Comments on: Lowering Cholesterol Without Prescription Drugs

By: Solace

Solace — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:09:57 +0000

I was recently diagnosed with slightly elevated levels of bad cholesterol – no need to use cholesterol medication, but had to see a dietician. Recommendations:

* eat 0,5 cups of beans daily.
* use wholewheat/sead bread int
* use palm fruit oil instead of olive oil or canola oil
* Exercise daily

By: MizFit

MizFit — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:03:59 +0000

in a hurry so I hope it’s ok to put a link…did a snippet on this recently:
http://mizfitonline.com/?p=136

(if it isnt ok—just delete!!)

By: egoldstein

egoldstein — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:58:37 +0000

Add oatmeal, beans, apples, berries. Make sure you cut out all transfats. We lowered my husband’s cholesterol by 40% by shifting the diet.

Google portfolio diet

By: Blake

Blake — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:20:53 +0000

From reading your post, I can tell side effects are an important consideration for you when choosing treatment options. I thought you might be interested in a campaign we are working on.

Drug companies often fail to clearly present the benefits and risks of the products they advertise, and it often isnâ€™t until a drug is on the market and taken by millions of patients that safety problems emerge. The easier it is for us to report side effects, the earlier the FDA will be able to detect safety hazards with medications and take action. Thatâ€™s why Consumers Union supports including a 1-800 number and web address in all TV drug ads, so consumers can easily report side effects. Think this is a good idea? Go to http://www.PrescriptionForChange.org and add your name to the petition in support.

By: kitty

kitty — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:51:37 +0000

Sorry for another post. The letter to the editor regarding that study http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/352/26/2751 and the authors’ reply is interesting too.

By: kitty

kitty — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:46:41 +0000

Suggestions from Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002 — walnuts/almonds; outmeal/oatbran, fish

In terms of AHA calculator and heart attack risk. Maybe you’ve already done it, but an interesting exercise would be to play with numbers a bit to see the effect different numbers have on the risk: e.g. substitute lower cholesterol numbers and see how it affects the risk. It’ll help to see the impact; also it’ll help to figure out how they round it up: if the result always shows 1%, then it’d mean they round anything under 1% to 1%. If it’ll shows the effect, you’ll see what it is. Just a suggestion.

Additionally, be a bit careful with aspirin: 1) it isn’t as effective in women for heart attack prevention as in men, at least according to this large randomized controlled study: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/352/13/1293 2) assuming it is effective, you have to compare the probability your wife will benefit from aspirin vs probability of serious side effects like serious bleeding. E.g. if the relative risk reduction is 10% (not statistically significant, but let’s just use it as example), this would be absolute risk reduction of .1 percentage point i.e. the probability a person taking it would benefit is 1/1000. When the probability of benefit is small, even small risk is significant.

At any rate, talk to your doctor.

By: Dr CJ

Dr CJ — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:33:45 +0000

I would only do the salads. There is no evidence for any of those being effective at lowering cholesterol. There IS evidence for soluble fiber (psyllium, oats), walnuts (though high in calories), fish oil, and red yeast rice, to mention a few. Agree with exercise.

By: Tochol

Tochol — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:43:39 +0000

I would add in the classic- moderate, daily or every other day, exercise (such as 20 min walks).