got my test results back after taking plant sterols

[gardenmaniac]

Well...

Quite bluntly...I am mad...

blood work in may of 2007..

total 241
Tri 45
HDL 61
LDL 171

Starting in March of 2008, I took Activ super shots (2 gm of plant sterols) ($3.00 for 4 at Walmart) used Promise Activ (1 gm per serving)(4.50 for 8 oz) Minute Maid OJ enhanced...(1 gm per 8 oz glass & 3.49 for 1/2 gal) Made sure to get at least 2 gm per day...

new tests as of 7/10/08

total 257
Tri 108
HDL 62 (whoopie it went up one)
LDL 173

The Doc pretty much knows I'm not going to take the statins...she suggested red rice yeast???

I asked her if I should keep on with the plant sterols..she said why bother

51 years old..female...non smoker...not over weight...normal BP....go to the gym 4 times a week...

So...if anyone has any ideas of alternatives, i'd appreciate them..

thanks...

ticked off in MI

[marci]

I'm sorry to hear the plant sterols didn't work. My husband had a huge decrease in his total cholesterol after beginning to take them, however he started eating steel cut oats every morning, simultaneously with the sterols and a diet that was more cholesterol conscious. Did you try oatmeal?

[gardenmaniac]

Yep...tried oatmeal..ate it every day all winter a few years back...also the year I started at the gym...that was when the numbers first started to go up..from total of 208 to around 240...I was 48 at the time..

I did take Zocor for 5 months in 2005. I was resistant, but the doc said she'd put her own mother on it, so OK...well..I had this terrible backache every morning..felt like I got hit by a baseball bat in the lower back...but by noon or so..it was mostly gone...thought I was just getting old...in the middle of all that we had been building a waterfall & stream in the yard..hauling rocks, digging, bought a new bed, etc..so I always thought I had a reason for the ache..besides that..I thought "muscle aches" as stated as a side effect meant that I would ache all over like I had the flu...

I'm not sure what made me start to connect the dots on Zocor and the backache, but I decided to not take it over the weekend & see how I felt...the very first night I didn't take it, the next day no backache.

My Mom has very high cholseterol, (even on meds it's high) as does my brother. My dad's was always low & he's the one that had coronary bypass at 65. They are both in their 80's now..

What exactly are steel cut oats?

So..still looking for natural ways to decrease the numbers...

[Brian C.]

gardenmaniac, not only are your numbers normal (though it's good to keep triglycerides low) but there is absolutely no evidence to support the statinization of women. The only group for which a modest advantage has been shown are middle-aged men who have already developed heart disease. There are two powerful commercial interests working night and day to maintain the pretense that the cholesterol hypothesis is true (which it isn't) - the pharmaceutical manufacturers and the food manufacturers marketing "cholesterol lowering" products.

Their huge profits enables them to groom medics, academics, politicians and journalists with very generous inducements.

Much (I'm tempted to write "most") of medical practice seems to be more marketing-based than science-based.

Arterial & cardio-vascular disease are controlled by reducing & eliminating inflammation. This is the only valuable thing that statins can do but there are safer ways to do that, as research at spacedoc and other sites will reveal.

The lipid profile test was developed in the late 1930s. It has therefore been around for 70 years so is simple, cheap ... and useless since it does not reveal LDL particle size, homocysteine, lipoprotein(a) and C-reactive protein levels, which are the true risk markers and have only recently been understood.


Brian.

[cjbrooksjc]

Gardenmaniac: Steele cut oats, instead of being rolled flat, are simply put thru a cutter that slices each grain into two or three segments. This makes the grain stay in the gut longer and makes the body work harder to break it down. It comes, usually, in a quart can and takes about twenty minutes to cook (prep is an art form and takes a while to master), it is then a bit 'crunchy' and not at all pasty. It's quite good. My wife, who is a Scott, tells me that is the only way oats were available in Scotland when she was a child.

Also fish oil, Krill oil, NADH, are all supposed to reduce Cholesterol if taken regularly, but I don't know for sure. They are all available on the internet MUCH cheaper than in stores. AND exercise of course.

Best,

Brooks

[Allen1]

Hi there gardenmaniac,

Brian and Brooks's answers hit the mark on both subjects. My only problem is with :-

"The only group for which a modest advantage has been shown are middle-aged men who have already developed heart disease."

I was one of those, at 38 a heart attack followed by years of Zocor - Simvastatin then a triple bypass. The only thing statins did for me was make me physically and mentally weaker, and giving them to someone who already has health problems is criminal! The whole cholesterol hype is a disgrace and it is time that the medical profession used some common sense.

[BSGfan]

On the topic of plant sterols and stanols, about a year ago I once tried an over-the-counter product called Cholest Off. As many foods and medications do, it seemed to increase the discomfort in the statin damaged areas in my jaw and cheekbones, but not disturbingly so, and the discomfort faded in an hour or two. It did turn my stools a shocking chaulk color, though.

I recently tried those yogurt drinks, Promise Active Super Shots, which contain plant sterols. Now, I am an amputee, with a lot of surgical bone reconstruction and some arthritis in the stump of my foreleg. To my astonishment consuming these yogurt drinks caused me a lot of sharp painful cramping in my stump for several hours. My pharmacist and my physician were both perplexed by this reaction. In any case, I'm now a bit spooked about continuing to experiment with these products.

[cjbrooksjc]

BSGfan: Many cholesterol reducing supplements contain Red Yeast Rice or a RYR reduction. This IS A STATIN and should be avoided. Be sure to read the label completely and avoid the products if you have any suspicions they contain red yeast rice. Labeling can be misleading and ingredients may be referred to as 'a formulation of cholesterol reducing ingredients'. Be cautious of 'formula or formulation' in the labeling. If they don't list ALL ingredients specifically, I would avoid the product.

Brooks