Non-toxic ways to
Lower Blood Cholesterol
“Is a natural remedy as effective as cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs)?” Or “Is it possible to lower cholesterol by just dietary changes?” These and other questions routinely arrive in my e-mail. What everyone should be asking is, “What is the safest way to lower blood cholesterol?”
Moliere, the French actor and playwright, once remarked that, “Nearly all men die of their medicines, not their diseases.” This was a realistic statement nearly four hundred years ago. But, even today, in this enlightened age, many people suffer serious, and sometimes lethal ends, due to medication. So I always suggest taking drugs the way porcupines make love, very, very carefully. So can you as cautiously lower blood cholesterol?
First, the good news, but only if you’re a moderate drinker. An alcoholic pre-dinner drink increases good cholesterol. It also lubricates the blood so there’s a decreased chance of a blood clot. Moreover, the relaxing effect of a small amount of alcohol does no harm.
There is also good news for the almond industry. Dr. David Jenkins, Director of Clinical Nutrition at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, placed 27 men and women with high cholesterol levels on two handfuls of almonds (75 grams every day) for the first month. The next month they received half the amount.
Jenkins reported the full dose of almonds reduced bad blood cholesterol by 9.4 percent and half the dose by 4.4 percent. These daily snacks of almonds also resulted in improvements in total blood cholesterol and good cholesterol. Jenkins concluded that two handfuls of almonds could reduce the risk of cardiovascular illness by 20 percent and one handful by 18 percent.
Jenkins also concluded that a change in dietary habits played a role. For instance, the risk of cardiovascular disease was decreased 25 percent when the diet contained cholesterol-lowering foods such as oat bran, barley, psyllium and soy products.
Other studies show that omega3 fatty acids in fish can help to decrease bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol.
Few people know that vitamin C decreases blood cholesterol. The best routine is to take up to 5,000 milligrams of ascorbic acid powder (vitamin C) with breakfast and dinner. This converts cholesterol into bile acids that are then excreted in the bile to intestines. Since vitamin C is a natural laxative it often causes a bowel movement in the morning that removes bile acids before they can be absorbed and converted back to cholesterol. If this high concentration of vitamin C results in diarrhea, the amount should be decreased.
For several years many of my patients have been taking Sytrinol, a safe, natural, and inexpensive remedy. Sytrinol consists of citrus and palm fruit extract that contains polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs) and tocotrienols.
Sytrinol works on cholesterol in a number of different ways. For instance, it blocks enzymes in the liver responsible for the manufacture of cholesterol and triglycerides. It also decreases the absorption of dietary cholesterol.
The polymethoxylated flavones and tocotrienols in Sytrinol also decrease the oxidation of bad cholesterol. This reduces the risk of plaque formation in arteries and narrowing of coronary arteries. Moreover, by decreasing arterial inflammation and lubricating platelets associated with clotting, there’s less chance of heart attack.
Several studies show that Sytrinol decreases total blood cholesterol by 30 percent, bad cholesterol 27 percent, triglycerides 34 percent, and increases good cholesterol 4 percent.
The usual dose is 300 milligrams (mg) once a day and is well tolerated. Studies show that there are no toxic effects if a 150 pound person consumes 14 grams of Sytrinol daily. This is 50 X the recommended dose.
The alternative is to take cholesterol-lowering drugs. But I’m sure Moliere would say, “Why chance the risk of muscle degeneration, transient global amnesia, liver and kidney problems, an increased risk of malignancy and possible heart failure if those on CLDs are not taking Coenzyme Q10 as well. It makes more sense to first try this simple, natural remedy.
And some important research published in Expert Review Clinical Pharmacology notes that not only does the use of CLDs cause a depletion of coenzyme Q10, but CDLs also inhibit the synthesis of vitamin K2.
Vitamin K2 plays a major role in preventing calcium from being deposited in coronary and other arteries. Consequently, a deficiency of vitamin K2 causes hardening of arteries increasing the risk of heart attack and hypertension.
How much more evidence do we need to realize that the rampant use of CLDs is the most unethical and dangerous medical experiment ever conducted by the medical establishment on millions of unsuspecting medical consumers?
Not everything they tell you is to be trusted
It’s been aptly said, “It’s not the things you don’t know that gets you into trouble; it’s the things you know for sure that just ain’t so.” Today there’s no better example than the cholesterol question when so many people and doctors are convinced that fat laden foods increase blood cholesterol. But a study conducted on prisoners shows it ain’t so.
Doc Giff’s
Medical Tip
The heart beats 100,000 times every day pumping 1,900 gallons of blood every 24 hours. It never gets a rest, so it must rely on a huge amount of energy. But it’s ironic that every year North Americans spend 20 billion on cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs) that rob their hearts of energy.
