[quote]superscience wrote:
5 The only effective way to lower cholesterol is with drugs, but neither heart mortality or total mortality have been improved with drugs the effect of which is cholesterol-lowering only. On the contrary, these drugs are dangerous to your health and may shorten your life.
[/quote]
I can only speak for myself, but in doing so, I present another view on the above: My Cholesterol was over 300, my triglycerides over 500.
I then started running on on a treadmill at 6-7mph for 35+ miles / week every week for 3 months. I was a hampster. I did cut out the junk food but did not do any strength-training then. My cholesterol dropped to around 135, and my Tri’s to 77; LDL was well down, and HDL went up a little. This was measured twice within the same month (by two different labs), so I know the numbers are accurate.
(I also became so weak that I couldn’t do one pullup, weighing in at 160lb or so, whereas before I could do 3 or so as a 200lb couch-potato. That’s why I stopped the low intensity stuff).
Fish oil has had no impact on my cholesteral profile.
Two years ago, before I started fish oil supplementation, my HDL was 84 and my LDL was 95. It was tested again recently and I scored an 84 (again) on HDL, and a 92 on LDL.
I attribute this to regularly donating blood. Out with the old, in with the new. That’s what they tell me at the Blood Center anyway…
I am taking a Niacin supplement as an experiment (reaserch this, and if you try it, I suggest a NOFLUSH version, in case like me you’re one of the 35% that gets a flush from regular niacin).
WiZlon[/quote]
Make sure that you are not taking slow-release or extended-release Niacin. Both are very tough on the liver.
Hey WiZlon,
sounds like you know your HDL/LDL mechanisms pretty well. I wouldn’t be worrying so much about the post-workout Hi-GI carbs…at least not that much anyway. Unless you’re making a habit of downing maltodextrin and white potatos as a staple of your diet, I doubt you’re going to become insulin resistant. In addition to the fact that exercise in general increases insulin sensitivity and if you’re so health conscious I’d have to guess the rest of your diet is near perfection.
Plus let’s not rule out the possibility that hi GI carbs may not have an effect on insulin sensitivity because of the unique chemical environment post-workout. We know from research that carbs and fat are metabolized completely differently, even if insulin levels themselves are spiked. Plus the odds are you’re going to consume less carbs over the course of the day as a result of a massive carb load in the hours after a workout.
WiZlon,
interesting ideas on the HDL/LDL and exercise intensity, I know jack about it. Though I wonder if that’s the way you can look at it. If short term effects of exercise on the body were indicative of long-term results, wouldn’t we all be saying that weightlifting causing catabolism and muscle wasting? Just because your HDL or LDL might go down during exercise doesn’t mean they’re going to stay down 8 hours later does it?
Isn’t your body just going to replenish it after exercise is stopped and normal eating and activity resumes? If the body was that slow to maintain these levels wouldn’t we be able to acheive close to 0 LDL just be doing light cardio twice a day?
My personal experience: over the past several months I’ve done next to no cardio at all (stupid, I know, but true). I take something like 5,000+ mg of combined DHA and EPA, as Berardi recommends. My HDL is . . . 103! Now, I’ve been taking high doses of fish oil for a long time, so I don’t have a pre-fish oil number to share with you, unfortunately, but I have to think that there’s NO WAY IN HELL my HDL would be one-oh-frickin’-three without all that fish oil.
Also, my triglycerides are 51. And I’ve been eating pretty much whatever the hell I want (I don’t go overboard on dessert or anything, but I have bacon or sausage and eggs every morning, I’ll occasionally have a bacon cheddar burger . . . I eat healthy stuff like chicken and turkey and such too, but I’ve been basically eating without rules). Take it for what it’s worth.
It’s interesting how far behind the average doctor is in this country. I know of no test that separates HDL. While I’m sure they have them they are not standard on a typical blood profile.[/quote]
You ahve to take into account there is a difference between measuring something as a risk factor in a research study, and using it as a standard screening tool in an individuals CVD risk.
Generally it takes a long time to build up adequate evidence that what you are measuring is actually representing what we think it is.
Then there is analytical development for mass measurements etc etc etc.
its just a matter of flowing down from the cutting edge research, to the MD at the end.
