Have you lowered you cholesterol/blood sugar naturally?
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free skin care · Fri Apr 20, 2012 5:35 pm

I just got the results of my mom's cholesterol and fasting blood sugar (she is 72 years old). They are both on the a little above average. The automated message system said that the doctor would call if he thought the ranges were in the dangerous zone and he hasn't. But I'd still like her to work on lowering them a bit because I feel they are too high.

cholesterol: 218
LDL: 117
Fasting blood sugar level: 108

My mom really watches what she eats and loves fruits and veggies. She is a normal weight for her age, 127 at 5'2", and exercises 1-2 hours a day, 6 days a week. She takes fish oil, a multivitamin, vit. C, calcium and biotin.

Does anyone here have any advice for her on how to lower these naturally? Does cinnamon work to lower blood sugar?

free skin care · Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:01 pm

sandooch wrote:

I just got the results of my mom's cholesterol and fasting blood sugar (she is 72 years old). They are both on the a little above average. The automated message system said that the doctor would call if he thought the ranges were in the dangerous zone and he hasn't. But I'd still like her to work on lowering them a bit because I feel they are too high.

cholesterol: 218
LDL: 117
Fasting blood sugar level: 108

My mom really watches what she eats and loves fruits and veggies. She is a normal weight for her age, 127 at 5'2", and exercises 1-2 hours a day, 6 days a week. She takes fish oil, a multivitamin, vit. C, calcium and biotin.

Does anyone here have any advice for her on how to lower these naturally? Does cinnamon work to lower blood sugar?

I know some studies show that cinnamon can help lower blood sugar, but by how much I am not sure. And it is best taken in capsules since most food with cinnamon is also high in sugar.

She may need to adjust her diet some and may need a little medication to keep it in check.

Try not to panic until you actually talk to the doctor!

free skin care · Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:15 pm

Sandoch,

first, your mom results are nothing to panic about, neither of the numbers is in the dangerous zone yet.

Did her doc test hemoglobin A1C? If yes - what was the number? It is sort of an indicator of what her average sugar was over the past 3 month. If it was below 6 - you have to just adjust her diet (under 5.6 is even better). If it is over 6 - then it is a serious issue, and warrants a separate discussion.

For cholesterol - red rice yeast would be helpful. I did lower my cholesterol naturally from 250 to under 180 by using Cholestavin and Cholestacall from prlabs. So it is most definitely possible to do it naturally.

HTH

free skin care · Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:39 pm

This is a great article on what can help lower your cholesterol.

http://www.lef.org/protocols/heart_circulatory/cholesterol_management_02.htm

The artichoke leaf was also on Dr. Oz a while back.

free skin care · Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:47 pm

Thank you all for the advice. I'm really not panicking, but I'd just like to help her reduce the numbers a bit to ward off having her have to go on medications in the future.

sigma, I was not give results of a hemoglobin A1C test, nor do I know if she was given one. I will have to find out about that.

I will definitely look into those supplements that you took. What fantastic results you had with those!

Darkmoon, I just told my mom to sprinkle some cinnamon on her oatmeal, in her coffee and in her yogurt, so no danger of getting any additional sugar that way.

ShastaGirl, I am going to read that article right now. Thanks!

free skin care · Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:08 pm

sandooch wrote:

Thank you all for the advice. I'm really not panicking, but I'd just like to help her reduce the numbers a bit to ward off having her have to go on medications in the future.

sigma, I was not give results of a hemoglobin A1C test, nor do I know if she was given one. I will have to find out about that.

I will definitely look into those supplements that you took. What fantastic results you had with those!

Darkmoon, I just told my mom to sprinkle some cinnamon on her oatmeal, in her coffee and in her yogurt, so no danger of getting any additional sugar that way.

ShastaGirl, I am going to read that article right now. Thanks!

sandooch,

It sounds like you have a proactive plan in mind, I am sure you and your mom will get it all sorted out.

Look into any hidden sources of sugar and "bad" fats in her diet and see about healthy natural substitutes. You will find a wealth of great information online as long as they are reliable sources.

free skin care · Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:29 pm

Thanks Darkmoon. One thing I told her to cut out immediately is her fat-free creamer, which still contains sugar. I told her to replace it with the sugar-free creamer and even with that not to use too much. She actually told me, "But the fat in that will turn into sugar!" Rolling Eyes

She's so funny!

free skin care · Fri Apr 20, 2012 8:47 pm

A high fiber diet is supposed to help lower cholesterol. I think it sounds like your mom is doing everything right and she sounds like she is in great shape!

free skin care · Sat Apr 21, 2012 11:24 am

She really is, Rileygirl. I would love to be in the shape she is at 72 at the age I am now. She is awesome!

