors I just mentioned, plus many others, may be the bigger cause.

Unfortunately, Keys study has been cited for over 5 decades now as “fact” that saturated fat is bad for you. As you can see, there certainly is nothing factual about it.

Since that time, numerous other studies have been conducted trying to link saturated fat intake to heart disease. The majority of these studies have failed to correlate ANY risk at all from saturated fat. A couple of them made feeble attempts at linking saturated fat to heart disease, however, it was later shown that in those studies, the data was flawed as well.

Do we actually have evidence that saturated fat may actually be good for you instead?

Well, let’s consider a few examples…

Did you know that there are several well known tribes in Africa… the Masai, Samburu, and Fulani tribes… where their diet consists mostly of raw whole milk, tons of red meat, and cows blood? Despite their very high saturated fat intake, they display extremely low body fat levels, and heart disease to natives of the tribe is virtually non-existant.

Now most critics of this example will say that it must be related to superior genetics… however this is false, as when they studied tribesman who had moved out of their native lands and started eating more modern day diets, their blood chemistry skyrocketed with heart disease risk factors.

This is true of certain pacific island countries inhabitants as well. Several studies have shown that certain pacific island nations had VERY high intakes of total fat as well as saturated fat from tropical fats such as palm, coconut, and cocoa. Despite super-high intakes of saturated fat, these island natives were typically very lean and heart disease was virtually non-existant.

However, when researchers followed up with islanders that had moved away from their native island and adopted a typical western diet, the heart disease factors were through the roof.

In fact, did you know that although saturated fat intake does increase your LDL bad cholesterol, it actually increases your HDL good cholesterol even further, hence improving your overall cholesterol ratio, which has been proven to be more important that just total cholesterol level (actually total cholesterol is an almost useless number… inflammation is the REAL problem, but that’s a whole different topic).

Another fact worth noting in favor of saturated fat…

Saturated fat is comprised of various different types… the 3 most common types are stearic acid, palmitic acid, and lauric acid.

Stearic acid is found in animal fat and cocoa in higher levels. Research continues to show that stearic acid has no negative impacts on heart disease risks. If anything, it’s either neutral or beneficial. In fact, your liver breaks down stearic acid into a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid, which is the same type of fat that makes up most of heart-healthy olive oil. Bet you didn’t know that!

Lauric acid is beneficial as well. Not only has it been shown to increase your HDL good cholesterol levels significantly, but it is also lacking in most Americans diet and has even been shown to have some powerful immune-boosting effects potentially. It is even being studied currently in HIV/AIDS research to help improve immune function in patients.

Tropical oils such as coconut and palm are the best sources of lauric acid.

Palmitic acid is the other main component of saturated fat and has also been shown to increase HDL good cholesterol to the same, if not greater extent than LDL bad cholesterol, thereby making it either neutral or beneficial, but certainly not bad for you.

So, if all of these researchers have tried so hard over the years to point the finger at saturated fat, but have continued to fail to show a correlation between saturated fat and heart disease risk, what are the REAL culprits for heart disease?

Well, here are the REAL causes of heart disease risk:

*Trans fats (artificially hydrogenated oils)

*Heavily refined vegetable oils such as soy, cottonseed, corn oil, etc. (inflammatory inside the body, and typically throw the omega-6/omega-3 balance out of whack)

*Too much refined sugar in the diet (including high fructose corn syrup)

*Too much refined starches such as white bread, low fiber cereals, etc

*Smoking

*Stressful lifestyle

*Lack of exercise

*Other lifestyle factors

So why does it seem that so many attempts over the years have tried to lay the blame on saturated fat… do you think it might have anything to do with the muli-billion dollar vegetable oil industry, which has taken over for cooking oils for what used to be mostly animal fats and tropical oils in decades past…

Hmm… do multi-billion dollar industries really have an influence on the way data is portrayed to the public? I think you know the answer to that! And don’t even get me started on the cholesterol meds industry! Again, I digress.

I hope this article has opened your eyes about the truth about saturated fat and how you’ve been misled over the years.

The true FACT is that saturated fat is a neutral substance in your body, and even beneficial at times, not a deadly risk factor for disease. The REAL risk factors are what I listed above.

Keep in mind that this does NOT mean that eating 5 pounds of bacon for breakfast every morning is good for you, and you should only eat foods high in saturated fats. Rather, you still need a to strike a balance for optimal health… this means fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, healthy meats, eggs, and small amounts of whole or sprouted grains.

Again, animals raised in an unhealthy manner are not good for you… this is the case with most commercially raised meat and grain fed meat. On the other hand, wild game meats, grass fed meats, free range chickens and eggs (preferably organic) are healthy animals, and therefore the meat is generally healthy for us with better omega-3 to omega-6 ratios than standard meats.

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