Eliminating Heart Disease Naturally Thru Nitric Oxide Therapy

Archive for Endothelium

6 Key Ingredients That Optimize Nitric Oxide Production

Posted by Dan Hammer //

08/22/2019

There are 6 key ingredients that can help you optimize nitric oxide production. Nitric oxide is key to your vascular health as it helps you enjoy the following benefits:

Improved Blood Flow By Relaxing the Smooth Muscle of the Vascular Wall

Reduce Your Risk for Strokes and Heart Attacks by Keeping Blood Platelet Cells From Sticking Together

Helps to Initiate Repair Mechanisms to Heal Damage to Your Vascular System

All of these benefits are important to your cardiovascular health. Which means learning how to optimize nitric oxide production also helps you harness these benefits for improved health.

To help you learn which 6 ingredients are key to nitric oxide production, I’ve recorded a video that will walk you through this process. Enjoy!

And for those who prefer to read the information, I’ve summarized it below the video.

Endothelial Health Equals Cardiovascular Health!

Posted by Dan Hammer //

08/15/2019

When was the last time anyone ever asked you about your endothelial health?

NEVER!

It’s estimated that there are approximately 60,000 miles of blood vessels in the adult body. These blood vessels include arteries, veins, and capillaries. They’re all protected by a microscopic inner lining of endothelial cells. What is commonly called the endothelium.

It’s important to note that these cells line the entire circulatory system. From the inside of your heart all the way down to your smallest capillary. When added up, the volume of these endothelial cells would cover the surface area of 4 to 8 tennis courts depending upon the size of the individual.

That’s amazing since the endothelium is only one cell thick and can’t be seen by the human eye.

Once discovered, the endothelium was classified as an inert membrane whose primary function was to keep the blood in the circulatory system and out of the body’s tissues and organs.

Research over the last 25 years has shown that your endothelium is an active, multi-functional tissue that plays a vital role in metabolic, immunologic, and cardiovascular health.

Or is your endothelium an organ? Read More →

Heart Health and Walnuts

Posted by Dan Hammer //

08/08/2019

Who would have thought there could be a connection between heart health and walnuts. Yet recent research shows that not only is there a strong connection between heart health and walnuts but that this connection also benefits the endothelium, which lines and regulates your cardiovascular system.

If you’ve been following my articles you know that I’m a firm believer in endothelial health and function for improved cardiovascular health. Now organizations like WebMD and Life Extension are highlighting the benefits of heart health and walnuts. Here are excerpts from recent publications from these two outstanding organizations.

What WebMD Says About Walnuts and Heart Health!

“Walnuts are the No. 1 nut for heart health, says a researcher who presented his findings Sunday at the American Chemical Society annual meeting. That’s because walnuts were found to have more antioxidants – and better-quality antioxidants – than other popular nuts tested, says Joe Vinson, PhD, a researcher at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.”

According to Dr. Vinson, “Twenty-eight grams of walnuts (an ounce) have more antioxidants than the sum of what the average person gets from fruits and vegetables.”

According to Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, “Studies show that walnuts improve cardiac risk factors and enhance blood flow.”

Click here to read the complete WebMD article entitled “Walnut May be Top Nut for Heart Health”

What Life Extension Says About Heart Health and Walnuts!

In the August issue of Life Extension, William Faloon discusses the health impact of walnuts in his editorial entitled “FDA Says Walnuts Are Illegal Drugs!” Specific to walnuts and heart health, William Faloon had this to say:

“The March 4, 1993, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine published the first clinical study showing significant reductions in dangerous LDL and improvement in the lipoprotein profile in response to moderate consumption of walnuts. Later studies revealed that walnuts improve endothelial function in ways that are independent of cholesterol reduction.

One study published by the American Heart Association journal Circulation on April 6, 2004, showed a 64% improvement in a measurement of endothelial function when walnuts were substituted for other fats in a Mediterranean diet.

As most Life Extension members are aware, the underlying cause of atherosclerosis is progressive endothelial dysfunction. Walnuts contain a variety of nutrients including arginine, polyphenols, and omega-3s that support the inner arterial lining and guard against abnormal platelet aggregation. These favorable biological effects explain why walnut consumption confers protection against coronary artery disease.

The US National Library of Medicine database contains no fewer than 35 peer-reviewed published papers supporting a claim that ingesting walnuts improves vascular health and may reduce heart attack risk.”

For the complete editorial by William Faloon from the August 2011 issue of Life Extension please click here.

Walnuts – An Ideal Snack!

Given the above information it makes sense to use walnuts as a heart healthy snack. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture an ounce of walnuts contains 185 calories, 4 grams of protein, nearly 2 grams of fiber, and 18 grams of “heart-healthy” fat.

The most popular snack in America is potato chips. According to the Fat Secret website one ounce of potato chips contains 155 calories, 1.86 grams of protein, 1.2 grams of fiber, and 10.6 grams of fat.

Comparing the two snacks, walnuts are going to give you twice as much protein, almost twice as much fiber, and healthy fats that benefit cardiovascular health. Plus the extra protein and fiber will help to hold your appetite over a longer period of time. This will result in better energy and less hunger going into your next meal.

I also want to thank Life Extension for confirming what I’ve been talking about for a very long period of time.

According to William Faloon of Life Extension, “the underlying cause of atherosclerosis is progressive endothelial dysfunction.”

Atherosclerosis is the development of plaque formations in the interior of the vascular system leading to a narrowing of the vascular pathway. This can reduce blood flow and increase the potential for blood clots to form. It’s one of the major contributing factors for cardiovascular disease.

Implementing a nutrition program that nourishes and supports a healthy endothelium is critically important to your overall health and wellness. Your nutritional program needs to increase your endothelium’s ability to properly produce nitric oxide – the master signaling molecule of your entire cardiovascular system.

As the saying goes “an apple a day will keep the doctor away”. Well, maybe “an ounce of walnuts a day will keep the cardiovascular surgeon away!” Don’t minimize the value of walnuts and heart health. They could help reduce your risk for the number one killer of men and women worldwide, which is cardiovascular disease.

Blessing Lives Through Nitric Oxide Therapy!

Dan Hammer

Health Benefits of Pomegranate

Posted by Dan Hammer //

04/15/2019

This article is going to give an overview of the health benefits of pomegranate. This amazing fruit is recognized in the Bible as one of the Blessings the Promised Land would provide for the Israeli people as they entered into this land. Here’s the Scriptural context:

“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey.” Deuteronomy 8:7-8

As modern day science continues to study this fruit, their research is showing that the health benefits of pomegranate center on two primary health issues:

Cardiovascular Health
Cancer Prevention

Let’s look at each so that you can see why this amazing fruit should be part of your daily diet.

Health Benefits of Pomegranate – Cardiovascular Health

Your cardiovascular health centers on the function of a tissue that lines all of your cardiovascular system. That tissue is called the endothelium.

This is a one-cell thick layer that lines the inside of all of your blood vessels. Your capillaries are just extensions of this endothelium. In fact, it is the largest tissue in your body. Let me give you a point of reference:

If you took your endolhelium out of your body and laid it flat out, depending on the size of the adult individual, it would cover the surface area of 3 to 6 tennis courts.

And the healthier your endothelium, the healthier your capillary function for improved blood flow.

Damage to your endothelium increases your risk for all types of cardiovascular disease. There are 4 main factors that damage your endothelium:

High Blood Pressure
High Blood Sugar
LDL Cholesterol or more specifically oxidized LDL Cholesterol
Nicotine

The health benefits of pomegranate focus mainly on preventing oxidized LDL cholesterol, reversing plaque formations that result from oxidized LDL, and enhancing the ability of the eNOS enzymes of the endothelium to produce higher levels of nitric oxide to dilate your blood vessels for improved blood flow.

Most statin drugs work to lower cholesterol and do a good job in accomplishing this objective. The problem is they do not work effectively in reducing the cause of plaque, which is oxidized LDL cholesterol. Oxidized LDL cholesterol creates inflammation that then leads to the formation of plaque. As this plaque grows over time, the inside of your vascular system narrows.

This narrowing then increases your risk for a stroke or heart attack.

