Best Weight Loss Tips: Cholesterol

Do Cholesterol Medications Make You Fat?

by Kevin DiDonato, MS, CSCS, CES <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 12px; width: auto;">Are you over the <a href="http://myfitnesshut.getprograde.com/prevent-middle-age-death.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #16387c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">age of 45</a>? Do you exercise regularly? Are you one of the 25 percent of adults that needs statins - the cholesterol-lowering medication? If so, you may be impairing your body’s ability to adapt to exercise. And this may not be good news for people who are not just older, but older AND overweight. Before we get into the surprising findings, there is some background information you should know about… Statins and Exercise Statins are normally prescribed by doctors, cardiologists, and other healthcare practitioners as a way to lower your total cholesterol numbers, lower your LDL cholesterol, and in some cases, increase your HDL cholesterol. This type of medication is used to control at least one factor associated with heart disease, and is also commonly prescribed after a heart attack or stroke has happened. Statins are one of the FIVE core medications routinely prescribed to heart attack survivors and other people who are at an increased risk for heart disease or having a heart attack. Now, however, current research suggests that statins may be linked to skeletal muscle myopathy (muscle disease often associated with weakness), and impaired mitochondrial function. But, the use of statins and inhibiting exercise adaptions has not been fully investigated, or it’s unclear if statin use is a culprit. Until now! A new study released by Duke University shows that statin use may be linked to impaired adaptions to exercise. Here’s what they found: The study included 37 participants who were divided into an exercise-only group or an exercise and statin group. They found that exercise alone increased cardiorespiratory fitness by 10 percent. However, the participants exercising with statins showed a 1.5 percent increase in cardiorespiratory fitness levels. Similarly, in the exercise-only group, muscle citrate synthase activity (measure of mitochondrial function) increased by 13 percent, but in the exercise and statin group, it decreased by 4.5 percent. What did they conclude?</div><blockquote style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 12px;"><div style="width: auto;">“Simvastatin attenuates increases in cardiorespiratory fitness and skeletal muscle mitochondrial content when combined with exercise training in overweight or obese patients at risk of the metabolic syndrome.”</div></blockquote><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 12px; width: auto;">Exercise and Statin Use Exercise is an important – often vital – component to a healthy life. For those who are at risk for cardiovascular disease, including walking, jogging, biking, or swimming may lead to improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol, and other factors related to heart health. And for those who are 45 years and older, exercise may be one of the BIGGEST factors for improvements in health and longevity. But, there is sad news.  Roughly 25 percent of people, who are 45 years and older, may currently be taking a statin in order to control cholesterol. And this may pose problems for exercise and the adaptations related to exercise. According to the study above, statin use may decrease the adaptions associated with exercise, therefore possibly reducing the positive effects that may be seen with exercise. Although statins may be important for <a href="http://myfitnesshut.getprograde.com/essential-fatty-acid.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #16387c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, serif; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">better heart health</a>, they may disrupt how your body adapts to your current exercise program. <div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Mark Dilworth, BA, PES</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><a data-mce-href="http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com/" href="http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">My Fitness Hut</a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> </div></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"></div></div>

Do Cholesterol Medications Make You Fat?

by Kevin DiDonato, MS, CSCS, CES Are you over the age of 45 ? Do you exercise regularly? Are you one of the 25 percent of adults that needs...

