Lowering cholesterol?
|
|
| Isn't eating oatmeal supposed to lower cholesterol? Or Cheerios?
I have gotten into eating oatmeal several times a week. I used to hate it, but now I like it a lot. It keeps you feeling full for a long time, too. My favorite brand is called Bear Naked. It is really good, too, if you add a few frozen fruit pieces to the oatmeal. |
| My dad is 80 (and a half!) and has no blockages in his arteries. He's been on a statin for many many years.
I would recommend taking Co-enzyme Q10 if you do start statin therapy. Some doctors think that the statins can cause a depletion of this enzyme which is essential for cell metabolism (the ability of the cell to turn nutrients (food) into energy). |
| I keep packets of the Trader Joe's maple brown sugar oatmeal at work and have it as a morning snack. I think it tastes very good. They also have plain that I will dice a banana into to add more flavor.
Isn't there also supposed to be orange juice that helps with cholesterol? The only problem with juice is all the extra sugar. Amanda |
Ron wrote: I would recommend taking Co-enzyme Q10 if you do start statin therapy. Umm, Ron, are you on their board of trustees or a paid spokesman? You've been mentioning it right and left!  |
| No, I have no financial interest in any vitamin company or anything like that. The subject just keeps happening to come up in the last few days. |
Quote: I would recommend taking Co-enzyme Q10 if you do start statin therapy?
Hmmmm.... What does taking Co-enzyme Q10 prevent or do for ya? Thanks! Diane...just curious 
Guess I could Google it...I'll ask y'all first  |
| yeah what is Co-enzyme Q10 - can anyone take it? blah, i could google it up but im too lazy to do so |
| I had high cholesterol, partly familial, as my doctor called it. A fancy name for "runs in the family". I tried several things and finally started taking Vitorin. My cholesterol was 157 at the last count! It was 315!! |
| Well taking the coQ10 should help to prevent the statins from causing a depletion.
When I got sick last August, one of the very first searches I did on Google with my symptoms led to me to wonder if I had a coQ10 deficiency. After months of doctors and test (none of them for coQ10) and no diagnosis, I cam upon a single doctor who had a page about how he believes that statins are causing a coEnzyme Q-10 deficiency epidemic in this country, and tht he is seeing tons of people with this problem. I started to take the enzyme and in a week I was feeling virtually normal again for the first time in many months. I had been on Liptor and Lopid combination therapy. My symptoms were basically muscle weakness, all over the body, waxing and waning. I also had (and still have) terrible insomnia. I just can't fall asleep without something to knock me out like some NyQuil or just Diphenhydramine (Benedryl). Still improving, but the insomnia stays; I can have one night's good sleep, followed by three or four of torture. |
Quote: I cam upon a single doctor who had a page about how he believes that statins are causing a coEnzyme Q-10 deficiency epidemic in this country, and tht he is seeing tons of people with this problem.
WoW...so glad you found a Dr. that took notice 
Glad you are somewhat better BUT that not being able to sleep stuff is awful 
Diane...grumpy when sleep deprived |
| It is a webpage, I haven't met the man... yet. |
Quote: single doctor who had a page
OOPS...missed that! Glad YOU found the page! Diane |
| I have used Lecithin for probaly 30 years now. It naturaly cuts the fatty build up on the walls of the arteries.......Plus your BRAIN CELLS are composed of lecithin.....You will think faster becuse your blood is flowing faster.... The only side effect would be if you started taking to much to start and build up you might feel a littel light headed, because the blood is moving faste.... Just My Opinion of What has worked for me........Sheepiue Hugs, Kaye |
| Ron, I tend to have a lot of muscle aches, and lots of muscle cramping. Is this what you mean by muscle weakness? Every morning when I wake up, I feel like I worked out for hours the day before (I wish I did!) and that my whole body hurts. Hopefully the COq10 I bought will help that. I've been on vytorin for about a year...and zetia (?) for a year prior to that. |
| Have you told your doctor about your muscle aches?
I suggest that you do as soon as practical if you haven't. No, I'm talking weakness as in unable to move the blankets on the bed. |
| Yes, I did. He didn't seem concerned about it. I also told him about the cramping, but he didn't seem concerned about that either. Don't get me wrong, he is a very caring Doc, so I just thought..hey, maybe I'm getting old! |
| Perhaps a second opinion would be in order; and since you're on a metabolism drug, perhaps an endocrinologist would be the right choice. |
| Exercise is one of the best ways to start lowering your cholesterol. As little as 20 minutes a day will help lower the LDL and raise the HDL. The oatmeal "cure" is really not very effective, the amount of oatmeal you would need to eat to significantly lower your cholesterol is enormous.
