NB!! THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO REDUCE CHOLESTEROL IS DIET! SUPPLEMENTS HELP A LOT BUT THEY CANNOT MAKE UP FOR A TERRIBLE DIET. Remember the real cholesterol killer is sugar and high GI carbs, not fats.
I've seen many posts lately regarding forum members concerned about high cholesterol so I thought it would like to share what I know of the subject and the scientific backing behind it, specifically on how to decrease total cholesterol and LDL while increasing HDL without the use of nasty Statins, which is the frontline defence at the moment that doctors will prescribe. When last I checked the most popular ones were Crestor and Lipitor. I believe if doctors knew about these supplement alternatives available, which are backed by a very high level of confidence of scientific study, this protocol will change. Unfortunately Big Pharma are not known to back down just because it's in the best interest of average humans.
The truth about fish oil.. The effect is low!
I see lots of suggestions to use fish oil to decrease cholesterol, unfortunately the effect is very low. With a super high level of evidence with very high consistency in research results, for Total Cholesterol the comment is that although some decreases have been noted, overall there does not appear to be a significant clinical reduction in total cholesterol like there is with triglycerides.
-For HDL, mixed evidence, but a possible minor increase in HDL-C is seen with fish oil supplementation in unhealthy persons.
-For LDL, A small decrease has been noted in persons without high cholesterol in the first place, and the decreasing effect of statins appears to be augmented with fish oil. However! in persons at higher risk for cardiovascular disease due to high triglycerides and cholesterol (who more frequently use fish oil as therapy) it is possible LDL-C may actually be increased. The magnitude tends to be in the 5-10% range.
Firstly, why should you care about high cholesterol?
-Steroid cycles are known to increase cholesterol levels. Feedback from experts tells me LDL levels from a proper cycle are normally expected to increase by about 1-3 points, obviously dependent on the compounds used. Orals are mostly to blame especially DHT derivatives.
-High cholesterol is linked with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. That can include coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.
-High cholesterol has also been tied to diabetes and high blood pressure.
-A person with high cholesterol levels often has no signs or symptoms, but routine screening and regular blood tests can help detect high levels.
-A person who does not undergo testing may have a heart attack without warning, because they did not know that they had high cholesterol levels. Regular tests can help to reduce this risk.
-Acute high levels of cholesterol run a risk for kidney stones.
Input disclaimer here...
Blablabla Always consult your doctor for any medical advice as a first and primary resort and also I'm not liable cause the whole article is for entertainment purposes only. Also the pedant police can add the words "Most likely" before every sentence they read. They can also kinda fuck off back to their caves. The whole article is a copy and paste from numerous sources.
Quick Facts:
-Cholesterol is a fatty substance that naturally occurs in human blood. It is formed in the liver or comes from the foods you eat. Cholesterol performs important functions in your body. It aids in tissue and hormone formation including testosterone. It protects your nerves. It helps with digestion. In fact, cholesterol helps form the structure of every cell in your body.
-High-density lipoprotein, or HDL, is the good cholesterol. The benefit of HDL lies in the fact that it carries bad cholesterol back to the liver. In doing so, it cleanses cholesterol from the bloodstream.
-Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL cholesterol, is the bad cholesterol. The higher the level of LDL cholesterol, the greater your risk of a heart attack. When the level of LDL cholesterol goes up, excess cholesterol can build up and stick to the walls of your arteries. This causes damage. The buildup is called plaque, and the formation of plaque can cause arteries to harden and narrow. This hardening is called atherosclerosis. It's also known as hardening of the arteries. If a plaque becomes unstable, a blood clot can form, suddenly blocking an artery. This causes a heart attack or stroke
-When your cholesterol is checked you get a number for total cholesterol, one for the HDL level, and one for the LDL level. Your total cholesterol will be more than the sum of the HDL and LDL numbers as Triglycerides are added too.
Either a high HDL number or a high LDL number can make your total cholesterol number high. If it's high because of a high HDL number, your health is not in danger and over time this will help to decrease the LDL. However, if it's high because your LDL cholesterol level is high, it's important to take steps to reduce the LDL which is what this post is about.
Introducing the King of the Heavyweights... Garlic!
-How to take: 600-1200mg ED spread into 3 doses taken with meals. Get the odorless garlic supps or you will know the meaning of vampire slayer.
One of my favourite supplements, taking garlic can benefit cardiovascular health, physical and sexual vitality, cognition, and resistance to infection. It also has anti-aging properties. Garlic also provides a variety of anti-cancer properties. Eating garlic daily (10g or more) is associated with a significantly reduced risk of prostate, colon, and stomach cancer. It can also induce fat loss and adrenaline secretion, though in a minor way.
-HDL: Super high level of evidence with very high consistency in research results. Garlic supplementation tends to increase HDL cholesterol in persons with cardiovascular disease risk reliably and in the range of 10-15% when looking at individual trials and by 1.49mg/dL (95% confidence interval of 0.19-2.79mg/dL) as assessed by meta-analysis.
-LDL: Super high level of evidence with very high consistency in research results. There appears to be a reliable and significant reduction in circulating LDL cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic persons with garlic supplementation, and the magnitude of this change tends to be in the range of 10-20% (more potency in those with worse profiles at baseline).
