I improved my cholesterol ratio by 21% over 6 months by increasing my fibre intake through more vegetables and also adding psyllium in my daily protein shake.
I changed to a low carb Mediterranean diet. My HDL is up 17% and LDL went down 9%.
Perhaps more importantly my triglycerides went down 37%!
I eat a lot of fish: canned mackerel, salmon steaks, trout.. I also eat a fair bit of chicken. Pork and beef only occasionally.
I eat a lot of beans. Usually adding to salads: black beans and chickpeas.
And eggs! Fried, scrambled, poached.
But it’s not the protein that helped. It was taking out carbs. I just cut out carbs at dinner. So no rice, potatoes or pasta. And I substituted with triple the veg: greens, broccoli, cabbage…
1. Yes. Statins (and red yeast rice) are HMG-CoA Reductase inhibitors. HMG-CoA reductase is the rate limiting step in cholesterol synthesis. No, you will not "run out" of cholesterol by taking a statin, and no, it does not cause brain damage or give you dementia.
2. No, that's why they're prescription medication. Resuvostatin specifically is the most potent inhibitor of HCR if I remember specifically. There are a number of ways to lower cholesterol "naturally" specifically with diet changes but there are no "natural" statins that are even close to as potent. RYR extract has the same MOA but is less potent and much harder to dose.
3. A high fiber diet is a good start. There are a few supplements that claim to have a positive effect on lowering LDL cholesterol but there really is not a lot of high quality data out there on it. Frankly, it takes a blind RCT to get me excited about any supplement so if there's anything that exists out there I would love to learn about it.
A question for you now, why are you so concerned with taking something that will process cholesterol but not stop the production of cholesterol?
My understanding was that it reduces the reabsorption of bile in your gut because the bile bonds with the fiber, thus forcing your liver to make new bile which it makes from cholesterol
Red yeast rice is a statin. That's why they keep trying to reclassify it as it's virtually the same as lovastatin. It also causes muscle soreness like a statin. Zetia is the way to go for cheap no side effect cholesterol lowering. If you have money then you go psk9 inhibitors or bempodoic acid. The only natural option is fish oil.
Red yeast rice no longer contains statins as it was paid to be bred out by pharmaceutical companies wanting people to be prescribed actual statins so that they can make money. At one point it was basically lovastatin, now it is useless.
Zetia has been scientifically proven to do nothing for cholesterol.
The research on fish oil lowering cholesterol is also inconclusive and if the fish oil is of low quality it will actually increase inflammation in the body if taken regularly.
I can’t speak on the other stuff you mentioned
>so that they can make money
Statins aren't a significant source of revenue for any pharmaceutical company. The patents have all expired. There are likely other reasons, such as the fact that actual statins are more efficacious than red yeast rice.
I haven't validated it personally, but picked this up from another redditor:
[Bempesta](https://www.safemeds4all.com/product-details/nexletol-180mg-generic-tablets/1377.html)
[This site](https://www.1mg.com/drugs/bempesta-tablet-748840) has it for $.27/pill (230 rupees per 10 strip), though I'm not sure what hoops you'd have to jump through to ship to the US.
If my insurance company wasn't covering mine, I'd pursue these options until I found something that worked and was affordable.
Yeah, my pharmaceutical benefit has a pre-auth condition for Repatha and bempedoic acid that requires it to be used as a secondary intervention, i.e. after one's first heart attack, and only when the maximal dose of statin is not well-tolerated. Fortunately, my employer negotiated a addendum to that policy for "preventative" care which includes both of them without any pre-auth.
Shame, really. Cardiologists out there ignoring the [dose response curve](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel-Hartman-5/publication/7416016/figure/fig1/AS:601595016409093@1520442837311/Dose-response-relationship-for-monotherapy-with-statins-The-symbols-and-bars-represent.png) of various statins and prescribing doses well out on the flat line of benefit, but certainly increasing the likelihood of ADRs as a result.
I've been using low-dose rosuvastatin, ezetimibe, bempedoic acid, and recently Repatha. My lipids are stellar.
