Lowering Cholesterol To 160 mg.,
Reversing Heart Disease and Atherosclerosis.
What Works And What Doesn’t.
Lowering Cholesterol
A high cholesterol level can lead to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), heart attacks, or strokes. We’re all born with a cholesterol level of about 100 mg. As an adult, the ideal cholesterol level is higher, but still below 160 mg.
The Framingham Study is the largest study of cholesterol levels ever done. It has shown over 40 years that a prolonged blood cholesterol level of less than 160 mg. in a non-smoker leads to a near immunity against heart attacks.
Other studies have shown that every 20% drop in the cholesterol level will lead to a 40% drop in the risk of getting a heart attack.
Giving up red meat-
IT JUST DOESN’T WORK
Most people cut down or eliminate red meat as a first step in reducing
cholesterol, but continue eating a large portion of chicken or fish.
Chicken and fish have just less fat than red meat, but just as much cholesterol. Studies of those who just give up red meat but continue to eat a large amount of chicken and fish show that their cholesterol drops only a small amount.
The American Heart Association recommends reducing meat, fish, and chicken intake to a maximum of 6 oz. a day; and substituting complex carbohydrates. This diet represents a definite improvement. Cutting down to below 6 oz. a day is even better, and has been shown to lead to much larger drops in cholesterol within a short period of time, compared to just cutting down or eliminating red meat.
Switching from butter to margarine-
IT JUST DOESN’T WORK
Many people switch from butter to margarine to lower their cholesterol. In fact, they feel it is important to eat a lot of margarine, since they heard that margarine lowers cholesterol.
The American Heart Association actually recommends using very small amounts of margarine instead of butter. They emphasize small quantities.
Most margarine contains 2 types of fat; polyunsaturated fats, and trans-fatty acids. Polyunsaturated fats sometimes can lower cholesterol levels a small amount; but trans-fatty acids raise cholesterol. Some margarines have no trans-fatty acids, but big drops of cholesterol just don’t occur by using margarine instead of butter. Remember, margarine, like butter, is 100% fat.
The medical studies done using diets using polyunsaturated fats show that the cholesterol is lowered an average of only 10%, but more importantly, it has never lowered the incidence of heart attacks.
Cutting down to 2 eggs a week.
IT JUST DOESN’T WORK
The American Heart Association recommends eating a maximum of 2 egg yolks a week, but only for someone who has a normal cholesterol. Another words, if you are trying to lower a high cholesterol, they feel you should eat only an occasion egg yolk. This includes egg yolks added as an ingredient in foods, such as cakes.
What about dairy food?
Regular milk has 46% of its calories as fat. Low fat milk is actually over 20% fat. Because milk contains a lot of water, the dairy industry is allowed to label regular milk as 4% fat and low fat milk as 2% fat by weight. This makes it seem not as bad as it really is.
The dairy industry has convinced most of us that dairy products are healthy foods essential for good health. Studies actually show the opposite. Eating dairy foods raise the blood cholesterol an average of 30%, and raise the chance of a heart attack by 60%. Dairy foods are a contributing cause of a wide variety of other illnesses also.
What about osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis – one of the most complicated subjects in medicine today.
The average American eats twice as much dairy food as was eating in the early 1900’s, even though more people lived on farms then. But osteoporosis is far more common now then in the past. The China study showed that eating less dairy food, not more, but more fruits and vegetables, was associated with far less osteoporosis. In fact, it has never been shown that any population has had less osteoporosis by eating dairy foods.
What is the explanation for this? Eating a lot of meat, fish, and chicken leads to a loss of calcium in the urine; and then osteoporosis. The calcium eating in dairy products never makes up for the lost calcium in the urine.
So how can osteoporosis be prevented? Eating less meat, chicken, and fish will cut down the loss of calcium. Caffeine also leads to a loss of calcium in the urine.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) has recognized the connection between excessive protein and osteoporosis.
The key to preventing and treating osteoporosis is stopping the loss of calcium from the body, not trying to flood the body with excess amounts of calcium from tablets that are poorly absorbed and also contains lead.
80% of Americans have low levels of Vitamin D, and normalizing this level will greatly reduce the chance of developing osteoporosis.
What about the Adkins diet?
The Adkins diet is sometimes promoted as allowing you to eat all the fats you want.
If you do this, it won’t work.
When one eliminates carbohydrates from the diet in the initial stages of the Adkins diet, you are also eliminating cakes, cookies, large quantities of bread, and many other high carbohydrate AND high fat items. So some people do lose weight, especially initially, on the Adkins diet.
