Comment on my results

Hi all,

Really enjoy this forum, very informative.

In May, had my lipid blood test done:

Total Cholesterol - 259
Triglycerides - 187
HDL - 42
LDL 188

Dr thought about putting me on drugs but said to try and fix it naturally first. I'm on Norvasc 5mg as of May, BP steady at 115/75 or lower.

Thus I cut out most fatty foods and increase my cardio exercise. Through this I lost about 10 lbs, not that I was overweight 5'8 168lbs, now about 155lbs.

I took supplements daily of:
2 x 1000mg fish oil
1 x CoEnz Q10 100mg
4 x Dr Murray's Cholesterol Formula, with Sytrinol (2 morning, 2 night)

New results as of Sept 2:

Total Cholesterol - 187
Triglycerides - 141
HDL - 37
LDL - 123

Definite improvement but now concern about low HDL. I'm thinking of stopping the Dr Murray's formula, I read somewhere plant sterols can affect absorption of HDL as well??

Instead strictly use Sytrinol, add Policosanol and non-flush Niacin (yup, have read on on the debate if it works or not) to try and bump up my HDL.

Thoughts, thanks in advance.

Hi Ariakas and welcome to the board.


First of all, the Trigs have not decreased a great deal with you taking 2 grams fish oil a day. Your Trigs/HDL ratio of 3.81 places you very close to the 10 year high risk category for CHD. You must get this =<2. So, first question. What is the total amount of EPA and DHA provided in that 2 gram dosage? You need a minimum of 1gram EPA and DHA on a recommended 2 to 1 ratio.

Sytrinol and Policosanol.
My wife tried 300mg Sytrinol many years ago for six months. All of her figures increased.
I believe I am right in saying that not many members of this board have reported significant improvements using this product.
Likewise, after reading very favourable results on Policosanol she tried that but the only result was a slight decrease in LDL. Pure waste of money. The only positive study results on this product all come from Cuba and one South American country. No studies from Asia, North America or Europe have confirmed the results of the Cuban studies, even using the same sugar canes.

Stay on the EPA/DHA at the recommended minimum dosage for positive effects, 100mg Co-Q10, but change to 600mg of Red Yeast rice (Natures Plus) taken late in the evening instead of the Sytrinol/Policosanol combination.

Niacin, whichever form you intend to use will certainly increase your HDL. Many members have had positive results, but if you decide on RYR and Niacin there are interactions between the two products. Other members take Niacin early am. and the RYR late in the evening. As for working dosage, I'm sure there will be input here for you.

Good luck
Yack.

Hi yackedar,

Thanks for your reply.

For the fish oil, I'm taking Natural Factors, RxOmega-3 Factors, EPA 400 mg/DHA 200 mg. To get to the ratio you suggested I would bump it up to 3 pills a day which is within their suggested intake as I take one in the morning and one at night.

I did some more reading on RYR and looks quite promising so I will give that a shot. Will order the Nature's Plus RYR 600mg extended release.

Thanks for the heads up regarding interaction between RYR and Niacin, I will do more research on that.

Look forward to other member's input.

I would take 4 capsules daily of the RxOmega-3 factors fish oil to get 2400mg EPA/DHA daily. Remember the Prescription strength fish oil LOVAZA used to reduce triglycerides gives you 3360mg of EPA/DHA daily as directed 4 caps daily.

Also, I've tried the sytrinol before and have found a superior supplement since then after researching Pubmed.com for clinical experiments. It's called Delta-Gold Tocotrienols and it contains 90% delta tocotrienol and 10% gamma tocotrienol. Its almost completely absent of regular tocopherol, which has been shown to reduce/block absorption of the tocotrienols. Some experiments have shown a reduction of LDL and triglycerides and some others have shown it just reduces Triglycerides and VLDL. It also has many other benefits than just cholesterol reduction. The brand I use is call Doctor's Best Tocotrienols(delta-gold). I take the 125mg version.

You may want to wait and try the higher dosage of fish oil and the tocotrienol (delta-gold) and other natural supplements before trying the RYR. RYR is essentially like taking a natural low dose version of the statin drug Lovastatin(Mevacor). It's basically an unregulated drug.

The supplement Pantethine 600, 900, 1200mg have been shown to have a mild reduction in cholesterol.

Amla Fruit extract(Indian Goose Berry / AmlaMax) has been shown in a couple different studies to reduce LDL and boost HDL.

Artichoke leaf extract has shown around a 4% reduction in cholesterol through boosting bile excretion and flushing out excess cholesterol sitting near the liver/pancreas area. Also helps reduce oxidation of LDL.