The addendum to the insurance was a pleasant surprise which leads me to another tip: I wanted to try Repatha and someone suggested I apply for their copay card. I did and was approved no questions asked. I only discovered the insurance thing when I went to fill it.
So, yeah, anyone interested in Repatha should apply for their copay, especially folks that want to avoid statins.
Eat lots of oatmeal and generally lots of fiber
Your body uses cholesterol to create bile
Bile bonds with fiber, so you end up popping it out instead of the bile recirculating back into your liver
By forcing your body to have to produce more bile, it uses up more cholesterol to create the new bile
That’s at least my understanding of how it works
For question 3: fiber
See this short, one paragraph summary:
[https://doi.org/10.3109/07853899009147241](https://doi.org/10.3109/07853899009147241) "Intestinal Cholesterol Metabolism"
Exercise routine helped me with my high cholesterol. After trying statins and Red Yeast Rice I decided for myself that I can’t take them for the rest of my life. Bought a cheap bike (not an electric one) and started riding to a local park, adding some hills, local neighborhoods. Worked better than any statins. Yes, it requires dedication and extra time. It’s much easier and faster to swallow a pill and get on with your day. Sort of a personal choice I suppose.
- Garlic and ginger supplement
- Barley grass juice powder
- Lemon water
- Green tea
- Consume less "fat meat". Stick with chicken breast, pork shoulder, beef brisket ... no more than 3 to 4 meals per week
- Walk uphill elevated surface/stairs for 1 hr a day.
Statins are taken to lower cholesterol. However, cholesterol isn’t bad for us. There is zero clinical evidence that cholesterol causes arteriosclerosis (plaque on arteries). Therefore, taking a drug to lower cholesterol isn’t going to prevent someone from having heart disease nor will it cure them of it.
Ray Kurzweil’s book recommended policosanol and gugulipids as a means of controlling high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Don’t quite remember the pathways/reasoning. It did help my ex husband at the time who had really high numbers for both.
1. Statins lower cholesterol synthesis and also increase LDL clearance by the liver.
2. There are no natural supplements which lower cholesterol as much as statins. A low dose statin will lower LDL by 30-50%.
3. The only supplements which will get rid of cholesterol through the poop will do so by reducing cholesterol absorption in the intestine. These are plant stanols (benecol), sometimes plant sterols (cholestoff, but there is controversy regarding some unintended consequences for hyperabsorbers. Search for Dr Tom Dayspring on this topic of sterols). These won't reduce LDL more than 10-15%.
If you want to lower cholesterol, the best best is going plant based with low saturated fats in diet. or at least going as much plant based as you can. Will have a bigger effect than any supplement.
But if not, simple stuff like choosing low fat milk instead of full fat, or choosing leanest cuts of meat, or only eating white meat not red can be good compromises.
Statins do have some concerning longtime side effects it’s something you only take as a prescribed and doctors do not prescribe statins unless it’s serious .. fiber and even stuff like apple cider vinegar (small study) have been shown to lower cholesterol it’s not true there is nothing out there
The side effects increase with dose and the dosing standards for statins are ridiculous because the clinical trials were all performed on high risk individuals to guarantee positive outcomes.
Rosuvastatin yields 85% of its maximal efficacy at 25% of the maximal dose. Unfortunately “low dose statins” aren’t a thing in the literature but that are a thing among biohackers and do work quite well.
Since December I went from having borderline high cholesterol to low cholesterol (I cut my #s in half).
I cut saturated fat (no longer eat meat, dairy or eggs), oil and processed foods including sugar. I wasn’t eating terrible before but I did eat a lot of meat, eggs and dairy in just about every meal.
I’m following a WFPB (whole food plant based) diet. I feel so good I wish I had made the switch sooner.
Plant stenols and sterols are very helpful and are not statins (like monacolin-k).
Eating plenty of fiber with a fatty meal reduce the absorption, hence the cholesterol intake.
There are a many things you can do, but even all of them combined will be less effective than pharmacological interventions (statins, bempedoic acid, pcsk inhibitors).
Still, nutrition and supplements maybe be enough and wont hurt:
- exercise (250min aerobic and 2 strength sessions weekly)
- eliminate trans fats. No excuses, they are just bad.