[quote]superscience wrote:
1 Cholesterol is not a deadly poison, but a substance vital to the cells of all mammals. There are no such things as good or bad cholesterol, but mental stress, physical activity and change of body weight may influence the level of blood cholesterol. A high cholesterol is not dangerous by itself, but may reflect an unhealthy condition, or it may be totally innocent.[/quote]
No shit
While altehrosclerosis appears in both high and low cholesterol (as it is a multifactorial disease), there is consistent and significant increased risk within the high cholesterol area. This association is not quite as strong as htey initially (niavely) thought, but it is still consistent.
[quote] 3 Your body produces three to four times more cholesterol than you eat. The production of cholesterol increases when you eat little cholesterol and decreases when you eat much. This explains why the ?prudent? diet cannot lower cholesterol more than on average a few per cent.[/quote]Maybe you should catch up with the rather large body of research that shows that to be rather wrong (PS dietary cholesterol is not a problem by itself)
Name them
Ya, thats why people live longer on statins than without… oh wait.
Evidence?
[quote]Unfortunately, they also stimulate cancer in rodents, [/quote]dont feed them to your rat
[quote]disturb the functions of the muscles[/quote]There are reports showing myopathies and others showing nothing. If you asked someone if they would rather die I think I know which one they would take (and i am not advocating indiscriminant use of statins - everything else must be exhausted before buggering around with drugs)
[quote]the heart and the brain and pregnant women taking statins may give birth to children with malformations more severe than those seen after thalidomide.[/quote]Wow, wonder what contraindications a lot of drugs have.
Yes, the only person providing clear and true inforamtion is Uffe Ravnskov, he is a leader amongst his peers.
He also dislikes those nasty polyunsaturates
Make sure that you are not taking slow-release or extended-release Niacin. Both are very tough on the liver.
[/quote]
Thanks man, I’ve started to research this a little more. I was aware that large doses could be a problem, so I went way below this, but I also found this posting:
“In the large doses needed to lower cholesterol (1,500 to 3,000 milligrams a day) niacin can cause liver problems. In fact, problems can start with doses as low as 500 milligrams, although some effects might not show up for years.” (source:bodyandfitness)
I felt good until I read the last sentence. I think my tabs are higher, but they are not slow release.
Do you have a specific brand you would recommend? I am only taking them to help booster HDL, so that’s the property I’m most interested in.
IR Niacin or immediate release niacin appears to be the only form that does not cause liver damage.
The downside, for many people, is the flushing from IR Niacin.
Some things to consider and look into;
Testosterone and anabolics put the hepatic lipase system into overdrive. The up-regulation of hepatic lipase can significantly lower HDL levels.
It is very difficult, without compromising liver function, to have high testosterone levels and high HDL levels at the same time.
The hepatic lipase system remodels larger (benefical) HDL particles (which float around the bloodstream collecting plaque and reducing inflammation) into smaller HDL particles. The smaller HDL particles return to the liver. If the liver is overwhelmed by excess calories (bulking) or toxins it can not keep up with the hepatic lipase system (recycled HDL). Fatty liver (cholestasis) can occur.
So you have two things going on. One; any benefical HDL you have in your blood (doing it’s artery clean-up thing) is remodeled by an over-stimulated hepatic lipase system and sent back to the liver. Two; your liver becomes overwhelmed by all the remodeled HDL and sometimes can’t keep up which can lead to cholestasis.
Estrogen down-regulates the hepatic lipase system and raises HDL levels.
The buoyancy of HDL seems to play a part in it’s health benefits. HDL particals are not always buoyant.
HDL can be anti-inflammatory or pro- inflammatory. HDL can become “damaged”. Having high HDL does not always equal good cardiac health.
Most research is now focused on inflammation (C-Reactive Protein, interleukin-6) as indicators of cardiac health.
My advice is to invest your time and energy on protecting and maintaining your liver function and reducing inflammation.
The amino acid Taurine can help with bile regulation and is liver protective. Take in AM 30 minutes before breakfast on empty stomach.
The herb Amla is a antioxidant and is liver protective.
Calcium D-Glucarate is good for phase II liver detox.
Salvia Miltiorrhiza root with MSV 60 is helpful to cardiac health and function. Can cause blood thinning!
