Trying my best to avoid statins but diet alone doesnt seem to be working.

[fendertele]

First off my Diabetes is great, low carb has no doubt been pivotal to getting my levels back in the normal and stay there. But my GP is concerned about my lipid results which have been off for a long time despite my best efforts to try and improve.

My Triglycerides are very high and my LDL/Cholesterol Ratio is 11.1 to try and combat this I have cut back on red meat meals and omega 6 type oils, increased fatty fish, berries etc... and whilst it has came down slightly it's nowhere near enough that i dont get the constant reminder I should be getting on these Statins. They said my likelihood of a stroke or heart attack based on some calculator they use is around 28 percent likely to happen in the next 10 years.

I'll be honest i feel great, I'm quite lean and muscular, blood pressure is good , gave up smoking about 2 months ago,

 

[There is no Spoon]

They said my likelihood of a stroke or heart attack based on some calculator they use is around 28 percent likely to happen in the next 10 years.

Hi @fendertele,
Have you seen "The Cholesterol Code" on Amazon yet. A documentary that endeavours to prove, specifically for people on a low carb high fat diet with increased cholesterol as a result, that high cholesterol is not connected to heart attacks.

You might find it interesting.

 

[fendertele]

Hi @fendertele,
Have you seen "The Cholesterol Code" on Amazon yet. An documentary that endeavours to prove, specifically for people on a how carb high fat diet with increased cholesterol as a result, that high cholesterol is not connected to heart attacks.

You might find it interesting.

Wow the timing is fantastic for this to drop, will grab this for a watch tomorrow night cheers.

 

[KennyA]

First off my Diabetes is great, low carb has no doubt been pivotal to getting my levels back in the normal and stay there. But my GP is concerned about my lipid results which have been off for a long time despite my best efforts to try and improve.

My Triglycerides are very high and my LDL/Cholesterol Ratio is 11.1 to try and combat this I have cut back on red meat meals and omega 6 type oils, increased fatty fish, berries etc... and whilst it has came down slightly it's nowhere near enough that i dont get the constant reminder I should be getting on these Statins. They said my likelihood of a stroke or heart attack based on some calculator they use is around 28 percent likely to happen in the next 10 years.

I'll be honest i feel great, I'm quite lean and muscular, blood pressure is good , gave up smoking about 2 months ago,

To help with your decision you need to factor in that most cholesterol is produced by your own body - the usual figure quoted is around 80%. Dietary cholesterol has little if any impact. What statins do is affect the ability of your liver to make cholesterol - they don't affect cholesterol in the diet, but that doesn't affect your natural level of cholesterol anyway. There's also a commonly-noted statin side-effect which is that blood glucose levels often rise. Info from Bilous and Donnelly.

You might also want to take a look at some recent research on cholesterol levels and risk, couple of examples attached:

Enigma of the cholesterol paradox in acute myocardial infarction: lessons from an 8-year follow-up of all-cause mortality in an age-matched and sex-matched case-control study with controls from the patients' recruitment area - PubMed

In patients with AMI, lower TC and LDL-C levels independently predict higher ACM. In their controls, LDL-C levels above the median independently predict higher ACM. This study adds to the body of evidence supporting the existence of a cholesterol paradox.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scien...tm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=the-arrow-188

Total cholesterol and all-cause mortality by sex and age: a prospective cohort study among 12.8 million adults - Scientific Reports

 

[fendertele]

Okay I will need to look into this further. I wrote the wrong test levels.

It's

Triglycerides 3.6 mmol
Cholesterol/HDL Ratio 11.3

So would this despite being concerning to the Docs be classed as in the sweet zone that they are referring to in the study?

 

[There is no Spoon]

So would this despite being concerning to the Docs be classed as in the sweet zone that they are referring to in the study?

Probably, the government guidelines, considered cholesterol a major risk factor for heart disease because they contribute to plaque build up in the arteries.

The build up is caused by inflammation due to glucose spikes which create micro damage in the arteries; the cholesterol gets stuck and begins to accumulate, atherosclerosis, which hardens and narrows the arteries, increasing the risk of heart attacks.

The documentary, with in the scope that it is applicable to, showed there was no coloration between cholesterol and plaque build up in the sample group. (my own though here is LCHF reduces BG levels and glucose spikes, reducing the risk of micro damage in the arteries. Not a part of the documentary )

As @KennyA above says one of the side effects of Statins can be to increase BG levels.

@fendertele maybe you do need Statins it is impossible to say from an internet post, it's your health and your choice I feel its important to understand why you get "get the constant reminder I should be getting on these Statins"
1. Government guidelines say so.
2. Medical option changes at a Glacial pace.

The argument for not taking them: Statins affect the ability of your liver to make cholesterol you need cholesterol to live. it is essential for digestion and without it can cause irreversible cellular damage, making it impossible to live.

You need to discuss this with your medical team.
I get the same "constant reminder" and eat more carbs advice.
No thank you: is my constant response.