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Cholesterol and alternatives to statins


I have started it this week. Not enough tests to give a result as to it's effectiveness, but I will as soon as I know one way or another.
 

Will be looking forward to hearing about your results. All that I have read has been positive and.... well.... Holland & Barrett has it on for buy one get one for a pence..... can't beat that with a cricket bat!

Also can you tell me what dosage you are using. I know that all of the trials I have read talk about between 800-1200ug per day.

Best of luck
Kenny
 
Hi everyone. Really interesting reading people's experiences and thought on various issues relating to health and Diabetes.

There are lots of things involved in having good health. My two top things are nutrition and exercise. Everyone that cares about their health should be doing some form of exercise. There are 1440 minutes in every day meaning there are plenty of minutes left for some form of exercise Being in the fitness industry, I have heard every excuse under the Sun why people cannot (will not) do it! People are literally eating themselves into an early grave. It's very sad when we have the knowledge to change our future health yet we're too obsessed with stuffing our faces with high fat, high sugar, over salted, E numbered rubbish! The reason I am posting this is to raise something that I don't believe anyone on this post has: EXERCISE!

Exercise stimulates enzymes that help move low density lipoprotein from the blood (and blood-vessel walls) to the liver. From there, the cholesterol is converted into bile (for digestion) or excreted. So the more you exercise, the more LDL your body expels.

Exercise increases the size of the protein particles that carry cholesterol through the blood. (The combination of protein particles and cholesterol are called "lipoproteins;" it's the LDLs that have been linked to heart disease). Google exercise and cholesterol. There internet is inundated with report and actual research. If you are serious about your health/or have been told your cholesterol is too high, the BEST thing you can do is get some form of exercise most days of the week. I recommend my clients Start light (say a brisk 10-15 walk) working up to an hour. There are so many benefits of getting out in the fresh air: mental, emotional and physical.

This wasn't meant to be a rant, simply some truthful words for anyone wanting to improve their health
 
Bacillus Coagulans (a bacteria), in studies, has been shown to lower high cholesterol. It has been used in a patented medicine along with other more natural substances. I don't remember the medicines name unfortunately, but that info might give you something to search for.

Soluble fibre can help remove cholesterol from the body and prevent it being re-absorbed. It's how things are intended to work but with relatively low fibre diets, it doesn't work as well as it should.

Glucomannan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucomannan (Konjac Root) is known to lower cholestrol amongst other things. I suggest that Type 2's read the wiki article because it does address several issues.
Soluble fibre such as psyllium husks along with Glucommann mixed in a large glass with lots of water, left to stand for half an hour to test whether there is enough water, would probably do the business. You do need to be careful, to ensure that there is sufficient water because it can cause problems, if there is insufficient water.
 
Hi Julie,

I was prescribed Atorvastatin for raised cholesterol. At first all seemed fine, but after a few weeks i developed severe abdominal pain and vomiting. I was admitted to hospital. My liver function tests were grossly abnormal, and i was very unwell. The doctors put this down to the Atorvastatin, and when i stopped taking it everything settled down.

Afterwards when my cholesterol remained raised, my GP prescribed Ezetimibe for me. It is not a statin, but it lowers cholesterol It works by lowering the cholesterol absorbed in the digestive tract. It is used for people who cannot lower their cholesterol by diet alone (you have to stay on a cholesterol-lowering diet whilst taking this medication). You can also take it with statins, should you wish to.

My latest cholesterol is 2.2.

Sue.
 
I too have been on numerous statin drugs, and had to discontinue each one due to severe muscle pain. So I decided to drastically cut down on meat meals, and eat more fruits, grains and vegetables. People on statins are supposed to take Co-enzyme Q10 at the same time, which was recommended when Lipitor was first patented, but most doctors are not aware of this, and often cardiac experts simply ignore the advice and consider it nonsense. But, regardless, Q10 has many other benefits as well and I have been on it for over ten years, and am considered very young for having just had my 81st birthday So my advice is to stick to well known, natural lowering cholesterol diet and you will see your results in less than couple of weeks.
 
Just to weigh in with my experiences.

Many, many years prior to my T2 diagnosis, I was told I had a high cholesterol level (this was around 2002/2003). At that time my diet was pretty much low fat and I trained 3x a week with heavy weights. Plus was generally active. After being told I went on a super low fat, medium carbs and highish protein diet. I also took benecol/flora active type products regularly. Went heavy with the olive oil.

I was retested after 3 months and to my shock there was hardly any budge in my cholesterol figures??


Simvastatin effects me very negatively, especially with memory loss. I do struggle with cholesterol levels and believe it to be caused by familial cholesterolemia.

One thing I've tried in the past that I found help raise up HDL levels (the 'good' cholesterol) significantly was crushed fenugreek seeds with water. Like 5/ 6 spoons a day with water.

They do however make some of our armpits smell very 'funky' as a side effect. lol


My last bloods gave me:

HDL: 2.37
LDL: 3.4
Trigs: 0.5
Cholesterol: 6
 


I took a course of this a while ago and it did indeed seem to lower bs levels. But then I read it could have adverse effects on your DNA so I stopped taking it (think I read this on the Mendosa site?)
 
A friend has suggested taking chromium. I think I may give it a try.
My latest cholesterol levels were 4.1.
After 3 months of adding rolled oats to my Weetabix for breakfast, my levels went down to 3.9.
After another 3 months they dropped to 3.7.
Hoping for better results at my next blood test.
 
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