Your body has natural mechanism to protect you from this sequence. And this is where the health benefits of pomegranate extract show up:

Protect LDL molecules from being oxidized
Moderate the effects of inflammatory white blood cells and their role in plaque formation
Boost your natural antioxidant systems to protect your endothelium from free radical damage
Initiate vascular repair systems to help remove oxidized LDL from your arterial walls
Enhance eNOS enzymes for greater production of nitric oxide

Additionally, a 2014 study showed that the combination of pomegranate extract with the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin significantly lowered both oxidized LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

For more details on the health benefits of pomegranate on cardiovascular health please click here.

Health Benefits of Pomegranate – Cancer Prevention

New studies are expanding the health benefits of pomegranate to cancer prevention. Pomegranate contains these key compounds:

Punicalagin
Luteolin
Ellagitannins
Polyphenols

These compounds help to initiate multiple pathways in cancer prevention. Primarily because they inhibit inflammation. But it goes beyond this.

Research in the health benefits of pomegranate, as it applies to cancer cells, has shown the following:

Block cell cycle – pomegranate can help to shut off the cancer cell’s ability to divide by targeting specific cancer genes needed for cell replication. But doesn’t effect healthy cells.

Induce cell death – compounds in pomegranate directly cause programmed death of cancer cells.

Blocks blood vessel formation that feed cancer cells – blood vessels are needed to support cancer growth in tumors. Pomegranate selectively blocks the needed growth factors to help limit the formation of new blood vessels in a tumor.

Preventing the spread of cancer – pomegranate helps to inhibit multiple factors, which then helps to prevent the spread of cancer to other parts of the body.

Two specific cancers that have promising studies in helping to prevent them and their spread are prostate and breast cancer.

And there are ongoing studies on how pomegranate can help in the prevention of leukemia, bladder, brain, cervix, colon, liver, lung, skin, and thyroid cancers.

Plus, there are additional studies that show pomegranate aiding conventional cancer treatments like chemotherapy. These ongoing studies seem to indicate that pomegranate enhances the cancer-killing effect of the drug while helping to protect normal cells.

For more details on the health benefits of pomegranate on cancer prevention please click here.

Personally, I’ve been using pomegranate fruit extract for over 10 years. I use it to help me enjoy the benefits as it applies to cardiovascular health. It’s good to know that it’s also helping me with cancer prevention.

Blessing Lives Through Nitric Oxide Therapy!

Dan Hammer

Health Benefits of Lipoic Acid!

Posted by Dan Hammer //

04/01/2019

I’ve written about the health benefits of lipoic acid in the past. But new research is showing how powerful this organic compound can be in multiple areas of your overall health and wellness.

Because of this I’ve decided to update my previous article with the current list of health benefits of lipoic acid.

Health Benefits of Lipoic Acid – Slowing Down the Aging Process

Sometimes referred to as alpha lipoic acid this vital “co-factor” for enzymatic reactions is critically important for optimizing energy conversion in your mitochondria.

Mitochondria are the energy factories of your cells. They play a huge role in the aging process. At least in theory.

First proposed in 1972 by Denman Harman, the mitochondrial theory on aging centers on accumulated damage to the DNA of mitochondria. This leads to increased free radical stress coupled with a decrease in cellular energy production.

Researchers have been working to delay mitochondrial aging through a variety of nutrients. One of those nutrients is lipoic acid and the following health benefits of lipoic acid have been noted:

Lipoic acid helps to optimize mitochondria function and reverses cell aging.
Lipoic acid may help to prevent cardiovascular disease, obesity, insulin resistance, and diabetic complications.
Lipoic acid protects against nerve and brain cell damage.

Health Benefits of Lipoic Acid – Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Inflammation

One of the recent discoveries shows how lipoic acid enhances the effects of insulin. This benefits glucose metabolism by lowering blood sugar levels. Thus helping diabetics better control their blood glucose levels.

Lowered blood glucose levels have two potential benefits on cardiovascular health.

First, when you reduce blood glucose levels you reduce the potential for oxidative stress or damage to the endothelium, which lines all of your cardiovascular system.

Second, it reduces the potential for the pathological cross-linking of glucose and protein to form Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs). These AGEs have been shown to accelerate many of the aging processes, especially those associated with cardiovascular disease.

A meta-analysis of 18 studies showed that lipoic acid can have a profound anti-inflammatory benefit. Specifically, it is associated with a reduction in C-reactive protein. This is an important bio-marker associated with vascular inflammation.

