Natural Remedies for High Cholesterol

hey phyllis, I don't know about the baking soda but i've been trying to get off my cholesterol medicine, have gone from 80mg to 40 mg and hopefully get off it altogether. the biggest thing for me was a diet change. I'v stopped eating fried foods & fast food. started eating alot of fish & steamed vegies. I started taking a supplement called pantethine, you can take up to 1200mg a day, i've been taking 600mg a day. i've been getting blood work done every 3 months. i'll be going sometime next month to see if my numbers got any lower. i'll let you know, good luck.

Hi Paul from Nashville. This will be a very telling experiment, in theory it should work. Thanks for keeping us posted. You can help a lot of people with this information, Peace, Rena.

Phyllis, I wanted to share my cholesterol story with you. My total cholesterol was well over 251. The doctor was threatening me with yet another prescription medicine that I would have to take for the rest of my life. I was determined to avoid that and get off my blood pressure medication in the process. I began to take Milk thistle for the cholesterol. In just three months, I was able to lower the total cholesterol to 189. I must mention that I did in fact change my diet. I avoided bread, sugar, potatoes; began eating more vegetables and protein. I managed to lose 15 lbs, and my blood pressure medicine as well.

I would also like to share that this site has been very helpful to me, my grandchild (egg whites and fever), and my husband avoided a 2nd heart attach by putting cayenne pepper under his tongue whenever he was feeling ill. We ended up in the hospital, but the doctor stated that the episode was only an angina, not a heart attack and no evidence of damage to the heart. Thanks earth clinic, for all the education that you have provided me.

Maria from El Paso, Tx

high cholesterol remedies

just to update my cholesterol. went and had my blood work done and my cholesterol is in normal range. my total cholesterol was 159, HDL=47 and LDL=93. the doctor recommended i stay on 40mg of my medicine but i'm lowering it to 20mg and raising the pantethine to 450mg twice a day and keeping with my diet. i'll be getting my cholesterol checked at the end of january.

Word of caution, it's not "just" angina. Angina is a symptom that the heart is not getting enough oxygen and is usually caused by a significantly blocked artery (usually 90% or more). Immediate medical treatment is required to relieve the blockage.

If you ever experience Angina (tightness or pain in the chest along with numbness or pain down the underside of either arm) which is most often brought about during periods of physical activity, you need to immediately go to the Emergency Room.

Denis, I reviewed Dr. Uffe Ravnskov's book on the book review page. It is a very important book full of easy to understand information. First he was demonised in I think Swedish TV, later he was reinstated in the papers because after all he was right. I think that they burned his first book on TV. Stay away from statins, please.... my father goes through life with awful pain in his feet because of statins but he won't stop and probably by now it wouldn't help anyway! Try to find a good natural doctor, someone you can go for advice at all times! I haven't found one yet but I hope one day I will! Sometimes one can feel quite lonely and confused with all the information out there! All the best....

Do not worry too much about cholesterol, it is essential to your good health, it is the bodies messenger system and a tiny fraction of which is caused by diet. Beware Statins, there has been talk for as long as I can remember about having them pulled off the market for the number of serious side effects. Statins are extremely dangerous and the longer you take them the more likely you are to have serious long term irreversible side effects. I have read that only exceptional high readings of cholesterol should be of any concern, ie almost off the charts. The cholesterol myth started in the 50s and in spite of all eveidence to the contrary was never debumked, whereas the link to heart disease, diabetes and most other modern plagues has all been firmly established in rats and mice with Sugar.

Please worry more about your blood pressure as this is a more accurate guage of your hearts health. There is a huge amount of information here on EC to help you with this. Try Co Enzyme Q10 and Vitamin C, Aloe Vera Juice, absolutely Eliminate refined Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup from your diet. Take 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper mixed with hot water building up to 1 whole tsp gradually, read the Cayenne Pepper section first. Swap to healthy fats, Coconut Oil being the best. Also I would take EDTA for as long as you can afford to, this will clean your arteries right out and give you some peace of mind.

Good Luck and stay away from Statins no matter what.

Cameron.

