Natural Cholesterol reducung Alternatives

[Alice Ericson]

I am taking Red Yeast Rice and Guglipids to lower my cholesterol and Triglycerides. I bought Fish oil caps but am afraid that the "oil" component will elevate my cholesterol level. Am I right or wrong on the fish oil caps? Thanks

[sos_group_owner]

Hi Alice & Welcome to the Forum,

Re: Red Yeast Rice
RYR is a natural statin and can cause all the same adverse effects as prescription statins.
Are you taking any CoQ10? ALL statins deplete this essential coenzyme.

You are trying to "lower your cholesterol and Triglycerides"...
What are your cholesterol levels?
LDL
HDL
Triglycerides

Re: I bought Fish oil caps but am afraid that the "oil" component will elevate my cholesterol level. Am I right or wrong on the fish oil caps?

Not correct...

Consuming fat and cholesterol do very little at causing elevated cholesterol levels.

LDL cholesterol is not a problem... it's when LDL becomes "oxidized".
Things that create "free radicals" and oxidized LDL...
Smoking, high blood sugar levels (diabetes), stress...
Risk factors that damage the "endothelium" include elevated levels of homocysteine, blood sugar, insulin, cortisol (stress hormones), triglycerides, smoking and deficiency in some vitamins, such as C and the B's.

HDL (good) cholesterol levels can be increased by exercise and eating beneficial saturated fats (virgin coconut oil and organic butter).

Elevated triglycerides can be controlled by diet.
Avoid the "white foods"... sugar (the biggest offender), flour, bread, rice, potato.
Replace with whole grains: buckwheat, spelt, oat & coconut flours; sprouted grain breads, wild and brown rice, sweet potato, whole grain pastas.
Sweeteners: stevia or sucanat

Cinnamon (C. cassia) is very effective at lowering triglycerides as well as stabilizing blood sugar levels. Available in most drug stores in 500mg capsules.
Take 1 to 3 capsules daily.
Or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of the spice isle variety of cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum).

Omega 3 (fish oil or cod liver oil) lowers VLDL (total triglycerides divided by 5) and triglycerides.
Available in 1,000mg capsules.

Instead of RYR, consider taking Dr Graveline's 'statin alternatives':
Buffered Aspirin - 81 mg (contains beneficial magnesium)
CoQ10 - 100 to 150 mg (gelcaps - NOT powdered) with some Vit E
* Folic Acid - 400-800 mcg
* B6 - 80-100mg
* B12 - 200-250mcg
* (all 3 of these B Vitamins control Homocysteine)
Omega 3 (Fish Oil or Cod Liver Oil) - There is no upper limit

Dr Graveline's Statin Alternatives reduce and prevent inflammation, are anti-oxidants, reduce platelet stickiness, control (toxic) homocysteine and have the same anti-inflammatory affect as 20 mg's of Lipitor, without side effects.
Source: http://www.spacedoc.net/statin_alternatives.htm

Fran

[Alice Ericson]

Fran: Thanks for your quick reply:

I came off Mevacor probably a year ago and all my numbers skyrocketed. I was on a diet free of all white flour , sugar and rice, dairy etc. for a few years. A vegetarian diet slightly modified,. Not using and red meats, poultry, eggs etc, (as reccommended in teh "China Study)"..forgot the author. but he was a high powered scientist and nutritionist. Anyway I moved to Tx. a year ago and as I am considered a high rish for stroke(Hi BP, A. Fib, 2 valves aortic sclerosis and mitral regurg) and a strong family history of heart disease w/ early deaths, my Drs. freaked that I was not on Lipitor (I quit it ) Mevacor(quit that_ and they tried to put me on Vytorin(took 2 pills and quit that). My numbers were as follows........
May 3,05.......................12/13/06
Total chol.210.................228
HDL 43............................45
LDL 124...........................124
TRI.216............................167

I was on no anti-chol. meds from May till this past Oct.06, when I put myself on Red yeast Rice, gugulipid and started on Nutrisytem diet and a serious exercise regime at a gym. Actually the only significant changes are a 15# weight loss (from 250 to 234.5) and triglycerides dropped. Total chol. is highwe and HDL/LDL are the same. I do have some meat now. My diet is acc. to low glycemic index and is high protein, low fat and mod-low carb. I will consider changing my natural meds around. I am suprised that the RYR is not the right choice. I am 71 y.o. and am going with every thing I can muster up to stay off the statins and make myself healthy. Getting sort of discouraged now. Alice

[sos_group_owner]

Hi Alice,

Your numbers are not that bad. Based on your readings for 12/13/06. your TC is only 202, not 228. Formula is trigs divided by 5 + HDL + LDL.

My numbers were as follows........
May 3,05.......................12/13/06
Total chol.210.................228
HDL 43............................45
LDL 124...........................124
TRI.216............................167

It's great and very important that you're controlling your triglycerides. Try cinnamon... it really does help, especially when combined with a low GI (glycemic index) -GL (glycemic load) diet. One thing about low fat... it actually causes good HDL to go DOWN, especially when saturated fat is avoided. Avoid trans fats (anything hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated) like the plague, but saturated fat is not the bad guy. There are some diets out that claim to be low GI-GL, but stress low fats. These are NOT true GI-GL diets. Fats are carbohydrate FREE.

Re: RYR - Of all the statin drugs, RYR is the closest to Mevacor - they both contain lovastatin. The primary benefit of statins is that they are a potent anti-inflammatory, so in that sense RYR is anti-inflammatory... BUT, so is omega 3 fish oil or cod liver oil (CLO). I prefer CLO because of the added benefit of vitamins A & D.
Great article about CLO: [http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/codliveroil.html]

It is essential that you supplement with CoQ10, especially if you decide to continue RYR. CoQ10 prevents RYR from lowering your natural levels of CoQ10. CoQ10 deficiency is the primary reason statins cause muscle pain/weakness and cognitive decline.

Dr Graveline's article about RYR: http://www.spacedoc.net/red_yeast_rice.htm

Another benefit is that CoQ10 can also lower blood pressure. My husband's BP used to be in the 140 over 90 range. He used to take 2 BP meds, but now only takes one 300 mg capsule of CoQ10 daily. His BP is now about 111 over 78.

Re: I do have some meat now. - Red meats are L-Carnitine rich...

Ask your doctor to check your homocysteine. Inflammation is the key, not total cholesterol... Another good article by Dr Graveline:
"Lipoprotein (a), Cholesterol and Homocysteine in Atherosclerosis": http://www.spacedoc.net/lipoprotein_a_cholesterol.html

Fran