Start at the beginning Thank goodness there's at least one group of researchers arguing against the latest movement to put kids on cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. These researchers, from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine agree wholeheartedly that kids should be the target of heart-health improvement campaigns; they just aren't hopping on the statins-for-kids bandwagon with the rest of mainstream medicine. As the lead researcher, Dr. Daniel Steinberg, said in a news release, he and his team believe that "more aggressive and earlier intervention will probably prevent considerably more than 30 percent of coronary heart disease." But rather than adopting the typical prescription-pad panacea other "experts" are calling for, the University of California team went for a novel approach with their advice: "Instead, they suggest programs to promote lifelong healthy eating and exercise." In other words, they're advocating that legendary "ounce of prevention" that Dr. Wright and his colleagues in the natural medicine field have been recommending for decades. Of course, the specifics of their plan are still classically misinformed mainstream notions of instituting low-fat, low-cholesterol diets, only this time in infants as young as seven months. So, while they're on the right track when it comes to ditching drugs in favor of adopting a healthy lifestyle, their idea of a "healthy lifestyle" still leaves much to be desired. The fact is, adopting a truly healthy diet and lifestyle like the one Dr. Wright has been telling his patients and readers about for years will automatically lower your risk of elevated cholesterol levels and heart disease (not to mention hundreds of other health concerns as well). Dr. Wright recommends that infants be breast fed until they're old enough to demand "regular" food. And then, that regular food should consist of the same natural, healthy items he recommends for adults, including lots of organically grown fruits and vegetables and lean sources of grass-fed meat and poultry. And leaving out the "extras," like refined sugar and carbohydrates, as well as dairy products, is also an integral part setting your kids -- and you -- up for a future free of avoidable health complications, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. As the University of California acknowledges, this sort of shift does "require an all-out commitment of money and manpower." But if there's one commitment worth making it's one that will build a healthy foundation for you and your family. Source:
"Researchers push aggressive cholesterol control in kids rather than drugs," HealthDay (www.healthday.com), 8/4/08 | 
