Category: Cholesterol

A common side-effect of taking cholesterol-lowering drugs and how to get rid of it.

Statins are drugs that target the ‘bad’ cholesterol in the blood to try and reduce it.

Lowering the fatty substance can help to decrease the risk of hearth disease and stroke.

While the drugs are generally well-tolerated, there are a number of side-effects.

These can depend on the exact type of statin.

For people taking atorvastatin, though, one relatively common side-effect is myalgia, which means muscle pain.

Taking atorvastatin sometimes causes inflammation and damage to muscles, which is the cause of muscle pain.

If you are experiencing a side-effect like this, it is best to see your doctor and they may choose to do a blood test.

The blood test can help to determine if there are elevated levels of creatine kinase in your body.

Creatine kinase is a substance released when the muscles are damaged.

If the levels are elevated, your doctor may choose to take you off the statins for a period until the creatine kinase levels return to normal.

Then, later they may put you back on statins at a lower level.

Another way of avoiding muscle pain from taking statins is to do a little exercise (Lotteau et al., 2019).

Other common side-effects of statins include are headaches, stomach pain, dizziness, constipation and feeling sick.

In addition, some people taking the cholesterol medication report pins and needles in their hands and feet.

Alternatives to taking statins

Because of the side-effects of statins, researchers are looking for alternatives to lower cholesterol.

One method which has recently attracted attention is the use of natural foods with cholesterol-lowering properties.

One study gave patients foods with real ingredients, such as walnuts, dark chocolate and smoothies containing strawberries and bananas.

The foods used typically have high levels of plant sterols, fibre, omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants.

The results showed that cholesterol levels were decreased by 9 percent on average in three days, with some seeing reductions of 30 percent.

The study was published in the Journal of Nutrition (Kopecky et al., 2022).

Genetic evidence reveals the effect drinking milk has on cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

A high intake of milk won’t increase cholesterol levels, according to a large study of 2 million people.

In fact, those who drank milk every day had lower levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol than non-milk drinkers.

Moreover, higher intakes of milk were associated with a 14 percent reduced risk of coronary heart disease and an 11 percent reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

Increased consumption of high-fat dairy, due to their saturated fat content, may have negative effects on cardiovascular health.

Saturated fats have been associated with high blood cholesterol and cardiovascular disease (CVDs) risk.

However, several studies have found that consumption of milk and low-fat dairy products lead to lower cholesterol levels and lower risk of CVDs.

This study examined the effect of milk intake on cardio-metabolic risk (risk factors for developing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes) using a genetic approach by looking at the lactase gene variant.

Lactase is a digestive enzyme which breaks down lactose, a sugar found in milk and milk products.

The enzyme is encoded by the lactase (LCT) gene.

The team found that people who drink higher amounts of milk have the genetic variation that digests lactose.

Professor Vimal Karani, the study’s lead author, said:

“We found that among participants with a genetic variation that we associated with higher milk intake, they had higher BMI, body fat, but importantly had lower levels of good and bad cholesterol.

We also found that those with the genetic variation had a significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease.

All of this suggests that reducing the intake of milk might not be necessary for preventing cardiovascular diseases.”

The reasons that high milk intake can lower cholesterol levels might be related to:

• Calcium and lactose in milk influencing fat metabolism.
• Compared to other dairy foods, milk is low in fat but people with lactose intolerance, to get their calcium intakes, tend to eat high fat dairy products which contain higher amounts of cholesterol.
• Calcium intake from foods such as milk enhances bile acid  removal and so causes hepatic cholesterol to generate bile acids, consequently this process leads to a reduction of cholesterol levels.
• Gut microbial fermentation of indigestible carbohydrates such as lactose can affect cholesterol production causing cholesterol levels to drop.

Professor Vimal Karanis aid:

“The study certainly shows that milk consumption is not a significant issue for cardiovascular disease risk even though there was a small rise in BMI and body fat among milk drinkers.

What we do note in the study is that it remains unclear whether it is the fat content in dairy products that is contributing to the lower cholesterol levels or it is due to an unknown ‘milk factor’.”

The study was published in the International Journal of Obesity (Vimaleswaran et al., 2021).

The food contains a healthy fibre that reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Eating barley and barley products lowers the levels of two types of “bad” cholesterol; LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and non-HDL (non-high-density lipoprotein).

Barley contains β-glucan, which is responsible for lowering “bad” cholesterol.

β-glucan is a soluble fibre that benefits the gut flora and increases good bacteria like Lactobacilli while reducing bad bacteria like Enterobacteriaceae.