If you'd search "statin-induced neuropathy" on the web and you'll be amazed at how many people are suffering from this statin drug. I am one of the victims by this big Pharma scam! Most of us suffer debilitating pains in our lower bodies plus other symtoms due to the damage caused by statins on our peripherol nurvous systems. This disease can hit some patients even after they stopped their statins for four years! Sadly, it is not reversable and so far, there is no cure! A former NASA medical doctor, spoke from his own experience, said:"Don't waste your time and money, just take as much CoQ10 as you can afford!".

So beware! Those who are being advised to take statins by your doctors should pay close attention to your body reactions. The best thing is to evaluate yourself if it is reallly benefitial to you. Is cloresterol as bad as they claim? Search the web and you'll find many infos that might shock you! It was too late for me! Cholesterol has been distorted by the big Pharma for they can benefit big time in it - worldwide sales of statins is over $160 billion annually. But to those who suffer this so called side effects from the statins everyday, it is a killing drug! Many healthy people became sick and a few died from this drug! I don't know how much incentive my doctor who prescribed me the statins had received, but I wish him and those who push the statins to burn in hell!

PS - I wonder if EC would open a new link on this topic? I am sure I am not the only victim of statins over here! Ironically, if I didn't suffer from this thing, I would'nt be connected to this wonderful website! Thank you, EC!

EC: Thanks for the suggestion. Your reply has been cross-posted to the newly created page: https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/statin-induced-neuropathy.html

Francisca: On the subject of the cholesterol scare/scam, after decades of misdirection, lies and propaganda there have now been many scientific studies that show that it is only the level of oxidized cholesterol in the blood that is related to cardiovas diseases.

The simplest fact to take in is that it was also very well known for decades that if you look at a statistical bell curve of cholesterol levels in the population, there are just as many heart attacks and CVD in people on the left of the median as those whose cholesterol puts them on the right of that median!

There is a new book out 2008, rather small at 78 pages, which documents the dangerous oxidative damage cholesterol undergoes when it comes in contact with chlorine in the blood from chlorinated water either drunk or showered in and thus absorbed via the lungs.

The chlorine gas is in no way similar in its toxic effects to the normally present harmless reduced chloride ion Cl-, ubiquitous throughout the body.

"Coronaries, Cholesterol, Chlorine" by Dr. Joseph Price, any bookstore.

You're supposed to take CQ10 WITH statins - that's probably why they had those effects and probably why your friend advised... Ubiquinol rather than CQ-10 really. More importantly lose weight, diet plants, exercise, yoga and have a VAP test (google it)

Do you have a pre- and post- nut breakdown of HDL and LDL?

Hi, Did you change your diet as well and or introduced exercise in addition to the brazil nuts? Thank you

Hi, How long did it take to get those results?

Don't know if it's true or not... but recently my Mother told me that margarine is one molecule short of being plastic! I think the more natural butter would be a safer choice between the two... but depending on what you might be using it for, try coconut oil. Just a thought.

I agree, proven! I mixed it with oranges.

Beth: Cells synthesize simple molecules in a 37 step process to make cholestrol. Total body content for your weight is 30g. Most ingested cholestrol is esterfied and poorly absorbed. Cholestrol intake in food has little, if any, effect on cholestrol levels. Cholestrol is required to maintain membranes, cell signaling, and provide insulation for more efficient conduction of impulses. Elevated levels of ldl, idl, and vldl are regarded as atherogenic. Resistan, a protein secreted by fat tissue, has been shown to increase production of these in liver cells, as do stress hormones. 85% of the food people eat is burned as fuel in the mitochondria. Good food makes clean energy. Bad food makes toxic by products like stress hormones and bad cholestrol. The best fuel is sugar from raw organic fruits. Fructose, not starch, is nessesary for cholestrol synthesis and the production of ubiquenol. I take the concentrates raw honey, raw organic whole dried cane juice, and raw organic buckwheat flour because they are more convenient and less costly. Nutritionists for world class athletes recommend taking carbs, oils, and proteins together 6 times a day in snacks rather than in 3 large meals. Raw proteins are much better than cooked. The proper ratio by weight is 85% carbs, 10% protein, and 5% oils. The proper ratio of oils is 50% saturated fat, I take coconut oil, 10% omega 3, 15% omega 6, and 25% omega 9.