But they are not cutting down not only carbohydrates, but high fat desserts.
Some people continue to lose weight by eating no more than 6 ounces of chicken, fish, and meat a day as entrees, along with limited quantities of salad and fruit. As diets go, this ISN”T a high fat diet. It’s actually similar to diets the American Heart Association recommends.
In spite of an attempt of a cover-up of the facts, the late Dr. Adkins had severe heart disease in the last few years of his life caused by atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). The Adkins diet didn’t prevent atherosclerosis in Dr. Adkins, and DOES NOT prevent atherosclerosis in general, and may promote it in many cases.
What about HDL Cholesterol?
The main components of total cholesterol are LDL cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol), and HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol). LDL cholesterol causes atherosclerosis by building up on the artery wall. HDL cholesterol carries LDL cholesterol away from the artery wall and eliminates it from the body.
The ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol is important. However as the total cholesterol is lowered toward 160 mg., and the LDL cholesterol is 100 mg. or lower, the ratio becomes less important. (If there is no LDL cholesterol that is attached to the artery wall in the first place, HDL is not needed to carry it away).
So what is the normal cholesterol?
The answer to that question depends on what year it was asked, and to who.
In the 1970’s, a total cholesterol of up to 250 mg. was considered normal. However, even back then, it was known by some medical experts that the true normal cholesterol was up to 150 mg.
The state of knowledge of cholesterol by the general public can be appreciated by a question that was asked me by an intelligent educated patient in the early 1980’s when I informed him that his blood work showed his cholesterol was 250 mg., and he should try to lower it. He asked me, “What is cholesterol?” After 20 years of publicity, virtually every American knows what cholesterol is.
An ideal LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) is now recognized by the medical profession to be 100 mg. or less. If someone already has atherosclerosis or diabetes, an LDL of 75 mg. or less is considered ideal. In order to attain these levels, the total cholesterol usually is
170 mg. or less.
The first study that proved that atherosclerosis can be reversed was done by Dr. Dean Ornish. He did not use statin drugs – he used a very low fat diet, along with exercise. In his studies, angina (chest pain due to blockages) was reduced by 80% in only one month. After a year, repeat cardiac catheterization showed reversal of the blockages.
Dr. Ornish’s studies done on the diet based on substituting fish and chicken for meat, margarine for butter, and low fat dairy products, showed to not improve atherosclerosis and angina; in fact it continued to get worse after a year.
Do you have to eat a “perfect diet” in order to lower your cholesterol level?
The studies have shown that reversal of atherosclerosis begans in diets less than 28% fat, and the less the fat, the higher percentage of people have reversal. So the benefits of diet on cholesterol and health are not an all or none situation. However, eating margarine, chicken, and fish, instead of butter and red meat simply doesn’t work because the fat content of this type of diet is still well over 30%.
Is there an alternative to statins?
Is we all ate a perfect diet, we’d all have a cholesterol of less than 150 mg., and heart attacks would be extremely rare. It would be nice to live in such a perfect world; but it’s not going to happen. However everyone has in their power to take simple steps that will immediately lower or eliminate the chance of a heart attack, or other medical event due to atherosclerosis.
Fish oils contain omega-3 fats. At one time, humans ate a high amount of omega-3 fats, not necessarily from fish, but from a wide variety of foods.
Omega-3 fats drastically lower triglycerides. They have a lesser effect to lowering cholesterol. They also have a potent anti-inflammatory effect similar to the Motrin type drugs, without the side effects. The dose of omega-3 for a marked effect is 4.8 grams a day, divided into a morning and evening dose. Beneficial effects can occur at lower doses, and in fact many people take a much lower dose by taking a few capsules a day by buying them from their local drug store.
Red yeast rice has been taken for thousands of years in Chinese society for circulation problems. It is a wonder that before cholesterol could be measured in the blood, how could anyone know of the beneficial effect of red yeast rice? It has a potent effect on lowering cholesterol. The dose is 1.2 grams twice a day. Red yeast rice works because it has a natural ingredient which is very similar to the statin type drugs. However there has never been a case of liver damage, liver enzyme elevation, or muscle damage by taking red yeast rice.
In an unfortunate irony of medical practice, the statin drugs, which cost over $100 a month, are covered by insurance prescription plans, whole fish oil and red yeast rice are not. Currently the cost of fish oil for the full 4.8 grams of omega-3’s is $30 a month at the most, and the cost of red yeast rice for 2.4 grams a day is $20 a month maximum; some sites on the internet sell it for less than $10 a month. However with these, contrary to the statin drugs, it is NOT necessary to get liver enzyme tests every 3 months for several years, and this should be taken into account when comparing the costs. At the full doses of omega-3’s and red yeast rice, most people are able to lower their total cholesterol and triglyceride to below 150 mg.