Additionally two other inflammatory markers were reduced: tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6. Both are produced by excessive fat tissue. And they contribute to chronic inflammation that has been associated with obesity.

Lipoic acid’s ability to suppress inflammatory cell-signaling molecules helps to protect the endothelium, which lines all of your cardiovascular system, from plaque formations.

It’s these plaque formations that lead to the disease process known as atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis results in the narrowing of the vascular opening, which leads to an increased risk for strokes and heart attacks.

Research also shows how lipoic acid lowers total cholesterol and LDL or bad cholesterol. Both of these actions help to reduce the size and number of potential atherosclerotic plaque formations.

Additionally, lipoic acid enhances the effectiveness of endothelial nitric oxide synthase or eNOS. That’s a long word for the enzyme that the endothelium uses to create nitric oxide – the master signaling molecule of your entire cardiovascular system.

Nitric oxide keeps blood platelet cells from sticking together to prevent strokes and heart attacks. Nitric oxide also relaxes the smooth muscle of the vascular wall to keep your blood pressure in a normal range. Thus, nitric oxide is the body’s natural pathway for the prevention of high blood pressure.

When you add it all up, lipoic acid’s antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and lipid-lowering capabilities make it an ideal nutritional supplement to help protect the endothelium while enhancing the endothelium’s ability to properly produce nitric oxide.

All of this results in helping to improve blood flow while reducing the risk for multiple health issues.

Health Benefits of Lipoic Acid – Neuropathy and Cognitive Function

Neuropathy is damage to nerves and can be a significant health issue for those with diabetes. In multiple human studies, several of the health benefits of lipoic acid have centered on improving the symptoms of diabetic neuropathy.

It does this by helping to increase the velocity of nerve impulses in peripheral nerves. In some studies nerve-signal velocities for both motor and sensory nerves were increased in 30 days.

This then had a positive effect in reducing the symptoms associated with neuropathy like muscle weakness, numbness, and pain.

In both human and lab studies the use of lipoic acid has helped to slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by helping to suppress inflammation and by preventing free radical damage.

Health Benefits of Lipoic Acid – How to Supplement Your Diet

The consumption of lipoic acid can occur naturally if we choose the right types of food.

If you’re looking for animal sources rich in lipoic acid then you need to choose those organs that are high in metabolic activity such as the heart, liver, and kidney. I don’t know about you but I’ve never eaten any of these sources and I don’t ever want to. If you’re not into organ consumption, then steak would be another good option but the leaner the cut the better.

Another alternative is to choose plant-based sources like spinach, broccoli, garden peas, brussels sprouts, and rice bran. These are better food sources since they also help you with other antioxidant properties, which can make a big difference in the aging process.

If you choose to use supplementation to obtain additional lipoic acid then make sure you use the “Right” form of lipoic acid. Lipoic acid comes in what are termed “mirror image” forms labeled “R” and “S.” Only the “R” form is produced and used by the body. However, inexpensive chemical manufacturing will produce equal amounts of “R” and “S” lipoic acid, which is then packaged as either “R/S Lipoic Acid” or “Alpha Lipoic Acid.”

Product manufacturers now have newer precision techniques that allow for the pure “R” lipoic acid to be produced. This has a much higher potency and provides twice the active ingredient as you would find in alpha lipoic acid.

If you decide to supplement then make sure that you choose a manufacturer that provides you with only the active “R” molecule. This will allow you to use a lower dose and get better results.

There is no set dosage for this nutrient. Most of the clinical studies used 600 mg. And most of the research in this area would suggest that 300 – 600 mg is both safe and sufficient.

Blessing Lives Through Nitric Oxide Therapy!

Dan Hammer

Naturally Eliminate Heart Arrhythmia

Posted by Dan Hammer //

03/15/2019

The title for today’s blog post came from a client whose husband was able to naturally eliminate heart arrhythmia through a combination of taurine with l-arginine.

My client sent me a link to the PubMed article. You can click here to read it for yourself.

The title for this 2006 published study is “Elimination of cardiac arrhythmias using oral taurine with l-arginine with case histories: Hypothesis for nitric oxide stabilization of the sinus node.”

