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Cholesterol, Blood Fats and Statin Drugs - Part II |
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| Featured Cholesterol Support Products | |
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In my last newsletter I discussed some of the dangers and side effects of the drug family used to lower cholesterol levels widely prescribed and known as "Statins". Many folks have no idea of their potential damaging side effects.
In this issue, we talk about ways to reduce high cholesterol and trigliceride (blood fat) levels without the use of statin drugs.
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| Reducing Cholesterol Levels Naturally | |
There are many ways to lower your cholesterol naturally. A healthy diet, regular physical activity and supplementation with the appropriate vitamins, minerals and herbs are critical. Drugs force your body to make less cholesterol, but they often have undesirable side effects, and should only be used after all else fails. Lifestyle changes and some natural supplements can help most people reduce their cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Unfortunately, patients are rarely directed to these natural solutions and instead are given a prescription for a statin drug.
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| Red yeast rice effective where statins fail. | | |
Red Yeast Rice can be an effective natural alternative to Statin drugs. Dietary supplements of red yeast rice may lower LDL cholesterol levels by 21 per cent, and offer a blood lipid lowering alternative for people intolerant to statins, says a new study in the American Journal of Cardiology..
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| Niacin is still the best natural way to lower LDL and raise HDL cholesterol. | |
New studies report niacin (a common B vitamin) out-performs several different prescription cholesterol drugs for lowering LDL cholesterol and preventing build-up of arterial plaque, a symptom of cardiovascular disease.
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| Cholesterol-lowering supplements: Lower your numbers without prescription medication | |
If you're worried about your cholesterol and have already started exercising and eating healthier foods, you might wonder if adding a cholesterol-lowering supplement to your diet can help reduce your numbers. This article from the Mayo clinic staff lists several cholesterol lowering supplements you might want to investigate.
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| Niacin Increases Good Cholesterol | | |
Niacin, one of the B complex vitamins, is well known as the most effective way to improve cholesterol levels. Niacin, one of the B complex vitamins, has few side effects and can help to increase good (HDL) cholesterol while lowering bad (LDL) cholesterol.
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Nut Consumption and Blood Lipid Levels | |
Regular daily nut consumption improves blood lipid levels in a dose-related manner, particularly among subjects with higher LDL-C or with lower BMI. Studies have consistently associated nut consumption with reduced risk for coronary heart disease.
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| Omega-3 Fatty Acids, but Not Rosuvastatin, Lower 4-Year Mortality in Heart Failure Patients. | | |
During a 4-year study, death rates were lower among heart failure patients who received Omega-3 fatty acids (like those in fish oil) than among those who did not. Rosuvastatin alone(Crestor) did not lead to longer survival in patients with heart failure.
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| Lower Cholesterol Levels are Not Always Better | | |
Cholesterol is essential for good brain function, an important health issue for the elderly. According to Julian Whitaker, M.D., "... the Framingham Heart Study has shown that older people with low total cholesterol (under 200) are much more likely to perform poorly on tests of mental function than those with high cholesterol (over 240)."
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| Plant sterols are efficacious in lowering plasma LDL and non-HDL cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic type 2 diabetics and nondiabetics | | |
Plant sterols are essential components of plant structures that act in a similar way to cholesterol in humans. Beta-sistosterol is one of the most prevelant of the plant sterols. A diet supplemented with about 1.8 gms of phytosterols like beta-sistosterol significantly reduced LDL-cholesterol concentrations from baseline in both nondiabeticand diabetic subjects by 15.1% and 26.8%, respectively.
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| How to Naturally Lower Your Cholesterol | | |
Cholesterol can be easily managed, even without medication. No matter how old you are, there is no such particular time and age for protecting your heart. The good time is right now, as it is never too early or too late to save your heart from cholesterol problems. There are number of natural ways to keep you cholesterol in control and you can lower your cholesterol naturally without putting up any efforts.
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Suppressing Valid Scientific Information
Your Right to Know is Compromised | | |
The FDA and FTC have a known history of suppressing valid scientific information when it comes to herbals and supplements. In our last newsletter we noted some recent successes due to the grass roots anger of citizens and a Washington lawyer named Jonathon Emord.
If we continue the pressure on our lawmakers, perhaps they will open their eyes a bit wider. There is no reason to deny the public valid scientific information about natural products or to threaten people that disseminate valid scientific information with criminal penalties.
The article link below summarizes some of the more recent threatening exchanges between the FDA and various manufacturers. If you don't think this is a direct threat to your freedom to choose what you feel is best for you, read this article. I'll bet you will find it hard to believe some of the ludicrous moves the FDA and FTC are making right now.
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Legislation and Legal News | | |
Watch out for Senator Leahy folks! He's not a friend of natural health advocates. He is the Chairman of the Committee that was pushing Senate bill S. 3767. This bill would criminalize the distribution of food and supplements if the FDA or FTC decides that claims about the item are not substantiated to some arbitrary ruling of some bureaucrat.
Unfortunately for the Senator, "we the people" have sent more that 40,000 negqative emails forcing him to amend the bill for less draconian measures. The amendment is a powerful signal that Sen. Leahy and his Big Pharma friendly cohorts had no choice but to look for a way to make the bill less bizarre and unpalatable.
Keep sending your emails folks. It's one way to wake up our sleeping lawmakers!!
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Drug Warnings
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The FDA has recently restricted the use of the diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) due to serious concerns about increased risk of stroke and heart attack associated with this drug. In 2007, the FDA considered banning the drug entirely due to reports of deaths directly attributable to the drug but decided it should remain on the market. At that time, the death toll was approximately 80,000 people.
In Europe, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has banned the sale of all rosiglitazone-containing medicines.
In my opinion, this action took far too long to happen and many innocent people were harmed due to drug company greed and FDA inaction.
The FDA says that the manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, will develop a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) and that access to the drug will be limited to new patients whose diabetes is not controlled by other treatments.
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A Survey | | |
If you would like to have an input into what I put in this newsletter, please email me directly. This is your newsletter and I want to provide you with information that is useful and helpful to you. So, send me an email with your suggestions and I will try to address subjects you want in future issues.
Our newsletter archive contains copies of all previous newsletters. A link to the archive is on every main page of the website just below the newsletter sign-up box and also in the "page links" section of each newsletter issue.
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Sincerely,
Jim Occhiogrosso
Health Naturally, L.L.C.
239-498-1547 |
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