Just wondering what supplements some of you use to keep your cholesterol down?

Thanks Pam

I keep my weight down, good diet & exercise does it for me.

Cholesterol is a repair material.
Why would you want to stop your body from healing itself?

William

Pam,

For a different perspective, you may wish to read the first 10 chapters of Dr. Carlson's book, Genocide [www.drjamescarlson.com] (click on the MyBook tab near the center).

George

Hello Pam,

I have posted a few comments in the past which obviously have not been appealing to people.

It's not 100% but in my experience every person with high cholesterol has been some combination of overweight and I don't mean obese[I mean not near the ideal for their age and body type], lack of suitable exercise and lack of really good nutrition. I'm not talking about some special diet but what I call the zero diet. Only eat a very wide variety of very healthy foods.

I believe in supplementation but there are simple steps[ though psychologically difficult] for most to improve the situation.

Thanks

Alex

Pam - I just posted in the General Health Forum... a message I meant to post here directing you to that forum... and the post on the Important Functions of Cholesterol. Please read there. Jackie

High cholesterol (which to some degree is individually relative - some people live very long lives with "elevated" cholesterol) isn't just correlated to diet, exercise or body shape. Plenty of evidence exists which points to heredity, endocrine and environmental issues. I check my total cholesterol every month, as I tend to have too much LDL not enough HDL with a higher total than most people (my dad had heart issues). I refuse to take statins.
One thing that stands out for me is the effect of stress on cholesterol levels. When my father died, it shot up 40 points, with no change in lifestyle or diet. When I was hospitalized with afib and was in panic mode, it again shot up 40 points. In both cases, after a few months, the levels returned to normal.

My cardio first saw me when the total was high and wanted me on statins, saying there was no way it would come down on its own - she was wrong - again.

I eat oatmeal (cooked 5 minutes) five days a week and it works for me.

Frankie

You might want to look at the pp 10-12 of the June issue of the International Health Report, which describes the cholesterol hypothesis and the evidence against it:

[www.yourhealthbase.com]

There are several other articles in the same vein*, which you can find by pressing CTL-f (or Cmd-f for macs) and and entering "fat" as the search term.

*There is also a lengthy Research Review in the June 2009 issue.

IMO there may be reason not to eat cholesterol or saturated fat but not so much because they are bad for you but because there are substances that are better for you.

The short brief general simplistic answer to dealing with the problems supposedly caused by cholesterol (but aren't, at least in most people) is to eat fish and vegetarian sources of protein, vegetables, especially leafy greens, as sources of good micronutrients and some energy, and good fats...monosaturated fats such as olive oil, and those containing omega 3/omega 6 fatty acids in the proper balance/absolute amounts(?) for their positive pharmacological effects and for energy. Keep the glycemic load of your meals/snacks within an acceptable level for a meal or over a day. Ingest calories from fat-protein-carbs based on individual physiological and lifestyle variables. (I must leave it to you and with the help of the experts here to fill out the details...)

-- Dick

Mine is high, and at 5'10" and 156 lbs; Weight is not the problem. I've been on statins for the past 10 years, and until this past Jan., I jogged on a daily basis.(oatmeal for breakfast every morning, fish oil, niacin, you name it.)My HDL is 58

Did your doctor check your thyroid? Synthroid has helped to lower mine.