I get the point about the Lp(a).  

But I wonder about the hormonal effect of a *lot* of running.  Does all that running that raise cortisol levels?

Does the carb-loading that many athletes practice (increased insulin production) contribute to increased disease risk?

I totally disagree. While, exercise at moderate amounts is obviously very beneficial, extreme amounts of exercise are counterproductive. Too much exercise causes a person's body to age much quicker.

Why? It is a fact that extreme amounts of exercise causes one's body to utilize massive amounts of oxygen. Too much oxygen has been proven to cause massive free radical production. This is seen in hyperbaric chambers.

The same thing happens when a person eats too much. The food we eat turns into energy ("oxidizes") and in turn produces massive amounts of oxygen. That's why caloric limitation is the only thing that has been absolutely proven to extend life and slow aging.

High free radical production equals aging (damage to cells). While eating in moderate amounts is healthy and necessary, too much is bad. The same thing applies to exercise.

So what you're basically saying is that everyone should have a Lp(a) test, even if we are of healthy weight, athletic, and  even if we follow the TYP program?  My GP already thinks I'm a hypochondriac, lol.

"Exercise at moderate amounts..." now that phrase will conjure up as many definitions as there are people who exercise.   No one would think that a daily 30 minute walk would yield nearly the same level of health benefits as a daily 30 minute intense weight training session.  But then it's amazing how many mainstream "fitness gurus" designate the former activity as all that anyone needs.

Okay, after we have a couple blood tests, and if they show elevated Lp(a), then what?  The only accepted treatment is 1 to 2 grams/daily of nicotinic acid, and maybe antioxidant supplements like C, E, and N-acetyl-cysteine, which I already take.

David, any references to back this theory up? We all know there must be a balance between enough (eliciting a hormetic response) and too much (damaging the body) exercise, but I'm not sure there's any evidence actually showing where the *exact* border lies, i.e. proving that X amount of exericse accelerates intrinsic and/or extrinisic aging while Y helps.

There are a world of treatments for Lp(a) reduction.

They are fully discussed in detail on the Track Your Plaque website, the website that this blog is mean to supplement.

"Extreme exercise" - whatever that is - causes accelerated aging?  And the evidence for this is...?

And I am also to believe that "over-exercising" is akin to over-eating?

I have heard such nonsense before. It just surprises me to read it here.

I am a big follower of your findings and think they can really make a difference in our lives.  But hope you share this information and not require we pay for it.

Anonymous--

I have personally put over $100,000 of my personal money to put this website up. Programmers need to be paid, though none of my staff are paid. There are also the costs of doing business, e.g, attorney fees, etc. This is a fairly costly operation, though nobody gets a salary.

So I am personally shocked by attitudes that "I'll only do it if it's free." Free is what you get at WebMD, where the information is paid for by the drug industry. We do not take any money from the drug industry nor supplement industry. We pride ourselves on providing unbiased information. But somebody's got to pay the bills. I personaly got sick and tired of it. Putting in many hours a week for no financial return is my contribution.

Kismet,

Yes, its quite simple. Oxidative stress=aging/cell damage


1. Overeating causes massive oxidative stress/premature aging. http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/extract/337/14/986

2. Extensive exercise such as Marathon running drastically increases oxidative stress/aging:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16923247

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ncs/newsarch/2002/Feb02/stress.htm

A few oxidative stress & exercise related articles:

http://www.ebmonline.org/cgi/reprint/222/3/283.pdf
http://www.anakarder.com/sayilar/29/2006-141-142.pdf
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/72/2/670S.pdf
http://www.academicjournals.org/ajb/PDF/pdf2009/4Feb/George%20and%20Osharechiren.pdf
http://driade.es/comunicacion/uploads/CSIC/SGFR/FPallardo/Sastreetal2003.pdf
http://plaza.ufl.edu/cleeuwen/CMC8.PDF

Sorry, my previous comment was intended for anonymous.

As far as how much is too much in relation to exercise before it becomes counterproductive, that is yet to be deciphered.

Distance runners tend to be huge on "healthy" low-fat (high-carb) diets, usually involving lots of high-fiber whole wheat products.

Nuff said.

The Oregon study referenced above studied ultramarathoners.  (I could not retrieve the other pubmed reference).


Is there evidence  that immediate post-exercise "damage" is predictive of long-term adverse outcomes?

Anonymous,

There are actually many other studies that have well proved that the more exercise one does, the more free radical pathology (cell damage/oxidation) occurs. Just how much is enough, no one knows exactly, but we do know it dramatically increases once our antioxidant enzymes (eg. glutathione, superoxide dismutase, etc.)are overtaxed.

Now, how does does oxidative stress and cell damage correlate with degenerative diseases? Well, two reasons, which are somewhat based on logical assumptions:

1. Cell damage to the artery wall is the essence of atherosclerosis. (Many actually suggest that oxidation is a chief player in inflammation).

