| Did you know that by nature, every drug creates nutritional deficiencies? While some are worse than others and some nutrients more vital to survival, any drug, and any diminished nutrient is a problem. In fact, stress, general daily toxicity, and poor diet are already causing an epidemic glut of deficiencies. When you then give a person a medication on top of that, research shows that perhaps the biggest reason for moderate to deadly drug side-effects is the intense vitamin, mineral, and enzyme insufficiency they create. Statins are a classic case of death by prescription due to blocking nutrient health. It is difficult to take a drug that is known to harm the liver in order to stop it from producing important nutrients and suffer no consequences. That is what makes Statins one of the most dangerous of all of the drugs that are made. Cholesterol is not a poison, it is a critical nutrient your body needs to survive every minute of every day. Cholesterol is used to make hormones like testosterone, estrogen, thyroid, and adrenal so you can have sex, have children, lose weight, sleep, and have energy. Your most important body part, your brain is highly composed of cholesterol and you need cholesterol to create bile for digestion, manage your gut flora, and manage your mood. When you consider what are just some of the important uses of cholesterol and what you have to do to the liver to get it to stop making cholesterol, it makes sense that the side-effects of statin drugs are things like full-body pain, tendon ruptures, heart attack, depression, amnesia, Alzheimer’s, increased cancer rates, and susceptibility to many diseases. Nutritionally, the liver enzyme that is shut down by these drugs, HMG CoA reductase is required to make certain vitamins critical to survival. Specifically, statins cause a deficiency in coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and reduce zinc levels. CoQ10 deficiencies can lead to high blood pressure, severe fatigue, trouble thinking, and ironically; hear failure. Zinc deficiency can lead to an enormous range of health problems as there are more than 200 zinc-dependent enzymes involved in body organ function. CoQ10 and zinc (Found in good form and dose in your Edison Pack) are truly important nutrients to supplement regularly. As modern living; including drugs and the regular bombardment of toxins negatively impact liver function and it’s the ability to absorb and utilize nutrients, these are two highly valuable nutrients to supplement regularly. Have fun saving the world, Dr. Ben Lerner |