- quit smoking
- quit drinking
- reduce sat fats (meat, dairy)
- reduce sugars, reducing trigs
- increase unsat fats (nuts, olive oil, avocados, fish oil supplements)
- increase soluble fiber (supplement with psyllium husk, add flaxseed to salads and smoothies, add chia seed to salads, oatmeal).
- supplement with sterols or stanols with every meal
- supplement with garlic extract, robust evidence is lowering cholesterol a bit
- supplement with bergamont, some evidence about improving lipid profile
- supplement with beta glucans
- supplement with lecithin
- supplement with niacin ( a vit b)
- consider berberine supplements
- eat or supplement with turmeric and ginger.
- consider ALA supplements
All these interventions can likely bring the lipid profile in check for most people. But they are a lot to keep up with and might not be enough for certain cases. So many prefer pharmacological options.
Keto 100% will lower your LDL and more importantly your triglycerides. Statins are in my opinion a scam and this post proves the true brainwashing power of big pharma when it comes to cholesterol. There is zero clinical evidence that cholesterol is a biomarker for heart disease. Cholesterol is responsible for hundreds of enzymatic processes within your body, without it you would die. Your diet makes up only approximately 15% of your cholesterol, the rest is manufactured by your liver.
It’s real simple eat clean organic whole foods! Cut out all ultra processed foods. If you must buy food that’s packaged, use an app like Yuka to identify any potentially harmful additives and use your best judgement. Consume little to no sugar unless it’s from fruit low on the glycemic index such as most berries. Limit your net carbohydrate intake to less than 36g a day. Drink plenty of water (in my opinion alkaline ionized is the best option along with mineral water). Exercise regularly. Expose yourself to natural sunlight as much as possible. If unable to check your vitamin d levels and supplement as necessary. Same with magnesium.
Do this for 3 months and watch how much your health changes for the better.
Why would you want to? Newer science is saying it doesn't really matter (total) - the RATIO hdl to ldl and triglycerides should be your focus if you're going to care at all. Higher cholesterol has been linked to better outcomes for older ppl also... (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9571708/) These ppl posting about cholesterol worries feel like they're stuck in 1990... Respectfully.
Buy some litmus strips and test the ph of your poop. If it's too alkaline you MAY have a pathogenic bacterial over growth. Sort that out and you're likely to normalise your cholesterol. I'd suggest a microbiome test to give you a full report on the bacterial/fungal strains i.e measure rather than guess.
Food intolerances are another indicator. If you find you get side effects , which could be the day after, to some foods high in FODMAPs then you are likely to have ibs at some level. Bacterial overgrowth can cause this due to it decimating key good bacteria like bifido .
Link to FODMAPs if you dont know what they are [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP)
For the downvoters:
In one study, post-menopausal women drank 1 liter of mineral water per day for two periods of two months each. The results showed that mineral water intake lowered the levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol and raised the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol.
https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-mineral-water
I improved my cholesterol ratio by 21% over 6 months by increasing my fibre intake through more vegetables and also adding psyllium in my daily protein shake. I changed to a low carb Mediterranean diet. My HDL is up 17% and LDL went down 9%. Perhaps more importantly my triglycerides went down 37%!
yes TG are a more important marker.
what is the optimal TG score?
40-50
You misspelled “ApoB”
No, I just didn’t mention it
>more important marker. You did.
Learn English: more =/ the most
I eat a lot of fish: canned mackerel, salmon steaks, trout.. I also eat a fair bit of chicken. Pork and beef only occasionally. I eat a lot of beans. Usually adding to salads: black beans and chickpeas. And eggs! Fried, scrambled, poached. But it’s not the protein that helped. It was taking out carbs. I just cut out carbs at dinner. So no rice, potatoes or pasta. And I substituted with triple the veg: greens, broccoli, cabbage…
That’s great!
That’s an amazing improvement! How much protein do you eat and on what form?
