Cholesterol and triglyceride levels

This Week in the HSI Forum

An HSI member named Alana took her 55-year-old husband to the doctor last month. She describes him as “fit and strong,” so it came as a surprise that his total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were both elevated. Alana describes herself as “holistically knowledgeable,” but admits that she’s not well informed about the significance of high cholesterol.

Alana is also not comfortable with the idea of her husband being medicated to address this problem, so she started an HSI Forum thread titled “Cholesterol is up, need advise please” to ask other members for helpful information. And she came to the right place.

A member named Joyce starts things of with this comment: “Homocysteine is more important than cholesterol as a marker for possible future health problems.” To that Joyce could have added “C-reactive protein and triglycerides” as better indicators of heart health. So while the triglycerides may be a concern for Alana’s husband, his total cholesterol is probably not. (His LDL and HDL levels are both within an acceptable range.)

A member named Owen suggests that Alana’s husband stay “far away” from medication, and he adds this comment about the total cholesterol and triglycerides: “Your healthy husband can bring those too-high levels down on his own. Don’t let some allopathic doctor scare you both into taking a toxic prescription drug.” As a practical step, Owen recommends eating a few garlic cloves every day, and offers some instruction on eating raw garlic. After dicing up a single, peeled clove: “Put about 5 almonds or other nuts into your mouth. Chew, but don’t swallow. Now spoon the diced garlic into your mouth. Swizzle it all together. Chew thoroughly and swallow. The almonds eliminate the burning sensation of the garlic.”

And vampires won’t be a problem either! A member named Cedy suggests using another botanical – arjuna – which has been used for centuries to promote heart health in Ayurvedic medicine. Hawthorne berry tea is recommended by Miroslava. And a member named Laura writes, “I have read that a glass of carrot juice every day will lower cholesterol.”

A member who goes by the initials J.W. says, “Taking one-quarter to one-half teaspoon of cinnamon works just as well as the statin drugs in lowering cholesterol and triglycerides as well as blood glucose. Look up the research, which was reported about January 2004. Cinnamon is cheap – about $3 for a pound.”

In the e-Alert “Bucking the System” (12/15/03), I told you about the very research that J.W. mentions. A U.S. Department of Agriculture study of 60 type 2 diabetics revealed that one gram of cinnamon taken daily, over a course of 40 days, improved management of blood sugar levels, as well as triglyceride and cholesterol levels. One gram of cinnamon is less than half a teaspoon.

Finally, a member named Craigo has this suggestion: “If you want the low-down on the principles of cholesterol and what it means and doesn’t mean, I strongly suggest first reading Jon Barron’s Baseline of Health article on the subject. He totally cleared it up for me.” Jon Barron, of course, is an HSI Panelist, and his report, titled “The Cholesterol Myth” (5/24/04), is an excellent introduction to the many misconceptions about cholesterol. You can find that report in the Baseline of Health Newsletter archives at jonbarron.org.

Other topic titles on the HSI Forum this week include:

• Health food
• Cataracts
• Microwave dangers
• After stroke therapies anyone?
• Hearing disorders
• Diabetes 2