It’s a long title but has some excellent information on how to naturally eliminate heart arrhythmia.

In fact I found the abstract of this study to be fascinating for it looked at the nutrient deficiencies in the following cardiac arrhythmias:

Premature Atrial Contractions (PACs)
Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs)
Atrial Fibrillation
Sinus Pauses

And here were their findings:

Finding #1 – The use of 10 – 20 grams of taurine per day reduced PACs by 50% and prevented all PVCs but did not prevent pauses.

Finding #2 – When 4-6 gram of L-arginine were added this immediately eliminated all the remaining pauses and PACs. And with continued treatment maintained normal cardiac rhythm.

I’ve many clients who have experienced remarkable improvements with heart arrhythmia through the use of nitric oxide therapy. But not all have benefited.

So let’s look at this a little deeper to understand how this combination of taurine and L-arginine help.

Naturally Eliminate Heart Arrhythmia – The Basics

The word arrhythmia is used by the medical community to describe a disturbance in the normal rhythm of the heart. Some arrhythmias are mild and temporary. Others can be life threatening.

The most common arrhythmia is called atrial fibrillation. This effects the upper chambers of the heart and can effect the filling of your heart ventricles, which are the lower chambers of the heart. Usually the concern of atrial fibrillation is the potential for blood to pool in the upper chambers of the heart, which increases your risk for a blood clot. A blood clot that can lead to a stroke or heart attack.

A common, but minor rhythm disorder, is a PVC or premature ventricular contraction. This is when your ventricles or lower heart chambers contract prematurely. PVCs have more of an effect on your body since the lower chambers push out blood to either your lungs or body.

This is especially dangerous when these PVCs become rapid and uncontrolled because it interferes with your blood flow and can lead to death.

Both types of arrhythmias are primarily the result of a disturbance or interference in the electrical conduction of the heart.

Naturally Eliminate Heart Arrhythmia – The Taurine Effect

Taurine is a naturally occurring amino acid that is extremely beneficial to your brain, eyes, heart, and muscles. And while your body can produce taurine, sometimes you’ll need to supplement to help address specific health needs.

As related to the normal rhythm of your heart, taurine helps to regulate potassium, calcium, and sodium levels in your blood and tissues. It also helps to protect you from free radical damage. And specific to your heart, it helps to regulate the excitability of the myocardium.

Taurine also helps to restore energy.

Specific to arrhythmias it seems to dampen the activity of the sympathetic nervous system and epinephrine release.

Naturally Eliminate Heart Arrhythmia – The L-arginine Effect

L-arginine is a key amino acid needed for all people no matter their age or sex. L-arginine helps to fuel 7 different metabolic pathways that are essential to good health. If you’re interested is these 7 different pathways, then please watch the video below titled “The Truth about L-Arginine!”

As it applies to heart arrhythmia, l-arginine is converted by eNOS enzymes, which line your vascular system, into nitric oxide. This process seems to restore sinus rhythm because it helps to restore the ntric oxide needed for stabilization of the sinus node.

Naturally Eliminate Heart Arrhythmia – Final Thoughts

In doing research for this article I also came across two other ingredients that have good supporting literature as it applies to heart arrhythmia.

One is magnesium. I recently did a blog post on this key mineral and how it can significantly improve your overall health. Specific to your cardiovascular system it:

Helps lover blood pressure
Reduces the risk for a stroke
And facilitates the electrical circuitry of the heart

The other ingredient is the amino acid L-carnitine. This amino acid helps to prevent PVCs. And works in tandem with CoQ10 to produce the needed energy for a normal heart contraction.

If you experience any heart arrhythmias, then you need to see your physician. But if your arrhythmia is mild, and your doctor is open to giving you some time before any type of medical intervention, then try a combination of oral taurine and L-arginine as outlined in the study above.

Hopefully your outcome will be the same. Were the arrhythmia disappears and normal heart rhythm returns.

Blessing Lives Through Nitric Oxide Therapy!

Dan Hammer

Reduce the Risk for Heart Attack With Nitric Oxide Therapy

Posted by Dan Hammer //

02/15/2019

Do you want to reduce the risk for heart attack? And do it naturally? With Nobel Prize winning science?

Well the obvious answer to the first question is “Yes!”