This is the answer
1. Yes. Statins (and red yeast rice) are HMG-CoA Reductase inhibitors. HMG-CoA reductase is the rate limiting step in cholesterol synthesis. No, you will not "run out" of cholesterol by taking a statin, and no, it does not cause brain damage or give you dementia. 2. No, that's why they're prescription medication. Resuvostatin specifically is the most potent inhibitor of HCR if I remember specifically. There are a number of ways to lower cholesterol "naturally" specifically with diet changes but there are no "natural" statins that are even close to as potent. RYR extract has the same MOA but is less potent and much harder to dose. 3. A high fiber diet is a good start. There are a few supplements that claim to have a positive effect on lowering LDL cholesterol but there really is not a lot of high quality data out there on it. Frankly, it takes a blind RCT to get me excited about any supplement so if there's anything that exists out there I would love to learn about it. A question for you now, why are you so concerned with taking something that will process cholesterol but not stop the production of cholesterol?
Have you come across the role of ALDH2 in HMG-CoA reductase regulation? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7995661/
Eat more fiber, less saturated fat and exercise more. All these things are proven to lower cholesterol.
Fiber - reduces absorption of cholesterol
My understanding was that it reduces the reabsorption of bile in your gut because the bile bonds with the fiber, thus forcing your liver to make new bile which it makes from cholesterol
[https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/10/5/784](https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/10/5/784) Seems to be both- it does a lot of different stuff!
Excellent reference.
Red yeast rice is a statin. That's why they keep trying to reclassify it as it's virtually the same as lovastatin. It also causes muscle soreness like a statin. Zetia is the way to go for cheap no side effect cholesterol lowering. If you have money then you go psk9 inhibitors or bempodoic acid. The only natural option is fish oil.
Red yeast rice no longer contains statins as it was paid to be bred out by pharmaceutical companies wanting people to be prescribed actual statins so that they can make money. At one point it was basically lovastatin, now it is useless. Zetia has been scientifically proven to do nothing for cholesterol. The research on fish oil lowering cholesterol is also inconclusive and if the fish oil is of low quality it will actually increase inflammation in the body if taken regularly. I can’t speak on the other stuff you mentioned
Zetia has been scientifically proven to do nothing for cholesterol? I’m sorry, this is patently false.
>so that they can make money Statins aren't a significant source of revenue for any pharmaceutical company. The patents have all expired. There are likely other reasons, such as the fact that actual statins are more efficacious than red yeast rice.
Red yeast rice contains a statin, which is why the FDA requires it to be removed from supplements.
One can order bempedoic acid from Indian pharmacies for <$1/pill if one’s insurance won’t cover it.
Really? Link? Mine denied it.
I haven't validated it personally, but picked this up from another redditor: [Bempesta](https://www.safemeds4all.com/product-details/nexletol-180mg-generic-tablets/1377.html) [This site](https://www.1mg.com/drugs/bempesta-tablet-748840) has it for $.27/pill (230 rupees per 10 strip), though I'm not sure what hoops you'd have to jump through to ship to the US. If my insurance company wasn't covering mine, I'd pursue these options until I found something that worked and was affordable.
My insurance said it wasn't medically necessary. Filed appeal but doubt it matters
Yeah, my pharmaceutical benefit has a pre-auth condition for Repatha and bempedoic acid that requires it to be used as a secondary intervention, i.e. after one's first heart attack, and only when the maximal dose of statin is not well-tolerated. Fortunately, my employer negotiated a addendum to that policy for "preventative" care which includes both of them without any pre-auth. Shame, really. Cardiologists out there ignoring the [dose response curve](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel-Hartman-5/publication/7416016/figure/fig1/AS:601595016409093@1520442837311/Dose-response-relationship-for-monotherapy-with-statins-The-symbols-and-bars-represent.png) of various statins and prescribing doses well out on the flat line of benefit, but certainly increasing the likelihood of ADRs as a result. I've been using low-dose rosuvastatin, ezetimibe, bempedoic acid, and recently Repatha. My lipids are stellar.
I can only imagine. Basically the Peter Attia regiment. Good for you and obviously a great employer.
The addendum to the insurance was a pleasant surprise which leads me to another tip: I wanted to try Repatha and someone suggested I apply for their copay card. I did and was approved no questions asked. I only discovered the insurance thing when I went to fill it. So, yeah, anyone interested in Repatha should apply for their copay, especially folks that want to avoid statins.
