heart disease Archives

Improve Your Blood Pressure With Prebiotics

We never tire of reminding you about the benefits of prebiotics, the unsung heroes of good gut health.

Derived from carbohydrates and non-digestible plant fibers, prebiotics are commonly known as the food that feeds the bacteria in your microbiome.

More recently, prebiotics have taken center stage for a multitude of reasons, including their natural cancer-fighting abilities and their use as a sleep aid.

Add lowering blood pressure to that list of important prebiotic benefits, according to findings appearing in Nature Cardiovascular Research.

Just Like A Drug

Australian researchers at Monash University conducted a small trial of 20 patients that compared the benefits of taking a high-fiber supplement (20 grams of a resistant starch) contained in meals twice a day to an inert placebo separately for three weeks.

Among the criteria for participating in the study, all patients were required to be untreated for hypertension. Over the course of the trial, patients also maintained dietary diaries and tracked their blood pressure numbers multiple times each day.

The real difference noticed by researchers was more than a 4-point drop in overall systolic blood pressure numbers among patients during the high-fiber phase of the study.

The benefits of this decrease in blood pressure alone were equal to a patient taking blood pressure medication along with lowering the risk for death due to coronary issues by 9 percent and stroke by 14 percent.

How did systolic blood pressure numbers drop so much? Scientists believe taking a high-fiber supplement increased production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and bacteria in the gut that produces them.

Where We Go From Here

Despite the good news reported in this study, Australian scientists believe larger studies will be needed to confirm these findings.

But considering that nearly half of all Americans suffer from hypertension (having a systolic blood pressure reading above 130 or a diastolic blood pressure reading above 80), knowing there’s a non-drug solution that can go a long way toward protecting the health of your gut too is very appealing.

However, you don’t need fiber supplements to take advantage of these extra benefits. In fact, you only need to consume 25-35 grams (about 1 ounce) of prebiotic, non-soluble fiber each day to make a healthy difference.

You can get your daily dose of prebiotics and some extra cardiovascular protection when you take EndoMune Advanced Probiotic, formulated with 10 battle-tested strains of beneficial bacteria from Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families and the proven prebiotic fructooligosaccharides (FOS).

Resources

Nature Cardiovascular Research

Nutra Ingredients Asia

Improve Your Blood Pressure With Prebiotics Read More »

Fruits and vegetables spread out on a table

Can Dietary Fiber Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease?

Diet, Disease / By @drHoberman

Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease: Dietary Fiber on Your Brain

How much dietary fiber you eat each day reveals a lot about how healthy your body and your gut really are…

Unfortunately, less than 10 percent of all American adults eat the amount of dietary fiber their bodies need to maintain their good health, according to recent findings from the American Society For Nutrition (ASN).

This dietary fiber deficit has led to serious health problems related to the heart (inflammation and circulatory issues), not to mention diabetes, that often start in the human gut.

Add an elevated risk of Alzheimer’s disease to the growing list of health problems related to a lack of dietary fiber, according to researchers at LSU Health New Orleans.

The Inflammatory Path to Alzheimer’s

LSU scientists recently discovered the pathway that a potent neurotoxin — lipopolysaccharide (LPS) — takes from its creation in the gut to the brain in a study appearing in Frontiers in Neurology.

Considered the most inflammatory class of neurotoxic chemicals in the human body, many laboratories have detected different forms of LPS in the neurons of brains harmed by Alzheimer’s disease, says Dr. Walter Lukiw, co-lead researcher on this study and a professor at the LSU Health School of Medicine.

Based on their work with human and animal brain cells, scientists learned LPS generates a “messenger molecule” that travels from the gut through the bloodstream and to the brain, where it shrinks cells, increases inflammation and robs neurons of their signaling abilities, Lukiw says.

Although this new information has the potential to offer new treatments for neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s, the better news here is that we can lessen the production of LPS in our bodies very simply by increasing the daily amount of fiber we eat in our daily diets.

More Fiber and Healthier Brain

So, if eating more fiber is good for your gut and your brain, how much do you really need and where do you get it?

Generally, men need a bit more dietary fiber (30-38 grams) than women (21-25 grams) depending on their ages (people over age 50 require a little less fiber).