2. It is generally agreed by all that caloric restriction dramatically increases lifespan. The 'Caloric restriction,' principle is not necessarily related to being overweight or obese. Neither is it related to healthy or non-healthy food consumption. Neither is it an overeating/under-eating issue. Caloric restriction is simply limiting the amount of energy producing foods (especially carbohydrates) for anybody, thin or heavy, which in turn, drastically impacts the health of that person.

The question we have to ask ourselves is this: Why? Why does caloric restriction play a part in prevention of degenerative disease? One of the main answers scientists have suggested is oxidative stress.

David, what you do is commonly called "mechanistic speculation" -- I'm not saying you are wrong, but strictly speaking your guess is as good as mine: the point still stands, there is certainly a line whereafter exercise becomes damaging, but none of the provided references helps to us draw that line when it comes to *long term* health.
Damage per se is not a good marker of anything due to hormesis. Aging would be defined as a build-up of *long-lived* damage that cannot be fixed by the cellular machinery; it's a tricky definition of a tricky problem after all.

Damn! This exactly describes certain members of my family. I suspect one of the danger factors in excessive cardio level exercise is that they then fuel it with massive carb intakes, thus undoing all the benefits.

I'm with Mark Sisson

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/

Kismet,

I think it's safe to say that marathon running would be an example of too much exercise.

Heart  disease is one of the most  dangerous disease which takes thousands of life every years all over the world. If we know its symptoms and Treatment for heart disease. We can prevent is to large extent.

There are actually many other studies that have well proved that the more exercise one does, the more free radical pathology (cell damage/oxidation) occurs. Just how much is enough, no one knows exactly, but we do know it dramatically increases once our antioxidant enzymes (eg. glutathione, superoxide dismutase, etc.)are overtaxed.

Heart  disease is one of the most  dangerous disease which takes thousands of life every years all over the world. If we know its symptoms and Treatment for heart disease. We can prevent is to large extent.

My total cholesterol was 236 two months ago, and my HDL was 155. My numbers have been like this for fifteen years or so (I'm 45), but when they lowered the threshold for prescribing a statin from 240 to 200, my doctor wanted me on a statin. I got a CAC scan and got a score of 42, so I knew I had to do something. I decided to try diet changes first, eating a lower fat diet but still eating moderate amounts of meat. I also took fish oil, Vitamin D, and a multivitamin/mineral supplement. Today, I got the results from my latest blood test, and my total cholesterol is 162, LDL 95, HDL 47, triglycerides 90. The doctor didn't mention taking a statin this time. I plan to get another CAC scan after a year.

I was wrong. My doctor wrote a note on my blood test - he still wants me take a statin "to reverse existing plaque."

Thanks for the post Dr.

In my case when I started on fish oil capsules for Omega 3, my Uric Acid increased from 5.5 to 8.0.

In this case, can I go for Cod liver oil? Does fish oil and Uric Acid have any connections based on your experience?

Thanks in advance

Venkat

Doctor Davis,

Did the patient lose weight? Belly fat specifically?

Do you ever recommend additional iodine to patients that might already be getting 100% of the RDA via a multivitamin?

JohnM

Good for you Dr. Davis for your efforts to prove that you can achieve equal or better cholesterol results by simply using nutritional supplements instead of drug therapy that comes with all the nasty side effects.

How did the iodine or Armour Thyroid affect his blood pressure? My understanding is that these can cause an increase.

How long, do you suppose, will we have to wait for a study comparing outcomes for statin use vs. a regime that includes fish oil, vitamin D, niacin, and a wheat-free, sugar-free diet? If we ever see such a study, will it make any difference?

It was just announced that in Canada we spend $2 billion a year on statins, and I can't tell you the number of times I've printed off "Evidence for Caution: Women and Statin Use" for friends whose physicians want them to take statins.

Any increase from the improved thyroid function is very likely offset by the reduction in total blood volume that follows a normalization of insulin levels.  When your insulin levels drop, your kidneys stop retaining sodium and your blood pressure will usually fall.

Dr. Davis- I'm going to try eliminating wheat for four weeks as you recommend. Is beer okay (in moderation)? What about spelt? Thank you.

I have had a remarkable reversal of my ill health, due to the diet of evolution, as you so eloquently proselytize for.  I just had to replace my Cardiologist, because he chooses to ignore your principles and practices.  My Nephrologist, Dr. Kenneth Tourgeman, who reads you every day, writes as you do, a very riveting and informative blog "nephropal.blogspot.com" stopped many of my medications including Staten's, and of course raised the hackles of my old Cardiologist.  He has since referred me to a Cardiologist with his and your same views.  You and he, along with a few other brave hearts are fighting the good fight. Health care through low carb and a healthy high saturated fat diet, supplemented with high dose Vitamin D3, high dose fish oil, and super Vitamin K2.  Keep up the great work. We out here in the medical wilderness, give thanks for you revolutionary doctors who are curing disease instead of just treating it.