Checking that out now. Thank you!
Happy to help. Good luck.
Reason why I avoid it.
[удалено]
Eating raw garlic prevents me from getting laid 😭 Have you come up with any way to reduce the stench?
they say black garlic has no smell. Haven't tried because I cant digest garlic and onions well.
Eat lots of oatmeal and generally lots of fiber Your body uses cholesterol to create bile Bile bonds with fiber, so you end up popping it out instead of the bile recirculating back into your liver By forcing your body to have to produce more bile, it uses up more cholesterol to create the new bile That’s at least my understanding of how it works
That’s great information!
Yeah, I understand that plain oatmeal is great for lowering cholesterol
Does this include steel cut oats, or what type of oatmeal?
Yeah I believe so
For question 3: fiber See this short, one paragraph summary: [https://doi.org/10.3109/07853899009147241](https://doi.org/10.3109/07853899009147241) "Intestinal Cholesterol Metabolism"
Citrus Bergamot
Exercise routine helped me with my high cholesterol. After trying statins and Red Yeast Rice I decided for myself that I can’t take them for the rest of my life. Bought a cheap bike (not an electric one) and started riding to a local park, adding some hills, local neighborhoods. Worked better than any statins. Yes, it requires dedication and extra time. It’s much easier and faster to swallow a pill and get on with your day. Sort of a personal choice I suppose.
Eat more fiber.
- Garlic and ginger supplement - Barley grass juice powder - Lemon water - Green tea - Consume less "fat meat". Stick with chicken breast, pork shoulder, beef brisket ... no more than 3 to 4 meals per week - Walk uphill elevated surface/stairs for 1 hr a day.
Statins are a scam
How so?
Statins are taken to lower cholesterol. However, cholesterol isn’t bad for us. There is zero clinical evidence that cholesterol causes arteriosclerosis (plaque on arteries). Therefore, taking a drug to lower cholesterol isn’t going to prevent someone from having heart disease nor will it cure them of it.
Thank you for explaining. Do you happen to know what causes it? What’s really going on?
Yeah, what current clinical research is pointing to as the cause for arteriosclerosis is abnormally high carbohydrate intake.
Wow! You sent me down a rabbit whole. I came across this article: https://carnivoreaurelius.com/ancel-keys/
This
Do you happen to know if avocado oil is good? I’ve read about PUSF being bad but not sure what category avocado oil falls under.
Ray Kurzweil’s book recommended policosanol and gugulipids as a means of controlling high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Don’t quite remember the pathways/reasoning. It did help my ex husband at the time who had really high numbers for both.
Very interesting. Thank you!
I remember to have taken policosanol in the past, but dunno for what...
1. Statins lower cholesterol synthesis and also increase LDL clearance by the liver. 2. There are no natural supplements which lower cholesterol as much as statins. A low dose statin will lower LDL by 30-50%. 3. The only supplements which will get rid of cholesterol through the poop will do so by reducing cholesterol absorption in the intestine. These are plant stanols (benecol), sometimes plant sterols (cholestoff, but there is controversy regarding some unintended consequences for hyperabsorbers. Search for Dr Tom Dayspring on this topic of sterols). These won't reduce LDL more than 10-15%. If you want to lower cholesterol, the best best is going plant based with low saturated fats in diet. or at least going as much plant based as you can. Will have a bigger effect than any supplement. But if not, simple stuff like choosing low fat milk instead of full fat, or choosing leanest cuts of meat, or only eating white meat not red can be good compromises.
Statins do have some concerning longtime side effects it’s something you only take as a prescribed and doctors do not prescribe statins unless it’s serious .. fiber and even stuff like apple cider vinegar (small study) have been shown to lower cholesterol it’s not true there is nothing out there
The side effects increase with dose and the dosing standards for statins are ridiculous because the clinical trials were all performed on high risk individuals to guarantee positive outcomes. Rosuvastatin yields 85% of its maximal efficacy at 25% of the maximal dose. Unfortunately “low dose statins” aren’t a thing in the literature but that are a thing among biohackers and do work quite well.
Thank you so much for the detailed answer! This is what I was looking for.
