The Homocysteine Factor: a measurable lab result tool for health
I just finished reading a book called The H Factor. The authors Holford and Braly push their new found tool to measure health, called Homocysteine.
On the cover it says:
“Homocysteine is the new cholesterol. It’s potentially your most important health statistic.”
“The fast new way to dramatically improve your health and add 20 years to your life.”
“Homocysteine – the biggest health breakthrough of the century.”
In the introduction, it gets even better:
“This amazing predictive chemical is an amino acid – a building block of protein – found naturally in the blood. Our levels of it, or our “H score’, are more accurate than a cholesterol reading in terms of predicting our risk of a heart attack or stroke, and a better measure than genes of our risk of Alzheimer’s. In fact, your H score predicts your risk of over 50 diseases – including increased risk of premature death from all common causes. It can even tell you how quickly you will age. And by revealing your B vitamin nutritional status, immune system function and state of your brain, it shows how well your body’s chemistry can roll with the punches.”
The following is the conclusive study the authors base their touting of Homocysteine measurements:
“Researchers from the University of Bergen in Norway, one of the world’s leading homocysteine research centers, measured the homocysteine levels of 4,766 people in their sixties a decade ago (1993), and then recorded who died and who didn’t. This is what they discovered.
A mere five-point decrease in H score predicted a:
49% reduced risk of death from all causes
50% reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
26% reduced risk of death from cancer
104% reduced risk of death from any causes other than cancer or heart disease”
So if you are a numbers guy, who likes getting lab results and targets numbers, homocysteine may be one of the numbers you should be interested in.
The authors then have a chapter titled: Ten Steps to Superhealth
1. Begin by testing your homocysteine level
2. Follow the ten-step H Factor Diet
3. Take the H Factor supplements at the dose prescribed, depending on your H score
And the ten step H factor diet:
1. Eat less fatty meat, more fish and vegetable protein.
2. Eat your greens.
3. Have a clove of garlic a day.
4. Don’t add salt to your food.
5. Cut back on tea and coffee.
6. Limit your alcohol.
7. Reduce your stress.
8. Stop smoking.
9. Supplement a high strength multivitamin every day.
10. Correct estrogen deficiency.
At the back of the book it says:
“The H factor stands for health. You can reduce your H level in two months and dramatically increase your chances of a long, health and pain free life.
So where am I in the H factor paradigm? I should be at the top! I’m on a raw paleolithic diet. Majority raw organic fruits (we in the Philippines have tons of fruits), few raw organic vegetables and raw nuts, raw organic / fertilized egg yolks (chicken and duck), raw wild / ocean fish and some raw beef, raw chicken and some raw goat liver and kidneys.
I don’t touch artificial vitamins or supplements because I have observed that raw food is more powerful than any of those. Results are fast and easily noticeable. The H Factor book was written for the masses who eat COOKED FOOD.
Now to find a laboratory that measures homocysteine and check if what these researchers say is true.
The official website of the book can be found at http://www.thehfactor.com