How bad are statins?

Everything you've said i've also found to be spot on. Most people can directly control their LDL HDL and Triglycerides with diet to a certain extent. I had LDL of 95 but my HDL was 29 and Trig were 95. My doctor said i was good, well he wasn't up to date on current science. Everyone should be monitoring Trig/HDL equaling less then 1 with a low CRP. If you want to up your HDL and lower Trig then eat primarily fatty meat low carb veggies and the occasional sweet potato or real sourdough bread. These days I eat 1-2 pounds of meat some veggies and average about 1-2 sweet potatoes a week and white rice is more of treat, well that and rebel ice cream. I'm somewhere between keto and carnivore and my energy is through the roof all day long eating like this. Now my LDL is 230 HDL is 90 and Trig is 57 when 12 hours fasted. Everyone should check out the cholesterol code with Dave Feldman as I am classified as a lean mass hyper responder. This just means my body keeps more lipids in the blood stream to shuttle energy where it is needed because I have such low body fat. I honestly eat as much as I can and only seem to gain muscle, if i want to pack on weight in hurry i'll just add berries and more sweet potatoes.

I would avoid statins at all costs as there is no proof of a benefit if one has never had a cardiac event and the risks far out way the supposed benefit. Cholesterol is a vital function for good health and fighting off infection, stop eating fake foods, eat more ancestral and most problems will go away.

Some good podcast:
Low Carb MD
Kevin Stock Radio
Diet Doctor Podcast
Fundamental Health
The Natural State
Human Performance Outliers

Also Joe Rogan trying the carnivor diet and has been vocal about the benefits he's experiencing.

 

when i have a client talking about this stuff, i tell them the statin discussion is secondary to what is bold in your quote. i understand the long-term issues and your statin focus. but you didn't come to post about a long-term issue, you came to post about the short-term one:

I feel like I have no choice but to take statins or I am going to die soon.
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get a handle on your self-abusive stress management techniques and it will change hugely and quickly. then you won't feel like you're gonna die soon, and you can attend to the cholesterol etc in a gradual way. effective treatment of hypercholesterolemia will only respond sustainably to low & slow treatment. deal with your urgent issue first, then get into the gradual one. your statin discussion is a distraction to your urgent anxiety.

 

I've been on keto for about 2 years now.
Leading up to this (and before taking statins) my "bad" cholesterol was 130. This was on the standard american diet i.e. crap. I resisted the Dr for a couple of years and finally started taking statins. Slowly, I just started feeling sluggish, couldn't get good sleep, my brain felt foggy. I just attributed it with getting older, as at that point I was around 42. Taking statins my "bad" cholesterol was right under 100, so the Dr was happy. All the fat was in my face or belly (I blame good craft beer) otherwise I was skinny. All other health data points were fine. I have a friend that is fanatical about researching to the nth degree. He read the studies, scientific papers etc about cholesterol. He decided to start keto and eventually talked me into it. The day I started is the day I quit taking statins. I was determined to stay strict on this diet for 6 weeks. The 1st week was rough but at the end of that week I felt amazing! I contribute this to getting over the keto "flu" as well as the statins getting out of my system. I felt so good that there was no way I was going back. It just kept getting better and better. So far I'm down about 35lbs. Only because I can't lose anymore. I started at 195lbs and now around 160lbs at 5'10". I don't exercise at all even though I know I should. I have way more energy, eat a lot less, my brain is sharper, every way I feel is better. My "bad" cholesterol after keto.....130. So I'm eating way more cholesterol that I used to yet my number is the same. It's almost like your body is really good at regulating itself if you don't feed it crap.
I'm now 45 and feel better than I did when I was 30.

 

Hell yeah, I'm right there with you. It's funny what a cheat meal has become now that I eat keto/carnivore. A cheat day for me would be greek yogurt with blueberries or a quarter stick of 85% percent dark chocolate. My energy is great, sleep could still be better but i have a 2 year old and a 5 month old so i wont hold my breath on that one.

