Active Community: Message List - Cholesterol

Re: Cholesterol

GetDaFrog — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:42:41 GMT

Another option that I use for the citrusy taste (and so that I would not spend the points from orange juice!) is the Fitline Power Cocktail (http://6039576.well24.com) from PM International. I have now lost 25.8 LBS as of last Saturday!! Good luck! Jerry

Re: Cholesterol

fitmama29 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:44:26 GMT

Hello! I work for a corporate wellness company and advise on cholesteral everyday. All this information is very thourogh and great information! If I may please offer some very basic information about cholesterol that might me easier to understand Cholesterol is mainly affected by high amounts of fried foods, saturated fats, excessive amounts of red meats and cheeses. An ideal number for our overall cholesteral should be at 200. With in cholesteral we have to main componants. HDL= the good healthy cholesterol. Our bodies do not produce much of this so we need to get it from foods rich in Omega 3 fatty acids or fish oils. Richest sources of this come from tuna and salmon, can also be found in almonds, walnuts, olive oil, and avocado. These " healthy, good" fats will keep our HDL numbers nice and high, ideally at around 50 or higher, in addition to supporting other functions with in our bodies. LDL is the "bad" cholesterol coming from those high fat food. Basically with this, incorporating fiber (23-35 g/day) in your diet with keep this number down (100 or lower) In addition, exercise with also influence these numbers.

Re: Cholesterol

GetDaFrog — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 04:32:32 GMT

I was one of those people mentioned at the end of the TV commercial/in the fine print - '...if you experience muscle pain/weakness..." (I was extremely painful to lift ANYTHING - a book, a table chair, etc.). I also started having short term memory issues after my primary care physician doubled my simvastatin from 20mg to 40mg daily (couldn't remember the name of a restraunt that we had been going to for 20 years). When I asked my primary care physician about it he suggested a non-statin alternative, but the side effects (ie. liver damage) did not appeal to me at all (go figure!).

So...I started looking for a natural alternative. I now make a "power cocktail" with an organic berry puree containing fucoidans that a doctor friend at UTMD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston introduced me to that I have with my breakfast (no more store-bought smoothies for me!):

1/2 FROZEN banana (cut into 1/4's for the blender) - 1 point

2 FROZEN strawberries - 0 points

3.2 oz Youthjuice (www.ourworldnetwork.com/longerlife ; fucoidan info: http://www.checkthescience.com/ ) - 1 point

8 OZ water and 2 to 4 ice cubes - 0 points

Put it in the blender, hit go and you are done!

(you can use a cup of OJ for 2 points as well if you like a citrusy flavor)

I also take 1000mg of liquid coQ10,1200mg red yeast rice and 2 triple omega softgels daily (got them at Costco)

Since 2/7/09, I have lost 24.6 lbs (woohoo!!), am 90% fo the man I used to be and my cholesterol has gone from 230 to 203 over the past 6 months

Re: Cholesterol

KAPOSTA — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:22:59 GMT

Cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease. (Google Dr. Mary Enig..world leading lipid biochemist). When Paul Dudley White introduced the electrocardiogram machine to his colleagues at Harvard med school in the early 1900's, they advised him to find a field of medicine where there were patients. CHD is the byproduct of the corrupted food supply (junk-food/drink carbohydrate) that causes the body to overproduce insulin (hyperinsulinemia) which damages the subfractions(particles) that comprise the LDL. Instead of healthy ,large ,fluffy flakes, the damaged ,tightly compressed particles get trapped in the gap junction of the cells lining the arterial wall. Any molecule that stops moving through the system will oxidize(think rust), inflame and cause problems. The only thing that modulates particle size is diet. When you restrict cholesterol intake, the body goes into shock and starts producing Hydroxy Methyl Glutaryl CoA Reductase, an enzyme that converts carbohydrate into cholesterol. Statin drugs attempt to inhibit this process. Unfortunately, statins also stimulate the expression of the atrogin-1 gene that causes the the muscles to atrophy(Google Dr. Vikas Sukhatme). The heart is a muscle. Statins also inhibit the production of Co Q-10, the very enzyme that gives life/energy to cells. For details on this simply Google... Danger of Statin Drugs. Also Google... Dr. Duane Graville... whose wife found him wandering around, lost and suffering from transient global amnesia in his own backyard three weeks after taking Lipitor. If the legislation before Congress doesn't pass(no one can be sued if a med has FDA approval), a wave of suits against big Pharma and med community will surface. People with high cholesterol live longer than people with low cholesterol. 500 million people are on Statins. Statins and the Cholesterol myth will go down as one of the biggest boondoggles in medical history.

Re: Cholesterol

livefree — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:02:00 GMT

It is interesting to note that people with low to normal cholesterol levels have a high percentage of heart disease and stroke. The problem behind heart disease isn't the cholesterol itself – but oxidized cholesterol. Over the past decade researchers have recently begun to realize that heart disease is actually the result of long-term, low-grade inflammation of our arteries. Numerous nutrients have been indicated by thousands of published studies to promote healthy cardiovascular function. There are four primary benefits that can be achieved by using nutrition to promote cardiovascular health. Click on the following article to find out what they are.

The Truth About Cholesterol

Re: Cholesterol

livefree — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:07:03 GMT

If you are an athlete and you take statin drugs (Lipitor, Zocor, Pravachol, Crestor, etc.) to help you control your cholesterol, you might be doing more to create a heart attack than prevent one.