Eating about 30 grams of fiber may sound challenging, but it really amounts to 1 powerful ounce of protection for your health. And, it’s very doable if you enjoy nutrient-dense whole foods like fruits (raspberries and mangoes), vegetables (green beans, cauliflower), legumes (chickpeas and lentils), oats and mushrooms.

But that’s not all you can do, especially if you want to give your gut and your health some extra protection…

Taking a probiotic with proven strains of beneficial bacteria from the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families and a prebiotic like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic does a lot of good behind the scenes by enhancing the natural fermentation of fiber that feeds your gut and protects your brain!

References

Frontiers in Neurology

NOLA.com

LSU Health New Orleans

American Society For Nutrition

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The Aging Gut 101

Diet, Disease, Healthy Aging / By @drHoberman

The Aging Gut 101: Healthy Aging, Healthy Gut

“Does my gut age just like the rest of me?”

We get this question a lot, especially from older folks who are starting to understand the connection between the gut and their health in ways that matter directly to them, like maintaining their bones and preserving their cognitive skills.

The simple answer: The composition of bacteria in your gut evolves with time just like your body. Your microbiome develops rapidly from infancy to age 3, stabilizes through middle age, then changes rapidly later in life, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Those changes can be a good thing. In fact, the more your gut bacteria evolves as you age, the better your overall health may be, based on recent research appearing in Nature Metabolism.

Your Evolving Gut

This study compared a wealth of data on human health along with gut microbiome genetic sequencing data on more than 9,000 patients ranging from ages 18-101.

However, the real focus of the research team (led by scientists at the Institute for Systems Biology) was a subset of more than 900 older patients (ages 78-98) to better understand the makeup of their microbiomes and how they matched up with their overall health.

To the good, older adults whose microbiomes kept evolving enjoyed better overall health, as evidenced by lower levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, higher vitamin D levels and more beneficial blood metabolites produced by the gut (including one that reduced inflammation and extended lives in previous animal studies).

Not only did those with more unique microbiomes feel better, they experienced greater overall mobility and could walk faster than their peers whose gut health didn’t change as much with age.

To the bad, patients with less diverse microbiomes took more medications and were nearly twice as likely to die during the course of the study.

Scientists also learned that microbiome uniqueness was more prevalent among women, which may go a long way toward explaining why women often outlive men…

Your Diet Matters

So, what drives microbial evolution and longevity among seniors? The healthiest patients with the most dramatic shifts in their microbiomes experienced steep drops in Bacteroides, a species commonly found in people who eat more processed foods and far less fiber.

When patients eat less fiber, the Bacteroides in their guts have little to eat which can trigger an immune response leading to chronic inflammation and an array of age-related conditions from arthritis to heart disease.

These results certainly mirror previous articles we’ve shared about the many health benefits of dietary fiber, especially if you want to maintain a resilient, healthy gut microbiome that evolves as you age.

How much fiber your body needs every day to maintain optimal health depends on your gender — men need a bit more (31-38 grams) than women (21-25 grams) — and the quality of your diet.

Are You Taking A Probiotic?

If you’re having challenges getting enough fiber, taking a daily probiotic formulated with proven strains of beneficial bacteria and a prebiotic can do a lot of good.

Taking a probiotic with a prebiotic may also reduce low-grade inflammation. This was the key finding in a recent review of studies appearing in Nutrients.

One of the real benefits of taking a probiotic comes from the production of butyrate (short-chain fatty acids created when your gut digests soluble fiber) that reduces chronic low-grade inflammation in your gut.

If you’ve been looking for a good probiotic, find one with multiple strains of beneficial and proven bacteria from the Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus families plus a prebiotic that feeds the good guys in your gut, like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic.

Resources

National Institute on Aging

Nature Metabolism

New York Times

Gut Microbiota For Health

Nutrients

Nutraingredients Asia

The Aging Gut 101 Read More »

Illustration of a gut, a heart, and a brain all connected by a dotted line. Text: The Gut's connection to stroke

The Gut Connection to Stroke

Diet, Disease, Healthy Aging / By @drHoberman

The Gut Connection to Stroke

Many of you know about the connection between poor diets rich in fats, red meat and processed foods and the cluster of problems that trigger metabolic syndrome.

Conditions such as high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and extra body weight around the waist are manageable on their own. That is, until they manifest as a group leading to metabolic syndrome.

When they do, your risks of even more serious cardiovascular problems, like stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, escalate dramatically.