And hopefully you answered “Yes” to the other two questions.

In this article I’ll help you understand how nitric oxide therapy can be a natural and effective way to reduce the risk for heart attack.

In 1998 the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to 3 American researcher who discovered how the lining of your cardiovascular system (what is called the endothelium) converts the amino acid L-arginine into nitric oxide.

Nitric oxide is the master signaling molecule of your entire cardiovascular system. Without it you would be dead. It’s that important to your overall health.

Specifically, nitric oxide relaxes the smooth muscle of your vascular wall to improve circulation.

And when the Nobel Prize was awarded in 1998, this set off an explosion of research in this area. There are now more than 100,000 peer-reviewed clinical studies in the area of nitric oxide.

One of the emerging benefits is how nitric oxide can reduce the risk for heart attack.

Reduce The Risk For Heart Attack – Nitric Oxide Therapy

Now to help you understand how nitric oxide therapy can be a natural way to reduce the risk for heart attack it’s important to understand some key statistics.

First, there are about 1.5 million heart attacks and strokes that occur each year in the United States.

And according to the American Heart Association, if you survive your heart attack, then approximately 26% of women and 19% of men will die within one year.

And the most common day of the week for a heart attack is on a Monday. And the most common time for a heart attack is during the morning hours between 4 am to 10 am when your blood platelets are stickier.

Well one of the benefits of nitric oxide is that it keeps blood platelet cells from sticking together. This benefit naturally reduces both your risk for heart attack as well as your risk for a stroke.

And when I Googled the question “What is the number one cause of heart attacks?” I got the following answer:

“Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of heart attacks. CHD is a condition in which the coronary arteries (the major blood vessels that supply the heart with blood) get clogged up with deposits of cholesterol. These deposits are called plaques.”

This process is called atherosclerosis. It narrows the inside of your artery to reduce blood blow and significantly increase your risk for a heart attack. It also causes a drastic reduction in nitric oxide production.

Yet when you nourish this lining of your cardiovascular system, what is called the endothelium, with the right ingredients you can increase nitric oxide production.

This nitric oxide then relaxes the smooth muscle of your vascular wall to dilate the blood vessel for improved blood flow.

This then reduces your risk of a blood clot getting stuck in this narrowed area.

In my research for this article I also found some current and encouraging studies in this area on how nitric oxide can naturally reduce the risk for heart attack.

Reduce The Risk For Heart Attack – Current Studies

Here’s one from ScienceDaily that was published in the year 2018.

The title of the article is “Heart disease severity may depend on nitric oxide levels.” I’ve highlighted two lines in the summary.

First, “Researchers showed that nitric oxide may help commonly used heart drugs maximize their benefits while improving heart function.”

This means nitric oxide not only benefits your heart function but helps your medication work more effectively.

Equally important is the second line which states, “In turn, the study found nitric oxide deficiencies could underlie heart failure while tilting drug effects toward more harmful pathways and side effects.”

This means the lack of nitric oxide production could set you up for heart failure and increase your probability of side effects from your medications.

I also found this statement made by Dr. Jonathan Stamler, one of the lead authors of this study, to be an eye opener:

“Our work shows that the main receptors in the heart that respond to drugs don’t work without nitric oxide.”

To further echo this I found an article from PubMed titled “Nitric oxide and myocardial function in heart failure: friend or foe?”

Here’s a direct statement from the lead authors of this study:

“Many diverse and often contradictory effects of NO or NO donors on myocardial function have been reported which, until relatively recently, have been difficult to make sense of. However, there is now an emerging consensus that NO generally acts to fine tune and optimise cardiac pump function.”

And finally I want to leave you with this quote from WebMD as it regards nitric oxide and heart function:

“In the body, the amino acid arginine changes into nitric oxide (NO). Nitric oxide is a powerful neurotransmitter that helps blood vessels relax and also improves circulation.

Some evidence shows that arginine may help improve blood flow in the arteries of the heart. That may improve symptoms of clogged arteries, chest pain or angina, and coronary artery disease. “

As you can see nitric oxide can help to significantly reduce the risk for heart attack. And if you are on any type of heart medication, then nitric oxide can help that medication work more effectively.

Blessing Lives Through Nitric Oxide Therapy!