In a study carried out in Austria, only six out of 22 athletes with familial hypercholesterolemia were able to endure statin treatment. The others discontinued treatment because of muscle pain. It can cause a condition called rhabdomyolysis. This is the breakdown of muscle fibers resulting in the release of muscle fiber contents into the blood circulation, which can be toxic to the kidneys and result in myoglobinuria and kidney damage. That is why your doctor is constantly doing blood tests on you to see if your kidneys and liver are being damaged.

Rhabdomyolysis is most likly caused by a depletion of something called Coenzyme Q-10. Your body makes this naturally but it is depleted by taking a cholesterol lowering drug or statin. This results in muscle weakness and pain. The heart is a muscle that needs to stay strong and healthy. Without Co-Q10, your chances of getting a heart attack are greater.

To read more about this and the devastating effects of statin drugs, click on the following link:

The Cholesterol Conspiracy

Re: Cholesterol

livefree — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:07:38 GMT

I have a question. Why do Eskimos who eat a traditional diet of almost pure saturated fat (whale and seal blubber) have almost a zero incidence of heart disease?

Studies of African tribes have shown that intakes of enormous amounts of animal fat do not necessarily raises blood cholesterol; on the contrary it may be very low. Samburu people, for instance, eat about a pound of meat and drink almost two gallons of raw milk each day during most of the year. Milk from the African Zebu cattle is much fatter than cow's milk, which means that the Samburus consume more than twice the amount of animal fat than the average American, and yet their cholesterol is much lower, about 170 mg/dl.

Cardiovascular studies in the Samburu tribe of northern Kenya. American Heart Journal 1962;63:437-442.

Shepherds in Somalia eat almost nothing but milk from their camels. About a gallon and a half a day is normal, which amounts to almost one pound of butter fat, because camel's milk is much fatter than cow's milk. But although more than sixty percent of their energy consumption comes from animal fat, their mean cholesterol is only about 150 mg/dl, far lower than in most Western people.

Lapiccirella V., and others. Enquête clinique, biologique et cardiogra-phique parmi les tribus nomades de la Somalie qui se nourissent seule-ment de lait. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 1962;27: 681-697

Could it be that we are looking at the wrong things? Could it be that heart disease is not a disease of cholesterol at all? Could it be that eating fat has little to do with it? Look at the people on the Atkins diet as they eat foods that are full of cholesterol and fat. You might think that this would make their cholesterol (LDL) go up. The fact is that it goes down. Have you ever heard of the French Paradox? The French Paradox is the observation that cardiovascular disease is relatively low in France, despite high intakes of cholesterol and saturated fats.

Facts about Cholesterol

Cholesterol is vital to cell health. High Cholesterol is not dangerous by itself

Scientific studies show that people with low blood cholesterol have as much athersclerosis and heart disease as people with high cholesterol

No evidence exists to show that animal fat and dietary cholesterol cause heart attacks. Plaque formation seen at autopsy is unrelated to dietary cholesterol or fat.

The effect of cholesterol on cardiovascular disease is widely discredited in scientific journals and text books.

High Cholesterol Has Many Benefits

Re: Cholesterol

Active Sara — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:17:46 GMT

You are brilliant! My next question was going to be about eggs too since everybody always seems to associate high cholesterol with eggs and such. Good information to know. Are there definite foods people with high cholesterol should stay away from and foods they should definitely try to eat more of?

I heard it is important to do the following:

Reduce the cholesterol and saturated fat in the diet
Increase fruits and vegetable servings
Take in more water-soluble fiber, such as is in fruits, vegetables, legumes, oatmeal and oat bran
Exercise regularly
Reach an ideal weight
Stop smoking
Drink a small amount of alcohol daily (no more than two drinks)

The last one was also somewhat interesting. So does this mean alcohol should be consumed everyday!! In moderation obviously, but I was still surprised by that.

Re: Cholesterol

culinarydoctor — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:57:35 GMT

Sterols are precursors to steroids. So cholesterol is not inherently BAD, but elevated levels of low density lipoproteins (LDL) in relation to high density lipoproteins (HDL) indicates that your body's requirement for neurotransmitter activity is low. The more catabolic and anabolic cellular activity that is created through exercise / respiration, the more amino acids will be attached to the 'lipoproteins' as they travel through the body performing various essential functions.

Egg whites... everybody thinks that it is "healthy" to discard the yolk because the yolk is high in cholesterol, while the egg white is the golden standard of nutritional nitrogen (protein). I propose you try an experiment. In one bowl crack open a "regular" (conventionally grown non cage-free non organic) egg, and in another bowl crack open a farm fresh egg or a cage-free organic egg. You will find a difference in the consistency and color of the yolk. High levels of cholesterol and Vitamin D (due to sun exposure) for the natural eggs are because the healthier the food source, the healthier the food. My suggestion to people who eat lots of eggs and have sulfur flatulents (you know who you are), is that instead of eatinghalf a dozen egg whites, eat two or three whole eggs. In theory the added cholesterol will help the assimilation of protein, that is, if there is a physical demand created by rigorous exercise.

the incredible eddible, steroids.

Cholesterol

Active Sara — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:24:43 GMT

Anyone have any advice for people with high cholesterol or cholesterol in general? Looking to gain some knowledge on this topic. Thanks!