Food products to reduce cholesterol.

Thanks so much for this thread I've just had an attempt to get me onto statins because my level is high. I'm 76! I've asked for 3 months to try other ways of lowering it, but it sounds as if I shouldn't take statins at my age anyway. I'm drinking the Benecol things and using Flora proactive. I'm also introducing more soya which I believe is supposed to help. Lots of interesting stuff on here.

Redhead56

I will be 66 this year no diabetes but I have had high blood pressure since going on the pill at 22. I was on a low pill but had to stop taking it a year later. I do take low dose beta blocker and sensible diet to control the high blood pressure.
I don’t usually take very well to medication apparently it’s my metabolism. I have been on every pain relief medication for arthritis but now take none as they caused kidney disease according to my doctor.
I think doctors are reps for drug companies as they seen to eager to give out tablets. This is why I am sceptical about going on more medication.

I most certainly can't advise you. However, as you might have realised, I've done quite a bit of research about cholesterol and statins, as well as the range of conditions included in "metabolic syndrome".

I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes in my mid 30s for no obvious reason. I wasn't overweight and had a relatively healthy diet, although my blood pressure was on the high side. It's possible it was genetic or caused by extreme stress and/or insomnia. I don't know. What has struck me over the years is how much knowledge has increased. Some doctors really do understand the metabolism and don't just resort to handing out pills.

Like you, I was always reluctant to take medications and refused to take statins. Diabetes meant I had a higher than average risk of a cardiac event and I felt fine, so I shrugged it off. I had blood tests, but was never given the full results and didn't really understand the figures anyway.

I had a heart attack five years ago and for the first time, I took it all really seriously. I started taking all the medications I was recommended and sticking strictly to a low carbohydrate (not just low sugar) diet and being more active. I didn't smoke and gave up the small amount of alcohol I drank. I still wasn't overweight.

It's ironic I've now been diagnosed with breast cancer because I've never felt fitter. My blood pressure is normal with the help of very low dose medication. My total cholesterol is much lower than yours, but I have a problem with my triglycerides and HDL levels. That's because I have insulin resistance and the triglycerides aren't being used properly and remain as fatty deposits. The damage has already been done after years of ignoring it. The only way to lower them is to eat a very low carb diet and exercise more. No amount of alleged super-foods will shift them.

I read an article about Benecol by somebody who had tried their products. The conclusion was that they work, but only for as long as you continue taking them. The author said they were an expensive way to achieve very little.

The only thing you can do is find out as much information as possible and try not to be swayed by newspaper headlines. Statins, by the way, are now generics and aren't the big money maker for the drug companies they were.

PS. GPs aren't incentivised to prescribe statins, although they do have targets for reducing patients' blood pressure and cholesterol.

Growstuff sorry to hear about your breast cancer diagnosis. How are they treating it? With every good wish

BlueSky

Growstuff sorry to hear about your breast cancer diagnosis. How are they treating it? With every good wish

Hmm ... at the moment - very slowly! It was diagnosed at the beginning of March and I still haven't had an op.

First, it was going to be a lumpectomy, but then they found another little lump, so I've been advised to have a mastectomy.

I want a reconstruction (implant) but there are questions about that because my diabetes is playing up. That's why I'm doing everything I can to get my diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol really good and I've been researching. I really could kick myself for being so relaxed about it for years because I really don't want to go "flat".

I'm having an echocardiogram on Friday to make sure my heart is up to the anaesthetic.

And why I'm doing everything I can not to catch Covid.

Oh Growstuff not sure how old you are but looks as if we can’t really become complacent about breast cancer even when we are older! Hope you’ll soon be sorted x

BlueSky

Oh Growstuff not sure how old you are but looks as if we can’t really become complacent about breast cancer even when we are older! Hope you’ll soon be sorted x

I'm 67. My mother, grandmother and gt grandmother had it in their 70s, so no, don't be complacent.

