10-Year Old Boy Sentenced to Life

Last Monday at dinner, Ella, my two and a half year old daughter, eats three mouthfuls of food and sets down her spoon. Turning to me, with a slightly confused look on her face, she says:

"Wan choc-lick."

"Ella," I say, "just eat your dinner."

"No! Wan choc-lick!"

And she goes running off looking for her Easter baskets -- which we had conveniently RE-hid.

Hiding the horde works if you persevere for a few days. Easter night we stashed most of their candies away. On Monday night we hid even more. It's the whole out-of-sight, out-of-mind idea.

They don't even notice their inventory has diminished.

What else can you do, when family and friends drop by with enough sweets to turn your home into the set for the next remake of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"?

Now, I know I've talked about sugar for a few emails, and I promise after this Easter story I won't mention the S word again for a while.

It's just the amount of su... uh, glucose the average child is consuming is dangerous. If you think I'm being an alarmist, good. Never at any time in recorded history did so many teenagers have Type 2 Diabetes. In North America, diabetes is an epidemic cutting years off peoples' lives and adding a number of complications including kidney disease and vision problems.

One warning sign that diabetes is approaching: elevated cholesterol levels.

So when you start seeing high cholesterol in children, this isn't good news.

The American Heart Association currently estimates that 10% of children aged 12 to 19 have dangerous levels of total cholesterol towering above 200 (approximately 5.5 in Canadian units).

Now get this...

In February, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a powerful drug, lovastatin, for use by children to help them lower their cholesterol levels.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has pointed out that there's been little research into the long-term effects of this drug on children. For example, one study lasted only 12 months with boys and six months with girls. Hardly enough time to see what side-effects the drug will have.

Statin drugs are not like a mild antibiotic, with respect to their side effects. They go right to the liver and stop cholesterol from being produced. It requires a health care professional monitoring your liver every three months to make sure nothing is damaged. Statins literally block an enzyme in your liver from making cholesterol. You need to make sure it doesn't block any others in the process.

You see, cholesterol is necessary to sustain every single cell in our body. That's why our body produces it. The problem comes when it starts producing too much or we ingest too much.

So why are these kids producing too much cholesterol? Most kids, after all, aren't eating a pound of butter, a quarter-pound of steak and other animal fats. Cholesterol is only found in animal products such as eggs, meat, butter, etc. OR from your own"animal" -- your body.

Now, I promised not to talk about s***r, here, but I'm afraid it all comes back to it. Kids are not getting high cholesterol from steak -- they are more likely getting it from a Snickers bar...

* Too much sweets go into the blood.

* Their body can't burn it off fast enough.

* Excess glucose is sent to their liver where it turns into fat (which includes cholesterol).

Here are four things you can do to help your kids (or yourself) avoid being sentenced to life with statins or any other drug:

1) Avoid refined sug** which absorbs far quicker than even a hyper-active kid can handle. Focus more on fresh whole fruit, which takes longer to break down.

2) Make sure your kids are active enough (e.g. kicking a ball around, not sitting in front of the TV). Exercise will burn up the corn syrup in their blood stream, so that it doesn't get turned into fat (and cholesterol).

3) Often what happens is all those M&Ms, day-in and day-out, causes "insulin-resistance." That's where, the insulin in your blood (which usually helps absorb glucose) stops working as effectively. This, of course, can lead to diabetes. There are a number of supplements I offer at my clinic to help get your child's insulin back into shape.

4) Stress-reduction. Don't think kids don't experience stress. Some kids look at school with the same appeal as being drafted for the military. If children feel like they are in a "threatening" situation then their adrenal glands will send out cortisol. Cortisol tells the liver to dump its "emergency" supply of stored glucose from the liver into the blood. Once again, an increase in glucose levels. So talk to your kids and see how you can help them out and make them feel safer and calmer.

If I can help your children or you avoid or get off unnecessary medication, that may have serious side-effects and dependency issues, please book a "Conquer Your Cholesterol" consult with meat (519) 739-2402.

Yours in health,
Dr. Karlo Mauro, N.D.
www.thenaturopath.ca/feelbetter
(519) 739-2402

P.S. Check out the article about fish oil in the April InnerCircle Newsletter (mailed to active patients). Fish oil helps your insulin absorb s***r so it doesn't get sent to your liver and recycled as fatty cholesterol. Fish oil also cuts cravings so you don't absolutely, must, can't-live-without a chocolate bar this afternoon. Feel free to use the enclosed coupon to stock up this month.

P.P.S. Next week, I'm going to share with you a story from one of my patients (let's call him "Dave"). Dave's GP told him that because he had "high-cholesterol genes" in his family there was no point exercising or improving his diet, and that he needed to start drug therapy immediately. Dave didn't agree, and six months later he... well, I'll tell you next week.