-Triglycerides: Super high level of evidence with very high consistency in research results. There appears to be quite an unreliable decrease in triglycerides following garlic supplementation. When looking at meta-analyses, there is either a significant but small decrease or a reduction that fails to reach statistical significance.
The Middleweight champion... Berberine!
-How to take: 900-2,000mg ED, divided into three to four doses. Berberine should be taken with a meal, or shortly after, to take advantage of the blood glucose and lipid spike associated with eating.
Human and animal research suggests that 1500mg of berberine, taken in three doses of 500mg each, is equally effective as taking 1500mg of metformin or 4mg glibenclamide, two pharmaceuticals for treating type II diabetes.
Careful for this powerhouse! Berberine has a high potential to interact with medications, and some interactions may be severe. It is generally safe in normal doses, but more long-term research on its safety is needed. Gastrointestinal upset can occur when high doses are used, and due to its ability to reduce blood sugar, it may increase the risk for hypoglycemia in high doses, though this isn't a common occurrence.
-Total cholesterol: High level of evidence with very high consistency in research results. Total cholesterol appears to be decreased by around −0.58mmol/L (95% confidence interval −1.02 to −0.14). The reduction is notable as if this mechanism is via PCSK9 inhibition then it would work very well with statin drugs.
-HDL: High level of evidence with very high consistency in research results. Degree of improvement was 0.07mmol/L (95% confidence interval 0.04 to 0.10) according to the meta-analysis.
-LDL: High level of evidence with very high consistency in research results. The reduction of LDL-C when berberine was paired with lifestyle changes was −0.58mmol/L (95% confidence interval −0.78 to −0.39) in diabetics, suggesting a significant benefit but not remarkably potent. However, another study in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease showed no benefit over lifestyle changes alone.
-Triglycerides: Degree of reduction according to meta- analysis was −0.48mmol/L (95% confidence interval −0.57 to −0.39).
The grandmaster who could dethrone them all if he feels like it... Ashwagandha!
-How to take: Take 300–500 mg of a root extract with breakfast.
Hands down my favorite supplement, also known as the King of Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine), the King does it all except mine for Bitcoin. A potent anxiolytic (anti-anxiety), reduces cortisol, stress, fatigue and depression, while it increases sperm motility and quality, power output, testosterone and LH but it slightly decreases FSH.
-Total cholesterol: High level of evidence with very high consistency in research results. There is a decrease in total cholesterol of around 10% when Ashwagandha (water extract of the roots) is ingested. It is notable, however, since this appears to occur in all persons regardless of whether they have high cholesterol or not.
-HDL: Moderate level of evidence with very high consistency in research results. A fairly notable increase in HDL-C has been reported with Ashwagandha supplementation (17.3% over 60 days), however, the evidence is inadequate overall.
-LDL: Moderate level of evidence with high consistency in research results. A slight decrease in LDL-C has been noted following Ashwagandha supplementation.
The golden boy with too many mental issues and doing anything to get high... Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
-How to take: Don't. Most of the benefits from niacin supplementation occur after doses of at least one gram. This is approximately 5,000% the recommended daily intake.
Niacin supplementation is very effective at normalizing blood lipid levels. People with low HDL-C levels supplementation experience an increase in HDL-C levels, while people with high LDL-C experience a reduction in LDL-C levels. Triglyceride levels also fall after supplementation, which makes niacin look like a great cardioprotective supplement on paper. Unfortunately, niacin supplementation does not result in reduced cardiovascular disease risk, since it also increases insulin resistance, which negates the benefits niacin provides for blood lipid levels. Current evidence suggests prolonged niacin supplementation increases insulin resistance because it hinders the ability of insulin to suppress glucose synthesis in the liver. This causes an increase in blood glucose levels, which leads to lowered insulin sensitivity over time, since the relevant receptor is eventually desensitized to the elevated glucose levels in the blood.
HDL: Niacin supplementation is currently the major reference for increasing HDL cholesterol concentrations rapidly and reliably, at times being called the Golden Standard for HDL increasing pharmaceuticals.
-LDL: Most evidence suggests that in subjects with dyslipidemia that supplemental niacin at the pharmacological dose results in a decrease in circulating LDL-C, although to a lesser magnitude than it influences HDL-C.
-Triglycerides: There appears to be a large decrease of triglycerides in subjects with dyslipidemia given pharmacological doses of niacin; the magnitude being greater than most supplements (but lesser than fish oil).
Honorable mentions!
Popular supps known to decrease total cholesterol a minor amount, and with a high level of evidence and moderately high consistency of research results.
-L-Carnitine: A small reduction has been found overall. There is a greater effect of doses 2 g or more than lower doses, and healthy participants seem to benefit more than those with diabetes or on hemodialysis, while those who are overweight but not obese saw the greatest reduction.
-Psyllium: Not unique to psyllium, but has the standard slight reduction of cholesterol that affects persons with high cholesterol. Not strong enough for monotherapy, can be a nice addition to more potent supplements or drugs.
-Spirulina: Reductions in cholesterol seen are positive, but not overly remarkable.
Popular supps with proven negligible effects or lacking proper evidence
There are plenty of rumors out there. For interest sake from what I could find, these include Chromium, Co-Q10, Creatine, Curcumin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Ginger, Panax Ginseng, Zinc, Magnesium, Whey Protein, apple cider vinegar, Policosanol (so much shady research from Cuba).