I started checking out cholesterol-lowering supplements and came across a few that got great reviews. The one that came out on top was Red Yeast Rice Extended Release 600 mg By Nature's Plus. I ordered that one for her and will post updates in a few months when she gets more blood work done to let you know if it works. If she gets a really great drop from them, I will start my dad on them. He has to take medication for his cholesterol, so it would be nice to see if this supplement could lower his cholesterol enough that his doctor would approve of him going off his medication.

I even did a search to see if there were studies showing it could also improve blood sugar levels, and found a few studies that showed it did. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll help with both.

Oh, and only one pill a day, thank God!

free skin care · Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:58 pm

sandooch wrote:

I started checking out cholesterol-lowering supplements and came across a few that got great reviews. The one that came out on top was Red Yeast Rice Extended Release 600 mg By Nature's Plus. I ordered that one for her and will post updates in a few months when she gets more blood work done to let you know if it works. If she gets a really great drop from them, I will start my dad on them. He has to take medication for his cholesterol, so it would be nice to see if this supplement could lower his cholesterol enough that his doctor would approve of him going off his medication.

http://sciencebasedpharmacy.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/red-yeast-rice/

free skin care · Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:49 pm

My ex is a surgeon and we lowered his cholesterol over 40 (I think it was closer to 50) points - Part of the protocol was Policosanol, niacin and I think red yeast. (must take care when using with alcohol). You may want to research but it really worked for him and his sister. Of course also diet and exercise which he was already on board with.

free skin care · Wed May 22, 2013 2:13 pm

High cholesterol can be a sign of hypothyroid. Has she had her TSH tested lately? A TSH of over 1 is hypo.

Ray Peat says polyunsaturated fats (both omega 3 & 6) are a major cause of elevated blood sugar/diabetes and hypothyroidism so she will probably want to stop taking fish oil and start using coconut oil which he says helps boost thyroid and lower cholesterol:
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/coconut-oil.shtml

free skin care · Thu May 23, 2013 2:47 pm

My cholesterol started rising in my forties before I was diagnosed hypothyroid. I've since been treated successfully with bioidentical pig thyroid (Nature-throid) and my HDL, LDL and triglycerides are excellent. I eat a high fat and high sugar diet -- though not for health reasons! Laughing

free skin care · Thu May 23, 2013 3:09 pm

SoftSkin wrote:

My cholesterol started rising in my forties before I was diagnosed hypothyroid. I've since been treated successfully with bioidentical pig thyroid (Nature-throid) and my HDL, LDL and triglycerides are excellent. I eat a high fat and high sugar diet -- though not for health reasons! Laughing

Thanks for sharing - I enjoyed your humor. EFA's are supposed to help burn fat. Need good fat to burn bad fat. A diet in fiber - 35 grams would be so helpful too.!!! Soluble fiber binds with cholesterol and helps deliver it out of the body.

Sun Jun 16, 2013 3:37 pm

Sister Sweets had mentioned niacin awhile back, I definitely second that. My boyfriend's doctor wanted to put him on meds to lower his cholesterol a couple of years ago... I did a little research and found a lot of anecdotal evidence for niacin being just as effective with fewer side effects. He took 500mg 1x a day for six months and his LDL went from 252 to 212, and cholesterol/HDL ratio from 5.5 to 4.2, which was a lot better than we had hoped for. Smile

His blood sugar improved a bit too, from 105 to 100.

Unfortunately the non-flushing niacin doesn't have much effect... You have to use the one that turns your face bright red and makes your skin itch like a maniac for half an hour (if you just think about how nicely it's flushing out your capillaries and helping your circulation, it does help get through it).

A lot of people take double the dose but he didn't want to worry about ill effects on the liver, so he tried the smaller dose. hth! Smile

free skin care · Wed Jun 19, 2013 11:31 am

After you've taken niacin for a while, the flushing stops. It also helps to take it right after a meal so it digests slowly and not on an empty stomach.

free skin care · Tue Jul 09, 2013 11:19 pm

Taking a regular walk every morning helped an elderly neighbour get her cholesterol down. It doesn't have to be particularly energetic - just a reasonable pace.

Mon Jul 15, 2013 7:17 pm

Lower down your cholesterol level with natural diet is really an effective idea, you need to change all your diet plan like having more vegetables and fresh juices. These things are good to control the cholesterol level of the body.

Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:53 pm

You have great advice!

I would like to add the things that helped my Mom lower her cholesterol.

Niacin, Red Yeast Rice (adding CoQ10 because Red Yeast Rice is a natural statin.) Lecithin Granules, Vitamin E. Fiber is another thing. Chia Seeds can help with blood sugar too, make sure you drink plenty of water with the chia seeds.

Your Mom sounds like she is in great shape, that is awesome.

My Mom will not go on any prescription statins because from all her research they do more harm that good. Her cardiologist told her if she would not take the statins, red yeast rice , niacin and fish oil are her other options.

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