Did you know the gut has a direct connection to metabolic syndrome and poor cardiovascular health? This may increase your chances of a severe stroke and other serious health problems afterward?

Here’s how…

The TMAO Problem

When we consume foods or drinks high in choline (red meat, eggs, high-fat dairy products) and L-carnitine (red meat and some energy drinks), our gut bacteria breaks them down into trimethylamine (TMA).

Then, TMA is converted by the liver to TMAO (trimethylene N-oxide), a metabolite that has been linked to the narrowing or obstruction of arteries and increases in blood clots, leading to a higher risk of heart attack and stroke.

Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic have spent more than a decade examining how the gut microbiome affects our cardiovascular health with findings that have yielded significant insights about TMAO.

A recent Cleveland Clinic study determined the dual presence of elevated TMAO and choline was enough to produce, not only strokes of greater size and severity, but more challenging post-stroke functional impairments.

Scientists came to these conclusions after transplanting fecal samples from human patients with high or low levels of TMAO into germ-free mice.

Over the course of the study, animals receiving fecal transplants with higher levels of TMAO had more of it in their bloodstreams and experienced more extensive brain damage in multiple stroke models as well as greater post-stroke motor and cognitive deficits.

What’s more, the presence of bacteria containing CutC, a key enzyme related to choline that drives TMAO production in the gut, was enough to more than double stroke severity and worsened functional outcomes by as much as 30 percent.

What You Can Do About It

Based on our previous article about the problems associated with the Paleo Diet, a diet focused on more meat or Western diet staples like highly processed foods, creates the ideal environment for bad gut bacteria that generate unhealthy amounts of TMAO and lessen the impact of beneficial bacteria.

Fortunately, there’s some easy steps you can take to protect your gut and cardiovascular health from harm. For starters, increasing your intake of dietary fiber by just 1 ounce (30 grams) in your diet can help you lose weight and reduce your cardio risks.

Besides adding more fiber to your diet, taking a probiotic fortified with multiple strains of beneficial and proven bacteria from the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic, can do a great deal of good to promote the natural fermentation process that protects your gut.

References

Cell Host & Microbe

Cleveland Clinic/Consult QD

Cleveland HeartLab

SelfDecode

Mayo Clinic

The Gut Connection to Stroke Read More »

Your Gut May Protect You From Too Much Salt

Diet, Digestive Health / By @drHoberman

Are you eating a diet heavy in processed or fast foods? Chances are good you’re eating way too much salt and setting yourself up for a lot of cardiovascular problems.

You’re already thinking, “I never touch a salt shaker at dinner or when I’m eating out.” More than 75 percent of the salt you consume hides in the processed foods you eat on the run or in a restaurant, according to the American Heart Association.

The average American consumes about 3,400 milligrams of salt every day, nearly 50 percent more than the 2,300 milligrams (1 teaspoon) recommended by most health experts.

Left unchecked, all of that extra salt in your body is a silent force that can lead to high blood pressure and, in time, heart disease, which leads the list of the top 10 causes of death among all Americans.

You probably won’t be surprised to learn all that extra salt harms your gut health too. But, a recent study on animals and human subjects appearing in Nature – a team-up between researchers at MIT and Berlin’s Max Delbruck Center and Charite – offers a bit hope.

Previous work has shown how a high-salt diet harms the body’s immune system by increasing the production of Th-17 cells that trigger inflammation and elevate a patient’s risks of hypertension.

For this new study, researchers sharply increased the salt intake of mice (eight times) and 12 healthy men (nearly three times) for two weeks apiece compared to healthier diets to determine how their bodies would react.

In both sets of tests, the composition of gut bacteria in mice and men changed for the worse with drops in Lactobacillus. These declines were also marked by expected increases in inflammatory Th-17 cells and higher blood pressure.

Interestingly, when probiotics containing Lactobacillus were introduced the collective gut and cardiovascular health of both sets of test subjects improved rapidly too, underscoring a link between salt and gut bacteria.

(Both EndoMune Advanced Probiotic for adults and EndoMune Jr contain multiple strains of beneficial bacteria, including Lactobacillus).

Extra salt harms your brain

According to researchers, heart disease may not be the only health issue affected by excessive salt intake either, as the uptick in inflammation may trigger the development of autoimmune diseases similar to multiple sclerosis.