The non-HDL cholesterol includes those type of lipoproteins that contribute to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

A review and analysis of different studies confirms that barley can lower these two types of “bad” cholesterol by at least seven percent.

Dr Vladimir Vuksan, study co-author, said:

“Barley has a lowering effect on the total bad cholesterol in these high-risk individuals, but can also benefit people without high cholesterol.”

In a different study, participates who had pasta enriched with 3 grams of barley β-glucan benefited from an increase in good gut bacteria and reduction in LDL cholesterol.

Every day for two months, they ate 100 grams of pasta made of 25 percent grain barley flour and 75 percent durum wheat flour.

The food was well tolerated and there were no signs of abdominal pain, flatulence, or bloating.

Despite the fact that barley is higher in β-glucan than oats, and offers several health benefits, it is not as popular as some other healthy foods.

Barley contains lower calories, higher protein and fibre than oats which are important factors for people with dietary or weight problems.

Dr Vuksan said:

“After looking at the evidence, we can also say that barley is comparably effective as oats in reducing overall risk of cardiovascular disease.”

The review was published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Ho et al., 2016) and the second study was published the journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology (Angeliset al., 2015).

‘Bad’ cholesterol can block the arteries, leading to cardiovascular disease.

Eating oats reduces levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol in the body, research finds.

Bad cholesterol can block the arteries, leading to cardiovascular disease.

Oats are a rich source of beta-glucan, a fibre that provides a range of benefits.

However, it may be difficult to get the recommended amount of oat fibre from oatmeal alone.

Instead, the researchers recommend oat bran, as this has double the amount of beta-glucan.

Oat bran is available as a cereal and is also in some baked goods.

The conclusions come from a review of 58 clinical trials including almost 4,000 people.

These studies examined the effect of eating diets enriched with oats on LDL cholesterol (or ‘lousy’ cholesterol), non-HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B.

Apolipoprotein B is a lipoprotein that transports bad cholesterol through the blood.

Dr. Vladimir Vuksan, who led the study, explained the results:

“Diets enriched with about 3.5 grams a day of beta-glucan fiber from oats were found to modestly improve LDL cholesterol, but also non-HDC and apoB compared to control diets.”

The study found that LDL cholesterol was reduced by 4.2 percent, non-HDL cholesterol by 4.8 percent and apoB by 2.3 percent.

One of the first studies, conducted in 1963, found that changing from white bread to oat bread lowered LDL cholesterol.

The study was published in the British Journal of Nutrition (Ho et al., 2016).

A plant that lowers “bad” cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease.

Beneforte broccoli, or ‘super broccoli’, is a type of broccoli that has been bred to increase glucoraphanin levels by three times.

Glucoraphanin naturally occurs in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower.

Several studies have shown that diets rich in cruciferous vegetables help lower the risk of cancer and heart disease.

A recent study suggests that super broccoli can lower levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol by 6 percent.

To test the effect of super broccoli, researchers gave participants either 400g of standard broccoli or super broccoli weekly for a period of three months.

These volunteers were not on any dietary restrictions and they just added the vegetable to their normal diet for 12 weeks.

After three months, the blood LDL cholesterol levels or the “bad” cholesterol was decreased 6 percent on average.

High LDL levels are a heart disease risk factor as it can result in buildup of cholesterol in the arteries.

Despite the small but significant reduction of LDL in this study, in reality, even a 1 percent reduction in LDL cholesterol has been shown to lower the risk of coronary artery disease by 2 percent.

Glucoraphanin helps our body to improve cellular metabolism, where sugar, protein and fat is converted into energy.

If this process doesn’t work properly, then the food that we eat turns to lots of fat or sugar, leading to elevated blood cholesterol levels.

Our body converts glucoraphanin to an active compound called sulphoraphane that activate the specific genes known as  ‘antioxidant’ genes.

These genes, as part of our immune system, can protect our body from many diseases and environmental toxins.

They also stimulate our bodies’ defences to adjust the metabolism and reduce LDL cholesterol production.

In addition to cruciferous vegetables, plant sterols or stanols and  beta-glucans in oats have been shown to lower LDL cholesterol, therefore eating these foods regularly could indeed benefit heart health.

The study was published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (Armah et al., 2015).

A nut-enriched diet may be essential for those who want to reduce heart disease and stroke risk.

Eating nuts regularly has been shown to lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death rates from CVD.

Studies show that adding half-a-cup of walnuts to our everyday diet can decrease the levels of bad cholesterol, the number of small low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles, and total LDL particles, as well as lowering blood pressure.

