My Cholesterol Level is Too High! - Comments Page 3

Sort of like freezing your laptop battery to jerk it back to life, your system may respond well to blasting it with something super good.
I've got 20 years on you and I'm a bicycle fanatic. I love it, it feels wonderful and I've been doing it since my 20s. I do all local errands by bike and only active rain or snow or temps colder than about 10 below stop me, and I put on a hundred miles or so a week year round utility riding alone. Plus I use an exercise bike when the weather is too bad to ride.
Well, total cholesterol dropped to about 180 and, far more important, my LDL/HDL ratio is in the 'great' range.
Please know that the body makes its own cholesterol, which is the base for a variety of important substances (like both M and F sex hormones!) so limiting dietary cholesterol may do only so much. Plus the VLDL and the LDL/HDL ratio is far more important. And the terminal 'L' stands for lipoproteins.
I should also mention I'm a vegetarian, don't smoke or drink, ingest only healthy fats, hand split 6 cords of firewood a year, and though I weigh 230 (very tall), I'm trim and my body fat percentage is only 15%.
I think none of this would work if I didn't enjoy all the healthy stuff I do enough to keep it up.
I suspect if I stop riding and exercising I'll quickly revert to couch-potato statistics and, though I look now close to your age, I'd start looking my chronological age PDQ.

Thanks for a very informative article. I have battled high cholesterol for years. Nothing, including statins, have lowered it. My cardiologist said to stop worrying about it; it's in my genes. I can't do that!

Your suggestions, along with some from your followers' comments, are right on. My suggestions: Be sure to grind up those flax seeds. They won't do the job if you don't. Cheerios actually helped to lower my friend's high numbers. Dr. Andrew Weil, medical doctor turned alternative medical doctor has a great Web site: drweil.com In order for me to remember the difference in HDL and LDL, I call them "healthy" (HDL) and "lousy" (LDL)! Works for me.

I read your newsletters religiously. I appreciate your efforts and hard work.

Hey Bob! Congrats on foregoing the drugs and trying the natural route first. Wise choice (for your long term health). I liked your plan a lot and I think you will see a big difference pretty quickly.
The exercise will be great for you no matter what - but I think cutting out processed foods, reducing saturated fat intake, and the big one - increasing your fiber will make the biggest impact. Oatmeal alone is a big help. The supplements you are targeting will help in many ways (krill oil is a great source of omegas).
One big myth - you don't get cholesterol from what you eat - the body manufactures it. Eggs are absolutely fine to eat - even in quantity. The absence of fiber and eating processed foods is a big part of the problem why cholesterol is not kept in check naturally. The medical community points to hereditary reasons for some people - I suspect that eating habits are learned from family and that is more likely the common link than genes. No matter - your plan should work.
One more thing - olive oil is not a good substitute for cooking oil (in general) because at high temperature olive oil turns into hyrdrogenated oil. The unrefined coconut oil is a great healthy option for cooking because it does not transform at high temps and is really good for you too.
Great job with this topic! Adam (your old friend from NY)!

My cholesterol was quite high and my doctor put me onto steroids, but this affected my joints which became very painful and "loose" (ie my knee joints just sometimes 'gave').
He was doubtful about stopping it but I said I could not go on, so I was taken off it and warned to be VERY careful about diet.

I then heard about Plant Stanol Esters being effective so about 10 - 12 months ago started to take Benecol (bought at my local supermarket) which contains them.

In December, when my cholesterol was measured, it had dropped right down to within normal measures.
The comment at the surgery was: "I don't know what you've been doing, but whatever it is, go on doing it!!"

Good luck, Bob, you'll do it!

Good luck Bob I hope your successful and you may be. In you diet don't forget Macadamia nuts http://www.medicinalfoodnews.com/vol05/issue5/macadamia good for blood pressure too.

Bob,
Whatever else you do PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT START TAKING STATINS.
I took Simvastatin for six months, four years ago, and suffered all of the known side effects apart from cognitive effects. After stopping it, unilaterally, I recovered from most of these effects although it took two years to recover lost weight. I am, however, left with a heart condition for which I am currently awaiting surgery. I have to have an aortic valve replacement and a triple coronary artery by-pass.
All because of a mis-prescription of 40mg daily of Simvastatin. If you have not already done so, please read: 'The great Cholesterol Con' by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick and 'The Statin Drug Crisis' by Dr. Duanne Graveline. Both of these books, among others, will put you wise to the dangers inherent in statin drugs. There are other ways to reduce your cholesterol if you really believe that that is necessary.

Thank you for discussing this important issue. I am soon to turn 55 and the last two times I attempted to give blood, my blood pressure was too high. After seeing an Internist, it also turns out that cholesterol level is 240. I will revisit my doctor in early March to see if modifying my diet and increasing the amount of exercise will have much of an effect. Many of the suggestions for a healthier diet I already follow. My biggest problem is over-eating so I must think portion control. I too have hereditary high cholesterol and I find the advice about the effects of the different medications of great interest just in case I have no alternative. I know that this is not the primary purpose of your newsletter but I appreciate your willingness to bring this up. Hopefully there will be an unobtrusive way to keep updated on your progress. Thanks!