The statins, fish oil, and red yeast rice work in conjunction with dietary changes. Target levels of cholesterol and triglycerides can be reached with lower (and less expensive) doses. Sometimes it takes surprising small and simple measures to have an effect on blood values. Oatmeal for breakfast 2 or 3 times a week (without butter) has been shown to have a significant effect on total and LDL cholesterol. A weight loss of as little as 5% can lead to significant decreases in triglycerides.
Sample Daily Selection of Foods
Breakfast Foods
Oatmeal
Fresh fruit
Whole wheat toast with a fruit spread
Shredded wheat
Puffed wheat and rice
Lunch and Dinner Foods
Past dishes
Rice dishes
Bean dishes
Bean enchiladas
Baked potato
Salads
Fruits salads
Whole wheat bread
Whole wheat pita bread
No-fat crackers
Snacks and Desserts
Air-popped popcorn
Grape nuts
Fresh fruit
Frozen blended fruits
No-oil pretzels
Desserts made with carob
Toppings and Seasonings
Low-oil tomato sauce
Low-fat salad dressings, limited quantities
Herbs and spices
Liquids
Fruit juices - no sugar added
Vegetable juices
Herbal tea
Water
Robert Baker, M.D.
Internal Medicine
Reversing Heart Disease and Atherosclerosis.
What Works And What Doesn’t.
Lowering Cholesterol
A high cholesterol level can lead to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), heart attacks, or strokes. We’re all born with a cholesterol level of about 100 mg. As an adult, the ideal cholesterol level is higher, but still below 160 mg.
The Framingham Study is the largest study of cholesterol levels ever done. It has shown over 40 years that a prolonged blood cholesterol level of less than 160 mg. in a non-smoker leads to a near immunity against heart attacks.
Other studies have shown that every 20% drop in the cholesterol level will lead to a 40% drop in the risk of getting a heart attack.
Giving up red meat-
IT JUST DOESN’T WORK
Most people cut down or eliminate red meat as a first step in reducing
cholesterol, but continue eating a large portion of chicken or fish.
Chicken and fish have just less fat than red meat, but just as much cholesterol. Studies of those who just give up red meat but continue to eat a large amount of chicken and fish show that their cholesterol drops only a small amount.
The American Heart Association recommends reducing meat, fish, and chicken intake to a maximum of 6 oz. a day; and substituting complex carbohydrates. This diet represents a definite improvement. Cutting down to below 6 oz. a day is even better, and has been shown to lead to much larger drops in cholesterol within a short period of time, compared to just cutting down or eliminating red meat.
Switching from butter to margarine-
IT JUST DOESN’T WORK
Many people switch from butter to margarine to lower their cholesterol. In fact, they feel it is important to eat a lot of margarine, since they heard that margarine lowers cholesterol.
The American Heart Association actually recommends using very small amounts of margarine instead of butter. They emphasize small quantities.
Most margarine contains 2 types of fat; polyunsaturated fats, and trans-fatty acids. Polyunsaturated fats sometimes can lower cholesterol levels a small amount; but trans-fatty acids raise cholesterol. Some margarines have no trans-fatty acids, but big drops of cholesterol just don’t occur by using margarine instead of butter. Remember, margarine, like butter, is 100% fat.
The medical studies done using diets using polyunsaturated fats show that the cholesterol is lowered an average of only 10%, but more importantly, it has never lowered the incidence of heart attacks.
Cutting down to 2 eggs a week.
IT JUST DOESN’T WORK
The American Heart Association recommends eating a maximum of 2 egg yolks a week, but only for someone who has a normal cholesterol. Another words, if you are trying to lower a high cholesterol, they feel you should eat only an occasion egg yolk. This includes egg yolks added as an ingredient in foods, such as cakes.
What about dairy food?
Regular milk has 46% of its calories as fat. Low fat milk is actually over 20% fat. Because milk contains a lot of water, the dairy industry is allowed to label regular milk as 4% fat and low fat milk as 2% fat by weight. This makes it seem not as bad as it really is.
The dairy industry has convinced most of us that dairy products are healthy foods essential for good health. Studies actually show the opposite. Eating dairy foods raise the blood cholesterol an average of 30%, and raise the chance of a heart attack by 60%. Dairy foods are a contributing cause of a wide variety of other illnesses also.
What about osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis – one of the most complicated subjects in medicine today.
