Energy and heart health
WHAT’S THE CONNECTION?
Heart disease, stroke, and other blood-vessel diseases remain the leading cause of death for Americans and people in many other Western nations. Advanced heart disease can result in debilitating fatigue, although it is usually intertwined with other serious health problems, such as obesity and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Yet the more immediate problem is this: widely prescribed drugs, particularly statin-class cholesterol lowering drugs such as Lipitor, are a major cause of fatigue, muscle damage and weakness, and pain—and can contribute to the overall disease burden. It’s time to set the record straight on cholesterol and heart disease risk and how statin drugs can negatively affect your heart health.

Be smart about your heart
with B-complex vitamins
The B-complex vitamins are vitally important to our health and longevity. Without them we cannot produce energy; assimilate the many different nutrients from our foods; produce the brain chemicals we need to learn, remember, and support healthy mood and aging of the brain; and maintain a strong and healthy heart and system of blood vessels.

In the News

More heart benefits for VITAMIN C
Heart failure patients with low vitamin C levels may be
at higher risk of complications, and they may also have worse longterm outcomes. In a study
of 212 people with heart failure (a condition resulting from the heart’s inability to pump an adequate amount of blood through the body), researchers examined the relationship
between vitamin C intake and high-sensitivity
C-reactive protein (hsCRP). “Increased levels of hsCRP means a worsening of heart failure,” says lead researcher Dr. Eun Kyeung Song. “We found that adequate intake of vitamin C was associated with longer survival in patients with heart failure.” Low vitamin C levels were also linked to complications including visits to the emergency room or hospitalization due to heart problems, even after controlling for factors like age, gender, body mass index, and medications. Study authors report that this is the first study to demonstrate a link between low vitamin C status and reduced outcomes for heart failure patients.

“Low Vit C Levels May Increase Risk for Heart Failure Patients” by Nathan Gray, www. nutraingredients-usa.com, 11/14/11 • “Vitamin C Deficiency, High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein, and Cardiac Event-Free Survival in Patients with Heart Failure” by E. Kyeung Song et al., Circulation, 11/11