A more recent study on salt appearing in Nature Neuroscience tied the accumulation of Th-17 cells in the gut (they produce proteins that suppress nitric oxide which reduces the supply of blood to the brain) to damaged neurons and cognitive problems related to the gut-brain axis.

“We discovered that mice fed a high-salt diet developed dementia even when blood pressure did not rise,” said senior author Dr. Costantino Iadecola, director of the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI) and the Anne Parrish Titzell Professor of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine, according to a press release.

“This was surprising since, in humans, the deleterious effects of salt on cognition were attributed to hypertension.”

Despite the restorative power of probiotics mentioned in the MIT study, researchers were concerned consumers might take them in hopes of canceling out the effect of eating of salty, fatty foods.

Yet, as we’ve seen in previous reports documenting the production of TMAO (trimethylene n-oxide), the gut is much more strongly connected to heart disease than many experts previously assumed.

Probiotics certainly aren’t “magic pills” that can cure any disease, but even the experts have come to appreciate the many ways the gut touches all parts of human health.

Taking a probiotic, ideally with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria like EndoMune, is quickly becoming a must if you want to protect your health, safely, effectively and naturally.

Your Gut May Protect You From Too Much Salt Read More »

friends cheering their glasses of wine over plates of food

How Aphrodisiacs can Help Fight Disease

Diet, Digestive Health, Women’s Health / By @drHoberman

There has been a lot of recent interest among food researchers investigating the health benefits of resveratrol, an antioxidant found naturally in red wine, dark chocolate, peanuts and some berries.

As we’ve talked about previously in this space, good gut health is one of the variables that allows resveratrol-rich foods like dark chocolate and red wine to offer some pretty nifty advantages, like sharpening your brain.

Consuming resveratrol-rich foods may also be responsible for these perks by making changes to your gut health, according to a pair of reports related to protecting your cardiovascular system from disease.

Resveratrol vs. diabetes

A fascination about the benefits of resveratrol piqued the curiosity of Dr. Jason Dyck, who has spent years studying this antioxidant at the University of Alberta.

Previous studies found resveratrol benefited the health of diabetic patients by lowering their blood sugar levels, but scientists didn’t understand how because resveratrol levels circulating throughout the human bloodstream are so low.

That is, until Dyck and his research team examined how resveratrol affected the gut microbiomes of mice in a study appearing in the medical journal, Diabetes.

In step one, feeding obese mice resveratrol for six weeks was enough to change the makeup of their tiny microbiomes and improve their tolerance to glucose.

The positive results from stage two of their study – giving new healthy mice fecal transplants from that previous group of diabetic mice – were far more dramatic, rapid and impressive than feeding them resveratrol alone.

“We performed fecal transplants in pre-diabetic obese mice and within two weeks their blood sugar levels were almost back to normal,” says Dr. Dyck, according to a press release.

After some deliberation, scientists concluded this gut health change may be the result of one or a group of metabolites that could be triggering healthy changes in blood sugar levels.

“It’s going to take a herculean effort to find what that molecule is,” says Dr. Dyck. “Maybe it’s one, maybe it’s a combination of four or five, or maybe even a hundred. We don’t know, but we intend to find out.”

Resveratrol vs. heart disease

Resveratrol may also play an important role in reducing the production of TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide), an natural gut byproduct that promotes heart disease by triggering the accumulation of plaque in the arteries by gut flora, according to a report appearing in mBio.

A group of Chinese researchers fed mice bred to have an elevated risk of developing atherosclerosis food with or without resveratrol for 30 days. Then, the mice were fed TMA (trimethylamine) or choline to trigger any unhealthy reactions.

Resveratrol had a very similar calming effect, not only on TMAO levels, but the production of TMA in the gut that generates TMAO. Additionally, feeding mice resveratrol also increased levels of various bacterial species, including Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

Too much of a good thing

Before you start stocking up on resveratrol-rich foods, it’s important to remember too much of a good thing can cause health problems too.

For example, increasing your resveratrol intake by eating dark chocolate is OK, so long as you don’t overdo it. Be sure you’re eating minimally processed dark chocolate that contains high percentages of cocoa.

Consuming wine, along with beer and baked goods, can also be a problem for your gut, as these foods contain sulfites that can inhibit the growth of beneficial bacteria in your gut if you’re not careful.

Feeding your gut by taking a probiotic like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic, with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria may shield your heart health from cardiovascular diseases, like diabetes and chronic inflammation too.