Dan Hammer

Nitric Oxide Therapy and Heart Health

Posted by Dan Hammer //

02/01/2019

Over 20 years ago there was an explosion of research on nitric oxide therapy and heart health.

It started with the 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine being awarded to 3 American researchers for discovering how the lining of your cardiovascular system, called the endothelium, converts the amino acid L-arginine into nitric oxide.

Nitric oxide is the master signaling molecule of your cardiovascular system. You couldn’t live without nitric oxide.

Fast forward to 2019.

Currently, there are over 100,000 peer reviewed clinical studies in the area of nitric oxide.

Yet still to this day, nitric oxide therapy and heart health is not recognized by the American Heart Association as a valid method for addressing cardiovascular concerns. You can go to their website and search “nitric oxide” and nothing will come up.

What will come up is an article titled “Cardiovascular diseases affect nearly half of American adults.” According to this article 46% of US adults have high blood pressure.

High blood pressure is the number one risk factor for strokes and heart attacks.

Yet nitric oxide therapy can be a natural method to bring blood pressures back into the normal range.

In his bestselling book NO More Heart Disease, Nobel Laureate in Medicine Dr. Louis J. Ignarro makes this statement on the cover,

“How Nitric Oxide Can Prevent – Even Reverse – Heart Disease and Strokes”

As Dr. Ignarro discovered, nitric oxide is created naturally in your body to help maintain normal blood flow. In fact, nitric oxide provides the following key benefits:

First, it helps to restore and maintain the health and flexibility of your arteries and veins.
Second, it improves blood flow by relaxing the smooth muscle of the vascular wall
Third, it keeps blood platelet cells from sticking together to naturally reduce your risk for strokes and heart attacks.
Forth, it accelerates the repair process to support natural healing.

As Dr. Ignarro states in his book,

“A tiny molecule called nitric oxide is produced by the body specifically to help keep arteries and veins free of the plaque that causes strokes and to maintain normal blood pressure by relaxing the arteries, thereby regulating the rate of blood flow and preventing coronaries. Nitric oxide is the body’s natural cardiovascular wonder drug.”

Nitric Oxide Therapy and Heart Health – The Million Lives Project

To help people become aware of this “natural cardiovascular wonder drug,” I’ve associated myself with The Million Lives Project. Their goal is to help 1 million people or more understand how nitric oxide therapy can be a natural way to address most cardiovascular health concerns.

And they have produced a series of videos to help educate adults on how nitric oxide therapy can address the following concerns:

Hopefully, this information on nitric oxide therapy and heart health can empower you and your loved ones to use a valid and natural way to improve your cardiovascular health.

Blessing Lives Through Nitric Oxide Therapy!

Dan Hammer

The Health Benefits of Magnesium

Posted by Dan Hammer //

01/14/2019

Today I’d like to focus on the health benefits of magnesium. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been writing a series of video scripts on how to address a Leaky Gut.

Once I produce this video series I’ll be sure to share it with you.

There are 5 key steps to healing a Leaky Gut and step five centers on the health benefits of magnesium.

Most of the literature about magnesium ignores this benefit.

So let’s start our discussion on the health benefits of magnesium by addressing how it can improve your gut health.

Magnesium For Improved Gut Health!

Magnesium is a crucial mineral required for the function of hundreds of enzymes in the gut to improve immunity, digestion, regularity, and energy production.

As your gut microbiome improves, magnesium aids in the production of healthy chemical compounds that can provide the following overall health benefits:

Helps Increase Energy
Calms Nerves
Treats Insomnia
Aids Digestion
Relieves Muscle Aches and Pains
Regulates Calcium and Potassium Levels
Is Important for Heart Health
Prevents Migraine Headaches
And Helps Prevent Osteoporosis.

One of the keys to improving your gut health and reducing the potential for a Leaky Gut is to reduce inflammation. Magnesium helps in a big way.

As your body uses magnesium to help you properly digest your food, this reduces the potential for toxins. Toxins create inflammation, which damages the lining of your small intestine.

Less toxins produced, less damage to the lining of your small intestine to decrease your probability of having a Leaky Gut.

