High Cholesterol - Editor's Choice

In July, my husband's doctor was concerned because his cholesterol (specifically, the "bad cholesterol") was elevated AND his calcium cardiac test revealed significant blockages in all of the main arteries in his heart. My husband has a bad heart history in his family.

His doctor said, "I can write you a prescription for statins or you can go vegan, gluten free, sugar free." The doctor said that would be the diet that could potentially reduce the plaque in his arteries.

So, my meat and potatoes husband went gf, sf, vegan. (He didn't have to give up potatoes! ) This is about how I eat anyway, due to Alpha Gal Syndrome. It was more motivating to make interesting meals for more than just myself.

Anyway, labs this week were the proof in the pudding!

In six months, his total cholesterol went from 182 to 122!

In six months, his LDL went from 121 to 65!

I am very proud of him.

We did not repeat the calcium cardiac score yet due to the significant amount of radiation exposure with that, but these numbers plus the other health benefits are motivating him to stay on this diet.

Some other things to note, which may have helped to improve his numbers -

He eats oatmeal every day for breakfast. Oatmeal is supposed to be good for cholesterol.

He eats raw baby carrots with guacamole or hummus with his lunch 5 days a week. Carrots are supposed to be good for cholesterol.

He uses a monkfruit sweetener in his coffee. He also uses oatmilk as a cream alternative.

My primary oil to use is olive oil. We also use some plant butter.

I make so many lentil recipes, his potassium is actually a tad elevated. (Lentils are a good source of potassium! )

I have made many, many recipes from a food blog - minimalist baker. They have been a lifesaver - fast recipes with not a ton of ingredients - and delicious. She even has a df, gf biscuit recipe that is amazing.

My husband's blood pressure is doing much better on this diet and he has been able to cut his blood pressure med in half and still has better readings than he did 6 months ago on the full dose! He may be able to get off this med completely.

He does eat fish and chicken and bread once in a while, mostly when we go out and he does partake in celebratory meals like weddings and holidays - he just tries to be moderate with portion sizes.

Oh, and he lost 50 pounds total without any effort beyond the effort of staying on the diet!

I am thankful for his perseverance. I want him to be around a long time. :)

~Mama to Many~

My husband was very faithful in taking these supplements for a year. He made no other changes to diet, supplements, exercise, etc.

A year later (January 2020) his cholesterol was higher and his LDL was worse! Hmmphh.

So we dropped those supplements. No use taking them or wasting money on them anymore.

I suggested oatmeal. Like, oatmeal for breakfast EVERY day. I eat a lot of oatmeal and my cholesterol has always been on the lower side. And some studies seem to show that oat lowers cholesterol. He was game.

So every morning for the last six months, (at least 13 out of 14 mornings), he and I have had a bowl of oatmeal together. He made no other dietary changes or changes in exercise or supplements.

Sometimes I make steel cut oats in the instant pot with dried cranberries and coconut flakes. Sometimes I made quick oats on the stovetop and add fresh fruit like oatmeal or peaches. I add a little salt and maple syrup. I put a little butter in his and a little plant butter in mine.

Six months and about 175 bowls of oatmeal later, he had labs done again.

His total cholesterol dropped from 198 to 182. (An 8% drop! )

His LDL went from 140 to 121. (Still higher than desired but a 13% drop! )

His LDL/HDL ratio is back in the "normal" range.

We will continue our breakfast for oatmeal routine. Perhaps over time there will be more improvement. I will let you know!

~Mama to Many~

Within a month, my psoriasis was down to 50% ( my body was 75% covered). Then I went to the lecithin granules. 1 Tablespoon 3x a day. The point to all of this is I took lecithin for 30 years daily, and never got over 180 cholesterol number.

Also, her cure for high cholesterol was lecithin, among other things. The lecithin after 6 months got rid of the psoriasis, but I kept taking it to keep from getting it back, because as soon as soon as I lowered the dose it would start appearing again.

I read an article that said soy lecithin was bad, because of the hormones and that the soy was GMO, so I stopped it. I was getting into coconut oil. I started the oil pulling, and also took a TBL a day to ingest. And what do you know? My cholesterol went up to 230 ......so after some research, I did stop ingesting coconut oil. My cholesterol went back down to 180.

I cannot take fish oil either. It makes me bruise all over my body legs and arms, and these bruises last for months. But that's why I think that some people have a disordered lipid system. I think that people with psoriasis do not process fat or lipids properly, or that the lipids we ingest are not the right kind. I do know that there is clean organic lecithin at the vitamin stores.

