My Cholesterol is High

Diet and Nutrition
21

[quote]The first is C reactive protein. This is produced by your liver when you have inflamation somewhere in your body. Cutting edge science states that inflamation is the cause of many diseases including heart diesease and many others:[/quote]Causality has not been confirmed with inflammation.
ANd it must be noted that CRP is predominantly a marker for various cytokines, including the interluekin IL6. When one is obese, especially viscerally obese, levels of IL6 excretion rise, which stimulates a large number of things within the body, including part of the adaptation towards lowering insulin sensitivity, TNFalpha as well, which cause the increased release of CRP from predominantly the liver. In most inflammatory diseases, the addition of fish oils to your diet will reduce the levels of inflammation due, but the effect in viscerally obese and the production of IL6, TNFalpha and finall CRP is a bit of the negative side :frowning: getting less fat will result in lower levels.

and also, while it is a risk factor, it hasnt been shown that lowering CRP will result in a reduced risk.
Strangely enough, HMGcoA inhibitors lower CRP levels in people with raised levels of CRP.

THe final point of my last comment is of more importance here. There has been multitudes of research showing raised levels of homocysteine result in increased risk of CVD, CAD, stroke, cognitive decline and others. IT has also been shown that lowering homocysteine is rather easy (at least in non MTHFR polymorphism) with folic acid with or without B12/b6 (b6 does little for homocysteine levels in reality)

But, and i mean a BIG but, only recently has reserch come out on folic acid(bvit) supplementation and results on various end points. Of about the 4 available, 1 is semi-positive, on the rates of restinosis, 1-2 no effect on restinosis, and one larger study (still not conclusive) on folic adic, homocysteine and stroke which also showed no effect from lowering homocysteine.

Just becuase something is a risk factor, does not mean that altering the levels of that risk factor will result in any change in risk.

For example

being male is a risk factor

how many males are willing not to be a male?
(the process of a sex change, including the administration of anti-androgens and estrogen lower homocysteine quite nicely)

22

Bumped because softballhead was looking for input on dietary cholesterol, and because I have an update.

I have been following the same dietary plan mentioned in posts above, with more flax seed oil and fiber; perhaps not so much fresh fruit (oops!); more Grow! shakes during the day.

[quote]TShaw wrote:
Columbus Day 2004–cholesterol 250
MLK Day 2005–cholesterol 212
Triglycerides: 81
HDL: 47
LDL: 149
Cholesterol/HDL: 4.5 (“Average Risk”=4.97)
LDL/HDL Ratio: 3.2 (“Aveeage Risk”=3.55)
[/quote]

May 21 2005:
Total cholesterol 213 (up a point! WTF?)
Triglycerides: 63
HDL: 56 (+9)
LDL: 144 (-5)

I’ll edit later, because I don’t remember all the numbers exactly. The upshot was that my total rose by 1 point, but my HDL and LDL changed for the better by enough points that their ratios put me well BELOW the “Average Risk” numbers.

I won’t discount the self-discipline factor, but I want to again thank this site and the people on it who jumped in with advice and encouragement.

23

Quick tip: Look up Niacin. Been shown to reduce cholesterol by 20-30% in as little as 6 weeks. Also, watch your triglycerides and overall cholesterol ration instead of just HDL or LDL.

Best,
DH

24

My cross country coach in high school was in about the best shape I’ve ever seen anybody in. He could do a 10 mile run and still finish with the best of all the younger guys. (Our school had the #1 and #3 guys in state.) When we ate out, he had pasta, salads, fruit, etc. Ate a very balanced diet. His total cholesterol was 240. Like a lot of people here, he didn’t want to take the drugs for whatever reasons and thought he could manage alone through diet and exercise. When you’re in that great of shape, it’s easy to think that you’re this invincible thing and nothing’s gonna happen to you, despite a red flag or two.

The year after I graduated he died of a heart attack. Food for thought.

25

If anybody is thinking of niacin, be careful of your first doses, the flushing response can be impressive and the consequent pruritus is a bitch. Besides, it has some diabetogenic effects.

I would have gone with red yeast rice, which contains a low-dose non-synthetic statin in it.

By the way, I would not jump to the conclusion that the doctors mentionned here are ignorant, but that they follow established guidelines that are anchored in a significant amount of research.

For those who have actually done litterature reviews on the topic and have dwelved into it in any significant manner, sites like some of the ones mentionned above are a constant reminder that freedom of speech does have some drawbacks.

Maybe it’s the fear of the pharmaceutical lobbies or the high price of drugs in America, but the anti-medication mentality on some of these forums is impressive.

Going back to the books,
AlexH

26

Also, there is of course cinnammon supplementation…but then again, it blocks the HMG-CoA reductase.

AlexH