I have seen patients with amazing results from diet and exercise alone. Unfortunately though there are still alot of people for whom that is not enough and medications become necessary. More and more I am seeing multiple drugs prescribed. Ron, you'll be glad to hear that many of the Cardiologists are recommending CoQ10!!!! |
Tasker's Mom wrote: Ron, you'll be glad to hear that many of the Cardiologists are recommending CoQ10!!!! I worry that it hasn't been tested to see what it does to cholesterol/triglyceride levels, and for long term impact. Or for dosages.
I am taking the very minimum 50mg, but from the reading that this topic prodded me to do, I see amounts like 150mg qid (which, if memory serves means "4 times a day" ), Washington University Neurology suggests 200 to 1,200 mg per day used as therapy on one page, 30mg/kg/day on another (for a 220 pound (100kg) male that would be 3,000mg/day ).
Can I bug you to ask them for what they are recommending CoQ10, and in what dosages for what problems? I see all sorts of "snake oil-like" claims about it, and it's very difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. |
| I'll ask more about it tomorrow, I haven't paid alot of attention to it but I have noticed that many of my MI patients (patients after heart attacks) are coming to me taking COQ10. I'll let you know. |
| You can also add wheat or oat bran to your food. Say if you're making lasagna or spaghetti, you throw a handful into the sauce while it cooks. The whole grains help to bind with the cholesterol and transport it out of the body. It's pretty much the same theory with the oatmeal and cheerios and that sort of thing.
Also try to make sure that everything is whole grain, breads, rolls, pasta even the pitas we eat are wheat or whole grain. The FDA is now changing labeling requirements so that anything marked whole grain is actually whole grains (the kind that help with choleterol, to put it plainly ).
Also, if you are on a statin and are having muscle pain and weakness it is time to talk to your doctor about switchin because statins can have a cumulative effect in your body. My husband was on Lipitor and started to have the muscular symptoms and was switched to Vytorin, he also started a glucosamine supplement just in case the pains were old age related.
You should also make sure that you are watching for any liver related symptoms while on a statin. Any yellowing of skin or weird changes in your bowel movements should be noted to your doctor. Can you tell we've been doing this for a while? One more, the American Heart Association has some great cookbooks available. They are easy to use and incorporate all of the calorie, fat, etc, counts for the meals. You know that if I find them easy to use, they've got to be super easy! They also have great literature about decreasing cholesterol in low impact (lazy) ways, like throwing wheat bran in your sauces and the like. |
| Just an update on this topic:
Six months ago my cholesterol was 246, and I really wanted to find a way to lower it without prescription drugs. My doctor told me to drop 10% of my body weight - and I did. I walk and work out at Curves - nothing more strenuous than that. I cut out fast food, which I used to live on. I cut out most white flour and have gone to whole grains. I cut out products with trans fats and high fructose corn syrup. I eat oatmeal and add ground flaxseed to food when I remember to. I also started taking red yeast rice (an over the counter supplement that is similar to a statin) and CoQ10 (thanks Ron!). My total cholesterol dropped from 246 to 180. It can be done. It's not easy. I really miss Wendy's and chocolate. I have to carry food with me when I travel so I'm not tempted by the evil food in the airport, like Frappucinos and Cinnabons. And, I worry about whether the red yeast rice supplements are just an unregulated "drug". But, now I know that it can be done. I just have to keep doing it |
WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO YOU GO GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good work! I suspect it's all the things you have been doing combined that have helped and not one thing in paticular, GREAT JOB!  |
Sue! That's great!!!!   In november, mine was 248. My doctor switched me from Zetia to Vytorian. I also went on South Beach and watched my fats. And, thanks to Ron, I've been taking CoQ10! I was retested in April and it was down to 156. That was a huge relief to me. I did it the easy way, I guess. You really should be proud!!!!! |
| Wow Sue, that is GREAT!! That's a huge amount. Do you feel better? |
barney1 wrote: Wow Sue, that is GREAT!! That's a huge amount. Do you feel better?
I felt fine before That's the tough part about preventive medicine - it's easy to put all of this stuff off when you FEEL just fine.
However, I'm quite pleased with the fact that most of my clothes fit again. It does make me feel good when I can grab a pair of pants or - gasp - a SKIRT that hasn't fit in a while. I'm going to have to lose another 10% of my body weight to get the tops to fit LOL! |
| I had a cholestrol check too and the dr said the same thing all I need to do is drop 10%. That part was easy, I also had a bad case of plantar fascia...painful to walk if the foot tendon seizes up...weird, but after awhile you feel okay, and once you stop and rest for awhile and then start again it hurts...like a rubberband.
Lots of water, lots of hard core fibre (1oo% bran cereal), exercise, and a balanced diet of good things in their natural form. Those arteries will be squeaky clean. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|