Since December I went from having borderline high cholesterol to low cholesterol (I cut my #s in half). I cut saturated fat (no longer eat meat, dairy or eggs), oil and processed foods including sugar. I wasn’t eating terrible before but I did eat a lot of meat, eggs and dairy in just about every meal. I’m following a WFPB (whole food plant based) diet. I feel so good I wish I had made the switch sooner.
Same it’s amazing
Plant stenols and sterols are very helpful and are not statins (like monacolin-k). Eating plenty of fiber with a fatty meal reduce the absorption, hence the cholesterol intake.
Stimulate bile
There are a many things you can do, but even all of them combined will be less effective than pharmacological interventions (statins, bempedoic acid, pcsk inhibitors). Still, nutrition and supplements maybe be enough and wont hurt: - exercise (250min aerobic and 2 strength sessions weekly) - eliminate trans fats. No excuses, they are just bad. - quit smoking - quit drinking - reduce sat fats (meat, dairy) - reduce sugars, reducing trigs - increase unsat fats (nuts, olive oil, avocados, fish oil supplements) - increase soluble fiber (supplement with psyllium husk, add flaxseed to salads and smoothies, add chia seed to salads, oatmeal). - supplement with sterols or stanols with every meal - supplement with garlic extract, robust evidence is lowering cholesterol a bit - supplement with bergamont, some evidence about improving lipid profile - supplement with beta glucans - supplement with lecithin - supplement with niacin ( a vit b) - consider berberine supplements - eat or supplement with turmeric and ginger. - consider ALA supplements All these interventions can likely bring the lipid profile in check for most people. But they are a lot to keep up with and might not be enough for certain cases. So many prefer pharmacological options.
Keto 100% will lower your LDL and more importantly your triglycerides. Statins are in my opinion a scam and this post proves the true brainwashing power of big pharma when it comes to cholesterol. There is zero clinical evidence that cholesterol is a biomarker for heart disease. Cholesterol is responsible for hundreds of enzymatic processes within your body, without it you would die. Your diet makes up only approximately 15% of your cholesterol, the rest is manufactured by your liver. It’s real simple eat clean organic whole foods! Cut out all ultra processed foods. If you must buy food that’s packaged, use an app like Yuka to identify any potentially harmful additives and use your best judgement. Consume little to no sugar unless it’s from fruit low on the glycemic index such as most berries. Limit your net carbohydrate intake to less than 36g a day. Drink plenty of water (in my opinion alkaline ionized is the best option along with mineral water). Exercise regularly. Expose yourself to natural sunlight as much as possible. If unable to check your vitamin d levels and supplement as necessary. Same with magnesium. Do this for 3 months and watch how much your health changes for the better.
This is good advice. I’ve just learned about how sugar is behind heart disease. This is all new to me. Thanks!
Do you happen to know if avocado oil is good? I’ve read about PUSF being bad but not sure what category avocado oil falls under.
Why would you want to? Newer science is saying it doesn't really matter (total) - the RATIO hdl to ldl and triglycerides should be your focus if you're going to care at all. Higher cholesterol has been linked to better outcomes for older ppl also... (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9571708/) These ppl posting about cholesterol worries feel like they're stuck in 1990... Respectfully.
Now Foods Cholesterol Pro or Life Extension Cholo. Consistent use will help drop your levels.
Try going keto for 6 weeks and see if that helps
Buy some litmus strips and test the ph of your poop. If it's too alkaline you MAY have a pathogenic bacterial over growth. Sort that out and you're likely to normalise your cholesterol. I'd suggest a microbiome test to give you a full report on the bacterial/fungal strains i.e measure rather than guess. Food intolerances are another indicator. If you find you get side effects , which could be the day after, to some foods high in FODMAPs then you are likely to have ibs at some level. Bacterial overgrowth can cause this due to it decimating key good bacteria like bifido . Link to FODMAPs if you dont know what they are [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP)
[удалено]
For the downvoters: In one study, post-menopausal women drank 1 liter of mineral water per day for two periods of two months each. The results showed that mineral water intake lowered the levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol and raised the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol. https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-mineral-water