Vitamin D reduces inflammation within the arteries, which helps prevent the sticking of LDL to the walls and reduces lesions occuring.

Some studies show green tea helps lower cholesterol a little, but mainly helps reduce oxidation of LDL.

According the latest NIH Government pubmed articles neither Garlic nor Policosanol will reduce cholesterol.

Just a note on the last post from Utvol06.

The high dosage of EPA/DHA quoted could lead to bruising, nose bleeds and very thin blood after long term use. 1.0-1.5g EPA/DHA is quite sufficient for the average person to reduce Triglycerides by upto 45% without making blood flow like water.

Garlic on it's own may not dramatically reduce LDL, but when the most effective chemical of Garlic, Allicin (@150mg) is used in conjunction with 600mg of @10% monacolin content, you can expect an LDL reduction of @35%-40%.

The above two reductions will certainly bring your ratios down. However, there is a small counter effect...your HDL will almost certainly drop a point or two.

One of three forms of Red yeast rice is prepared by using Monascus purpureus fermented with rice. Preparation records exist, dating back to the ancient Ming Dynasty period. (1368 to 1644).

The extracts from RYR contain starch, sterols, isoflavones, and monounsaturated fatty acids. Depending on the Monascus strains used and fermentation conditions, it may contain polyketides called monacolins. One of these monacolins is named 'Monacolin K', known as lovastatin, typically 0.2% per 5 mg as compared to 20–40 mg of the drug lovastatin.

Lovastatin is the drug chemically derived from Monacolin 'K'. Monacolin 'K' and the other known monacolin's are a product of nature and not an unregulated drug, certainly not outside of the USA. I know which product I would plumb for, every time.

As far as I am aware the ancient Chinese used Hong Qu (Red Yeast Rice) as a preservative, spice, and food colouring substance. (British spelling for color)
It's still used to give Peking duck its red colour and can be an ingredient of fish sauce, fish paste, and rice wine.

Red yeast rice is still used in traditional Chinese medicine as a remedy for poor circulation (invigorates blood circulation and eliminates blood stasis), indigestion, and diarrhea.

You can only expect a fairly small (10-15%) percentage drop at best with the best of the remaining suggestions put forward by Utvol06 as compared to the RYR, Allicin, EPA/DHA and Coq10 concoction.


Yack

Would also like to note Garlic is also known to reduce the stickiness of blood platelets. The latest NIH study may show now reduction in Cholesterol, but I do believe it has other cardiac-protective properties like reducing inflammation in the arteries.

Okay, an update, as 3 months has passed since I bump my fish oil and switch to RYR.

My previous results:

May 22, 2011

Total Cholesterol - 259
Triglycerides - 187
HDL - 42
LDL 188

Started daily supplements of:
2 x 1000mg fish oil
1 x CoEnz Q10 100mg
4 x Dr Murray's Cholesterol Formula, with Sytrinol (2 morning, 2 night)

Sept 2, 2011

Total Cholesterol - 187
Triglycerides - 141
HDL - 37
LDL - 123

Change my supplements as of Sept:
3 x 1000mg fish oil
1 x CoEnz Q10 100mg
1 x Nature's Plus RYR nightly

Dec 13, 2011

Total Cholesterol - 135
Triglycerides - 120
HDL - 39
LDL - 70

I did not change my diet much, I would say it's a little worse than before, meaning a bit more deep fried foods. Exercise wise, I've increased it somewhat as my 5th metatarsal foot fracture I suffered in Mar 2011 has fully healed so I can jog again.

I am really happy about my LDL as it dropped significantly, gotta say RYR is great!! HDL bumped up a bit so I'm happy too as I expected to drop a bit with my increase in Omega 3s. Trig, it's lower but I expected better as I increased my Omega 3 dose, was hoping to lower it to 100 or so, maybe it's the grease I'm still consuming... maybe I need to bump up the fish oil still??

All in all, I'm happy. Thanks all for your insight in my original post.

Excellent news Ariakas, well done.

Good stuff isn't it? Works great for most, but obviously not for all.


ps: What is the EPA and DHA content of each capsule?

Yack.

Originally Posted by yackedar

Excellent news Ariakas, well done.

Good stuff isn't it? Works great for most, but obviously not for all.


ps: What is the EPA and DHA content of each capsule?

Yack.

Thanks Yack! Indeed good stuff.

As for EPA and DHA:

EPA - 400mg
DHA - 200mg