What do you use to lower cholesterol without statins?

zogo

I have started taking Turmeric (the spice) in capsule form as recommended by my Naturopath. I take Thorne brand Meriva. 2x2 capsules/day.

cp418

I can't remember if I had posted this link somewhere about cholesterol link to hormone positive breast cancer. However, since this topic comes up so often here is the link with a diagram of metabolism.

http://www.integrativeoncology-essentials.com/2013...

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/342/6162/109...

cp418

Interesting article....

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/good-cho...

'Good' Cholesterol Mutation Linked to Heart Disease

Genetic study deals blow to the idea that high levels of HDL cholesterol reduce heart risk

ruthbru

Apparently you are damned if you do, and damned if you don't!

sbelizabeth

My total cholesterol hovered all my life around 200, no matter what I ate, weighed, or did for exercise. When I started Femara it immediately shot up to 240. I started taking red yeast rice from Costco twice a day, and six months later, it was back down to 200.

I would like it to be lower, but I'm not willing to add a statin to my already too-long list of meds.

cp418

This product worked for me although you need to take it with meals. It dropped my total cholesterol from 239 to 183.

http://www.naturemade.com/supplements/cholestoff/c...

marijen

A couple of walnut halves everyday - did the trick (and no gooey fatty cheesy stuff like alfredo sauce).

zogo

sbelizabeth, Red Yeast Rice IS a statin.

sbelizabeth

Zogo-- not anymore, at least for the supplements sold in the US. From medicine.net:

"Small scale studies using pharmaceutical-grade red rice yeast have continued to demonstrate efficacy and safety. However, in the United States it is no longer legal to sell supplements of red yeast rice that contain more than trace amounts of cholesterol lowering substances. For example, the active ingredients of red rice yeast have been removed from Cholestin marketed in the United States. (Hypocol, another product containing red yeast rice is no longer being sold in the United States.)

The reasons the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ruled that it is illegal to sell red yeast rice that contains more than trace amounts of the cholesterol-lowering substances and to promote red yeast rice for lowering cholesterol levels.

• First, statin drugs are associated with muscle and kidney injury when used alone or combined with other medications. There is concern that patients who already take statin drugs with or without these other medications may increase their risk of muscle or kidney injury.
• Second, the FDA considers the products containing red yeast rice with high levels of cholesterol lowering substances to be new, unapproved drugs for which marketing violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act"

abigail48

I had a dear friend killed by statins. her dr said f you don;t stop sing them u'll need a liver transplant. she replyed whythen did you prescribe them to me. a bit later at a rock concert, she was a rock/blues singer, she fell off the stage, the next morning at her land, still in her car she was found dead

zogo

Oh Abigail, that is so sad. Sorry for the loss of your friend.

Statins are evil. And so many are prescribed w/o CoQ10! Which should be malpractice, in my opinion. I have often wondered why they don't add D3 and CoQ10 right in the statins.

macb04

Found this article about CURCUMIN lowering Cholesterol. What isn't Curcumin good for?? I take Thorne Meriva Curcumin every day for its anticancer benefits, as well as its pain relieving/antinflammatory effects.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH

ISSN 2278 – 5701

www.earthjournals.org Volume 4 Issue 3, 2014 20

Original Research Article

AN EVALUATION OF HYPOLIPIDEMIC EFFECT OF

CURCUMIN: A DOUBLE BLIND, PLACEBO

CONTROLLED, RANDOMIZED TRIAL

M. Purna Chandrakala,1* Kranti Tekulapally2

1*Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Malla Reddy Medical College for

Women, Suraram, Hyderabad

*Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Malla Reddy Medical College

for Women, Suraram, Hyderabad;

Corresponding Author: Dr. M. PurnaChandrakala

ABSTRACT:

Background:Curcumin is the principal constituent of turmeric, yellow coloring spice routinely used in

Indian Cuisine. Hypolipidemic effect of curcumin is well demonstrated but not that of turmeric that

contains about 250mg curcumin/teaspoon. The present study was therefore planned to identify a naturally

occurring hypolipidemic agent which when incorporated in diet, may be beneficial in controlling

hypercholesterolemia and prevent its adverse consequences. Materials and methods: The study was

double blind, placebo controlled, randomized trial. Forty five subjects with fasting serum total cholesterol

in the range of 200 – 350 mg/dl and triglycerides less than 300mg/dl and with no history of coronary heart

disease, diabetes and secondary hypercholesterolemia were randomized into three groups. The three groups

received curcumin 500 mg/day, turmeric 500mg/day and placebo 500mg/day (equal proportions of Rice

and Bengal gram powder)respectively in addition to dietary advice. The Lipid profiles were assessed at

baseline, day 11 and day 31. Later the patients were advised to stop the treatment and the lipid parameters

were reassessed after 30 days, day 61 of the study period. Results obtained were analyzed statistically using