Bob, good luck. Also very happy you are going natural as a first choice over conventional drugs, smart choice again. Have you ever checked out Dr Mercola's web site.
Here is a link. He has some great ideas and advice. I think you'll find him in your liking.

http://search.mercola.com/Results.aspx?k=cholestrol

By all means, browse his site and sign up for his free newsletter.

Bob- Good article. My wife has/had high cholesterol all her life. She works out 1 1/2 hours a day, 5 days a week for over 25 years. She has a family history of high cholesterol. My cholesterol is normal and we have been eating the same thing for 46 years. If anything my diet is worse. She finally had to go on Lipitor and dropped over 60 points. No side affects at all. Don't discount that heredity is a major factor. Our oldest son has been fighting this all his life too. Good luck.

hay Bob have you tried apple cider vinegar the kind you get from the health food store. A table spoon in a 8 oz glass of water every morning does wonders . the taste is not all that great.

I've been a Tourbus rider for years, and now I'm on the anticholesterolbus as well. I've got a decade or more on you in age, but I hope we both achieve our goals. My advice is to maintain as healthy a lifestyle as possible when young (under 50), because doing so becomes harder with each decade. There are exceptions, but most of us find it harder.

Bob, as a medical doctor myself I am very much impressed with your post on managing cholesterol without use of drugs. I fully agree that sensible measures with proper balanced diet, moderate exercise, positive mental attitude, etc can go a long way towards a healthy life. A cardiologist called Dean Ornish MD is doing great work on this and one can wisit his website www.pmri.org for further information on this important subject.

Information regarding cholesterol and the relationship it has is not properly explained, let alone understood by the general public, and also by some practitioners.

Patients may have very high cholesterol, yet no coronary artery blockage, and there are patients with very low cholesterol numbers with significant vessel blockage. The true issue is tissue inflammation. When the blood vessel develop inflammation, common as we age, in response, cholesterol plaque is laid down, leading to blockage.

Statins, like Crestor, Lipitor, Zocor, etc. reduce inflammation, subsequently helping to reduce plaque. HDL, the "healthy" cholesterol, at normal levels (~50-60)is more of a marker of reduced inflammation, and subsequent improvement. LDL, the "lethal" cholesterol, when above normal (~100-125)levels, is more of a marker of increased potential for inflammation. So while the treatment goals are to have combines cholesterol below 170 (mixed) if you have never had a heart attack, or below 150 if you have...these are indicators of control. While niacin raises HDL, and has been shown to improve blood flow, another Rx, Zetia, while blocking the absorption of cholesterol, and showing better "numbers" has not shown ANY improvement in blood flow. So obviously, you don't just treat for numbers, you must treat the underlying problem.

In computer terms, think of a system with a lot of malware. Go from 500MB of ram to 4G of ram. On paper the "numbers" look better, but you have not addressed the underlying problem, and the system will still be sluggish. We don't treat numbers, we treat functionality, and use the number intelligently as a guide post, but not the goal.

ALL you need to do is add a spoonful of honey and cinnamon to your first cup of coffee every morning.

My sister-in-law and my mother have both amazed their doctors by the drop in their "bad" cholesterol numbers in only three months

good luck bob. Cholesterol is a scary thing but as u said u have to look at it with a positivity. I myself always find exercise boring but for your health its worth being bored. keep on trucking dude.

Bob
Generally I agree with your plan with some exceptions. Ground flaxseed is fine but avoid
soy unless fermented.Soy mimics estrogen and can
foul up your endocrine system. Also avoid high fructose corn syrup; it's not a good substitute
for sugar. Use Stevia for sweetening.
I use butter but if you use oils take antioxidants like vitamins C & E and Se.
Don't get hung up on numbers;more people die with low cholesterol than high.

Sir Bob,
I always read your sites about computers and in regards to your cholesterol problem in our country,Philippines, we have this Herbal we use.
Here is the website:http://rherbal.com/

Might want to add GRAPEFRUIT and grapefruit juice to that list of snacks/foods to enjoy. The pink, sweet kind, is what I prefer. Wikipedia says it's good for lowering cholesterol. I incidentally learned it's good for cutting off hunger pangs while studying for classes. (Repeatedly missed a meal and didn't notice until a few hours later.)
Good luck with your updated lifestyle! I hope all goes well for you.

Bob, and others, let me tell you the REAL secret to lowering cholesterol. At age 36 I was diagnosed with hypertension (high blood pressure). My doctor told me to get off fats and to get more exercise. OK, that was 35 years ago, and I'm still alive. BUT, my cholesterol NEVEr really dropped and my doctor was more interested in triglycerides. Yes, he put me on prescriptions to lower my choilesterol and tryglcerides, and they came down a little. Well, 3 years ago, my Doctor told me I was a Type 2 diabetic and I should eliminate sugar and carbohydrates. I did so and within weeks I had lost 10 pounds and my cholesterol and tryglycerides really fell. I'm now in the range of safety, and I owe it all to eliminating sugar and carbs from my diet. I haven't completely eliminated them, but I went from regular coke to diet coke and pretty much stopped sweets altogether in my diet. So, Bob and others, watch those carbs and sugar and if that works, send me $5.....just kidding about the $5!

Hi Bob,
Have your doctor check your C Reactive Protein. It's a better indicator of your heart health than your cholesterol levels-it has to do with inflammation. I agree with M.Free, watching carbs and cutting out sugar will help tremendously.
No way will I ever take cholesterol lowering drugs!