Growstuff I think many women feel ‘safe’ once they are over the menopause but obviously that’s not the case x

Or I should have said ‘safer’ and certainly by the time they are in their ‘70s. I’m going to request mammograms after ‘70.
Sorry for hijacking the thread!

I was directed to this subject by a Dr on tv a few days ago.

www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1806

MerylStreep

I was directed to this subject by a Dr on tv a few days ago.

www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1806

I've just read it, but I can't see any reference to statins. The statins currently prescribed in the UK are off patent and are generics. Companies such as Pfizer no longer make any money out of them. They are some of the cheapest drugs available to the NHS and GPs don't have an incentive to prescribe them, although they do have an incentive to get their patients' cholesterol down. If they had more time/resources, it might be better to talk to their patients for longer about lifestyle interventions and explain why cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar is important and/or provide subsidised exercise classes or walking groups, etc - but that's another topic.

BlueSky

Or I should have said ‘safer’ and certainly by the time they are in their ‘70s. I’m going to request mammograms after ‘70.
Sorry for hijacking the thread!

I've already been told I'll have annual mammograms for another 5 years (ie until I'm 72) and will then be able to contact the local breast screening service directly after that. Breast cancer most certainly isn't a young woman's disease.

PS. Sorry, this is off-topic and not to do with cholesterol.

PS. You're at higher risk if you took HRT, took the pill for years, didn't breast feed your children (or have never had children), had your children late in life, started your periods early or finished them late.

Thanks Growstuff all the best x

Thanks again for responses certainly food for thought.

My two friends had mastectomy one only recently. They are both my age and had the operation and are thankfully over it. I wish you well Growstuff with your treatment.

If you have genetic high cholesterol, then it doesn't matter how good your lifestyle and diet. you are stuck with it. My refusal to take statins was because when the effects of taking statins would have on my life expectancy and probability were modelled. Taking statins made little or no change to my life chances. the results were almost the same, with or without statins

If I take any drug, I want to know it will be efficacious and in the case of statins it was clear there were no health benefits to be gained by taking them.

MOnica While that was true for you based on your age and other medical conditions, it might very well not be true for other people. Once a person reaches 75, the algorithm starts to change because the chances of death from any cause increase. There is little benefit in reducing the long-term life chances of a person who stands an increasing chance of dying from something else, especially as there is a risk of side effects. It's a question of balancing risk and side effects to give the patient a good quality of life, as well as (hopefully) a long one.

I once refused statins, having been told I had a low risk of having a heart attack or stroke within ten years. Unfortunately, for me, I was one of the unlucky ones - can't remember the exact percentage, but I was one of them. I had a GP who was a static-cynic and I listened to her.

That's why I urge people to get their full lipid profile, not just the total cholesterol. These days, there's an increasing understanding that it isn't just LDLs which are bad, but the ratios. If triglycerides are too high, it's probably because the person is consuming too many calories (mainly carbohydrates - not just refined ones), which are converted to fats in the liver and then find their way into the blood and can cause blockages. Generally, high triglycerides go hand in hand with low HDLs and no amount of eating any of the alleged "wonder foods" will change that. If somebody is a smoker and/or has high blood pressure or diabetes, he/she has a greater risk of blood vessel damage.

It really is up individuals to insist that doctors give full results and then to understand them. I'm afraid I don't have much confidence that all GP doctors and nurses have an in-depth understanding of cholesterol and related metabolic syndrome, which is why I'm urging people to do their own research from reliable sites and not rely on scare stories from the media or even random posters like me on GN.

growstuff I absolutely agree with you. Everyone should do their research about their situation and reach their own conclusions. My experience is limited to my own case and all I can do is say 'I looked into it for me and this is the information I obtained and the decision I made as a result' I am not suggesting that anyone elses situation will be identical with mine.

I did in fact have more information about my blood analysis than I mentioned, but the key question I asked was 'will this intervention have a significant effect in cutting my risk for a heart attack or stroke'? In my case the answer was 'no'. For others it will be different.