Hello Mike 62,

You mention the superiority of raw proteins as opposed to cooked; which do you use to get to the 10 percent of total intake? Thanks for your informative posts (all your posts are informative).

Dave

Hello Beth from Atlanta,

Re: your concern about cholesterol

Good News! The "medical/drug industry" has propogated a myth about cholesterol. The FACT is that cholesterol is absolutely necessary for health in the human body. The Good News is that you do not have to be concerned about cholesterol levels. In fact, if you want to think of it this way, if the Doc tells you that you have "hight cholesterol" just respond..."That's GOOD. Got to have that cholesterol. Both HDL and LDL. High cholesterol is good for me."

The truth is:

Cholesterol is made by the liver and transported in "shuttles" out of the liver (protein suttles) called LDL and after the body uses the cholesterol which was carried by the LDL protein box cars for proper body functioning (especially the brain needs cholesterol) then HDL shuttles carry the used cholesterol back to the liver for reprocessing.

The test that is performed on us by the industry ... the test that gives us cholesterol levels is a measurement not of the cholesterol level in our body but of the "shuttles"....and 95 percent of the folks who just read that think I must be mistaken:

So here is the youtube to read the MOST informative 9 minute analysis of the truth I've come across. Google: "Dr. Rosedale cholesterol youtube" and you'll find his 9 minute video.

Here is one of the points in this amazing video: The tests for cholesterol given to us is not measuring cholesterol but rather the "shuttles" which are not the cholesterol itself. The cholesterol tests are giving you "shuttle" reading, not the cholesterol/fat reading. Really....look at the Rosedale video.

There is some argument that very small cholesterol (which is not measured by 99 percent of all cholesterol tests) could be a source in "sticking" to the "gap junction" in the lining of the arteries thereby oxydizing and inflaming to produce ultimately blockage/plaque. But the real culprit is not the small ldl, says Dr. Rosedale, (overcome by proper diet of good raw foods) ... the real culprit is SUGAR ... good old deadly white sugar.

The effort, therefore, to make people afraid of LDL levels is totally misplaced...we MUST have LDL suttles to carry cholesterol throughout our bodies...I say MUST have it...or we will see a collapse of the body system. The rise in dementia in the last twenty years is likely due to a rise in the use of statin drugs.

Statin drugs keep the liver from producting cholesterol; and remember cholesterol is good for us. The whole effort to 1. Measure cholesterol is at best a misunderstanding of what is actually being measured (remember the cholesterol reading is NOT a cholesterol reading...it is a "shuttle" reading...LDL and HDL are NOT cholesterols) and 2. the body must have cholesterol to function. We will die without cholesterol.

So how do we keep the blockages from taking place? Isn't the probem fats? No...

Well, remember, the biggest culprit is ...again-sugar. So break the sugar habit and the sugar related cravings.

I thought I'd never get rid of the sugar cravings until I understood that the hypothalymus is the key to telling the body what to do relative to metabolism; In one day I ended my cravings. I used in the morning on an egg, olive oil and no sugar at all in the morning. For lunch I eat anything but with a teaspoon of olive oil somewhere in the mix and again at night a good oil, such as grape seed oil. No sugar at night. The next day you'll find your cravings are gone. Repeat the "good oil" use every day. The good oil can be used on anything of course; not just on an egg. I usually drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil on a third piece of whole wheat bread and I've found I'm not hungry until lunch...no cravings. The hypothalymus will respond by not using the easy to metabolize sugar and instead will be told to use oils (like my body fat) instead. Cravings end.

So please look at the "Dr. Rosedale youtube" video. Only nine minutes and you will go away wondering how so many "smart" folks in the medical industry could be so incorrect about such a fundamental issue.