The average American eats twice as much dairy food as was eating in the early 1900’s, even though more people lived on farms then. But osteoporosis is far more common now then in the past. The China study showed that eating less dairy food, not more, but more fruits and vegetables, was associated with far less osteoporosis. In fact, it has never been shown that any population has had less osteoporosis by eating dairy foods.
What is the explanation for this? Eating a lot of meat, fish, and chicken leads to a loss of calcium in the urine; and then osteoporosis. The calcium eating in dairy products never makes up for the lost calcium in the urine.
So how can osteoporosis be prevented? Eating less meat, chicken, and fish will cut down the loss of calcium. Caffeine also leads to a loss of calcium in the urine.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) has recognized the connection between excessive protein and osteoporosis.
The key to preventing and treating osteoporosis is stopping the loss of calcium from the body, not trying to flood the body with excess amounts of calcium from tablets that are poorly absorbed and also contains lead.
80% of Americans have low levels of Vitamin D, and normalizing this level will greatly reduce the chance of developing osteoporosis.
What about the Adkins diet?
The Adkins diet is sometimes promoted as allowing you to eat all the fats you want.
If you do this, it won’t work.
When one eliminates carbohydrates from the diet in the initial stages of the Adkins diet, you are also eliminating cakes, cookies, large quantities of bread, and many other high carbohydrate AND high fat items. So some people do lose weight, especially initially, on the Adkins diet.
But they are not cutting down not only carbohydrates, but high fat desserts.
Some people continue to lose weight by eating no more than 6 ounces of chicken, fish, and meat a day as entrees, along with limited quantities of salad and fruit. As diets go, this ISN”T a high fat diet. It’s actually similar to diets the American Heart Association recommends.
In spite of an attempt of a cover-up of the facts, the late Dr. Adkins had severe heart disease in the last few years of his life caused by atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). The Adkins diet didn’t prevent atherosclerosis in Dr. Adkins, and DOES NOT prevent atherosclerosis in general, and may promote it in many cases.
What about HDL Cholesterol?
The main components of total cholesterol are LDL cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol), and HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol). LDL cholesterol causes atherosclerosis by building up on the artery wall. HDL cholesterol carries LDL cholesterol away from the artery wall and eliminates it from the body.
The ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol is important. However as the total cholesterol is lowered toward 160 mg., and the LDL cholesterol is 100 mg. or lower, the ratio becomes less important. (If there is no LDL cholesterol that is attached to the artery wall in the first place, HDL is not needed to carry it away).
So what is the normal cholesterol?
The answer to that question depends on what year it was asked, and to who.
In the 1970’s, a total cholesterol of up to 250 mg. was considered normal. However, even back then, it was known by some medical experts that the true normal cholesterol was up to 150 mg.
The state of knowledge of cholesterol by the general public can be appreciated by a question that was asked me by an intelligent educated patient in the early 1980’s when I informed him that his blood work showed his cholesterol was 250 mg., and he should try to lower it. He asked me, “What is cholesterol?” After 20 years of publicity, virtually every American knows what cholesterol is.
An ideal LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) is now recognized by the medical profession to be 100 mg. or less. If someone already has atherosclerosis or diabetes, an LDL of 75 mg. or less is considered ideal. In order to attain these levels, the total cholesterol usually is
170 mg. or less.
The first study that proved that atherosclerosis can be reversed was done by Dr. Dean Ornish. He did not use statin drugs – he used a very low fat diet, along with exercise. In his studies, angina (chest pain due to blockages) was reduced by 80% in only one month. After a year, repeat cardiac catheterization showed reversal of the blockages.
Dr. Ornish’s studies done on the diet based on substituting fish and chicken for meat, margarine for butter, and low fat dairy products, showed to not improve atherosclerosis and angina; in fact it continued to get worse after a year.
Do you have to eat a “perfect diet” in order to lower your cholesterol level?
The studies have shown that reversal of atherosclerosis begans in diets less than 28% fat, and the less the fat, the higher percentage of people have reversal. So the benefits of diet on cholesterol and health are not an all or none situation. However, eating margarine, chicken, and fish, instead of butter and red meat simply doesn’t work because the fat content of this type of diet is still well over 30%.
Is there an alternative to statins?
Is we all ate a perfect diet, we’d all have a cholesterol of less than 150 mg., and heart attacks would be extremely rare. It would be nice to live in such a perfect world; but it’s not going to happen. However everyone has in their power to take simple steps that will immediately lower or eliminate the chance of a heart attack, or other medical event due to atherosclerosis.
Fish oils contain omega-3 fats. At one time, humans ate a high amount of omega-3 fats, not necessarily from fish, but from a wide variety of foods.