ANOVA. Results: Curcumin significantly reduced the total cholesterol levels, triglycerides and LDL

cholesterol (p < 0.001) and slightly increased the levels of HDL-C after 30 days of treatment in

comparison to the turmeric and control group. The effects of curcumin were more significant than turmeric

in lowering total cholesterol, LDL-C and triglycerides but were comparable to each other in increasing

HDL- C and decreasing VLDL. Conclusion: The results show that Curcumin has significant

hypolipidemic effects compared to turmeric

Keywords: Curcumin, Hypolipidemic, Turmeric

INTRODUCTION

Dyslipidemias, which includes hyperlipidemia and low HDL cholesterol levels, is a major cause

of atherosclerosis and atherosclerosis- induced conditions such as coronary heart disease (CHD),

ischaemiccerebrovascular disease and peripheral vascular disease. CHD accounts for about one

third of all deaths of persons in the middle aged and older adults. In the early controlled trials

employing drug regimens that reduced LDL-Cholesterol like the statins, the incidence of fatal and

ChiSandy

If you have hormone-receptor+ cancer, I would be wary of taking plant sterols without first presenting the full list of ingredients to your MO, to make sure none of them have estrogenic or progesteronic effects. I would trust an MO’s or complementary-medicine oncologist’s (MD or DO) advice far more than I would a naturopath’s or (especially) chiropractor’s when it comes to supplements and cancer. I especially shudder at the thought of chiropractors treating diseases that have nothing to do with the musculoskeletal system.

zogo

macb04, I also take Thorne Meriva, 4 caps/day.

My inflammation numbers are very low and I'm trying to lower my cholesterol.

ChiSandy

One of the best ways to combat inflammation and lower both LDL and triglycerides is to cut out as much sugar and starch as you can out of your diet. This includes avoiding white potatoes, cooked carrots (surprisingly high-glycemic) and grains, as well as fruit juices (other than lemon & lime for seasoning purposes) and high-sugar fruits such as oranges, tangerines, apples, pears, watermelon, pineapple, papaya, mango and dried fruits other than a small amount of prunes. The lower the glycemic load, the lower your LDL & triglycerides will be. In fact, sugar and starch affect LDL and triglycerides more than dietary fat (even saturated). Eating cholesterol doesn’t raise serum cholesterol. And, at least in women who’ve never had heart disease, lowered cholesterol--even LDL--doesn’t correlate with the risk of cardiovascular events to the extent previously assumed.

Even arterial plaque isn’t necessarily the culprit--there are stable plaques that pose little risk unless they are so thick that they dangerously narrow the arterial “lumen” (think “inside of a pipe”) and impair blood flow (especially if there is atrial fibrillation and a tendency for blood to thicken and clot--including high blood glucose that makes blood more viscous)’ and then there are “friable” plaques--that are fragile and break off easily, capable of completely blocking off an artery either by themselves or in combination with blood clots. And the major thing that makes plaques likelier to be “friable” is inflammation.......which is aggravated by (you guessed it) sugar. Simple starch is turned by the enzymes in gastric juices & even saliva into sugar, very quickly. I was told to “eat the rainbow” and (by both my MO and PCP) to “avoid white stuff except for cauliflower, fish and low-carb dairy.” Before I went low-carb 3 yrs ago, my LDL and triglycerides were extremely high. I was put on a statin (generic atorvastatin) for 6 wks., and they were cut in half--but my blood sugar went into the prediabetic range and I began getting achy quads (thigh muscles). My PCP took me off the statin--and 6 weeks later my LDLs & triglycerides hadn’t risen, and my glucose and a1(c) were back to normal. My HDL also went from 84 to 92.

zogo

Hi ChiSandy!

I lived in Chicago (well the suburbs) for several years.

You are absolutely right!! That is a very accurate and thorough description of how heart disease develops. It is a shame that the food pyramid has been so wrong for so long.

I gave up grains/sugar and went low carb almost 5 years ago. I certainly get less weird looks now when I order food w/o the starch.

Do you think the word is getting out?

marijen

I was advised to take plant sterols to lower cholesterol by my primary care dr

cp418

ChiSandy - do you know of any links warning against plant sterols for BC patients? I found this link......

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC363519...