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Cholesterol : UnderstandingTriglycerides May Change Your Diets and Lifestyle..
A government study found that raising levels of HDL "good" cholesterol with a drug did not reduce the risk of heart disease.Patients taking the drug (torcetrapib) together with Zocor (a statin) had higher levels of HDL and lower levels of triglycerides, which is a fat in the blood. These patients fared no better and may have done slightly worse than those taking Zocor alone. That is why the entire theory behind trying to increase HDL levels in patients with heart disease may need to think through and reevaluate their theory. Why? This is because, the relationship of HDL to risk of heart disease and stroke assumes that people are not changing their diet or drugs. But the result is very different when you try to raise HDL levels, whether by diet or by drugs. Not everything that raises HDL is good for you. Like, when you increase the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet, you may increase your HDL because your body is trying to get rid of the extra fat and cholesterol by increasing the HDL, if you are genetically able to do so. Niacin will raise your HDL, and so will another drug, torcetrapib. Recently, scientists announced that niacin not only did not provide any protection against heart attacks when taken with a statin drug in patients with heart disease but also slightly increased their risk of stroke. In fact, five years ago, researchers found that torcetrapib actually increased the risk of a heart attack, so they had to stop the study and take the drug off the market. Both drugs raise HDL by interfering with reverse cholesterol transport, causing HDL to build up. It's like having a traffic jam. Not everything that lowers HDL is bad for you. If you change from a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet to a healthy low‑fat, low-cholesterol diet, your HDL levels may stay the same or even decrease temporarily because there is less need for it. This is true because instead of just measuring risk factors like HDL, measurements were taken to monitor the progression of coronary heart disease in people who went on diets that were very low in cholesterol, saturated fat, total fat, and refined carbohydrates and high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and soy products. Their HDL levels came down by 9 percent after one year, but their LDL "bad" cholesterol levels came down by an average of 40 percent. Not one of these patients was on cholesterol-lowering drugs.(statins) Also, there were 2.5 times fewer cardiac events such as heart attacks, bypass surgery, and angioplasty in these patients. People living in countries such as Asia that consume a low-fat diet have low HDL levels yet among the lowest rates of heart disease in the world. So, rather than concerned about how to raise your HDL, eat a whole foods, plant-based diet, and spend a few minutes a day exercising, meditating, and loving more. Heart disease is completely preventable today in at least 95 percent of people simply by changing their diet and lifestyle. You don't need a new drug or breakthrough technology. For the full article go to: Cholesterol: The Good, the Bad and the Truth For a better understanding please view the video below and form your opinion. High Blood Cholesterol and Triglycerides (Dyslipidemia)
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