In his books, newsletter, and interviews, Sinatra advocated treatment approaches that combine conventional medical therapies with nutritional and mind-body therapies that he thought enhance the body's natural
bioenergetics and heal the heart. He promoted his ideas of five specific pillars of cardiac health: • an
anti-inflammatory diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, fish, nuts, and healthy oils, similar to the
Mediterranean diet [Sinatra also developed an
anti-inflammatory,
low-glycemic nutrition plan called the Pan-Asian / Modified Mediterranean (PAMM) Diet]; • nutritional supplementation that includes a high-potency multi-nutrient, fish oil, magnesium, vitamin C, and coenzyme Q10; • regular exercise; • detoxification; and •
stress reduction. Sinatra believed in the impact one's emotions have on overall health and the need to resolve so called emotional blockages as well as physical ones. He stated that "whenever you confront a person with an illness, you have to involve everything, including the spiritual.… Every illness has a psychological and a physical component." Sinatra also believed that heart disease manifests differently in women than in men, and that such differences ultimately affect diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in women. Sinatra presented his ideas about "metabolic cardiology" at the American College for Advancement in Medicine's 2005 Conference on Scientific Integrative Medicine. His proposed treatments included giving patients supplemental doses of substances that occur naturally in the body which he believed enhance metabolic reactions in cells. Sinatra believed
coenzyme Q10,
D-ribose, and
L-carnitine are important in this proposed process because of the roles they play in the production and use of
adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the body's basic cellular fuel. In this context, he called coenzyme Q10 a "wonder nutrient," especially for women, as he believed it helps the heart pump more effectively. His ACAM presentation also suggested that low levels of coenzyQ10 may result in the development of heart disease. Sinatra was often critical of what he saw as an over-emphasis on
cholesterol as an independent risk factor for heart disease and of what he considered the over-prescription of statin drugs. Most
statin drugs, which block an
enzyme pathway necessary for the body to produce cholesterol, also block the enzyme pathway by which the body naturally produces coenzyme Q10. Sinatra acknowledged that these drugs accomplish their goal of reducing cholesterol, but maintained that they also deprive the heart and other muscles of a vital nutrient and thereby set the stage for potential
heart failure. Sinatra was also critical of
refined sugar, which he called "public enemy number one when it comes to heart disease, not cholesterol." He believed the surges of
insulin that occur when too much sugar is consumed create a "yo-yo effect" that, over time, damages the inner lining of the
blood vessels. He also believed that sugar is linked to the proliferation of
cancer cells. =="Grounding"==