Goddesses Never Age: The Secret Prescription for Radiance, Vitality, and Well-Being (15 page)

CHOLESTEROL AND THE HEART

The same old myths about cholesterol and the heart continue to circulate even though research confirms that dietary cholesterol and high cholesterol are
not
risk factors for heart disease. In fact, your brain and nervous system are largely made of cholesterol, a vital substance manufactured in the body (which is why, when you eat animal products, you consume cholesterol). It’s used to produce vitamin D and certain hormones, among other functions. In fact, when your overall cholesterol is too low, your body can’t manufacture enough hormones to keep your system running efficiently. Depression often results, and the lower your cholesterol, the lower your testosterone and sex drive. Cholesterol is an important building block for hormones related to the
libido. Molecules called LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and HDL (high-density lipoprotein) are actually cholesterol transporters that take this vital substance to cells that need it and transport the excess to your organs, which process and excrete it.

The role of HDL is to cart away excess cholesterol so the liver can process it. The job of LDL is to deposit cholesterol at receptor sites on the membranes of cells. LDL is only a problem when it becomes oxidized by free radicals. A free radical is a molecule that becomes unstabilized by losing an electron and seeks to steal an electron from another area to make up for the one that’s missing. Traditionally, doctors have said that LDL is “bad cholesterol,” but that’s an inaccurate description. There’s more than one type of LDL. LDL-B is dense and small and more likely to become oxidized than the other types of LDL, LDL-A and LDL-1. Oxidized LDL is big and sticky and doesn’t interface properly with the cellular receptors seeking cholesterol. It holds on to the cholesterol and ends up sticking to the linings of inflamed arteries, forming the beginning of plaque. To counteract this process, you need to be sure you have enough antioxidants in the body to prevent LDL and the lining of your blood vessels from becoming oxidized. Dietary cholesterol doesn’t cause the LDL to oxidize; free radicals do.

Aim for a diet that is free of trans fats, which both raise bad LDL and lower good HDL, and free of excess sugars that cause LDL to become oxidized. A diet high in sugars and low in fiber increases the amount of fat in your blood (the triglycerides), which then becomes stored in your body. And remember that even whole grains turn to sugar. Some people are far more sensitive to grains than others are, so pay attention to your body’s response to them and keep an eye on your blood sugar levels.

Triglycerides (TG) are an independent risk factor for heart disease, and high levels are almost always related to eating a high-glycemic diet in which blood sugar gets spiked regularly. In general, TG levels should be 150 or lower, and on the cholesterol tests most doctors use, HDL is supposed to be above 45 (above 67 is ideal) and LDL at 130 or below. Your ratio of HDL to total cholesterol (total cholesterol divided by HDL) is a much more accurate predictor of heart disease than total cholesterol alone. If
your ratio is 4.0 or under, you’re fine. Don’t let anyone put you on a statin drug just because of your total cholesterol number!

Today, though, there’s an even more accurate cholesterol test available: an NMR lipid profile, which can tell you the number and size of your LDL and HDL particles as well as measure your level of triglycerides. Just as with LDL, not all HDL particles are the same. HDL-1 is smaller and denser than HDL-2, and it’s more likely to become oxidized. What you want are the bigger, lighter particles—and you can get those from saturated fat in your diet. If you have a very high LDL count, it may be because you’ve got lots of the small LDL-B particles and not many LDL-A particles. A high LDL count may not be a problem because it may simply indicate that you’ve got a lot of big, light LDL-A. High HDL on a standard cholesterol test is equally misleading—if they’re not the small, dense particles, then a high HDL is very good. Note that your physician will have to order this type of cholesterol test online (see Resources).

For a healthy heart, eat eggs and organic meats from fish and animals raised as naturally as possible. Whole grains, and sugars that aren’t consumed with fiber in the form of whole fruit, are a problem. I advocate what’s called a Paleolithic diet, which is close to what our ancestors ate before the agricultural era 10,000 years ago when grains such as wheat and rice became the staples of the human diet. Mostly, you eat plants, but you also have some eggs, meats, fish, and nuts as well as some healthy oils such as organic olive oil and coconut oil, and a small amount of natural sugars such as honey, berries, and stevia. And you can follow this type of diet even if you are vegan and want to avoid all animal foods. (All this will be discussed in greater detail in
Chapter 8
.) Even though eating a Paleo diet will increase the amount of saturated dietary fat you take in, it will
not
result in unhealthy cholesterol levels or harm your heart.