Now next in the "how to keep plaque from forming" analysis: God designed us to consume foods that give us natural Vitamin E...not synthetic E...and the E has the effect of making sure the lining of arteries and veins are not tacky, which allows plaque formation if they are sticky. Even our blood can get think and sticky and E keeps that from happening. So if I get enough E, then the blood is thinned and not thick. Thus I do not need asprin. God made E to do that for us. And even if we get plaque formation, the E keeps inflamation at a minimum because E is an anti oxident. E also assists in oxygen carrying and thus helps all muscles (heart) to stay healthy. (Two big issues in cardio health: Plaque formation and oxygen delivery. A problem with either two can kill you.) I take 800 IUs daily of natural E. E has been milled out of most foods and soil depletion has taken it out of other sources; at least in the quantities we need. But at 800 IUs E is serving a theraputic function. That is, there is a longevity issue at high levels of E usage. So if you are not attempting such theraputic levels, a person should at least get 200 IUs daily. The natural E...NOT synthetic like you get at a drug store.

dave

Dave: 10g hawaiin spirulina, 5g chlorella, 10g non defatted dessicated liver, 30g black chia seeds, 150g raw organic buckwheat flour, 30g raw organic cocoa powder, 5g absorbable colostrum, and 10g raw whey isolate gives me 67g raw protein. The biological value ranges from 160 for the whey isolate to 50 for the buckwheat. I am always glad to assist all the caring people at admirable E.C.

sugar is not cause of heart disease

"The interesting thing is that most cases of heart disease in the twentieth century are of a form that is new, namely heart attack or myocardial infarction—a massive blood clot leading to obstruction of a coronary artery and consequent death to the heart muscle. Myocardial infarction (MI) was almost nonexistent in 1910 and caused no more than 3, 000 deaths per year in 1930. Dr. Paul Dudley White, who introduced the electrocardiograph machine to America, stated the following during a 1956 American Heart Association televised fund-raiser: "I began my practice as a cardiologist in 1921 and I never saw an MI patient until 1928." By 1960, there were at least 500, 000 MI deaths per year in the US. Rates of stroke have also increased and the cause is similar—blockage in the large arteries supplying the brain with blood." http://www.examiner.com/article/american-heart-assassination

In recent studies, it was found that the so called "bad" cholesterol became more useful as people aged.

The amount of sugar consumed by the population hasn't changed much since 1900. Sugar has been demonized for a long time. Moderate consumption of sugar is not a problem. If I make a large lemon meringue pie, I only use around 110 grams of sugar. If I eat half the pie today, I only am eating 55 grams of sugar which is way less than average. People don't have to give up sweet things like pies, cake and ice cream since they generally don't contain a lot of sugar. Ideally, using non refined cane sugar may be even more healthier.

Telling people to give up sugar is just silly. There may be other health conditions it may be more relevant in but heart disease is not one of them. People can experiment with their diet to see what effect it has on them.

Again to Beth from Atlanta:

Quick follow up ... just this morning Dr. Mercola's latest newsletter (November 3, 2013) considers the superiority of the derivative of CoQ10 which is ubiquinol on LDL oxidization. He asserts that a hundred studies say ubiquinol is more bio available than CoQ10 and he is especially worried about the millions of people on statin drugs. Someone on Earth Clinic (a poster I mean) got me on Dr. Mercola and he has excellent articles and information.

In the November 3 article on ubiquinol he discusses how ubiquinol is carried by the LDL shuttle (I discussed in my first post to you how the LDL and HDL are protein shuttles to carry cholesterol within the body, and the "shuttles" were not bad at all but in fact are essential to health; and that the only thing bad is if they "stick" to the walls of a tacky vein or artery.)

If the LDL sticks to the wall of the veins for instance, just as anything might stick to the vein, then if it oxidizes and inflames, you've got the beginning of cardio problems, including strokes as well as the blokage itself which would impact the heart. A stroke is a piece of plaque broken off a formation of the same and getting to the brain.

The point I'm making on your issue of cholesterol is: Take ubiquinol to help neutralize the oxidizing effect because the ubiquitol "rides" on the LDL to get to its cellular destination. So, says Mercola, ubiquitol has the unique ability to stop a particular kind of oxidization...that of "stuck" LDL. And again, ANY nutrient, oil, sugar .... anything can oxidize and inflame...the essence of cardio problems. But as you fortify with the ubiquitol don't forget the Vitamin E (natural not synthetic). The E is your underlying heart protector.

