HDL/LDL/Cholesterol Won't Budge

You know...I read all of this, and I'm just confused. I have to face my doctor who wants to put me on statins, in less than a month. I successfully improved my numbers with exercise, plant sterols, red rice yeast, exercise, reduced red meat, limited eggs, etc., but don't think they'll be down much more. There's a history of heart disease in my family, but not extreme. I'm sure in this community there's a diversity of opinion. Any advice?

How do you know if your results will be better or not? I'd wait for the tests results first, then take action. Eat leafy greens, lots and lots of veggies, psyllium husk. Exercise and drink plenty of water. Don't eat trans fats. All of that in addition to what. You've been doing. Give you another 6 months and re-test. You don't need drugs when you can achieve the same results naturally with food.

While diet and exercise certainly are a major modifiable risk factor for many diseases (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and others) they are only one of many. They get a lot of press(and should) because #1 they are something that we can control ourselves and #2 obesity is a huge problem. Unfortunately ere are also non-modifiable risk factors, namely genetics. Sadly we have conditioned people (through media and other sources) to downplay these factors which leads people to overestimate the impact that diet and exercise can have. The majority of high blood pressure is diagnosed as non-idiopathic hypertension. This is defined as high blood pressure of unknown cause. While this cause is unknown it is believed genetics play a major role. Likewise high cholesterol is mostly cause by genetics. The cholesterol that we consume via diet plays a role but the synthesis (or manufacturing) of cholesterol by our bodies plays a much lager role. The amount our bodies synthesis is mostly due to genetics. The overestimation of diet and exercise's role in combating these disease also leads people to feelings of failure or defeat when they try hard, exercise regularly, lose weight and yet still have high cholesterol/high hp/diabetes. To be sure, exercise and diet DO play a major role and SOME people may even achieve normal bp/cholesterol through these measures alone. However, if you do Not achieve this goal, you should in no way feel like a failure. As far as supplements go there are very few that have been studied extensively enough to recommend use. Of the ones that have been studied, omega 3 fatty acids and niacin are two that have been both proven safe and effective. Omega 3 fatty acids(fish oil etc) also synthetic under the prescription drug brand name Lovaza have been proven to lower Triglycerides only. They have little to no effect on HDL and may even raise LDL( although not by any clinically significant amount). Most people who have "high cholesterol" have high LDL, high triglycerides are much more rare but if you are one of these people your doctor may start you on these or other rx drugs(mainly fibric acid derivatives, Tricor etc). Niacin on the other hand decreases LDL AND triglycerides, and also raises HDL(good cholesterol). Unfortunately niacin has many side effects that limit its clinical utility. Flushing is very common (your body gets red and hot) and this occurs in greater than 50% of people taking this product. Even more serious is potential liver damage which while rare is especially concerning for people taking these on their own without the monitoring from a doctor. Niacin comes in a variety of forms (regular, slow release and rx Niaspan). The slow release products and Niaspan have the least incidence of flushing, however the regular and slow release OTC have a higher incidence of liver damage vs Niaspan. My advice would be to follow whatever recommendations the md made. Most likely if the md decided yourcholesterol needed to be treated, he/she would have recommended a station drug(Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor etc). These drugs also have side effects including liver failure, muscle pain/weakness but since you will be under the care of the md they will be performing tests to ensure safety. The liver failure is something that is 100 percent reversible provided the md monitors you during treatment with simple blood tests.

*full disclosure, I am a Pharmacist*

Well, first of all, NEVER take statin. Do your own research, but you'll see that drug is dangerous.

Then, eat lots and lots of leafy greens (kale, spinach, lettuce, collards, herbs, etc).
No trans fats (hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils). Read the ingredients list on the label.

Psyllium husk (natural fibers supplement) is supposed to lower the bad cholesterol.

yea? what is more dangerous. high risk heart attack or statin?

Bad Cholesterol doesn't give heart attack. It's inflammation of the arteries that does. Work on reducing your overall inflammation by eating anti-inflammatory foods and your cholesterol will be irrelevent.

its also the plaque build up which can cause blockage. not all heart attacks are causes by inflammation. I believe you have your information mixed up. the inflammation is believed to cause problems with elasticity of the vessels and heart.

Thank you for your comment my doctor wants me to start taking 10mg of lipator. I want to change my diet and exercise more and see if it goes down in one month. My help was good but the ld. Is very high. Anymore advice

In my experience, HDL is harder to raise, but LDL can be significantly influenced with diet. Although, exercise is supposed to increase HDL, hard to actually do it. I have achieved dramatic reductions in LDL by improving my diet as part of my 67 pounds lost. Keys: minimize tri-glycerides - reduce or eliminate foods with cholesterol, fried food, high sugar stuff, food with high saturated fats, eat more of the poly and mono saturated fats (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, flax seed, avocados) and exercise daily. If you are a meat eater, all meat is loaded with cholesterol, including Chicken, although Chicken has some of the lowest cholesterol, only higher than fish. So, if you can, go vegetarian. If not, resort to fish or chicken.

Ofcourse consult a doctor and a nutritionist to seek answers specific to your conditions and not just be dependent on MFP opinions.

Good luck!

Try using olive oil in your cooking and on your salads. Also try a glass of wine everyday.

I switched to using only olive oil (instead of canola) about a year ago, and I was drinking probably 6 or 7 glasses of wine a week. I had my cholesterol measured at a routine checkup and my HDL was 113--- which is very high. IT had never been that high.

I wondered why, and I remembered reading something about olive oil and alcohol increasing HDL-- I looked it up and it is true.

Also try the niacin. My mother had borderline high cholesterol and low HDL. She did not want to take statins. Niacin did the trick for her.

alcohol in general has been shown to improve HDL

Our results indicate that while a moderate ETOH caloric intake (12%) produces an antiatherogenic lipoprotein profile (decreases LDL/HDL, increases HDL2/HDL3), any coronary protection afforded by continued increases in HDL2 at higher doses may be attenuated by concurrent atherogenic alterations (increases LDL cholesterol, increases apolipoprotein .

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3279847

I can understand your frustration and I applaude your decision to bring down your cholesterol without medication. You've put a great deal of effort into getting healthy!

I also struggle with a family history of high cholesterol and also diabetes. My doctor had me on a statin at one time but it gave me severe muscle fatigue. So far, I've been able to keep my cholesterol under control with diet and exercise.

Just a couple thoughts for you-
*have you limited or eliminated processed foods, especially sugar? I know you said you eat a clean diet, but it means different things to different people so I had to ask.

*when you workout, is it a moderate pace or do you work out at strenuous level? For me, I have to work out at high level of intensity at least a couple times of week to keep my HDL levels up.

*do you do yoga, pilates or any type of stretching? It's good for both your mind and body.

*it might sound strange but I take an artichoke supplement and reservitol to lower my cholesterol. It really does help!

Good luck to you and don't give up!

I find it very ironic how you take statins for your heart health but chronic effects are heart failure. wtf

I think you might have misunderstood my post. I'm no longer on statins but work to lower my cholesterol through diet and exercise.:flowerforyou:

Oh, didnt mean anyone in particular. should have rephrased it to "....ironic if one takes statins...."