Dear Pharmacist,
My cholesterol is high, and my doctor is giving me 3 months before putting me on a statin, which I don’t want to do. Can you a natural solution?
--C.H., Gainesville, Florida
Answer: You can reduce your cholesterol with diet and exercise alone, did you know that? Most assume they need a pill because that’s what the doctor ordered, but a gym is cheaper. When you’re not pumping iron, blend baby blend. Juicing fruits and vegetables will reduce cholesterol, detoxify the liver and suppress pain-causing chemicals. Try combining fresh carrots, pineapple, celery, parsley, ginger and green apples.
There are many dietary supplements to help you reduce cholesterol and I’ll name them shortly. Just promise me you won’t lower it so much that you feel sick, that seems to be an American trend. You need cholesterol, it’s the backbone molecule of some crucial hormones that make us happy and healthy, namely estrogen, testosterone and DHEA.
Let’s focus on red yeast rice, or RYR to lower cholesterol. This is a dietary supplement and a product of yeast (Monascus purpureus). Basically, it’s a fungus that grows on rice, but it’s a staple in Asian diets. It contains several compounds known to inhibit cholesterol such as “mevinolin” or “monacolin K” (same thing, two different names). This compound reduces cholesterol production. Years ago, one drug company saw green when they learned about red yeast rice and created the very first billion-dollar blockbuster statin called “Mevacor” sold generically as “lovastatin.” Today, we have other sister drugs in the statin class such as atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin (Zocor), pravastatin (Pravachol), and rosuvastatin (Crestor), just to name a few.
Although RYR is a weaker statin than its pharmaceutical cousins, it works well if you get a brand that authentically contains it. I have limited space in this article, so to find out which products are contaminated, which authentically contain RYR go to www.DearPharmacist.com and sign up to receive my free health newsletter via email. Back to RYR.
A 2009 study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that RYR and fish oils lowered cholesterol just as well as Zocor over a 12-week period. For those of you who wish to take RYR, the dosage is about 2,400 mg total per day plus 100 mg CoQ10 or Ubiquinol to restore what the ‘drug mugger’ steals. Get your doctor’s approval first, and do not combine RYR with a prescribed statin.Other amazing ways to keep cholesterol down (other than reducing cheeseburger intake) is to supplement with essential fatty acids (like Nordic Naturals or Essential Living), policosanol by NOW Foods or GNC, plant sterols (CholestOff by Nature Made), Kyolic’s Aged Garlic, Guggulow by Doctor’s Best (a pure source of guggul) and/or niacin (there are hundreds of makers for this one). Emerging studies prove that probiotics are helpful to reducing cholesterol.
Did You Know?
Consume apples every day can lower LDL cholesterol by 23 percent over 6 months.
