Ultraprevention by Mark Hyman MD & Mark Liponis MD

Ultraprevention by Mark Hyman MD & Mark Liponis MD

“[In the old] Chinese medical system, a doctor is only paid to keep his patients well. If they get sick, the treatment is free.” P37

“more than 60M Americans suffer [from] irritable bowel syndrome… Today’s prevailing thesis is that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is an unknown condition requiring medication to stop its symptoms… We think however, that IBS is caused by an imbalance in the ecology of the intestinal tract… Around 100 quadrillion organisms live within the human digestive tract, which at 3lbs, could be considered the largest internal organ other than the liver.” P43

“Gold, injected in liquid form into the bloodstream, was a popular and effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis until the 1940s… Gold has only recently returned to favor, despite the fact that no one knows exactly why it works.” P46

“Estrogen builds bone, the more estrogen, the denser the bones. This is why women with very dense bones have much higher rates of breast cancer – more estrogen promotes more breast cancer.” P61

“Glucosamine, a natural substance present in the body, not only relieves symptoms, but reduces the joint damage that occurs in arthritis… Chondroitin is found in normal joint fluid, and it MAY act as a lubricant of sorts. P85

All of us carry genes that encode for a protein called APO E (apolipoprotein E). This gene comes in several flavors: type 2, 3 and 4. If you have type 2, you’re lucky. You possess what is nicknamed the ‘immortality gene’, which means you may actually get away with smoking, eating poorly, and not exercising and still live to be 90. If you have type 3 (like 80% of us), you must eat right, control your weight, exercise, and avoid bad habits to remain healthy. A small percentage have type 4. Such individuals can eat right, exercise, and avoid smoking, but still suffer from heart attacks, stroke, or Alzheimer’s in their 60’s.” p94

“A study in Lancet looked at 212 patients with degenerative arthritis of the knee. This randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study showed that the patients taking 1500mg of glucosamine per day for 3 years showed no significant loss of cartilage during that time [no further loss but also no gain], whereas patients taking a placebo all showed progressive joint space narrowing due to loss of cartilage.” P114

“There’s a gene in the cells that line the colon that may determine whether or not you get colon cancer – it’s a tumor suppressor gene. This gene is turned on by a substance called butylrate, which is a type of fat produced by the healthy forms of bacteria that normally inhabit our colon… So by keeping the right bacteria in your gut and by eating enough fiber [the bacteria feed on the fiber], you can turn on a gene that turns off cancer.” P96

“in a 1979  Harvard study, researchers turned back the clock for a group of men aged 75 and older. The researchers brought these men to a retreat center and asked them to pretend it was 1959. The center duplicated life as it was through music, magazines, books; furthermore the researchers told the men to talk about events of that period… Acting younger had a profound effect on these men. Their memory and manual dexterity improved, they were more active and self-sufficient, they took responsibility for self-care tasks that they had depended on others to do for them. Even aspects that were considered irreversible effects of aging changed… Their fingers lengthened; their flexibility, posture, muscle strength, eyesight, and hearing all improved.” P106

“Everyone has a certain degree of organ reserve… For example, dialysis for kidney failure is not needed until kidney function drops to less than 20% of what is normal (50% loss of function is needed before it even shows up on a lab test). You’d have to lose at least 90% of your adrenal gland before insufficiency would be evident.” P108

“Researchers in 1997 found that a commonly used over the counter anti-inflammatory drug reduced the likelihood of Alzheimers by 70%. The drug was ibuprofen. That’s not to say we recommend that everyone start taking Advil to prevent Alzheimer’s. In the process of protecting the brain, you could damage the liver.” P111 It is always something.

“In 1999, a 46 month study on the heart from France, looked at 605 people who had suffered heart attacks and survived. Some of these people were told to eat a Mediterranean diet, others were told to the American Heart Association (AHA) prevention and cholesterol lowering diet. The Med diet included fats from foods such as fish, olive, and canola oils, it also included a high number of fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and eggs, as well as some wine. It was significantly higher in fiber than the AHA diet, as well as 2 important fatty acids: alpha-linolenic acid (omega 3) and oleic acid (from olive oil). The results? The group eating the Med diet had 50 to 70% fewer 2nd heart attacks. They even had to stop the study early because too many people eating the AHA diet were dying from heart attacks.” P124

“There’s been a recent inversion of our diet even more dramatic than the way we switched from hunter-gatherer society to an agricultural society. This is due to our practice of refining oils, which has increased the saturated fats and vegetable oils in our diets. Back when humans were hunter gatherers, our diets contained a 4:1 ratio of omega 3 to 6. that ratio remained constant for eons, and it suitably reflects the makeup of our membranes… Once we began to refine oils from plants, we switched to a high omega 6 diet, which accounts for the more than 20:1 ratio [that we currently experience]… This shift is making our bodies malfunction, causing inflammation, dry skin, and increased oxidation.” P130

“Recent research at Harvard has shown that supplemental essential fatty acids can improve the symptoms of bipolar disorder. This is based on the fundamental understanding that the cells of the brain normally contain high levels of DHA, which is commonly found in fish fat, and that adequate levels of this type of fat are critical for healthy communication between brain cells.” P132