Diatomaceous Earth is very effective at lowering high cholesterol. Even at lower dosing, but a tablespoon per day dosing is quite effective and fairly fast. This allows you to completely avoid the statins which are well established to create new health problems.

I am prone to making calcium deposits on arteries and organs.

On 10/13/17 I had a lipid panel done with borderline results. I also had a stuck bile stone, causing misery and moving towards surgery. I did not change my diet, which is reasonably health conscious but added a daily dose of 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar mixed with apple cider to make is deliciously palatable.

In six weeks, in the middle of Qigong class while doing a gentle abdominable exercise, the stone released... dramatically and with great relief. Took my lipid panel again in 3 months with dramatic results, and again six weeks later with a different lab, just to be sure. And one and a half years later after a 6 month total diet derailment due to stress circumstances of a critically ill husband unable to assimilate food, and I undermined myself by eating his food to not waste it.

Here are the numbers. 10/13/17 chol-252, hdl -61, ldl 167,,tri -120 1/8/18 chol-61, hdl 58, ldl-109, tri-89 2-24-18 Chol- 189, hel-71, ldl-100 tri-91, and the backslide: 7/26/19 chol-228, hdl-60, ldl-140, tri-140.

Since that eyeopening setback I am back on track with my daily ACV cocktail. Will test in a separate lab in a couple of months. But this is measured incredible result and setback... Have not been able to get any attention from anyone in the medical profession other that being blown off. I am a believer of ACV. It's inexpensive, accessible and a true threat to the pharmaceutical industry.

Meanwhile, I soak raw oats in just room temperature water, so I can chew it down easily. After my ACV-water, I continue with my oats in water and after that I take 1 brazil nut. After that I take a small serving of full fat yogurt spiked with 6-8 crused raw almonds, 1 banana, 2 tbs chia or flaxseeds, half a handful of raisins and 1 tsp of raw honey. Also, after every meal, I drink/eat 2 tablespoons of raw oats, again soaked in water.

I don't know if the last also contributes to my lowering cholesterol which is now a 5.88 (HDL). I strive to reach my 5.00 mark and lower. I have drastically cut down on sugar in my diet and cook also with EVOO (just 1 tbs, only if necessary) and butter. Margarines and other vegetable fats, except EVOO I absolutely do not use anymore, because studies have shown them to be very harmful to the body. I also incorporate more fruits and salads to my diet. I hope I have helped you in your journey to finding a good routine to lower your cholesterol also. I suggest you also do a total medical check-up before starting to change anything, so you can verify your progress better. I root for you.

I am 56 years old and my cholesterol had been getting higher and higher over the years (I also am hypothyroid). My doctor told me to try to reduce my levels or she was going to prescribe statins, which I did not want to take.

I came to the Earth Clinic website and decided to try ACV. I started taking 2 Tbsp. ACV in water just once a day.

In Sept. of 2016, my total cholesterol was 232, HDL 54 and LDL 151. In December of 2016, my total cholesterol was 209, HDL 56 and LDL 130.

So, my overall cholesterol went down 23 points and my LDL went down 21 points in 3 months taking just 2 Tbsp. ACV a day.

My doctor was amazed and told me to just keep doing whatever it was I was doing.

I am going to try mixing it with pure grape juice as some have suggested. It is very hard for me to get the ACV down with just water, which prevents me from taking it as often as I would like.

It's a long story how I stumbled upon Food-Grade Diatomaceous Earth, but I found a study done on 60 people (which is a very tiny study) that said that people who took 1 heaping Tablespoon of Diatomaceous Earth in water one time a day had their cholesterol halved in 30 days and within normal limits in 60. I told the doctor I wanted to do an experiment for three weeks. She agreed.

In those three weeks what I discovered is that it doesn't taste as bad if you use more water. Initially I had about 1/4 cup of water (the thought being it would be quicker to get down) and now use about 3/4 cup, take a heaping tablespoon of the stuff and dissolve it and chug it down. I'm totally serious here, I tried everything to get the taste out of my mouth...rinsing with water, my coffee etc. The best thing is to take a mouthful (just a sip) of Muscato wine. Takes the taste right away. I have a little bottle that I use.

Within three weeks my Cholesterol dropped from 310 to 240. It is now within normal limits. I've spread the word and several of my friends have had the same result. To buy it, if you have an animal feed store nearby, you can get a 20lb bag of the stuff for about $10...a lifetime supply :) I don't recommend the Organic kind sold on Amazon. First, its super expensive compared to the farm store. Second, two people I know had larve come out of them (bug worms) and when they switched to my kind they didn't. The Larve won't hurt you, but YUCK. So just get regular FOOD GRADE (that's important) Diatomaceous earth.