Cardiologist said can’t reduce cholesterol much through lifestyle changes

[DannyDyersBalloon]

Has anyone managed to significantly reduce their cholesterol levels through lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise? My cardiologist has said that there is no point making yourself miserable by trying as it isn’t possible.

I went from 5.3 to 3.8 in 3 months using just lifestyle/diet changes.

You are very lucky in that case but it's not possible for everyone.

I guess he meant by denying myself some of the pleasures of life food wise.

It doesn’t make much sense to hate the thought of taking medication when you have been fine with having an appalling diet and lifestyle. In your position, I’d sort your diet and lifestyle out and take the medication. It was really irresponsible for a cardiologist to have said what they did about being miserable, they should encourage a healthy lifestyle regardless.

I didn’t say I was fine with having appalling diet and lifestyle. I have eating disorders and depression.

Sorry to hear that. And sorry if I sounded harsh, reading back I can see it could sound like that but I didn’t mean for it to be. 💐

I just meant that having a bad diet and lifestyle are far worse for you than taking medication that will actually help your body be healthier, so it’s not logical to worry about taking statins in your situation. Take the medication and try to improve your diet and lifestyle alongside them if you can. Have you sought professional help for your eating disorder and depression? I know that can be easier said than done and that there isn’t always that much help out there unfortunately but it’s worth trying if you haven’t.

Thanks. I am fortunate to be getting a lot of help privately and I’m grateful I’m not relying on the NHS.

What's difficult for many women, as we get older, is that we are recommended to increase our cheese and milk intake to offset osteopenia osteoarthritis.

I’m pleased to hear that. I really hope it helps and that things improve for you.

I managed to lower my cholesterol by diet alone. The doctor is wrong.

I lost 3.5 stone, exercised every day, ate like a monk… and my cholesterol went up slightly.

Went on Rosuvastatin, no side effects, cholesterol now completely normal.

DH had exactly the same experience.

Why do you think that?

Is there any clear evidence that daily statins will be of any benefit whatsoever to people who are fit and well? Can they be proven to benefit anyone other than people who have already been diagnosed with heart disease?

I used to be like you OP. I got told I needed to take statins and thought "pfft, I'll just cut down on stuff and I'll be ok"....what an idiot I was. I now have a stent following the STEMI I had last year and I'm taking statins.

Thanks for sharing that @Dontcallmescarface. I need to stop whingeing and just take the statins 😀

If your diet is appalling you need to change that anyway because even if it doesn’t affect your cholesterol it will definitely affect you in other ways

I have just been prescribed Rosuvastatin.

My triglycerides are hideously high so i will give them a go

Surely that would mean almost everyone has this genetic thing that means changes to diet and exercise won’t help…? Seems hard to believe.

Please do because if you hate taking medication (as I do), then having to take 8 different tablets a day, which is my morning regime now, comes as quite a shock I can tell you. 😄

I have a cholesterol level (total) of between 5.2-5.6 taken within the last three years. Latest one is 5.6. I'm an oldie now at 67 and proud of it!

While in hospital three years ago for Atrial Fibrillation (it is NOT heart disease BTW), I had a cardiac CT scan which checks if calcium is in the arteries. The score from that test is a marker for the presence of plaque. To my surprise I had a score of zero which is the best there is.

So now, despite my GP encouraging statins for me I politely decline and will take my chances based on the cardiac calcium CT. I live in hope and continue to enjoy real butter and many of the other forbidden fruits!

I think a cardiac calcium scan should be offered to those with high cholesterol, so if it is a good score statins can be avoided. It makes more sense to me in comparison to a lifetime on statins. I was lucky to get one I suppose.. I won't need another calcium CT for ten years.

Agreed but I guess it would be too expensive to scan everyone with high cholesterol on the NHS. I had a scan done privately which confirmed some furring of the arteries so the Cardiologist said I should go on statins because of that.

And you doubt this highly trained and specialised doctor because...?

The medical profession overprescribes statins.

According to many you tubers statins do very little to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Listen to Dr Suneel Dhand and many others.

PharmaNord likes profits and the public is very easy to convince.

Lifestyle/diet changes will only make a small difference if trying to reduce for most people.

That said, if you are on a keto diet and not massively overweight then adding carbs back in would reduce your cholesterol numbers more. People who are leaner (less heavy) tend to have larger cholesterol shifts with diet changes (look up Lean Mass Hyper Responders).

At one point my LDL was over 11.

Currently I am mostly high-protein, low carb and moderate fat diet. Eggs, Salmon, Avocados etc. My cardiologist has no issues with this and in fact had no issue with my diet when I was keto - that shows how little difference diet makes.

The best thing you can do that is not meds is stop eating refined carbs (which leads to higher blood sugar, higher insulin resistance, higher blood shear rate, more arterial inflammation and therefore ultimately more plaque) and do a good amount of exercise every day.

Look up the videos by Thomas Dayspring for more complex and mechanistic info. but LDL by itself is not thought to be the most important marker nowadays. Triglycerides (and ratio to HDL) is thought to be far more important as a risk gauge.

But with specific regard to LDL it’s best to know that it’s not the quantity/amount of LDL that matters most, it’s the number of particles because small particles of LDL are bad (small enough to go through the endothelium) but large particles of LDL are good (too big to go through the endothelium).

It is possible to get LDL sub-fraction tests (LDL-p) privately to test the particle sizes and counts, mine cost about £100 in London. It showed that whilst the simplistic NHS test said I had more cholesterol quantity than my cardiologist liked the more advanced private test showed I have practically no small LDL particles so my private cardiologist is happy. I had a costly private angiogram to check how little plaque I now have (having reduced it).

Remember that LDL is not a problem unless your arteries are damaged and LDL does not damage arteries. Smoking, high blood pressure, high insulin resistance and inflammation from too much blood sugar for decades are what damages arteries.

You can try Berberine supplement too to reduce cholesterol levels. Also, Niacin (flush-type) and high dose EPA fish oil (minimum 2g / day) have both been shown in good studies to reduce soft unstable arterial plaque.

I've not tried tbh as my consultant at specialist cholesterol clinic said the same especially as I've familial high cholesterol

I'm the same as you.