 

Yea I quit taking them, mainly because they can have a high blood sugar effect and im already borderline diabetic, went keto and my lipid panel has never looked so good! zThey do lower your cholesterol but the science I saw there was no correlation to a longer life, a lower number all by itself that dopant help you live longer to better? Why bother, especially when there are side effects. I take blood pressure pills and I take diabetes pills but I won't take statins. I lost weight and dropped my blood sugar now those things a re definatley correlated to a longer life!

 

I am with you on that. I also felt sluggish, had a lack of clarity and had sleep issues while on the statins. For me going off the statins and using KETO to lose 55 pounds made a huge difference in my energy levels, drive and sleep quality. How much more energy? I ended up doing a 35 mile solo backpacking trip through the Sawtooth Wilderness Area last August.

 

I was doing keto for awhile along with intermittent fasting while training for an ultra marathon.
I have never worked out so much in my life and felt so good.
I had tons of energy, slept great, recovered great from my workouts and could run forever.

I lost my top end performance on speed training and lifting due to the lack if glycogen but thats easily resolvable with the targeted keto diet.

I have solid blood lipid numbers but my blood pressure is rising even at 28. Keto helps reduce blood volume from the loss of water so its really helped with that.

 

I'm 62 years old, and eat terribly unhealthy. Plus smoke a pack a day for the past 50 years.

Only med's I take is 10mg of Valium since I was 23 years old. When I went cold turkey off alcohol and taking 6 Quaaludes a day, I guess it messed up my nervous system in my brain.

Hadn't had blood work done in 10 years. Doc got fed up and told me he had no problem giving me the V's, but he was gonna get some blood.

I was really sweating the PSA levels, but it was 1. My cholesterol was high thou. Levels are listed below.

He put me on a non statins drug called Fenofibrate, and told me to take a 81mg aspirin a day, and Beta 3 Fish Oil pills.

Not sure how bad it is, but he told me I'd not have to get another blood test for a year. I never dreamed I'd live this long anyhow.

 

Its pretty bad.

Your cholesterol ratio is whats bad plus your triglycerides are insane.

Have you had a cardiac scan and calcium score done?
If not I’d schedule those. They can be life saving. I think everyone should get them.

 

Doc never mentioned anything about other tests. He did tell me I had the blood pressure of a healthy teenager.

 

Yeah more than anything you want to get your Trig down and HDL up. Adding more saturated fat from animal products and mono unsaturated fat from cold pressed olive oil while drastically reducing any grain and sugar intake will really do a lot to turn your health around. I'm surprised your doc was only focused on LDL, that likely means he isn't keeping up with research.

 

Every night I'd have a big bowl of ice cream, then eat a bunch of chips and candy.

Now I have tangerines, strawberries, and blue berries. If I'm really hungry, I'll have a can of tuna, or a can of bean with bacon soup...heard both were pretty good for you.

Also cut back from a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi a day to 2 cans.

 

Old thread, but I fixed my cholesterol up pretty good in the last year.

 

I know I'm bringing up a 1 year old thread. But just wanted to post my Lipid Panel numbers from my first physical in a few years. I read back thru this thread and 1 year ago I posted I was 160lbs. I'm not exactly strict keto anymore, I'm 175. I will very slightly indulge once in a while. Like eat a Chick Fil A chicken sandwich and fries. Or eating hummus too late at night. Or my nightly margaritas. The main bad part of this is the 1/2oz of triple sec. This is my indulgence. I absolutely (except the triple sec) stay away from sugar as it causes me pain. I have degenerative disc disease in my neck and I can feel the inflammation come back for a few days with just a little bit of sugar.

As usual, the NP that did the physical was a younger guy but spouted the same old "science" about high HDL. Once again, I mentioned my keto diet, how I eat ALL the fat yet my "bad" cholesterol hasn't changed in 10 years. My LDL is now really high but as we know it's not a really reliable test. Every single part of the test I passed with flying colors. Honestly, I always have.

Total cholesterol: 217
HDL: 89.60
TRIG: 35
LDL: 120

VLDL?????: 7

LDL/HDL RATIO: 1

 

yes an old thread, but I'll say this. The one size fits all when it comes to cholesterol numbers is what I disagree with. It would be like saying we all wear a size 10 shoe. Cholesterol is what repairs blood vessels and so much more in our bodies, and saying we all need the exact same numbers in my opinion is BS.