Over 16 percent of U.S. adults have high cholesterol, defined as 240 mg/dL and above, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Even the average level of Americans, 200 mg/dL, is borderline high, they say.
This high cholesterol, public health agencies say, is putting people at an increased risk of heart disease. This stated ‘fact’ scares millions of Americans into take statin cholesterol-lowering drugs to get their levels as low as possible.
But what if this ‘fact’ was actually not true?
Click here to read on for more information regarding the truth on cholesterol
See below for Dr. Bastomski’s comment
I have been following this controversial item for over a decade and my opinion remains that statins are vastly over prescribed.
If one is going to take a statin then they should also almost certainly be taking CoQ10 (100 to 300mg per day) along with it. Many alternative MD’s feel that the rise in congestive heart failure is directly related to the large intake of statins by the elderly population and its side effect of reducing your CoQ10 levels leads to congestive heart disease. This connection goes unnoticed because after all it is just old age that is causing the congestive heart disease, or so the uninformed would have you believe.
When I first started in practice in 1980, a cholesterol level of 300 was considered normal. Steadily the acceptable normal number has been lowered to the current level of 200.
First thing to do if you have high cholesterol is to reduce dramatically the amount of sugar and carbohydrates in your diet. Elevated sugar intake directly causes an elevation of your cholesterol. Read labels and limit your daily intake of carbohydrates to 70 grams per day. The average American is now taking in about 155 pounds of refined carbohydrates per year.
If you are concerned about your cardiovascular risk, besides looking at your cholesterol and its associated LDL (“bad” cholesterol) and HDL (“good” cholesterol) levels, you want to also have your doctor check other markers of cardiovascular inflammation including homocystein, C reactive protein and fibrinogen levels. This together with your triglyceride levels gives you a much more informative picture of your true cardiovascular risk.
If you have elevated cholesterol, one of the best and least expensive remedies has been known for many years but goes underutilized because of its side effects of causing a 20 to 30 minute flushing reaction. It has the extra benefit of significantly elevating the level of your good cholesterol. Niacin is the vitamin of choice I am referring to. Take 100 mg in the AM and PM with food.
Please feel free to call my office at (805) 569-5000 to schedule an appointment if you would like to discuss more about cholesterol.
Dr. Jacob Bastomski, a board-certified chiropractic neurologist, has served the Santa Barbara area since 1981. As a Santa Barbara chiropractor, Dr. Bastomski seeks to improve health through functional neurology and clinical nutrition.
Please contact us anytime at (805) 569-5000 if you’re looking for a holistic approach to alleviate your Sciatica or lower back pain, especially if traditional medical approaches have failed. Less severe back pain may only require one to five spinal adjustments. Dr. Bastomski’s Back to Health Wellness Center is located at 1900 State St. Suite H in Santa Barbara.