Walnuts contain a type of omega-3 called alpha-linolenic acid, which is heart healthy.

The conclusions come from a study that examined the effect of walnuts on cardiovascular health and wellbeing.

For this, 708 healthy adults who were 63 to 79-years-old received a daily doses of 30 to 60 grams of walnuts for two years.

Dr Emilio Ros, study co-author, said:

“Prior studies have shown that nuts in general, and walnuts in particular, are associated with lower rates of heart disease and stroke.

One of the reasons is that they lower LDL-cholesterol levels, and now we have another reason: they improve the quality of LDL particles.

LDL particles come in various sizes.

Research has shown that small, dense LDL particles are more often associated with atherosclerosis, the plaque or fatty deposits that build up in the arteries.

Our study goes beyond LDL cholesterol levels to get a complete picture of all of the lipoproteins and the impact of eating walnuts daily on their potential to improve cardiovascular risk.”

Here is a summary of their findings:

• Total cholesterol levels reduced by 8.5 mg/dL , and LDL (the bad cholesterol) levels by 4.3 mg/dL.
• The number of small LDL particles fell by 6.1 percent and total LDL particles by 4.3 percent. These alterations in LDL particle concentration found to lower cardiovascular disease risk.
• Levels of Intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDLs) decreased. IDLs are similar to LDL as they can build up plaque in the arteries and so become a risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
• Men apparently benefited more from eating walnuts as they saw a reduction of 7.9 percent in LDL cholesterol whereas this was only 2.6 percent for women.

Dr Ros said:

“While this is not a tremendous decrease in LDL cholesterol, it’s important to note that at the start of the study all our participants were quite healthy, free of major non-communicable diseases.

For individuals with high blood cholesterol levels, the LDL cholesterol reduction after a nut-enriched diet may be much greater.

Eating a handful of walnuts every day is a simple way to promote cardiovascular health.

Many people are worried about unwanted weight gain when they include nuts in their diet.

Our study found that the healthy fats in walnuts did not cause participants to gain weight.”

Another study by Mohammadifard and colleagues found that people who eat nuts 2+ weekly are 17 percent less likely to die from heart disease.

Several other studies have also found that eating nuts has other health benefits.

For example, Pribis and team revealed that eating one handful of walnuts a day improves mood by 28 percent.

Another piece of research found that eating nuts regularly strengthens brainwaves related to cognition, learning, memory and even healing.

As well as being high in alpha-linolenic acid, walnuts and pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts and other nuts are rich sources of antioxidants like polyphenols and phytosterols that improve heart health.

The study was published in the journal Circulation (Rajaram et al., 2021).

Drinking this beverage is linked to unhealthy levels of lipids in the blood.

Regular drinking of sugary beverages will increase levels of triglycerides and decrease high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, known as the “good” cholesterol, a study has found.

Adults in this study who had one sugary drink per day had a 98 percent greater risk of low HDL and a 53 percent increased risk of developing high triglycerides.

Triglycerides are fats carried in the blood and abnormal levels of these fats (lipids) combined with high LDL (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, known as “bad” cholesterol) or low HDL cholesterol can build up in the arteries.

Half of American adults have dyslipidemia, which is the medical term for abnormal levels of lipids in the blood.

Dyslipidemia can lead to atherosclerosis and possible consequences are heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.

Dr Nicola McKeown, study co-author, said:

“The results suggest that high intake of drinks with added sugar, such as soda, lemonade or fruit punch, may influence risk for dyslipidemia as we age.

One dietary strategy to help maintain healthier blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels may be to avoid drinks with added sugars.”

The research team also checked if diet drinks or 100 percent fruit juice would be a better option than sugar-sweetened beverages.

But they didn’t find enough evidence that these drinks will reduce the risk of developing dyslipidemia.

Dr McKeown said:

“We are better off quenching our thirst with water.

The emerging research on long-term consumption of diet soda on health is inconclusive, so it is prudent to say diet drinks should only be an occasional indulgence.

As for 100% fruit juice, best to limit consumption and consume whole fruits when possible, as recommended by the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.”

The study analysed dietary data of 5,900 American adults as well as changes in their blood cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations based on frequency and the types of beverages they drank.

Dr McKeown concluded:

“Our findings show that what we put in our glass may contribute to greater risk of cardiovascular disease via worsening of lipid levels.

Managing blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels is an important goal and a promising strategy for preventing heart attack and stroke,”

The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association (Haslam et al., 2020).