Dave: Half the time you are interesting and half the time you are interested and all the time you are an open minded intellectual. Were everybody like you the world would be a better place to live. Cross-linked proteins accumulate, the turnover of proteins decrease, the synthesis of proteins is impaired, and the oxidation of fat, results in less carbon dioxide being produced, thereby creating the conditions for high rates of ages formation. Energy production diminishes due to the accumulative damages incured to mitochondria protein complexes. Carbon dioxide is a protective factor that prevents the above mentioned processes from occuring. The amount of carbon dioxide produced to the amount of oxygen consumed is the resiratory quotient. Sugar respiration produces the highest RQ. The stress metabolism, in stark contrast, wastes carbon dioxide. Fructose generates more heat and produces more carbon dioxide than starch, protecting glycation labile amino acids and lipids, staving off the initial step in ages formation.

I am 59 years old female and you would think a doctor would check for plaque in the arteries or do that new test for plaque instead of many invasive tests. I have high blood pressure and taking meds and some other alternative things but doctors never want to get at the root of it.. It could be so many things but why not rule out some things and all. They do blood work but never finding root causes. I am assuming its to sell medication.. what are your thoughts?? Thank YOU.

Greetings Mike 62 from Denver,

Well, next to "Ted" you are the best technical guru we have on EC...I love to read your explantion of interactions and relationships. So your compliments are expecially valued since they come from you.

Your latest post discusses relationships between carbon dioxide reduction and the "AGES" formation, for instance. That carbon dioxide is a key issue is confusing to me and I've wondered about that especially in light of the good that nitric oxide is supposed to do for us. And just as that inter relationship is confusing to me so also is the relationship between H2O2; supposedly good for us but if we have lots of extra oxygen then isn't that a set up for extra oxidation?

I believe I know what all the nutrients/molecules that you mention do ... sort of...but how they inter relate is still maze-like to me. Just recently I've been re studying how the heart works...the kind of thing we all studied in basic biology. I just keep on being amazed; four valves? Really? And the right side sends the blue blood to the lungs and it comes back into the left atrium bright red laden with oxygen to ultimately be released by other values just in precise rhythm, some opening while some are closing and then the arteries take the blood to the upper body including brain and some to the lower body, trunk and legs, and it all goes non stop, without rest, 24/7 for up to 120 years or so (possibly), about 5, 000 beats an hour, and well over 100, 000 beats in a full day all run by an electrical system...but no batteries are needed. And the veins that return the blood to the magic pump are so different from the arteries. That pump is unlike all other muscles in the body and my little study is just the surface of the intricies going on. There are little devices on the valves that keep them in the shape they need to be, for instance.

Just a month ago I dedicated myself to studying the lympth system. Mercy. That too is so very complicated. I'd refer anyone interested to just Wikipedia the lymph system and be ready to "be amazed." The more I study, the more I realize that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made."

Back to your last post. I read and re read and think I followed your interactions. The carbon dioxide as I said is still throwing me. So please be patient with my non technical mind and help me understand how CO2 helps the body...because its DECREASE is a crucial factor in "AGES" creation...right? And how Hydrogen Peroxide is not a super oxidizer...and how nitric oxide inter relates in the metabolic process. Looking forward to being educated.

Your student,

dave

Hello Prioris,

I really enjoy your informative posts.

You had on on one of my fav subjects...cardio issues and sugar consumption relationship, which you deny is, in fact causative; sugar has nothing to do with cardio (MI) problems you said. You also state that sugar consumption is about the same as around 1900.

What? No. I mean NO. How about an increase per capita from 40 pounds a year to 130 pounds a year.

Great charts and lots of information on per person concumption on "Daily Health Posts, Feb 13, 2013" ... there has been an explosion of sugar consumption especially with the advent of soft drinks.

I started reading about this huge consumption explosion about 35 years ago in the book, Sugar Blues.

And after much of my life eating too much sugar (ice cream at night) and getting me to pre diabetic condition, and seeing my dad die from diabetic complications, this subject is very serious in my analysis of the explosion of diabeties in America. I hope you do not believe that sugar has nothing to do with diabeties.

