questions on policosanol - High Cholesterol Message Board

pslam 91 · 09-06-2003, 03:48 PM

Hi guys, I went to the health food store today, bought some policosanol. The brand is "source natural".As I was reading on the web, it is better to get the sugar cane wax even as opposed to the bees wax even. The ingrediants on the one I bought today is blended for plant wax. I havent broken the seal on the bottle. I may take it back. I don't want to waste any time on supplements. This one was also on sale, $7.99 for 30 pills. I also read on a site that some are making polecosanol with not the best ingrediants, so you have to watch out. Any response to this question.

pcovers · 09-06-2003, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pslam 91:
The brand is "source natural".

I was a solid proponent of policosanol some time back. I did extensive research and read all the studies I could, almost all being from Cuba, expounding on the cholesterol lowering ability of policosanol.

I took the brand you mentioned above. I took 20mg daily for about three months. I thought it was helping, but after I stopped taking it, my numbers stayed the same. I am convinced that my 16 lb weight loss, increase in omega 3, and calcium intake were really more at work and the policosanol contributed nothing. My HDL did not go down after stopping the policosanol and my LDL and total did not go up after stopping. I even went back on it for five weeks after I had been off for several months just to see if I noticed any positive adjustments to my HDL or TC. Several lipid profiles during this period did not indicate any benefits for me from the policosanol.

It is very possible that this lack of benefits has nothing to do with policosanol in general and has everything to do with Source Naturals policosanol.

I don't presume to know exactly why I did not enjoy any benefits from the supplement, only know that I didn't.

Salvatore954 · 09-07-2003, 08:20 AM

Hello,

You should take a policosanol sourced from sugar cane. Source Naturals does have a sugar cane policosanol, and it is possible you got some old stock. As a brand I do not know if SN is reliable. It is very true not all supplement products have in them what is labeled to be in them. I purchase most all of my supplements from the Life Extention Foundation as I am convinced of their purity. Twinlabs, Solgar, and Jarrow are I believe reliable popular brands.

The product should be taken for 2-3 months to determine if it is going to work for you. People have their idiosyncrasies and not all things work the same for all people. This is true with any therapeutic agent. The 5-20mg recommended dosage is a large range and can even be doubled with no ill effects. Though one poster to this bulletin board says he had the same side effects from it as from Lipitor.

Policosanol has been well researched both in and out of Cuba and is a popular supplement. It has helped many people. It does not affect triglycerides.

Panthetine is another supplement that has been used by supplement-oriented nutritionists and herbalists for years to correct cholesterol.

Controlling cholesterol is one aspect of preventing heart disease, and it appears to be important. Lifestyle changes may help one person but not another. People generally do not stick to diets in the long term, so I believe supplements are a practical alternative. There are blood tests you can have done to see if your cholesterol problem is genetic in which case diet will be of no benefit in that regard. These are expensive but can save time and effort in resolving the issue. Some people just need to take a drug. But in the area of cholesterol, I have never had a patient not benefit from adopting a regiment of supplements in their proper forms and dosages. It can either eliminate or reduce the cholesterol medication to alleviate or eliminate side effects.

In other posts I have recommended Life Extention Foundation as a reliable source to integrate mainstream and alternative medicine. I have no affiliation with them other than being a member. You do not have to be a member to access their information online. If you are going to treat yourself, you should research things and get a full understanding of what you are doing.

To engage in a proper comprehensive cardiovascular prevention program on your own, requires testing and oftentimes a vast array of supplements. This is undoubtedly expensive and is not covered by insurance. Affordability is definitely an issue and most people resort to their insurance-paid prescription which has benefited many. It is just not the way I choose to do it. The AMA moves very slowly, and it is often many years before they make a recommendation despite research. For example, it is only relatively recently they have recommended folic acid for pregnant or thinking-of-getting pregnant women for the prevention on spina bifida. The evidence about this was there ages ago. I wonder how many spina bifida babies were born because the AMA simply refused to recommend a simple vitamin pill. Very, very sad.

Gee, such a long post. I guess I had a lot to say. Good luck, I wish you the best.

Sal

pslam 91 · 09-08-2003, 11:22 AM

Thanks Sal for your advise. I have struggled with my choesterol levels for my whole adult life. when I was in my 20's it sat around 200.(I was thinner than too) Ater the birth on my son,38 yrs, it has gone from 290 to 240 to 190, now it is back up to 290. I brought it down to 190 by eating a vegitarian diet and elimanting alot of processed desserts. Lost alot of weight. I felt terrible though. I eliminated alot of protein out of my diet. Did the vegitarian thing wrong! I gained the weight back over the holidays last year and my weight has gone up along with my cholesterol. I am back on a diet,5'4'' 150lbs, want to lose 15 pounds. the older I get the harder it is. I will check out that web site. I still think I am taking that supplement back and looking for the sugar cane ingrediant specifically. Oh yea I put a call into Source Natural, left a message and havent heard from them yet. Blessings

Wykon · 09-08-2003, 12:05 PM

psalm, source naturals is derived from sugarcane.