(NaturalHealth365)  Over the last 100 years, cardiovascular disease has become a top cause of death in the United States (as well as many other places in the Western world), claiming millions of lives through fatal events such as heart attack and stroke.  But, conventionally speaking, the cause of heart attacks – in particular – remains a ‘mystery’ to millions of people … until now.

While Western medicine attempts to treat the current epidemic of heart disease with a host of drugs – including beta blockers and statin drugs – these medications fail to address the root cause of the disease and (many times) offer toxic side effects.  German doctor and researcher Matthias Rath, M.D., says he has discovered the real reason for heart disease and believes it can be prevented – and treated – with ‘Cellular Medicine.’

The true cause of heart attacks would surprise most conventionally trained health professionals

According to Dr. Rath, the founder of the Dr. Rath Research Institute, heart attacks and strokes are the natural outcome and consequence of a chronic vitamin deficiency.

Deficiencies of vitamin C and other vitamins can cause lesions and cracks in the protective arterial walls – which the body then tries to repair by depositing fat particles in the artery walls.

The accumulation of these artery-clogging deposits (also called plaque) can lead to a host of life-threatening problems, including irregular heartbeat, heart failure, heart attack, and stroke.  In other words, the formation of excessive cholesterol is the body’s attempt to repair arterial wall damage – meaning high cholesterol is a symptom, not a cause, of heart disease.

Our bodies are being deprived of life-sustaining vitamins

Dr. Rath reports that cardiovascular disease is actually an early form of the disease scurvy, which is characterized by a severe, life-threatening shortage of vitamin C.  While the standard American diet provides sufficient vitamin C to protect against scurvy, it is not enough to ensure the strong, stable arterial walls that help prevent atherosclerosis.

While most animals produce vitamin C in their bodies – (incidentally, the reason that animals do not suffer heart attacks as humans do) – people do not.  Due to a genetic mutation, we lost this enviable ability long ago – and are now paying the price in heart health.

Thanks to the popularity of the standard American diet (with its insufficient consumption of plant-based foods) and the development of modern farming techniques, food processing, and storage, plus cooking, life-sustaining quantities of vitamin C are stripped from the diet.

Cellular medicine offers a safe, effective recipe for heart health

The mainstay of Cellular Medicine is a set of guidelines – Dr. Rath’s Cellular Health Recommendations – which advise supplementation with specific types and amounts of essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.

In addition to providing “cell fuel” and acting as “biocatalysts,” these nutrients stabilize blood vessel walls, reverse existing plaque deposits, and fight high blood pressure by relaxing and dilating blood vessels.

A routine of antioxidants, such as vitamins C, E, B-complex vitamins, and CoQ10, can support the heart by protecting the cardiovascular system from harmful oxidation.  These vitamins also increase collagen production, protect against elevated homocysteine levels, and optimize heart muscle cells.

Dr. Rath maintains that the amino acids lysine and proline can act as natural “Teflon agents,” helping to rid artery walls of harmful lipoproteins – with no angioplasty or surgery.

Of course, quitting smoking, getting appropriate exercise, and striving for proper nutrition (more organic, plant-based foods and avoiding unhealthy fats and refined sugars) also provide valuable coronary benefits.  Reducing harmful (vitamin C-depleting) stress through natural means such as biofeedback, meditation, and acupuncture also helps.

‘Putting the brakes’ on heart damage, according to a groundbreaking study

In a clinical study published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition, 55 patients with coronary deposits followed the cellular health recommendations for a year.  The harmful deposits increased for the first six months – but at a much slower rate than previously.

Dr. Rath reports that the deposits stopped growing from the seventh through the twelfth month.  The routine helped to “put the brakes on” coronary artery disease, slowing and then stopping the accumulation of dangerous atherosclerotic plaque.

Results varied depending on the severity of the disease.  The deposits disappeared completely within a year in patients with early coronary disease.  In patients with advanced coronary disease, further growth was stopped, and artery walls were stabilized – benefits that help prevent heart attacks.

The results were so dramatic that Dr. Rath reported that some patients who had been scheduled for bypass surgery were able to forego the procedure – a very encouraging development.

Additional studies confirm the benefits of optimal vitamin levels

Clinical studies show that optimum daily intake of vitamins can halt and even reverse the development of heart disease – and that higher vitamin C intake is associated with increases in lifespan of up to six years.

Research has shown that even modest amounts of vitamin C – 300 mg per day, as opposed to the paltry 50 mg a day offered by the standard American diet – can slash the risk of heart disease up to 50 percent in men and up to 40 percent in women.

What do European studies reveal about heart health?

Studies conducted in Europe have shown that people in Mediterranean countries have lower rates of cardiovascular disease than their Scandinavian counterparts.  Scientists believe this is due to a higher dietary intake of fresh fruit and vegetables, which contain disease-fighting carotenoids, bioflavonoids, and antioxidant vitamins C and E.

The highly influential Nurses’ Health Study, launched in 1976 and published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrated the benefits of vitamins E, B-complex, and C in decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and heart attack.

In a 2016 review revisiting the NHS’s findings, the authors pointed to the association between vitamin C deficiency and earlier death from heart disease and credited vitamin C with its ability to prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol.

To no one’s surprise, big pharma is trying to protect its financial interests by continuing to block the spread of this potentially lifesaving information.  The pharmaceutical giants would much rather push symptom-oriented, patentable substances than effective and safe natural therapies.

However, if Dr. Rath has anything to say about it, all will eventually adopt Cellular Medicine.  And heart disease, he maintains, will become a thing of the past.

Sources for this article include:

NIH.gov
DrRathFoundation.org
NIH.gov
Harvard.edu