Jim5554, I appreciate your concern about the use of over the counter products, and I absolutely agree with you about increasing the amount of fish in the daily diet. Actually, there are quite a few things that a person can do to increase HDL, but it's just that niacin came immediately to mind in this particular case. Niacin has received an undeservedly bad rap over the years, mainly because doctors have previously prescribed it at excessively high doses, often at doses as high as 8,000-9,000mg per day. Now, at those dosages, it is understandable how a patient can experience potential problems on a liver function test. However, it was later determined that such high dosages are really not necessary in many cases, and that far lower dosages can result in beneficial effects. It is my understanding that supplementing with niacin at a daily dose of up to 1000mg is safe for most people, and that in the case of inositol hexanicotinate, which is considered to be safer and with fewer side effects, the dosage can be even higher, perhaps as high as 3,000mg. In any case, I do agree that patients should inform their physicians of all the dietary supplements that they are taking, although it is not necessarily imperative that they receive their physicians approval to try them.
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"Men and nations will act rationally when all other possibilities have been exhausted."
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