Much has been written about controlling cardiovascular disease by controlling cholesterol levels in the blood. You might not know this, but we don’t actually measure cholesterol directly. Instead, tests measure lipoproteins that transport cholesterol, which you might be more familiar with by the names HDL (high-density lipoprotein), LDL (low-density lipoprotein) et al. Levels of HDL, LDL, VLDL and other related lipids are actually blood lipid levels that are associated with cholesterol.
From time to time, we see people using Lipitor or Crestor with very low lipid levels. This is not healthy. Your brain and hormone systems need cholesterol to do their jobs and too low can be just as damaging as too high. The ideal range tends to be close to 180. If someone tells you that you have nothing to worry about because your lipid levels are around 125…don’t believe them.
With that off my chest, let’s talk about healthy lipid levels. In a typical medical practice, you might get your blood tested and if your combined levels of HDL, LDL and VLDL cholesterol total over 200, you are considered at rick for cardiovascular disease and you will most likely be told to watch your diet and take Lipitor or Crestor or other “cholesterol” lowering drugs.
At OVitaminPro, we like to take a more natural approach to prevention and management of cardiovascular disease. First, it’s helpful to know something about your family history. Not everybody has access to good information about your family history but, if you do, it can be helpful. If all the males in your family died of heart attacks by the age of 42, and you are a 35 year old male, you might want to take notice.
If your blood lipids are indeed higher than is optimal, we recommend a couple of things. First, an intermittent fasting diet. I won’t go into too much detail here except to mention it; you can do some basic research to learn more. We don’t have hard proof that this helps normalize liver enzymes, but we have seen some anecdotal evidence that link it with substantially lowered lipids in a short time.
Supplements can also be helpful, particularly those based on red yeast rice. Lipitor is also based on red yeast rice. You can get a natural version (CholestGenix) that doesn’t seem to have the negative effects of the drug versions. By negative effects, I mean increased risk of myalgia (muscle pain), neuralgia (nerve pain, especially in the extremities) and cognitive decline (memory and brain fog issues). CholestGenix is formulated to provide a mild, healthy lipid support. CholestGenix is a complex containing red yeast rice along with several other complementary ingredients, including CoQ10, phystosterols, guggul lipids and chromium to aid in the red yeast rice response. Taking 1-3 capsules twice a day is a typical dose. You should monitor your numbers in your blood test to make sure you are getting the effects you need. As a complement to improve cardiovascular health, we recommend Pure Encapsulations Nitric Oxide Support. This will help keep your arteries clear of plaques related to cholesterol complexes.
So schedule a blood test. If your lipid levels are high, begin a program of intermittent fasting along with your CholestGenix supplementation. Be vigilant with your regimen and re-check your levels in 6-8 weeks. You should see a nice shift toward a more normal level. If you don’t, you may need to add some time to your fasting intervals, that is maybe 15 hours instead of 14, and you may need to up your CholestGenix doses.