How Aphrodisiacs can Help Fight Disease Read More »

Protect Your Gut From Fatty Holiday Foods

Diet, Digestive Health, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Many of us can’t wait for the end of the year, if for no other reason than to satisfy our year-round cravings for eggnog, prime rib, dressing, pecan pie and other fatty holiday foods.

Eating those holiday foods in excess as many of us do during the season comes with an unhealthy price to pay in adding extra pounds, not to mention harming our gut.

A recent study featured in Cell Reports goes a long way toward describing how the gut may predict the damage you do to your body merely by eating excessive amounts of high-fat foods.

High-fat diets: No ho, ho, ho!

Previous studies have found that people eating the same high-fat diets — the major culprit in an array of health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, obesity and stroke — react differently. Some may suffer from less or more problems than others.

Researchers fed genetically similar mice healthy foods and screened urine samples for compounds produced by their gut bacteria, establishing a baseline of healthy chemical profiles.

Once those same lab animals were switched to fatty foods, their tiny bodies reacted just like their human counterparts, with some becoming less tolerant to glucose (an early sign of diabetes) while others gained more weight.

Follow-up analyses of urine samples taken from mice after feeding them fatty foods changed too, predicting signs of unhealthy changes in weight, glucose and behavior.

In fact, the presence of one very popular chemical produced by the gut — trimethylene n-oxide (TMAO) — was a sign of glucose issues, not to mention heart disease.

“We tend to believe that obesity is caused by bad genes or by bad genes interacting with bad environment,” says Dr. Dominique Gauguier, a senior investigator on this study based in Paris, according to a press release.

“Our findings indicate that an organism’s gut microbiome can drive the adaptation to dietary challenges in the absence of genetic variation.”

These results are only the beginning, as researchers plan to embark on a larger, more in-depth clinical trial on 2,000 human patients that will go further toward forecasting how people react to differing diets and how gut health drives their overall health.

The long-term goal: Generating chemical profiles from urine and blood samples that may offer guidance on what diets are most supportive for a patient’s optimal health.

Until that comes…

What we do know right now is that maintaining a healthy balance of beneficial gut bacteria is critical in protecting your body from cardiovascular diseases like diabetes, based on the findings of a Danish study we’ve discussed previously.

That same study also found that patients who had less diverse gut microbiomes carried more fat on their bodies and experienced more inflammation in their digestive tracts, making them more vulnerable to cardiovascular diseases.

The holiday season is full of gatherings with friends, family and lots of fatty seasonal foods that can add inches and pounds to your waistline and disrupt the diversity of your gut in no time if you overindulge too often.

Keeping your portion sizes small and eating healthier foods rich in fiber can do a lot of good for your body and keep off those extra pounds.

Taking a multi-species probiotic, like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic with 10 distinct species of beneficial bacteria, can also go a long way toward protecting the diversity of your gut and your overall health too.

Protect Your Gut From Fatty Holiday Foods Read More »

Probiotics may lower the risk for heart disease? Research says, ‘yes’!

Disease, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Every year nearly 735,000 Americans have a heart attack. Of these, 525,000 are a first heart attack and 210,000 happen in people who have already had a heart attack. While these numbers are staggering, the first step towards fighting cardiovascular problems and lowering cholesterol levels starts with a living a healthy lifestyle that includes a balanced diet, daily exercise along with adding a probiotic supplement.

Further research and studies conducted on probiotics show that gut health can be related to the heart. A healthy gut with a rich flora of life-supporting bacteria can mean the prevention of many health issues, even preventing and treating heart ailments.

Research shows probiotics can lower the risk for cardiovascular disease by limiting two risk factors:

A new Cleveland Clinic study links a particular type of metabolite called Trimethylamine (TMA) N-oxide or TMAO as a recently discovered independent risk factor for coronary artery disease and strokes. This chemical interacts with the lining of our arteries leading cholesterol plaques. Harmful intestinal bacteria breakdown a chemical called choline that is in egg yolk, liver, beef, and pork. The breakdown metabolite called TMA is converted by the liver into TMAO.

TMAO: The New Culprit

High plasma levels of TMAO correlated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events that is independent of traditional risk factors like hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), smoking and hypertension. The authors of the study recommend limiting the intake of the choline containing foods and adding a beneficial probiotic that will reduce the harmful bacteria that metabolize choline. “This is a very exciting study,” said Dr. Crandall. “It gives us a brand new way of looking at heart disease. It also opens an avenue for new tests and treatments.”