If you want to protect your heart, reduce cellular inflammation and damage to the walls of the arteries by cutting sugars and stress, expressing your feelings, and moving your body pleasurably. Regular exercise, meditation, and focusing on the causes of health will raise healthy HDL. If you and your doctor are concerned about your cholesterol, be ultra-cautious about using statin drugs, which are overprescribed. High cholesterol is
not the cause of heart disease. Cellular inflammation is. Lowering LDL using statins won’t prevent disease—in fact, half of all people who get heart disease don’t even have high cholesterol! If your total cholesterol level is lower than 240 to 275 mg/dl, and your HDL is 60 or above, I certainly don’t recommend statins to lower your cholesterol. They have serious side effects that include increased risk of breast cancer, dementia, muscle pain (known as myositis), and heart attack because they can deplete your body of coenzyme Q10, a vital nutrient that produces energy in the mitochondria of the cells. Also, keep in mind that statins are less effective in women than in men. And excessively low cholesterol, especially in women over age 50, correlates with early death, depression, and greater risk of cancer. If you don’t have cardiovascular disease, lowering your cholesterol won’t lower your mortality. If you do have cardiovascular disease, statins may reduce cardiovascular events, like heart attack, but not your mortality overall. In other words, if you have cardiovascular disease, start taking action to improve your heart’s health—don’t rush to get on statin drugs.
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Bottom line: High cholesterol is not the cause of most heart attacks. And lowering cholesterol without addressing cellular inflammation and the longing of your heart is not very effective.

HEALTHY BREASTS

Did you know that National Breast Cancer Awareness Month was started by a company that manufactures and sells mammography machines? Let’s change the conversation about our breasts from “how to avoid breast cancer and detect it early” to “how to have healthy breasts and enjoy them.” How about a national breast health month when women make a point of expressing love to their breasts every day? And yes, lovers can help with this practice!

It concerns me that women feel pressured to think of their breasts as two potentially pre-malignant lesions sitting on their chests. Don’t go on a search-and-destroy mission when you touch your breasts, or tell your daughters or granddaughters to do so. Instead, you might think of your breasts as “heart pillows” that
are nourished by the energy field of your loving heart. When you touch them, do so with love. Give them a good massage from nipple to heart to lymph nodes under the arm. Affirm their ability to be healthy.

Breasts represent nourishment and the deep bonds love can create. They also represent the abundance of the Earth Mother, who always supports us and brings forth life and the foods we need for our bodies to thrive. Even if you weren’t breast-fed or never used your breasts to feed a baby, your breasts carry the energy of love and nourishment. If you’ve cut yourself off from love, been betrayed, or withheld affection out of fear, these emotional experiences may affect the energy center of the heart, which affects the functioning of the cells and tissues in the breast.

There’s a story I tell in
Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom
that bears repeating here. I once had a patient who came to see me with two large fluid-filled cysts in her left breast that had manifested virtually overnight. When I asked her what was going on in her life in the areas of nurturing and receiving, she told me that her youngest daughter, her “baby,” had just left home for college. Two days before that, her beloved 24-year-old cat had died. The night before the cysts appeared, she dreamed that she was nursing her infant daughter—the one who had just gone off to college. When I aspirated the fluid from her breasts, we were both astounded that it was milk! Clearly, her body had something to say about her need to nurture and in turn be nurtured after those two big losses. It was from this patient that I learned that what we call the “milk of human kindness” is more than a mere metaphor. Her body had literally manifested it.

When we move into the phase of our lives in which our mothering is no longer required in the same way it was when our children were young—or our relationships, businesses, or creative projects were just beginning—we have to figure out what to do with the milk of our kindness that is our gift to the world. To support ourselves and healthy breasts, we need new outlets for our nurturance. At the same time, we have to understand that loving involves reciprocity. If you give too much to others without nourishing yourself, or don’t allow yourself to trust others and receive their love, you’re likely to have an energetic blockage
in your heart chakra—the energy center in your chest that’s connected with your entire body’s energy field and powerfully affects your breast health. A blockage in energy can lead to a physical manifestation if it remains there long enough.

Healthy breasts are breasts that are loved. Women have been taught to feel shame or embarrassment about their breasts. Often, the message is that to have power, you need to have big, bold, firm breasts that will attract men. That’s one of the reasons why the number of women getting breast implants ballooned from 101,176 procedures in 1997 to 330,631 in 2012, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
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But it isn’t the size or shape of our breasts that gives us true power or attractiveness. It’s our relationship to our breasts and what they represent—our ability to give and receive nourishment and pleasure in a balanced way—that makes us beautiful, powerful goddesses.

If you’re considering breast implants, that may be the right decision for you, but be informed about the downsides. Forty percent of women who get implants lose nipple sensation, and nipple sensation is a very important part of sexuality for most women. Also, if you don’t regularly massage them, implants often become encapsulated in scar tissue that makes the breasts feel quite hard. The newer implants are not at risk for rupture and feel far more natural, but they are still foreign objects right above your heart that might be barriers to the loving energy of another. Breast implants also render a woman 18 times more likely to develop a rare form of breast cancer called anaplastic large cell lymphoma.
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Most women, however, are very happy with their implants, and there is no shame in getting them. Every culture has had its favorite adornments to enhance beauty from time immemorial, whether it’s tribal tattoos, rings around the neck to elongate it, or breast implants. You get to decide what makes you feel beautiful and desirable and then make a decision about whether to take action and change your body.

Regardless of their size or shape, here are some ways to love and appreciate your breasts.