New York Buyers’ Club - The Blog

We return to this excellent guide published in 2007 by Hyla Cass, a practicing physician and expert on integrative medicine.

In Chapter 4 of the book, Dr. Cass reviews recent findings that call into question the idea that dietary cholesterol causes cardiovascular disease. In line with the current scientific thinking on this subject, she suggests looking at underlying inflammation as essential to any understanding of risks to heart and circulatory system health. As a consequence, she says, people who want to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease should consider dietary changes that are anti-inflammatory (that is, a diet high in antioxidants, anti-inflammatory herbs, and antioxidant-rich foods–that’s colorful fruits and vegetables, curry, turmeric, rosemary, ginger, green tea, dark chocolate, low-toxin fish like salmon or sardines).

Statin drugs, though they come with some side effects, have proven of benefit to certain groups of people with cardiovascular complications, including diabetics, those who have had a heart attack, and those diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. Like many others, Dr. Cass recommends supplementing with CoQ 10 if you’re taking statins. She also supports use of omega-3 fatty acids (from fish oil), niacin (though not recommended for diabetics), plant sterols, tocotrienols (a form of the antioxidant vitamin E), and D-ribose for controlling cholesterol and otherwise countering cardiovascular disease. In addition, the B vitamins are recommended to help lower homocysteine, high levels of which are associated with artery damage and increased risk of heart disease.

Citation: Hyla Cass, M.D., Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know About Nutrition (Basic Health Publications, 2007).

Curcumin is an extract of the kitchen spice turmeric, the main ingredient in curry. It’s also among those traditional botanicals that in very recent times have been the subject of new scientific interest. (Several National Institutes of Health studies of curcumin have been conducted or are currently underway.)

Here’s a capsule history from the NYBC entry on Curcumin:

“…Curcumin’s use dates back to the time of Egyptian pharaohs and Indian rajas more than 6,000 years ago. A tall, stemless, perennial plant cultivated throughout the tropics, especially in India, China and Indonesia, turmeric is what gives curry its unique flavor and color; but in addition to its kitchen uses, curcumin has been used by traditional medicine for liver disease (particularly jaundice), indigestion, urinary tract diseases, blood purification, inflamed joints (rheumatoid arthritis), insect bites, dermatological disorders and as an atherosclerosis preventative. Although the chemical structure of curcumin was determined in 1910, it was only during the mid 1970s and 1980s that the potential uses of curcuminoids in medicine began to be extensively studied.”

There’s more about the anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin in the NYBC web entry, where you also find information on dosing recommendations. Note that curcumin has also been studied in recent decades for its anti-cancer properties, as well as for its usefulness to people with HIV.