I have high cholesterol......?

Question

My doctor put me on meds for a little while but I wanted to try to use other methods and he said give it a try and see if it works. Right now I am taking red yeast rice, fish oil with omega 3, and garlic and sometimes I take polycosinal(sp?). I also drink the minute maid heartwise OJ with plant sterols in it. Any other suggestions. I've heard of CQ and flax seed. Does any work better than the other? Or are there other suggestions? And I also diet and exercise! Thanks...Mel

Answer 1

This is great that you are thinking outside the box and being proactive about your cholesterol. There are a couple important points that you should know. For starters, red yeast rice extract is actually a statin, a natural statin, but still works in the exact same manner as the drugs your doctor prescribes. The problem is that while pharmaceutical drugs are carefully manufactured (same pill equals same effectiveness everytime) whereas the red yeast rice is not regulated and you have no idea how potent one batch is over another. In essence, red yeast rice extract is just an unregulated statin . They both inhibit the cholesterol absorption in the liver. I like your ideas about drinking OJ and taking flax seed plus the diet and exercise. Depending on how high your cholesterol is and how many risk factors you have, will determine if you should be on meds or not. Low cholesterol + Low risk factors = no meds. High cholesterol + High risk factors like smoking, obesity, family history, diabetes, etc = meds and lifestyle modification.

Answer 2

If you do some research (Google to start), you'll find that, contrary to what Big Pharm would have us believe, cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease. Cholesterol comes into play if your arteries are already scarred or otherwise damaged by poor food choices (trans fats, for one). It is then that the cholesterol will stick to the artery; otherwise, it just flows through. The majority of people who have heart attacks have been found to have "normal" cholesterol levels. There are people with levels over 600 with perfectly healthy cardiovascular systems.

Fish oil and flax seeds (they must be ground to do any good) are great for the heart. The herb Hawthorn Berry is also reported to be good for the heart.

Don't know your medical history, of course, but do your homework.

Answer 3

As someone who has had cholesterol and lowered it, you are doing good! Keep it up. Flax seed doesn't hurt at all. You can put some in your oatmeal. And yes, LOTS of oatmeal! It's great for lowering cholesterol, I think it nearly singlehandily helped lower mine.

Cut out milk, except for rice or soy milk. Lower that cholesterol! I took garlic pills from the pharmacy, but I think real garlic works well too if you are enjoying it.

Answer 4

There is a blend of soluble fiber that has like 8 studies behind it on lowering cholesterol. It binds with the cholesterol in the bile in your digestive tract and prevents it from being reabsorbed and is then carried out of the body. Pretty cool.

Answer 5

there's a red wine extract, in pills, called longevinex, you could google or yahoo it. I take zocor, now the generic is like 5$ a month.
Mine went from 150 to 95 on 20 mgs.

Answer 6

Treating high cholesterol? Statin drugs can cause devastating side effects
by Alexis Black

Statin drugs, which promise to reduce the levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol in the body while improving the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol, are the fastest-growing class of prescription drugs in the world, but increasing evidence shows they may not be safe, and Canadian health officials are warning that statins can cause serious muscle damage.

Health Canada is now requiring manufacturers of statin drugs such as Lipitor, Zocor, Pravachol, Mevacor and Crestor to include warnings and information about the potential for muscle damage on patient safety information sheets, according to the Toronto Star.

General muscle pain is a side effect frequently experienced by patients on statin drugs. The drugs may also lead to a potentially fatal muscle-wasting disease called rhabdomyolysis in patients with certain pre-existing medical conditions. In this potentially deadly disease, muscle cells are destroyed and released into the bloodstream and can cause patients to suffer kidney failure.

Health Canada spokesperson Jirina Vlk told the Toronto Star the new warnings are a "precautionary measure" because so many Canadians are prescribed statin drugs to treat high cholesterol. "There's a high number of Canadians prescribed statins, so we want them to be aware of the risks associated with that," Vlk said.

Likewise, in the United States, millions of people are prescribed statin drugs. In 2001, Americans filled more than 57 million prescriptions for Lipitor, the most popular of the five available statin drugs.

Other possible side effects of statin drugs include nausea, diarrhea and constipation, and they have even caused severe memory and mental awareness problems in some patients. Most people concerned about their blood cholesterol levels can improve cholesterol naturally by making changes to their diet and exercise regime. In fact, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed adding foods like tofu, almonds, cereal fibers, plant sterols and soy products can lower total cholesterol more effectively than statin drugs. See Mike Adams' NewsTarget article "Healing foods beat statin drugs for lowering high cholesterol" for more information on that study.

Of course, doctors continue to prescribe moneymaking statin drugs to millions of people around the world, posing a great risk to human health. Health Canada is taking a step in the right direction by stiffening the health warnings on prescription statin drugs. As more information surfaces about the risks of statin drugs, hopefully more people will begin to say no to drugs like Lipitor and Crestor and take responsibility for their health in a safer, more natural way.

Answer 7

THE CHOLESTEROL THEORY IS A COMPLETE SHAM

ANTHONY COLO EXPOSES THIS IN HIS BOOK

WWW.THEGREATCHOLESTEROLCON.COM


NO RANDOMIZED DOUBLE BLIND CLINICAL TRIAL HAS EVER SHOWN LDL TO BE THE RESPONSIBLE FACTOR FOR CORONARY HEART DISEASE.


RCT HAVE NEVER FOUND SATURATED FAT RESTRICTION TO LOWER CORONARY HEART DISEASE MORTALITY.

Answer 8

a bowl of oatmeal a day!!!