Triglycerides
Cholesterol remedies.?
REading about many. I feel I should give a little background. I am 34 and have been getting borderline high Cholesterol reading along with mildly high triglycerides. Highest total Chol I got was a 240 mg/dl. Triglycerides have been in the low 200's also at times. I assume with my family history (father) that I awill be on a statin in the future. So I have been reading alternatives. Beta-Carotene, Phytolsterols, and Niacin supplements. The research I have been reading seem a little biased all thogh they are not pounding you over the head with things they are trying to sell. Do any of you have first hand feedbak about any of these treatments? I am most interested in the Plant Sterols and Niacin. My diet is not perfect but it is NOT attrocious. But I have read and know that about 25% of body cholesterol is from foods ingested. The rest is what the liver produces. This is the heriditary component. I want to know what you guys have been using what changes are noticed.
Public Comments
- yes the liver produces cholesterol but it's not always the good kind so you should be putting good fat's into your body. Niacin supplements are okay but the level you have to take should be monitored by a doctor as you do need to take high doses and not all niacins are created equal. you want to increase your HDL and lower your LDL.....HDL transports fat throughout the body easily so it can be used as fuel.... so again put good fat's into your body. Also increase your fiber intake. One thing that fiber does is it absorbs bile and so your liver has to make more of it and how does it do that, by using the bodies cholesterol. I don't have the numbers but my doctor was concerned about my cholesterol because of family risk factors but I just started adding good fats such as olive oil, fish oil, and flax seeds into my diet and increasing the amount of fiber I eat and my doctor redid my blood tests and said I was normal. the website in my source list is a good site talking about sterols and stuff I found it quite interesting.
- I've also got borderline high cholesterol; max about 208. I understand there are four catagories of elevated cholesterol and they respond to different things. With me, we tried high dose niacin. I eventually got built up to a very high dosage. Didn't do a thing except make me sick and muck with my liver enzymes. Turns out my father also had high cholesterol and niacin didn't work for him either. He did respond well to statins I think (he passed away a few years ago). My triglycerides are high. The doc's instructions: knock it off with the starches and sugars, that's what drives triglycerides. The doc has also got me taking fish oil (4500 mg per day), fiber, and exercise. Oh, and lose weight.
