Cholesterol challenges

jwasson3
jwasson3 Posts: 8 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Looking for ideas/insights…..cholesterol unfortunately came back high as well as LDL. I do not want to go on a statin…..the side effects are horrible. After much research and talking with friends, I am starting physillium husk, plant sterols and red rice yeast. I am also committing to increasing water intake……huge challenge for me. Decreasing animal products as well. Any thoughts or ideas welcome!!

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,213 Member
    Do you still have weight to lose?

    It won't be true for everyone - because of genetic factors - but my cholesterol normalized with weight loss. In fact, it hit the normal range part way through loss, around 25 pounds from goal weight. It hasn't been a problem for nearly 8 years since. (As context, I'm now 67 and still in weight maintenance mode.)

    For me, supplements didn't improve things much, unfortunately. I hope you find differently.

    I would think increasing veggies and fruits might be helpful, for micronutrients and fiber as well as to help satiation at reduced calories. Those effects can be individual, though.

    Is your HDL low? If so, there are food choices that can improve that, too.
  • SafariGalNYC
    SafariGalNYC Posts: 1,461 Member
    Counting saturated fat and keeping it under 6% of total cals helps per the American Heart assoc. (for 2000 cal ish diet that’s under 13 grams of saturated fat per day.

    If you have any weight to lose- losing fat on your body - even 10 lbs lowers LDL cholesterol.
  • Corina1143
    Corina1143 Posts: 3,624 Member
    I have high ldl. I'm trying psyllium, a sterol Supplement, and fiber one cereal. Researched red rice yeast years ago and decided against it. I will have a blood test next month to see if it is helping. I've also lost weight. Maybe that will help.
  • jwasson3
    jwasson3 Posts: 8 Member
    I do have weight to lose…..man, in menopause it is hard!!🤪
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,213 Member
    jwasson3 wrote: »
    I do have weight to lose…..man, in menopause it is hard!!🤪

    Take heart: It IS doable. I'd been in menopause for around 15 years by the time I lost from class 1 obese to a healthy weight. One of the main triggers for me committing to lose was that - like you - I didn't want to take a statin.

    I'm cheering for you to succeed: The results are worth it!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I'd say the two biggest factors for me reducing my LDL was losing weight and getting more active. My diet also improved as I found it easier to lose weight eating leaner proteins and getting in my veg and fruit.

    Also keep in mind that red rice yeast is just an unregulated statin.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,213 Member
    edited October 2023
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I'd say the two biggest factors for me reducing my LDL was losing weight and getting more active. My diet also improved as I found it easier to lose weight eating leaner proteins and getting in my veg and fruit.

    Also keep in mind that red rice yeast is just an unregulated statin.

    Well . . . maybe. Some brands have none, or close to none of the statin-like ingredient. Others have lots. That's part of the fun, with something like that: Dosage roulette, with a potentially risky compound.

    "But it's natural!" Yeah, so is arsenic, tobacco, Foxglove, Datura, poison ivy . . . . (Yes, some of those contain compounds that are therapeutic in dose-controlled usage, and deadly in the wrong dose.)
    Red yeast rice products that contain significant amounts of monacolin K can have the same potential side effects as statin drugs, including muscle, kidney, and liver damage. They may also cause digestive problems (such as diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain) and other reported side effects.
    . . .
    Some red yeast rice products contain a contaminant called citrinin, which is toxic and can damage the kidneys.

    From: https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/red-yeast-rice

    I'm sure someone's going to say that's just Big Pharma propaganda, though. 🙄
  • Teatimes2000
    Teatimes2000 Posts: 2 Member
    I have similar LDL problem.. l work out, watch the Saturated fat count, no more than 10 g a day, not easy to do and eat high fiber carb (like oat bran, wheat bran, psyllium husk, Japanese sweet potato, green veggies). It's hard when eating out but manageable and l don't have to take any med yet, LOL. When l started this diet 3 yrs ago, l did lose some weight. Best of luck..
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,218 Member
    Not a lot of good fiber, vegetables or whole foods period in the SAD diet, so yeah, adding those displaces the crap foods that is causing the basic chronic inflammation, increases in triglycerides, increases in C-reactive protein, small dense LDL particles which are very atherogenic and the SAD also contributes to weight gain in the American population. Is it bran or psyllium husk or is it reducing crap food. The blame is on saturated fat and beef apparently and where do we find this "evidence" it's looking at observational data from epidemiological studies from data gathered from food frequency questionnaires, so is it the hamburger or is it the bun, fries and large coke. When you actually separate everything out like red meat and saturated fat then the studies show none, very little connection and some show an inverse relationship. It's not really as simple as the dogma. imo.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,281 Member
    jwasson3 wrote: »
    Looking for ideas/insights…..cholesterol unfortunately came back high as well as LDL. I do not want to go on a statin…..the side effects are horrible. After much research and talking with friends, I am starting physillium husk, plant sterols and red rice yeast. I am also committing to increasing water intake……huge challenge for me. Decreasing animal products as well. Any thoughts or ideas welcome!!

    are the side effects for you horrible from previous experience of being on them or or is that something that has happened to other people?

