Posted on 08/24/2011 1:47:24 PM PDT by TennesseeGirl
New research demonstrates that a diet based around plants, nuts and high-fiber grains lowered "bad" cholesterol more than a low-saturated-fat diet that was also vegetarian, meaning that one's dietary changes could be an alternative to statin medications for many people saving persons from some devastating side effects of the medications.
After six months, people on the low-saturated-fat diet saw a drop in LDL cholesterol of 8 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), on average, according to findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (excerpted)
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalnewstoday.com ...
Good, now can we put the fat back in all our foods (especially our McDonalds french fries) because half of my favorite foods taste like cardboard now.
There was an interesting article posted yesterday, too. “Greater Decrease in LDL Levels Found In Diets Combining Cholesterol-Lowering Foods (nuts, plant sterols, etc.) Than In Low Saturated Fat Diets” http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/233219.php
I wonder how many people know that statins can cause severe muscle pain. I had reached the point that I wanted to cut off my arms because of the pain before a friend asked me if I was taking cholesterol medicine and advised me to stop. I wish I had never touched that poison.
Well, and before you go on a drug always have your bloodwork redone. My husband went to the doctor, his numbers were slightly high, the doctor wanted to put him right on meds. I said, no, I don’t think so (he had NEVER been high before).
I sent him to MY doctor, the bloodwork was redone and guess what? His numbers were FINE. And they have been fine ever since.
“... can cause severe muscle pain”
My husband took statins for a short time. He felt like he was “coming down with the flu”. Just a sick, weak feeling. Finally, he used the fish oil pills and his cholesterol is good (and his blood pressure decreased). I know a lot of people feel ill with that type of medicine!
My neighbor’s knees were killing her. She thought she would be looking at a surgical solution. However, recently, she ran out of her cholesterol medicine and didn’t have the money to get it refilled. In less than a week the knee pain went away!
I cut my dose in half and the pain went away.
Yep. I get that reaction from every statin on the market.
Guess what? Niacin works.
This effects a small group of people that use statins. Doctors advise people who experience these symptoms to stop the drug immediately. There are other drugs/statins that you could take that don't have this side effect for you. Your doctor should have advised you of this when proscribing the medication.
In my experience its not the dietary fat that’s the problem, it’s the carbs.
My cholesterol was 230 when I went low carb. After six months on it it dropped to 156 - NO MEDS.
And that was eating 2 eggs a day, normal amounts of meat, fish, chicken, cheese, lots of vegetables. Just no starch, no sugar, and a modest amount of fruit.
Excess carbs, if your body can’t handle them (as many can’t) causes excess insulin release which causes weight gain and inflammation.
Cholesterol is “body spackle” - its produced in response to injury and inflammation to help patch things up.
If you have a body chemistry like mine and address the root cause of why the cholesterol is being produced, the blood levels drop like a rock.
My asthma and arthritis also got markedly better- a sign of reduced inflammation.
I wouldn’t touch statins with a 10 foot pole, after what I saw happen to my own body. And that goes for the low-fat diets too (which are carb-heavy and shoot insulin levels through the roof).
Mean while my doctor is getting harassed by my Insurance Company to put me on Statins under the National Recommendations that are coming out of the Department of Health.....they know where to stick it
My Doctor is incensed, he knows my history best ... he recommends that I do not take statins .. he is my doctor but he says because of the agreement with the Insurance company he has to tell me so I can get a second opinion
When will they learn to butt out?
Omega 3 fish oil. Just pop those pills and it WILL lower your cholesterol. I pop about 4 per day and despite having a high fat diet, my cholesterol level is LOW.
Body spackle—a great image!
This would be significant if cholesterol was the problem, IT IS NOT!
I read an interesting book by Dr. H. Gilbert Welch called “Over-diagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health”. It appears to be a numbers game. He uses the example of changing the Diabetic threshold from a Fasting Blood Sugar of 140 to 126. Bam! Overnight, you have 1.6 million new diabetic patients. He also looks at High Blood Pressure thresholds, osteoporsis, etc. Thought provoking book.
I still experiment with differnt things, so that my kids will have some kind of idea what works for us.
Fix the problem and your high cholesterol goes back to normal.
Just ballpark.
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