Kurt - your doctor is a mindless statinator. Was your HDL originally 155 - that is astronomical (or was that LDL).  Explore Dr. Davis's trackyourplaque website and then join.  You should get HDL up above 60, and trigs down to 60 or less.  Cutting wheat and fructose out or largely so will kick the Hell out of the trigs, and there are many other things to consider for reducing plaque besides statins.  Your heart scan scores are far more important as a measure of heart health than your LDL number, and your second heart scan tells you more about the effectiveness of your program than your first or than any lipid panel.  Your 47 HDL says to me you are not taking enough fish oil -- get it to at least 3000 mg of DHA and EPA combined per day (not just 3000 mg of fish oil).

Barkeater

Barkeater-
I screwed that up. Originally, my LDL was 155, now it's 95. My HDL is 49 (not 47, as I wrote).

I have upped my fish oil 50%. I cut sugars out years ago, but I haven't tried cutting wheat out of my diet yet.

What I'd like to do is try various diet changes and get tested after each change to see what's working, but I'm in New York, where the law won't let me go out and get my own cholesterol test.

Kurt,
This device works great.
costs about $5.00 per individual test so $15.00 to test trig, total chol and hdl (ldl is calculated)

http://cardiochek.com/

An Appeal for Support and Conformation of Adverse Effects

My daughter has lived with ALS like symptoms for almost 3 years. The worst of the symptoms began when her simvastatin was increased to 80mg in 2008.
Her MRI’s show LESIONS in the brain stem, specifically in the PONS area of her brain.
Of course, her 4 physicians refuse to believe that statin is involved. They are all satisfied with the diagnosis of “Ataxia”.

My Appeal is to all those who have similar brain lesions as shown and documented in MRIs. Please reply.

To Anonymous (who left the comment above entitled Appeal For Support): You could go to www.spacedoc.net for information about ALS as a statin side effect. Print out the relevant pages and show them to your daughter's physicians. If they're not willing to consider that your daughter's debility may be linked to statins, why don't you fire them and find her a new doctor?

Matt's doctor had advised that he avoid salt, as his blood pressure had been borderline high. His thyroid assessment disclosed a TSH of 3.89 mIU/ml with thyroid hormones free T3 and free T4 in the lower half of the normal range.

Dr. Davis,
My husband, 39, has a family h/o cardiac disease which took his grandfathers life at age 45.    Now, he has 30-50% blockage in a LAD artery at the mid point, and 30% blockage at the outer portion.  With diet and exercise changes, along with chinese herbs for the past 3 months his LDL has decreased from 132 to 119.  He has not added fish oil, niacin, Vit D, or red yeast rice to his regimin yet.  He has lost 15 # so far. Dr pushing Zocor.  What do you suggest?

Thanks.
m&B

The statin-free life is real, it's just the matter of what you need more - life without statins or the regular tasty but unhealthy food that you love.  And I'm pleased to read that so many people care about this.  I was prescribed simvastatin and I've been taking it for some months as my doctors instructed although I felt fine. And only then (I know it was silly) I bothered to google for simvastatin side effects.  I was really scared  about myopathy because I often had muscle cramps even before I started to take simvatsatin and I never cared about it.  So I decided to stop with statins, even though my doctor insisted on taking them, and just excluded a number of products from my diet - meat, fat cheese, all cholocale, candy and white sugar, bread, cakes, etc, and totally switched to fruit, veggies, cereals, nuts, cottage cheese, honey, steamed potato, etc. I also used flax seed - the taste reminds me of fish, I love it. Now my cholesterol is normal, I lost many pounds and squeezed into my 10-year-old jeans. I'm not taking statins and I'm not going to get off this diet - i got used to it.  I also wrote about this (a bit outdated now) and this was not an attempt to persuade anyone in anything, just my experience. I understand that food is a real sourse of pleasure for many people and the diet is a real torture incomparable with statins.  It's just that I'not that kind of person and I hate being dependant on meds. Statins are just the price we pay for our pleasures.

I really appreciate finding this source of information.  As a health care provider, I have seen a number of patients who have suffered needlessly because they chose to follow the statin lifestyle suggested by their PCP rather than changing their diet and supplementation.  I am convinced more than a couple actually died from the complications of the drugs.  Thanks for providing this resource.  I would like to offer your readers this article for their consideration.

Dr. Charles L. Foster
chiropractor, Rutland, VT

http://www.fosteringwellness.net/doctor/chiropractor/10304S/chiropractic-Rutland/cholesterol.htm

I had a patient who developed ALS after taking the same drugs.  Funny her ALS went away every time she stopped the drugs (3 times) but returned whenever she started them again.  Her doctor insisted that she would die of heart disease if she didn't take the meds.  Well, she took them and didn't die of heart disease.  I suppose he was right.  He told her to find another doctor if she wouldn't take his recommendations.  She paid with her life.  Supposedly she died of ALS.

By the way, we were treating her for some of the other side effects, muscle weakness, joint pain, loss of balance.  During her medicated periods, she couldn't walk in her yard.  Her husband bought her a John Deere lawn tractor so she could visit her gardens and get about the yard.  When off the meds, she could ambulate on her own.  Tragic

Dr. Charles Foster
Chiropractor,  Rutland VT