You correctly note that heart clotting is a recent phenomenon and it is. There is no corrolation you say because sugar intake is the same for the past 100 or so years. You are totally wrong about consumption but corrolation does not prove causation. You are correct about that. My belief is that the refining of grains has depleted our food of its anti clotting effectiveness; esp the loss of natural Vit E.

Loss of Vitamin E said the Doctors Shute and Shute (MD doctors who were brothers from Canada) who wrote extensively on this subject during the '50s is the cause of the increase in cardio problems. So I actually think you are correct in a way...sugar may not be THE causative reason for cardio problem but it may be one of the biggest reasons there is inflamation and oxidation in the veins and arteries because there is not enough E to neutralize the sugar (E acts as an anti oxident.)

And finally, there has been a change in the type of sugar we eat today compared to a hundred years ago; then it was much more raw in nature; more cane was present...fiber whereas today it is pure sugar. And the way sugar today is consumed has 50 percent fructose which impacts the liver much more profoundly than glucose alone. Glucose calories impact at only 1 out of about 27 calories on the pancreas where fructos is the entire caloric impact on the pancreas. This is much more glycemic impact than we would have see 100 years ago.

In other words, sugar has changed in quality as well as quantity.

Dave: You always stretch the intellect, thinking of clues and angles, becoming an enlightened knowledgable wise man. Dissolved mainly as bicarbonate, carbon dioxide has a myriad of functions, mainly by way of forming carboxylated adducts with other macro molecules. As with other enzymes that employ biotin as a cofactor, pyruvate carboxylase uses carbon dioxide as a substrate to activate oxaloacetate. The enzyme catalyzing the first step of fats, acetyl CoA, uses carbon dioxide to form malonyl CoA. The formation of malonyl CoA inhibits fatty acid oxidation, promotes glucose oxidation, and insulin sensitivity. Blood clotting proteins, for their activity, require carboxylation of their glutamate residues. Fructose increases carbon dioxide by raising energy generating metabolism, more so than starch, oils, or proteins. Fructose activates the enzyme complex PDH. Fructose reduces the levels of the proinflammatory peptide leptin. Fructose keeps the voltage-gated calcium channels open, required for the secretion of insulin containing granules from B-cells of the pancreatic islets. Fructose, compared to glucose, decreases insulin 4:1 and lowers blood fatty acid concentrations. Fructose levels in the blood rarely rise more than 1% even after ingesting high doses. Fructose is converted to glucose, glycogen, lactate, and carbon dioxide.

To Mike 62,

On your response re the essential uses by the body of carbon dixoide...

first I'm really interested in your analysis of fructose.

Unless I misunderstand you, it is your understanding that fructose (as in refined fructose or as in fructose from eating fruits?) ...I assume you mean in the form of the refined sources, say out of sucrose which is 50 percent fructose, which is why you say refined fructose is less glycemic active than glucose? And you mention a number of other positives of fructose (again I'm assumeing fructose as in right out of a coke?). Because I've read lots of authorities, just recently Mercola who blast refined sugar, esp high fructose corn syrup and just refined fructose...He nearly calls fructose in refined for a poison.

So, I must be mistaken somewhere. I defer to you at all times on these tech points. But help me follow the fructose analysis.

And then I have a few questions about carbon dixoide and enzyme functioning which is one of the many things you explain that carbon dixoide accomplishes in the system.

Thanks for your scholarship.

Dave

Dave: Everybody likes you because you are a nurturer who gives everybody emotional support. There is overwhelming observational evidence that sugar from fruit, nectar, and cane, through the mechanism of fructose, increases the the respitory quotient more than starch, oil, or protein. Butterflys that migrate from Canada to Mexico get all their fuel from the sugar in nectar. So do the hummingbirds that fly across the Carribean. An 80/10/10er who weighs 120 lbs. and runs 6 miles daily gets all her fuel from the 10lbs. of fruit she eats. The east africans have the 20 best times in the marathon. They get most of their fuel from corn gruel. Corn has way more fructose than other grains. Raw sugar is way better than cooked starches.