Omega-3 fats drastically lower triglycerides. They have a lesser effect to lowering cholesterol. They also have a potent anti-inflammatory effect similar to the Motrin type drugs, without the side effects. The dose of omega-3 for a marked effect is 4.8 grams a day, divided into a morning and evening dose. Beneficial effects can occur at lower doses, and in fact many people take a much lower dose by taking a few capsules a day by buying them from their local drug store.
Red yeast rice has been taken for thousands of years in Chinese society for circulation problems. It is a wonder that before cholesterol could be measured in the blood, how could anyone know of the beneficial effect of red yeast rice? It has a potent effect on lowering cholesterol. The dose is 1.2 grams twice a day. Red yeast rice works because it has a natural ingredient which is very similar to the statin type drugs. However there has never been a case of liver damage, liver enzyme elevation, or muscle damage by taking red yeast rice.
In an unfortunate irony of medical practice, the statin drugs, which cost over $100 a month, are covered by insurance prescription plans, whole fish oil and red yeast rice are not. Currently the cost of fish oil for the full 4.8 grams of omega-3’s is $30 a month at the most, and the cost of red yeast rice for 2.4 grams a day is $20 a month maximum; some sites on the internet sell it for less than $10 a month. However with these, contrary to the statin drugs, it is NOT necessary to get liver enzyme tests every 3 months for several years, and this should be taken into account when comparing the costs. At the full doses of omega-3’s and red yeast rice, most people are able to lower their total cholesterol and triglyceride to below 150 mg.
The statins, fish oil, and red yeast rice work in conjunction with dietary changes. Target levels of cholesterol and triglycerides can be reached with lower (and less expensive) doses. Sometimes it takes surprising small and simple measures to have an effect on blood values. Oatmeal for breakfast 2 or 3 times a week (without butter) has been shown to have a significant effect on total and LDL cholesterol. A weight loss of as little as 5% can lead to significant decreases in triglycerides.
Sample Daily Selection of Foods
Breakfast Foods
Oatmeal
Fresh fruit
Whole wheat toast with a fruit spread
Shredded wheat
Puffed wheat and rice
Lunch and Dinner Foods
Past dishes
Rice dishes
Bean dishes
Bean enchiladas
Baked potato
Salads
Fruits salads
Whole wheat bread
Whole wheat pita bread
No-fat crackers
Snacks and Desserts
Air-popped popcorn
Grape nuts
Fresh fruit
Frozen blended fruits
No-oil pretzels
Desserts made with carob
Toppings and Seasonings
Low-oil tomato sauce
Low-fat salad dressings, limited quantities
Herbs and spices
Liquids
Fruit juices - no sugar added
Vegetable juices
Herbal tea
Water
Robert Baker, M.D.
Internal Medicine
posted by Robert Baker, M.D. | 8:13 PM
10 Comments:
Dr. Baker, I much appreciate the time you took to write this article. I learned something new and helpful from it. By switching to a mostly vegetarian diet and exercising daily, I've lost almost 60 pounds--my weight is now my high school weight, 165 lbs--and my blood pressure is way down to 105/65, with a pulse of about 50. This didn't happen because I saw the light. It happened because a doctor said I have PAD. Whether or not this regimen will extend my life, I know not. I do know, however, that I feel better now than I have in decades. I also learned that there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. The former comes from books; the latter from experience, usually painful experience. As they say, too soon old, too late wise.
David
Davis, California
Re: 3 benefit loss omega weight
I saw this blog about heart disease and I found it very interesting that omega-3 supplements are essential in helping to combat the diease. I decide to buy some omega-3 and although I didn't have a bad heart in the first place I did suffer from anxiety and depression. With the omega-3 supplements my physical and mental health has improved no end and I cannot wait to get up in the morning. On further reading I discovered that omega-3 supplements are great for other ailments including cancers, psoriasis, angina, stroke, for healthy skin and bone, anti-aging, asthma, adhd, eczema, add, autism, menopausal symptoms and help with brain development in children.
http://heartdisease.blogdrive.com/
Best of luck with the blog - sorry to post anonymously but I hope you find the information as useful as I have (and you do accept anonymous postings).
Robert,
Just a quick note of appreciation here and to take very slight exception with you on the D2/D3 controversy. I have found surprisingly low levels in most chronic psychiatric patients, and use Dr Cannell's insights to correct the deficiency issues - discussed in detail here:
http://www.corepsychblog.com/2009/09/vitamin-d3-swine-flu-depression-autism/
Many thanks!
Chuck
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