What You Should Know About Cholesterol Before Taking Medication

by Dr. Peter Osborne Author: <a href="http://healthhut.glutefree.hop.clickbank.net/?page=freereport">"The Truth about Gluten"</a> High cholesterol is a household word in America. We have been told that it causes heart disease and stroke. We have been told to eat less animal fat. We have been told to eat more carbohydrates and fiber. We have been told that children as young as 2 years old should have their cholesterol checked. We have been marketed to by cereal companies. They tell us to eat whole grain sugar loaded cereals (i.e. Honey Nut Cheerios and Lucky Charms) to lower our cholesterol and prevent heart disease. Drug companies like Merck and Pfizer have told us that we need to take artificial chemicals to lower cholesterol. Our doctors have told us that we should use these medications for the rest of our lives… Has anyone stopped to ask why? Does it sound reasonable to put an 8 year old on cholesterol medication? It is reasonable to think that a processed cereal with excessive sugar be used as a tool to improve health? Is it reasonable to believe that we need to avoid eggs and animal protein and take a drug to keep the body functioning normally? What did we do before the medicine? Statistically speaking, heart disease and stroke are on the rise in spite of the use of preventative cardiovascular medicines. So the big question is: If taking these medications prevents heart disease, why are people dying from heart disease in record numbers? Let’s take a look at the scientific facts surrounding this issue: High cholesterol as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease is a disproven theory. Many medical experts have refuted this hypothesis for years.(1-2) Studies using cholesterol medications to lower the risk for heart disease are funded and sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. Both the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine & Journal of the American Medical Association have admitted that published papers in the two journals are often times fraught with conflicts of interest and that many studies that yield non beneficial drug effects go unreported. Many studies overstate the benefit of medication use by manipulating statistics and reporting relative risk reduction instead of actual risk reduction. For example, a recent study reported a 53% “relative” reduction in heart disease using Crestor, but the actual risk reduction was only 0.9%. Multiple studies have shown that people with higher cholesterol live longer.(5) High cholesterol has not been shown to be a risk factor for heart disease in women, diabetics, coronary heart disease patients, or the elderly.(3) As a matter of fact, several studies have shown that higher cholesterol levels in the elderly population is associated with greater longevity and a reduced risk of dying from cancer and infection.(4-5) Add the following facts to the above information: Low cholesterol has been linked to an increased risk of stroke, depression, aggressive and violent behavior, and suppression of immunity. Risk Vs. Benefit When considering the use of any medication it is important to know what NNT (numbers needed to treat) means. NNT is a value that rates the efficacy of a medication. The NNT for statin drugs is about 100. This means for one person to receive the benefit of the medication, 100 people have to be taking it. That’s a whopping 1% efficacy value. When you take into account the side effects of cholesterol lowering medications the question becomes: Is it worth it? How can something responsible for so many critical functions be so bad? 1. Cholesterol is a precursor to all sex steroids (progesterone, testosterone, estrogen). 2. Cholesterol allows your body to make vitamin D (deficiency of vitamin D causes heart disease). 3. Cholesterol allows your body to make Coenzyme Q10 (Deficiency of CoQ10 causes congestive heart failure and high blood pressure.) 4. Cholesterol helps fight viral and bacterial infection. 5. Cholesterol is necessary for brain cells to form communication synapses. If you need more help, get your FREE download, <a href="http://healthhut.glutefree.hop.clickbank.net/?page=freereport">"The Truth about Gluten."</a> Dr. Osborne is an expert in functional medicine and chiropractic care.  He is Board Certified in Nutritional Medicine.  You can contact  his office at 281-240-2229.  He regularly  treats patients from across  the world.  His office is in Sugar Land, Texas in the Greater Houston  area. References: (Not all are listed, but they are available by request.) 1. Rosch PJ. Cholesterol does not cause coronary heart disease in contrast to stress. Scand Cardiovasc J. 2008 Aug;42(4):244-9. 2. Ravnskov U, Rosch PJ, Houston MC. Should we lower cholesterol as much as possible? BMJ2006;332:1330-1332. 3. Ravnskov U. Should medical science ignore the past? BMJ 2008;337:a1681. 4. Krumholz HM, et al. JAMA 1994;272(17):1335-1340. 5. Weverling AW, et al. Lancet 1997;18(9085):1119-23. Mark Dilworth, BA, PES <a href="http://yourfitnessuniversity.com/">Your Fitness University</a> <a href="http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com/">My Fitness Hut</a> <a href="http://herfitnesshut.com/">Her Fitness Hut</a> <a href="http://sportsfitnesshut.blogspot.com/">Sports Fitness Hut</a> <a href="http://rapidfatlossandsixpackabs.com/">Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs</a>

What You Should Know About Cholesterol Before Taking Medication

by Dr. Peter Osborne Author: "The Truth about Gluten" High cholesterol is a household word in America. We have been told that it c...

Your Checklist to Lower Cholesterol

<a href="http://www.lisanelsonrd.com/">By Lisa Nelson, RD, LN</a> Here's a checklist of the top steps you must take if you want to successfully lower your cholesterol and keep it low. Know your numbers Have you had a lipid profile? Do you understand the numbers? If you are going to successfully lower cholesterol you need to know your numbers and what they mean. The most effective way to raise HDL is not necessarily the best way to lower LDL. Evaluate your lifestyle There are risk factors for high cholesterol that you cannot control, such as age, gender, and family history, but there are factors you can control. For example, you can reduce risk by not smoking, increasing your activity, and losing extra weight. Balance your fats Reduce unhealthy saturated fats in your diet and replace them with heart healthy unsaturated fats. Total fat intake should be 30% or less of your total daily calories. Out of this 30%, saturated fat should be limited to 7%. Be active Physical activity lowers triglycerides and raises HDL (good) cholesterol. Shoot for 30 minutes 5 or more days a week. If you are not currently active, check with your MD before beginning an activity program. Eliminate trans fats You need to be food label savvy and watch out for trans fats. Trans fats raise LDL (bad) cholesterol, lower HDL (good) cholesterol, and raise triglycerides. Limit trans fats to 1% or less of your daily caloric intake. Understand triglycerides Triglycerides are impacted the most by your simple sugar and alcohol intake. If you are struggling with high triglycerides, you need to take a different approach to get your cholesterol under control. Increase dietary fiber A high fiber diet is necessary for heart health. You need 25-35 grams of dietary fiber daily, especially soluble fiber. For every 1-2 grams of daily soluble fiber intake, LDL (bad) cholesterol is lowered 1%. Add omega 3 fatty acids For heart health and lower cholesterol, you want to improve the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids are involved in the regulation of heart rate, blood pressure, and blood clotting. If you're ready for regular heart health and weight loss tips from dietitian Lisa Nelson, sign up for <a href="http://www.lisanelsonrd.com/">The Heart of Health</a> today and grab your copy of the special report: Stop Wasting Money - Take Control of Your Health!" Mark Dilworth, BA, PES <a href="http://yourfitnessuniversity.com">Your Fitness University</a> <a href="http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com">My Fitness Hut</a> <a href="http://herfitnesshut.com">Her Fitness Hut</a> <a href="http://sportsfitnesshut.blogspot.com">Sports Fitness Hut</a> <a href="http://rapidfatlossandsixpackabs.com">Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs</a>

Your Checklist to Lower Cholesterol

By Lisa Nelson, RD, LN Here's a checklist of the top steps you must take if you want to successfully lower your cholesterol and keep it ...