CLDs work by blocking an enzyne in the liver that makes cholesterol. But the same enzyme also makes coenzyme Q10 which provides energy to the heart, just as gasoline powers a car. Studies show that CLDs can lower the blood level of coenzyme Q10 by as much as 40 percent. This may be the reason people on CLDs often complain of fatigue, muscle pain and memory problems.
This is why some researchers worry that taking CLDs may be setting the stage for a future epidemic of heart failure. The obvious answer is for patients taking CLDs to ask their doctors about the advantage of adding coenzyme Q10 to prevent starving the heart of energy.
It is amazing that most people know so much about cholesterol and so little about coenzyme Q10.
Cholesterol-lowering drugs?
Mind your grapefruit juice
No sensible person would routinely have a three ounce martini for breakfast. But what about a large glass of grapefruit juice every morning? Yet, grapefruit juice can be hazardous when taking CLDs.
Millions of North Americans take cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs). In addition to lowering blood cholesterol, CLDs also decrease coenzyme Q10 by as much as 40 percent. Coenzyme Q10 supplies energy to the heart.
Dr. Dave Bailey, a professor at the University of Western Ontario, was the first to discover that grapefruit juice had the ability to increase the blood level of certain drugs. Later, Finnish researchers showed that grapefruit could increase the blood level of Mevacor, a CLD, by as much as 15 times. This effect could last for 24 hours. High blood levels of Mevacor can trigger liver problems and a breakdown of muscle tissue, causing a condition called rhabdomyolysis, resulting in kidney failure and possible death.
Grapefruit does not affect all CLDs, but it can cause an increase in the blood level of other medication. So always check with your doctor to see if you’re on a drug that could be affected by drinking grapefruit juice day after day.
High Cholesterol?
You Might Live Longer!
A recent medical tip to readers sparked a quick reaction. It reported a study that those with higher blood cholesterol lived longer! This is contradictory to everything we’ve been told for years.
The Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care reported research that will shock millions of North Americans who ingest, faithfully, cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs). Scientists analyzed the cholesterol level of 120,000 Danish adults residing in Denmark. They discovered men age 60 to70 with high levels of blood cholesterol showed a 32 percent decreased risk of death. Women fared better with a 41 percent reduced risk of death.
To add more injury to the cholesterol theory, these researchers also discovered that higher levels of LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol, was also associated with a decreased risk of death.
Even more devastating was the fact that low cholesterol in young people was linked to an increased risk of dying! But high triglycerides increased the risk of death.
This isn’t the only report that has contradicted the widely held belief that we should all strive for lower and lower cholesterol levels.
For instance, Dr. Harlan Krumholz at the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale University, reported in 1994 that old people with low cholesterol died twice as often from heart attack as did old people with high cholesterol levels.
Eleven studies of elderly people came up with a similar result. But researchers repeatedly tell me that reports that disagree with the current high cholesterol condemnation never get published nor make headlines.
But there are more ways to end your days on earth than by coronary death. For instance, Professor R Jacobs from the Division of Epidemiology at the University of Minnesota analyzed 19 studies of 68,000 deaths. Jacobs and his colleagues concluded that high cholesterol protects against dying of respiratory diseases and gastrointestinal problems.
In another study, Jacobs and Dr. Carlos Iribarren followed 100,000 healthy individuals in the San Francisco area for 15 years. They found that those who had low cholesterol at the beginning of the study were more often admitted to hospital to be treated for infectious disease.
In its July 1992 issue, Archives of Internal Medicine reported a study of 351,000 men. This showed that low cholesterol levels were associated with increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke, liver disease, pancreatic cancer, digestive disease, cirrhosis of the liver and alcoholism.
Of course, it’s logical for readers to question how a high blood cholesterol level could be an asset for longer life. After all, family doctors, cardiologists and television ads tell us over and over that lower blood cholesterol is the be-all-and-end-all solution to prevention of the nation’s number one killer, heart attack.
Economists have a saying, “Follow the money if you want to find the answer to a perplexing problem”. The plain fact is that billions of dollars have been flowing every year to brain-wash doctors and the public about the virtues of CLDs, and this is not going to stop anytime soon.
What should hit the headlines is that high doses of vitamin C and lysine can prevent or reverse hardening of arteries (atherosclerosis) preventing heart attack. The addition of lysine makes arteries stronger so there’s less chance of an artery rupturing causing stroke.
Yet the medical establishment continues to prescribe CLDs with all their side-effects. They totally ignore this less expensive, safe and effective treatment. It’s incredible that the medical establishment doesn’t say, “Let’s take a critical look at this research. After all, these findings might be right”. But it won’t happen. Too much money is involved.in the marketing of CLDs and no money can be made from vitamin C and lysine since these natural products cannot be patented.
I believe history will show that the use of CLDs is the most unethical and most dangerous experiment that has ever been conducted by doctors on mega millions of unsuspecting people.
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