“Newsweek (April 23, 2001) reported on a man who had suffered a psychotic breakdown, becoming so delusional that he landed first in jail, and then in a psychiatric ward. Lithium didn’t seem to help. An asst. prof from Harvard then recommended the man eat a ¼ lb of salmon every day (while still taking lithium). 6 mos later, the doctor was able to declare the treatment a complete success.” P133

“It would be extremely difficult to raise your blood cholesterol by eating cholesterol, since over 50% of all cholesterol in our bodies does not come from dietary sources, but is manufactured in our cells, particularly in the liver and the intestines.” P135

“Soluble fiber comes most often from nonwheat types of fiber, such as from fruits and vegetables, and is broken down by the beneficial bacteria in your gut; these bacteria rely on soluble fiber as their own food source. Generally, the more soluble fiber in your diet, the more you promote the growth of healthy bacteria in the colon… They produce an important fatty acid (butyrate). Butyrate in turn is a significant source of nourishment for the cells that line our intestinal tract, and this lining is critical for the health of our intestines, as well as helping preserve their ability to absorb food and eliminate waste. Reduced levels of butyrate in the stool have been associated with colon cancer, as well as colitis.” P142 Other studies, curiously, have not shown that increased fiber intake leads to lower colon cancer rates. Perhaps a study that gives you probiotics (healthy bacteria) and soluble fiber are needed to prove this?

“[Many skeptical doctors say] Our ancestors have lived 1000s of years without vitamin and food supplements. So we don’t really need them, either… Even if our ancestor’s diet wasn’t perfect, our modern diet lacks many nutrients common to our ancestors. This is due in part to changed farming practices and lack of organic matter in the soil. Furthermore many modern foods have been genetically altered for the worse (native Indian corn has omega 3, while modern genetically modified corn does not). They’ve also been stored for prolonged periods before and during transportation, then overprocessed and overprepared [all of which deplete nutrients]. Furthermore, all the varying medications we take interfere or compete with nutrients for absorption. Considering all this, it’s not surprising that more than 80% of Americans are deficient in one or more nutrients on a daily basis.” P144

The more you eat, the more vitamins you need. That’s because eating a lot of food equals burning a lot of food… Which gives rise to 2 outcomes: energy in the form of ATP, and waste, which includes free radicals, and other cellular products that have to be eliminated from the cells. P145

Food is also the biggest source of free radicals, manufactured by oxidative stress. This is because when the body processes food (specifically when we convert food into usable energy inside our mitochondria), it releases free radicals that need to be quenched by our antioxidant system. That’s why so many research studies have shown that the best way to add 30 years to your life span is to eat less. The less you eat, the less oxidative stress is placed on the mitochondria… Thus people who eat the most food have the highest level of oxidative stress, and need the most vitamins to compensate. P146 (What about exercise then? It should increase the oxidative stress, and cause you to age earlier?)

Drinking a solution with zinc can indicate a zinc deficiency if a person cannot sense it, because normally it tastes like dirty metal. P154

“When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself; art cannot become manifest; strength cannot be exerted; wealth is useless, and reason is powerless.” Heterophiles (physician of Alexander and father of anatomy) 300 BC

Suppose someone injects beef directly into your bloodstream. You will develop a horrible allergic reaction and perhaps even die – humans are so different from cows that your immune system would immediately freak out. But if you first broke down that cow protein down into its component amino acids, you could inject all the cow you wished into the bloodstream, and no reaction would result. [This is precisely what your digestive system does every day.] p180

The surface area of the digestive tract is literally the size of a tennis court. P185

Any protein that is not recognized as yours is considered a potential invader and attacked. So if you eat a protein and don’t digest it completely, you’ll have an immune reaction… And if you were to eat that protein again and it wasn’t completely digested, but entered your blood in a non or partially digested form – your immune system would make an antibody against the protein. P186

Your body makes 2/3 of its own weight each day in ATP; the avg 150lb human makes upto 100lbs of ATP every 24 hours! P189

ATP is made from glucose… Our brain runs exclusively on glucose. P191

Researchers gave acidophilus (gut bacteria) to women during pregnancy, and to their babies after birth. The babies had a 50% lower chance of developing asthma compared with a control group. P206 (Lancet 4/7/01)

Nothing can get into the bloodstream from the digestive tract without first passing through the liver… If you swallow something that shouldn’t get into your bloodstream, such as an artificial preservative [or sweetner] the liver will trap it and say ‘This is not food…I’ll trap it and keep it here so I can detoxify and eliminate it.” P211

Some of the best human evidence of the calorie reduction concept sprang from the Biosphere 2 experiments… after 2 years were up, the men had lost 18% of their body weight; the women 10%. And every measurable variable (body fat, blood pressure, exercise capacity, white blood counts, cholesterol, etc.) showed that these people had become substantially younger than when they entered.

Try an elimination diet. During this phase, the following foods should be avoided:

• Wheat and gluten


• Dairy


• Eggs


• Sugar and refined grains


• Corn


• Peanuts


• Caffeine


• Processed/Packaged foods


• Alcohol

Why these foods? They include the most common allergens, rust causing foods (sugar and refined grains), and artificial foods/chemicals. What can you eat?

• Colorful fruits and vegetables


• Beans


• Whole grains (except wheat/gluten)


• Omega 3 rich foods (fish, flax)


• Olive oil


• Lean animal protein


• Nuts and seeds


• Take probiotics (acidophilus, lactobacillus, bifidum bacteria)


• Increase fiber (to feed your bacterial pets)