Another option for lipoprotein testing

9. June 2006 William Davis (0)

For those of you who have been frustrated in trying to get your lipoprotein analysis performed, here's another option.

The Life Extension Foundation at www.lef.org provides access to the VAP test, or Vertical Auto Profiler. This is the lipoprotein test run by the Atherotech company in Birmingham, Alabama. The name refers to the method used, a form of centrifugation, or high-speed spinning of your blood (plasma) to separate the various components by density.

This is a fine technique that works well. Though our preferred method is NMR (www.Lipoprofile.com, Liposcience Inc.), the Atherotech VAP is a reasonable alternative.

If you go through the Life Extension process, they will direct you to blood draw sites in your area. They charge $185 for Life Extension members, $247 for non-members. (Membership in Life Extension costs $75.) Drawback: No billing for health insurance reimbursement.

A full description of the significance of lipoproteins can also be found in my article posted on-line at the www.lef.org website at http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2006/may2006_report_heart_01.htm
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Speaking availability

Speaking availability

3. February 2009 William Davis (5)
Just a quick announcement:

If you would like to hear more about the concepts articulated in The Heart Scan Blog or in the Track Your Plaque program, I am available to speak to your group.

Among the possible topics:

Return to the Wild: Natural Nutritional Supplements That Supercharge Health
Why this apparent "need" for fish oil and other heart-healthy supplements? I discuss why some nutritional supplements make perfect sense when we are viewed in the context of primitive humans living modern lives, while other supplements do little.


Shrink Your Tummy . . .or, Why Your Dietitian is Fat!
Weight loss doesn't have to involve calorie counting, deprivation, or hunger pangs. But the conventional "rules" for weight loss and health have to be broken.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Extraordinary Heart Health
Heart health is something that you can seize control over, something identifiable, correctable, and . . . reversible. Much of this can be achieved with little or no medication, nor procedures. I detail all the enormously empowering lessons learned through the Track Your Plaque program.


I can also present in-depth yet entertaining discussions on the power of vitamin D, natural cholesterol control, screening for heart disease, and similar topics covered in the blog.

To learn more, just e-mail us at contact@trackyourplaque, or call my office at 414-456-1123.
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Comments (5) -

  • TedHutchinson

    2/3/2009 12:14:00 PM |

    For the benefit of your overseas readers is there any possibility you could produce a CD or DVD of your talks?
    I enjoyed the Jimmy Moore interviews you did and would happily pay for more.

  • Dr. William Davis

    2/3/2009 1:27:00 PM |

    Hi, Ted--

    Thanks for asking.

    We do make the talks available (though not the ones listed specifically) as webinars on the www.trackyourplaque.com with membership to the site. The webinars are included as part of membership.

    We are putting together an introductory webinar right now.

  • steve

    2/3/2009 5:44:00 PM |

    when is the update to the track your plaque book going to be available?  i assume it will contain the information you would provide in talks and cover some of the topics you just mentioned

  • Dr. William Davis

    2/3/2009 10:40:00 PM |

    Hi, Steve-

    The re-release of the revised Track Your Plaque remains up in the air, due mostly to some rather prolonged negotiations with publishers on another project.

    I'm aware that new information needs to be shared. We may need to change plans at some point, depending on how negotiations go in the next few months.

  • Lucy

    2/22/2009 2:14:00 AM |

    I appreciate the humor in your title, Doc, but you're not helping the situation but putting your fellow clinicians down.  Not all dietitians worship at the altar of the ADA/AHA or preach "low-fat" diets.

    - a skinny dietitian

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Heart disease reversal is getting easier and easier

Heart disease reversal is getting easier and easier

28. April 2006 William Davis (0)
I've recently observed that more and more of our patients on the Track Your Plaque program seem to be stopping or reducing their heart scan scores. And they're doing it faster, in less time, and with larger drops in score.

I'm not entirely sure why the sudden surge in success. However, I do wonder if adding therapeutic levels of vitamin D--at least in our generally sun-deprived Wisconsin participants--is responsible. However, we've also gotten a lot smarter on how to correct the parameters that seems to have outsized effects on plaque growth, especially small LDL.

Yesterday alone, we had two people we added to our list of successes. One, an attorney, stopped his score in one year, with no change (compared to the expected increase of 30%). Another, a woman from the northeast, dropped her score 10% in one year. Her story is remarkable for beginning at a score >1000. In general, the higher your starting score, the longer it takes to stop or reduce it.

These are just two examples. It seems to be happening at an accelerating pace.

I can only hope that our surge in success (not 100%--yet!) will continue. But, every week, we're adding more and more people to our list of success stories.
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Dr. Ornish: Get with the program!

Dr. Ornish: Get with the program!

30. June 2006 William Davis (2)

In the era up until the 1980s, most Americans indulged in excessive quantities of saturated fats: fried chickem, spare ribs, French fries, gravy, bacon, Crisco, butter, etc.

Along came people like Nathan Pritikin and Dr. Dean Ornish, both of whom were vocal advocates of a low-fat nutritional approach. In their programs, fat composed no more than 10% of calories. This represented a dramatic improvement--at the time.


In 2006, a low-fat diet is a perversion of health. It means over-reliance on breads, breakfast cereals, pasta, crackers, cookies, pretzels, etc., the foods that pack supermarket shelves and that now constitute 70-80% of most Americans' diet.

Dr. Ornish still carries great name recognition. As a result, his outdated concepts still gain media attention. The June, 2006 issue of Reader's Digest, in their RDHealth column, carried an interview with Dr. Ornish in which he reiterates his fat-phobia.

However, on this occasion he takes a different tack. This time he rails against the "dangers" of fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids. "I've recently learned that omega-3s are a double-edged sword...In some cases, omega-3s could be fatal."

He goes on to say that, while he believes that fish oil may prevent heart attacks, it has fatal effect if you already have heart disease.

Does this make sense to you?

He's basing his views on a single, obscure study published in 2003 conducted in rural England that showed an increase in death and heart attack on fish oil. Most authorities have not taken these findings seriously, since they are wildly contrary to all other observations and because the study had some design flaws.

Despite the fact that this isolated study runs counter to all other, better-conducted studies seems not to matter to Dr. Ornish.

Clinging to the low-fat concept is like hoping 8-track tapes will make a comeback. It's not going to happen. We enjoyed the benefits while they lasted, appropriate for the era. But now, they're woefully outdated.

The overwhelming evidence is that fish oil provides tremendous benefits with little or no downside. In the Track Your Plaque program, fish oil remains a crucial supplement to gain control over your coronary plaque and stop or reduce your heart scan score. Ignore the doomsday preachings of Dr. Ornish.

(Watch for an article I wrote updating the benefits of fish oil for Life Extension magazine.)
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Comments (2) -

  • Anonymous

    1/15/2008 9:49:00 PM |

    Fish oil is the snake oil of the 21st century.  Dr. Ornish has it right on that score, and adding the empty calories of any "fat," including fish oil is counterproductive.  There is nothing to be gained health wise from excess fat, which is the primary source of most chronic diseases.  Try your 30% fat calorie diet on a professional athlete and watch his endurance decline.  The nutritional recomendations of the Olympic committee is MAX 10% calories from fat.  Get OFF the program!

  • Dr. Davis

    1/15/2008 10:39:00 PM |

    I strongly disagree. We use fish oil to correct triglycerides, among other patterns. Triglycerides are raised substantially by an Ornish-like program. In other words, they exert opposite effects.

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