The discovery of the heart disease-causing bacteria might explain why about half of those who die of sudden heart attacks have no known risk factors for heart disease, like high blood pressure, cholesterol or diabetes, he noted.

Lowering circulating blood total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol)

In another study from the American Heart Association, researchers tracked cholesterol esters bound to saturated fat, which has been linked to dangerous arterial plaque buildup and occurs at higher levels in coronary artery disease in patients.

The study involved 127 adult patients with high cholesterol. About half the participants took a probiotic called Lactobacillus reuteri NCIMB 30242 twice a day while the other half of the group were given placebo capsules. Those taking the probiotic had LDL levels 11.6 percent lower than those on placebo after nine weeks. Furthermore, cholesterol esters were reduced by 6.3 percent and cholesterol ester saturated fatty acids by 8.8 percent, compared with the placebo group.

Scientists have proposed that Lactobacillus bacteria alone may impact cholesterol levels in several ways, including breaking apart molecules known as bile salts which results in lower production of cholesterol by the liver.

If you are struggling with cholesterol-related health problems or are on a weight loss program that isn’t working for you, consider meeting with your medical practitioner and adding a high quality probiotic like EndoMune to lessen risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Probiotics may lower the risk for heart disease? Research says, ‘yes’! Read More »

Could a Mediterranean diet help your heart and gut?

Diet, Disease / By @drHoberman

Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is a trouble-making metabolite produced by the liver after your gut bacteria digests animal protein that contributes to heart disease.

You may be familiar with our reporting on TMAO, as a number of researchers have targeted it, most recently using allicin, a sulfur-based compound in garlic, to reduce its chemical footprint and improve cardiovascular health significantly.

The goal: Develop safer ways to treat TMAO without resorting to antibiotics that promote the depletion of good and bad bacteria in the gut.

Previously, scientists had also tried unsuccessfully to stop the process by inhibiting host enzymes that converted trimethylamine (TMA) into TMAO until liver damage was detected.

A second TMAO-related study conducted by the Cleveland Clinic has discovered another way to fight atherosclerosis/heart disease by targeting gut molecules with DMB, a chemical compound contained in foods associated with the Mediterranean Diet.

This chemical is naturally found in grape seed oils, balsamic vinegars and cold-pressed extra virgin olive oils, according to the study appearing in Cell.

In testing on mice predisposed to atherosclerosis that were fed a choline-rich diet, DMB cut TMAO levels sharply by limiting the formation of TMA.

Two more important advantages of DMB:

Unlike antibiotics, DMB didn’t wipe out gut bacteria and limited the amounts of some microbes linked to higher levels of TMA. This could mean gut bacteria may not develop a resistance to DMB, unlike antibiotics.
DMB would work differently than drugs like Lipitor that lower cholesterol, as it would target gut bacteria, not human cells.

Should human trials by successful down the road, researchers believe this could lead to other investigations, and the development of a drug.

“If we replicate our findings in upcoming human studies, this could be a whole new approach to the treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases,” says senior study author Dr. Stanley Hazen, according to a press release.

“In the meantime, our findings suggest that it might not be a bad idea to consume a Mediterranean diet to help stave off heart disease and other health problems.”

Adding a healthy amount of dietary fiber to your diet along with a multi-strain probiotic, like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic, also offers greater protection from cardiovascular disease.

Could a Mediterranean diet help your heart and gut? Read More »

Guard Yourself Against Heart Disease With Probiotics

Disease, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Heart disease is caused by cholesterol-rich diets, right?

New research has shown that this common misconception may not be entirely true. Although science has not conclusively found the exact cause of heart disease, researchers have found connections between gut infections and heart disease. More so, scientific investigation into gut infections and heart disease has illuminated the consequences of a “leaky” gut.

A “leaky” gut, or a gut wall that becomes easily penetrable, is caused by several factors, including stress, over-eating or infections. Once the gut wall becomes “leaky,” it releases endotoxins into the blood stream that embed themselves inside tissue, eliciting damages.

Fermented foods and probiotics, like EndoMune Advanced, contain several strains of healthy bacteria that can heal a “leaky” gut wall, lower inflammation and decrease the risk of contracting heart disease.

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