    Because although some people get side effects from statins, many many do not - so don't assume you will, unless you know that from experience.

    However for some people lowering their saturated fats intake and/or losing weight/ getting more active is enough to bring your levels down so that is certainly worth a try - unless your levels were sky high or you are at increased cardiac risk



  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,218 Member
    edited November 2023
    paperpudding wrote: »
    jwasson3 wrote: »
    Looking for ideas/insights…..cholesterol unfortunately came back high as well as LDL. I do not want to go on a statin…..the side effects are horrible. After much research and talking with friends, I am starting physillium husk, plant sterols and red rice yeast. I am also committing to increasing water intake……huge challenge for me. Decreasing animal products as well. Any thoughts or ideas welcome!!

    are the side effects for you horrible from previous experience of being on them or or is that something that has happened to other people?

    Because although some people get side effects from statins, many many do not - so don't assume you will, unless you know that from experience.

    However for some people lowering their saturated fats intake and/or losing weight/ getting more active is enough to bring your levels down so that is certainly worth a try - unless your levels were sky high or you are at increased cardiac risk



    Statin Company's that run these RCT's usually do what's called a "run-in phase" to show better adherence to the drugs. They have a smaller mock trial with statins vs control and early on if any participants that show adverse effects are rejected from any further trials. Basically the studies are showing generally speaking about a 1 in 5 for adverse effects but in reality it's much much higher in real life and the complaints of side effects seem to bear this out. This is actually really well known for well over a decade within the academic scientific community, basically they aren't fooling anyone that deals with the actual science.

    https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)31357-5/fulltext

    Generalisability of evidence on side-effects from randomised trials

    It has been claimed that randomised trials yield under-estimates of rates of side-effects because they exclude patients in whom the treatment being studied causes adverse effects (eg, patients with so-called “statin intolerance”).11, 12, 22, 23, 24, 64, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78 However, for treatments that are not yet on the market or that have not yet been widely adopted into routine practice (as was the case during the recruitment phase of many of the large clinical outcome trials of statins65, 79), few patients will have previously been exposed to the treatment and excluded because of having had problems with it.

    Some trials use a pre-randomisation run-in phase to improve the subsequent adherence to the randomly assigned treatment (whether active drug or placebo). Run-in phases involving the use of a placebo (as in about half of the large trials of statin vs control; appendix) would not lead to underestimates of the rates of side-effects. Indeed, by improving post-randomisation adherence, the sensitivity of randomised comparisons to detect any effects of treatment would be expected to be improved.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,281 Member
    And yet in my work, I talk to many people on statins and most have no issues.

    So my post to OP remains the same - don't assume you will have side effects because some other people did.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,218 Member
    Your more invested in being right than having a discussion about the science around statins, and your in the medical field, but that's ok, it was the answer I expected.
  • CrazyMermaid1
    CrazyMermaid1 Posts: 356 Member
    Speaking from long term personal experience of me and my blood relatives nobody has had side effects from the statins. My mother in law, on the other hand, had a backache that she ascribed to the statins so she went off them, had a stroke and is now in a wheelchair at a nursing home. Pick your poison.
  • herblovinmom
    herblovinmom Posts: 418 Member
    jwasson3 wrote: »
    Looking for ideas/insights…..cholesterol unfortunately came back high as well as LDL. I do not want to go on a statin…..the side effects are horrible. After much research and talking with friends, I am starting physillium husk, plant sterols and red rice yeast. I am also committing to increasing water intake……huge challenge for me. Decreasing animal products as well. Any thoughts or ideas welcome!!
    My cholesterol levels improved when I changed my diet, lost weight and my naturopath put me on red yeast rice. I’m all for natural alternative health, but I would still seek advice from a professional in the field, and that’s coming from a trained herbalist. Therapeutic doses should be sought from quality sources and monitored with labs and follow up visits. Best thing I ever did for my health was switch my care to naturopathic medicine doctors. They also recommended nutritional and diet changes, I eat less red meat, more fish and seafood and poultry, whole grain gluten free, low dairy, low calorie, organic, grass fed, pasture raised, wild caught, free roam, 80/20, etc.,etc., what works for me may not be what works for you and I’ve been at this a long long time, changes and progress came slowly but regularly. I didn’t adhere to all these changes overnight, it took changing my lifestyle one thing at a time. More reason to work with a professional, it does take time and should be about your individual needs as a person not just your disorder or disease. I wish you luck, and I hope your friends are professionals, or at least trained in the field.
    I’ll be honest those recommendations they gave you aren’t half bad 😉
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,218 Member
    edited November 2023
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I'd say the two biggest factors for me reducing my LDL was losing weight and getting more active. My diet also improved as I found it easier to lose weight eating leaner proteins and getting in my veg and fruit.

