Plant Sterols or other natural methods for cholesterol

[Sobeit]

Does anyone take plant sterol supplements to help lower cholesterol levels? And if so any benefit? Want to avoid going on statins and interested to see what has worked for people if anything..other than low carbs etc .Thanks in advance

 

[Wazza]

Does anyone take plant sterol supplements to help lower cholesterol levels? And if so any benefit? Want to avoid going on statins and interested to see what has worked for people if anything..other than low carbs etc .Thanks in advance

A large number of folk with cardio risk use statins I've used them for many years (40mg) cholesterol level so low have dropped to 20mg. Recommend that you check out food that have incorporated plant sterols
Wazza

 

[Sobeit]

Thanks for your reply Wazza. I might end up choosing statins .. But just wondering if anyone has used any natural methods to "significantly " reduce cholesterol..

 

[ButtterflyLady]

Thanks for your reply Wazza. I might end up choosing statins .. But just wondering if anyone has used any natural methods to "significantly " reduce cholesterol..

My lipid levels were a bit elevated but not too bad. I didn't take any meds for them and just ate a low carb diet. When they were tested again after 3 months they were back to normal and have stayed that way for over a year.

I don't understand the science of it, but I get the clear impression from other people's posts that carbohydrates increase triglycerides.

 

[Sobeit]

Thanku Catlady for your helpful post

 

[Jo123]

I use sterols and they have reduced my cholesterol.
I low carb and found it upped my triglycerides and ldl cholesterol.

 

[Sobeit]

I use sterols and they have reduced my cholesterol.
I low carb and found it upped my triglycerides and ldl cholesterol.

Thanks Jo 123. But do u not mean lowering your carbs upped HdL( the good cholesterol) and lowered triglycerides which is the bad stuff I think at least..? Then again Im new to all this....

 

[noblehead]

There was a guy on the forum some time ago who take one of those cholesterol lowering drinks plus 2 or 3 garlic cloves everyday , he said it worked wonders in reducing and maintaining his cholesterol levels (but as ever its all anecdotal).

 

[Sobeit]

Thanks for your reply noblehead and thanks for reminding me of garlic!

 

[noblehead]

Love garlic @Sobeit, it's said to help promote cardiovascular health and I eat a lot of it in my diet and have good cholesterol levels (not taking a statin).

 

[Sobeit]

Yes I love it too. Going to do from now on what I used to do and slice a few cloves and add to my homemade soup just before I eat it! Its an easy way to get plenty into u!

 

[noblehead]

Yes I love it too. Going to do from now on what I used to do and slice a few cloves and add to my homemade soup just before I eat it! Its an easy way to get plenty into u!

Nice

Funny enough I made a pan of home-made soup on Friday evening and put 6 cloves of garlic in, roasted garlic is nice too and the cloves just slide out of their skins.

If you shop in Lidl you can buy garlic where the bulbs are whole and there's no individual cloves, you just peel the outside skin and cut it up, so much easier than having to peel the individual cloves.

 

[Jo123]

Thanks Jo 123. But do u not mean lowering your carbs upped HdL( the good cholesterol) and lowered triglycerides which is the bad stuff I think at least..? Then again Im new to all this....

No I llow carbed quite strictly and my blood sugar normalized however my ldl and triglycerides went up, my hdl did as well but my triglycerides were still within the normal boundaries but increased quite considerably, haven't time to look up the figures now but I think went from 0.6 to over 1, I was well hacked off!
I have my whole life watched my weight and never been overweight and I used to eat low fat, and lots of wholemeal so called healthy carbs, and lots of fruit and veg, basically what I thought was a very healthy diet.

 

[Jo123]

Nice

Funny enough I made a pan of home-made soup on Friday evening and put 6 cloves of garlic in, roasted garlic is nice too and the cloves just slide out of their skins.

If you shop in Lidl you can buy garlic where the bulbs are whole and there's no individual cloves, you just peel the outside skin and cut it up, so much easier than having to peel the individual cloves.

Oh thanks for the tip about Lidl I use a lot of garlic and it is very fiddly peeling all the cloves.

 

[noblehead]

@Jo123, the garlic comes from China and sadly Lidl don't always have them in stock, but it's worth checking as they do make life so much easier, here's what they look like: