Cholesterol Relationship of vitamin D and cholesterol. With the enlargement (waist line) of the population, both in kids and adults, vitamin D deficiency is increasing. And with it is coming a plethora of preventable complications, including metabolic syndrome. Please check your vitamin D level every few years. Strive to keep your level in the upper third of your lab reference range. I have a feeling we will see low vitamin D as a risk for high cholesterol. After all, your body makes vitamin D from cholesterol. If your vitamin D is low, your liver may be encouraged to make lots more cholesterol to increase your vitamin D.Ref: Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2007; 20(7). Q. and A. Dr.J. Rowan Q: I have high cholesterol and do not want to take any statin drugs. My cholesterol from my last blood work in August 2004 was HDL — 52; LDL — 156; triglycerides — 138; and total cholesterol — 236. I donot know how they arrive at 236. Can you explain it? I’ve taken a lot of supplements to lower my cholesterol, but haven’t had anyluck. Can you help? — Joyce M., via e-mail ------------------------------------ A: I’m glad you don’t want to take statins. These usually cause moreproblems than they solve. Your total cholesterol is the gross amount of cholesterol in yourblood. The total amount is then broken down into subfractions, since cholesterol is carried in different forms. HDL is generallyconsidered the “good” form of cholesterol. Yours is in the average range. LDL is generally considered the “bad” form, but new evidencesuggests that not all LDL is “bad” either. The Lipoprotein-B fraction of LDL may be the bad actor in LDL. We want that number as low as possible, certainly below 100. I’d like to know yours. Totalcholesterol is made up of not only HDL and LDL, but other sub fractions of cholesterol not generally measured.Your triglycerides (fats), if it was a fasting test, are a little too high for my book. It is a sign that your body is producingexcess insulin in an effort to get rid of excess carbs you might be eating. Insulin turns the carbs into fats for long-term storage. Butthat storage might occur in places you wouldn’t want. High levels of insulin promote atherosclerosis.I don’t go as nuts about your total cholesterol as conventional docs. I’m more concerned about what your body does with thecholesterol. Your numbers suggest a bit more risk than I’d like. Before you try supplements or drugs for cholesterol, you mightconsider diet and lifestyle changes. Consider my numbers: total cholesterol, 168, HDL 58, LDL 88. Now it can’t be my genes. Most of my immediate family members have cholesterol well above 200. I’m an organic, nearly all raw foodvegan (minimal dairy) and get ample exercise. I’ve yet to see one who eats like me with a cholesterol-related heart problem. While Idon’t expect you to embrace my diet 100%, any movement in that direction, I believe, will lower your overall risk.Regarding specific supplements, there are a wide variety that might work (such as oat bran, niacin, policosanol, guggul, calcium, to name a few). But none work all the time in all people. For difficultcases, I recommend taking Advanced Bionutritionals Advanced Cholesterol Formula, PhosChol (available online), and red yeastrice. The combination will often work when nothing else does. |
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