    Also keep in mind that red rice yeast is just an unregulated statin.

    Well . . . maybe. Some brands have none, or close to none of the statin-like ingredient. Others have lots. That's part of the fun, with something like that: Dosage roulette, with a potentially risky compound.

    "But it's natural!" Yeah, so is arsenic, tobacco, Foxglove, Datura, poison ivy . . . . (Yes, some of those contain compounds that are therapeutic in dose-controlled usage, and deadly in the wrong dose.)
    Red yeast rice products that contain significant amounts of monacolin K can have the same potential side effects as statin drugs, including muscle, kidney, and liver damage. They may also cause digestive problems (such as diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain) and other reported side effects.
    . . .
    Some red yeast rice products contain a contaminant called citrinin, which is toxic and can damage the kidneys.

    From: https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/red-yeast-rice

    I'm sure someone's going to say that's just Big Pharma propaganda, though. 🙄

    I wasn't up on red rice yeast and read the link, thanks for posting. Interesting.
  • iamspiritisup
    iamspiritisup Posts: 3 Member
    jwasson3 wrote: »
    Looking for ideas/insights…..cholesterol unfortunately came back high as well as LDL. I do not want to go on a statin…..the side effects are horrible.

    I wish you good luck! I took red yeast rice for over a year & it didn't help at all. I too took statins years ago & never again! My Dr. Just told me about Rapatha that works in just 2 weeks but unfortunately my Medicare advantage plan does not cover it and it's expensive $600./ mo.! Do your research if interested. I have the genetic kind of high cholesterol that diet makes little difference, but even a little is my hope at this point. Take care!
  • iamspiritisup
    iamspiritisup Posts: 3 Member
    yeast rice for over a year & it didn't help at all. I too took statins years ago & never again! My Dr. Just told me about Rapatha that works in just 2 weeks but unfortunately my Medicare advantage plan does not cover it and it's expensive $600./ mo.! Do your research if interested. I have the genetic kind of high cholesterol that diet makes little difference, but even a little is my hope at this point. Take care!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I'd say the two biggest factors for me reducing my LDL was losing weight and getting more active. My diet also improved as I found it easier to lose weight eating leaner proteins and getting in my veg and fruit.

    Also keep in mind that red rice yeast is just an unregulated statin.
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Well . . . maybe. Some brands have none, or close to none of the statin-like ingredient. Others have lots. That's part of the fun, with something like that: Dosage roulette, with a potentially risky compound.

    "But it's natural!" Yeah, so is arsenic, tobacco, Foxglove, Datura, poison ivy . . . . (Yes, some of those contain compounds that are therapeutic in dose-controlled usage, and deadly in the wrong dose.)
    Red yeast rice products that contain significant amounts of monacolin K can have the same potential side effects as statin drugs, including muscle, kidney, and liver damage. They may also cause digestive problems (such as diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain) and other reported side effects.
    . . .
    Some red yeast rice products contain a contaminant called citrinin, which is toxic and can damage the kidneys.

    From: https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/red-yeast-rice

    I'm sure someone's going to say that's just Big Pharma propaganda, though. 🙄

    I'd argue that the red rice yeast that works IS just an unregulated statin, so better to take a regulated prescription statin than RYR.

    Or lose weight, exercise, quit smoking, moderate drinking, and add these foods:

    https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/11-foods-that-lower-cholesterol

    11 foods that lower cholesterol

    Changing what foods you eat can lower your cholesterol and improve the armada of fats floating through your bloodstream. Adding foods that lower LDL, the harmful cholesterol-carrying particle that contributes to artery-clogging atherosclerosis, is the best way to achieve a low cholesterol diet.

    ***********

    More on lifestyle modifications other than diet:

    https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/reduce-cholesterol/art-20045935
  • JoLightensUp
    JoLightensUp Posts: 140 Member
    I'm not the OP but appreciate all the good info and links. My doctor has given me until March to see if weight loss, diet modification and exercise is enough to bring my cholesterol levels down.

    A few close family members have been on statins without side effects, so I have no hesitation in starting them if my efforts are not effective. I'm not prepared to take the risk of continuing with higher levels given my family's medical history.

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