Right now my HDL is at 42 as my test three weeks ago. I know that it needs to be above 40 but I am really focusing right now to increase it. I eat very healthy and I do cardio 30mins 4X week. Here also is a list of what I currently take for supplements.

Red Yeast Rice 1,200mg X2 day
Omega 3 Fish Oil 1,000mg X6 day
Lecithin 1,200mg X6 day
Aged Garlic Extract 1,200mg X2 day
COQ10 100mg X2 day
Magnesium 200mg X2 day
Green Tea Extract 1,000mg daily
Grape Seed Extract 100mg X2 day

LOL I know I take a lot:D

I upped my fish oil to 6 a day from 4 as well as the lecithin ever since my test. I have some more posts but I was wondering what you may suggest to help boost my HDL? This past week I dropped the RYR and did Niacin 500mg immediate release and it made it very intolerable. However, I tried 500mg time released before bed and had no major issues. My concern is that I have heard that time released Niacin could be extremely bad for ones liver. I see my Doctor in two weeks. I am most reasonably certain that he will not prescribe Niaspan for me. Any comments or suggestions would most be greatly appreciated. Also has anyone had any success with sugar cane policsonal and or pantethine raising their HDL levels?

I got a 17 point hike in my HDL, I take sugar cane Policosanol 20 mgs. daily, drink 1 glass of red wine daily, eat almonds and walnuts daily, take plant sterols before a fatty meal, and use only olive oil and Smart Balance spread. This combination is working for me, I don't know how much the Policosanol helped on it's own.

I recently read that eating one-half onion daily will raise HDL by 25% in most people.

Good luck!

I was just thinking about your supplements, and was wondering if you know that soy lecithin has a very high concentraton of pesticides. I avoid soy products and derivatives because they are geneticallty modified in the U.S.

Hi jacal5,

I have been honestly thinking of taking two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil each day to help boost my HDL. You mention that you use olive oil. Just wondering if anyone would suggest eating one to two tablespoons daily? I know a glass of Red Wine daily will help boost HDL levels but I don't drink alcohol.

I've been reading as much as I can find on the influence of exercise on HDL. Some of the more recent studie seem to indicate that exercise intensity is more important than what was previously believed. If it is safe for you to exercise at near maximal heart rates interval training may give the biggest bang for the buck when it comes to exercise. This is the formula that seem to work according to one study. 4x4 minute intervals at 90% to 95% maximal heart rate, separated by three minutes of active recovery 4x per week. The control group that exercise for 20 min 4 times a week at 70% maximal heart rate had no significant increase in HDL. I've not found the actual study only recap articles so I'm not sure what the increase was in the group using interval training. They only stated significant increases in HDL. Another study I found to be interesting found that timming your high fat meal after intense exercise seem to boost the HDL significantly more than eating the fat at other times of the day.