Other Health Benefits of Magnesium

In addition to having a significant impact on maintaining good gut health, magnesium has three overall health benefits:

Benefit 1 – Needed for Cellular Energy
Benefit 2 – Necessary for DNA Synthesis and Repair
Benefit 3 – Combats Chronic, Low-Grade Inflammation

When you break these overall health benefits down, they play the following role in helping your body and organ systems function better. For example:

Bone Density – Half of your total body magnesium is stored in the bones. It’s needed for bone remodeling. This is a process that your body uses to break down old bone structure to reform new bone structure.

And your blood levels of magnesium are critical to your bone density. If deficient, then your body will take magnesium from your bones, which can decrease your bone mass to contribute to osteoporosis.

This also triggers pro-inflammatory cytokines to increase inflammation.

Cardiovascular Health – Magnesium has several roles in heart health. One is helping to maintain good heart rhythm. If your magnesium levels are low, then your become more susceptible to irregular heartbeats or what the medical community calls arrhythmias.

Magnesium also improves the function of your endothelium, which lines all of your cardiovascular system. This improvement helps to dilate the blood vessels for improved blood flow. And can aid in keeping your blood pressure under control.

Metabolic Syndrome – This is a group of health risks like abdominal obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and cholesterol concerns. When taken together, these health risks increase your potential for developing cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and strokes.

Research studies have shown that magnesium can reduce the incidence of metabolic syndrome. Specifically, higher magnesium intake was associated with lower stroke risk. One study showed that for men who had the highest magnesium intake, they reduced their risk for stoke by 41%. This also applied to having lower rates of heart failure.

Health Benefits of Magnesium – Nutritional Supplements

While you can try to get your magnesium from the food you eat, the best way is to use a good nutritional supplement.

Make sure the magnesium supplement you choose is in either the citrate or chelate form.

Magnesium Chelate is highly absorb-able by your body. It’s the form naturally found in foods. Because it’s bound to several types of amino acids, this aids in restoring your magnesium levels.

Magnesium Citrate combines the magnesium with citric acid. For some this might have a laxative effect.

Now the dosage amounts vary with age and sex:

Age 14 – 18: 410 milligrams for men and 360 milligrams for women

Age 19 – 30: 400 milligrams for men and 310 milligrams for women

Age 31 and older: 420 milligrams for men and 320 milligrams for women

As you can see not a lot of difference based on age so make sure you’re taking at least 400 milligrams per day for men and at least 300 milligrams per day for women.

Since the majority of Americans do not get adequate amounts of magnesium in their diet, it would be to their best health interest to increase their consumption of this key mineral. Here are the top 10 foods listed based on highest intake of magnesium:

Food Source	Amount Need	Magnesium Intake
Leafy Greens like Kale or Spinach	1 cup	157 mg
Seeds like Flax, Pumpkin or Chia	1 ounce	150 mg
Legumes like Lentils, Beans, or Chickpeas	1 cup	120 mg
Nuts like Almonds or Cashews	1 ounce	82 mg
Whole Grains like Wheat, Oats, or Barley	1 ounce	65 mg
Dark Chocolate	1 ounce	64 mg
Avocados	Medium	58 mg
Fatty Fish like Salmon or Mackerel	Half a fillet (178 grams)	53 mg
Tofu	3.5 ounces	53 mg
Bananas	1 large	37 mg

You can decide which method is best to help you enjoy the health benefits of magnesium: food or supplements.

Blessing Lives Through Nitric Oxide Therapy!

Dan Hammer

Do You Know Your Oxidized LDL Number?

Posted by Dan Hammer //

01/08/2019

When it comes to cardiovascular health there is an important number you need to know. It’s your oxidized LDL number.

Never heard of it.

Well, it’s time you did.

As you can see by the image I used for this blog post, in 1984 Time magazine ran an article titled “Cholesterol And Now the Bad News.” Fifteen year later in 1999 they ran another article on cholesterol but this time the title was “Cholesterol The Good News.”

The year of this blog post is 2019 and maybe some day Time magazine will run a cover story title,

“Do You Know Your Oxidized LDL Number?”

Because that’s the real issue when it come to cardiovascular disease!

Now before I help you understand what oxidized LDL is, and how it can be measured by your doctor, let me share some sobering statistics (brought to you by the ClevelandHeartLab: Read More →