John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

A clinical trial into tangerine and red palm extract is, for me, one of the most important studies into natural support for cardiovascular health. A study ‘Citrus Flavonoids and Tocotrienols for Hypercholesterolemia' – or high cholesterol – by Rosa, Xian-Lu and Guthrie, 2007, identified the cardiovascular benefits of a patented combination of these extracts.

This was a double-blind placebo-controlled trial with the objective to see if these compounds had any effect on blood cholesterol and other heart risk factors. The study involved 120 otherwise healthy people with high cholesterol.

They were divided into two groups. Group one was given Sytrinol, a tangerine extract combined with the palm fruit extract Tocomin. The other group was given a placebo sugar pill. After 12 weeks both groups were given a blood test. The results show, on average, those receiving the active ingredients reduced total cholesterol by 27 per cent. This was reflected in a reduction of Low-Density Lipoprotein cholesterol by 25 per cent with a small increase of beneficial High-Density Lipoprotein cholesterol of four per cent. Triglycerides are the transported fat from excess calories and can lead to heart disease and these reduced by 31 per cent.

Many people have been prescribed cholesterol-lowering medications called statins. These are very effective at reducing cholesterol because they inhibit the liver enzyme needed to create cholesterol. However, this same enzyme is needed for critically important Co enzyme Q10. By reducing CoQ10, statins can cause many side effects such as fatigue and muscle pain. I recommend most people on statins take CoQ10 as CoQsol but please call me to see if this is right for you.

There is a large group of people who cannot tolerate statins and another group who would prefer to use non-drug solutions to improve heart health. The compounds in the above trial are now available to the public. Give me call if you would like more information. Give me a call or email john@abundant.co.nz if you need more information. Join my full weekly newsletter at www.abundant.co.nz

John Arts is a qualified nutritional therapist and founder of Abundant Health. Contact John on 0800 423 559. To read more, go to www.sunlive.co.nz