More on Boosting HDL Cholesterol, II

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Focus on Your Health:

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

Today's post: Tuesday, 10-3-2006

More on Boosting HDL Cholesterol, II

(Our previous post has some excellent information on this. And, I didn’t post it all here.

You can see it by going to that earlier Post: Friday, 8-11-2006 Boost your HDL to protect your heart)

Also, the man who I wrote my last post for, on Thursday, 9-28, emailed me back with two things.

I replied & that reply might be useful for some of you also,
so I’ll post most of all that next. :

"I checked the amount of chromium in my Men's Health Dietary Supplement that I get from Trader Joes. It shows the 200 mcg of chromium as "chromium amino acid chelate".

Have you any idea how this compares with the chromium polycicotinate that you recommended?

BTW, what is lipid peroxidation ? I have never heard of it."

Here’s my reply to him. (Even though it suggests stores local to us, Whole Foods Markets is now in many parts of the US & you can check out their website for their nearest store: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com )

“1. Chromium polynicotinate in the 200 mg size is available at Whole Foods Markets & at Country Sun in Palo Alto. (If the Whole Foods just South of downtown Palo Alto where I get it is farther from you than the one in Redwood City, you can check there.And, there is also Apple Health Foods in the Sequoia Station Center in Redwood City that may have it. )

I get the Solgar brand; & I've also used the Country Life/Biochem brand when they were out of the Solgar.

I checked a resource I know &, since people looking for blood sugar control take 200 mg three times a day, it's likely OK to take 400.

And, any version of Chromium seems to work for blood sugar control.

But for boosting HDL, I strongly suspect the Chromium polynicotinate works far better. It has the niacin part of the molecule also. And, there may also be a synergistic effect between the niacin part & the chromium.

Why not take that also?

”Lipid peroxidation” creates oxidation of your LDL, & maybe of your HDL.

The two kinds of LDL that cause heart & related diseases are:

the high density kind that literally is so small it fits into the chinks in the molecules lining your blood vessels (Trans fats & excessive animal saturuated fat intake increase those.)

& oxidized LDL.

Oxidized LDL is a lipid made from regular LDL by ”Lipid peroxidation”. So, if you reduce that, (”Lipid peroxidation” ) as that study found, in layman's terms, you have less "rusty," or damaged, LDL gumming up your pipes (blood vessels.)”

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Here are some further ideas he might try.

1. He clearly is taking a multivitamin which has some extra things thought to be good for men.

But, if he isn’t yet taking a broad spectrum B Complex vitamin also, he may not be getting enough of the B vitamins to help ensure the Niacin works.

Since I’ve gotten good results, I think well of the “Stress Formula, B Complex plus C from Solgar.

They did remove part of the folic acid they once had, all the PABA, & part of the B6. And, I’ve read I should have more pantothenic acid than they now include. So, I take more folic acid, an additional 800 mcg; 100 mg of PABA; & 250 mg of pantothenic acid in addition. And, I may add some B6 also.

The pantothenic acid may well help boost HDL by itself as a related supplement, Pantothine, does boost HDL.

Also, I take lecithin 1200 mg a day which has choline. And, choline also boosts HDL.

2. Moderately intense or vigorous exercise may boost HDL better than exercise that is less challenging.

Some people have found it helps lose fat better. And one health writer, Dr Al Sears, suggests it may also work better than low intensity, sustained cardio or aerobics to strengthen your heart.

So, if my friend isn’t now doing sets of strength training that make him sweat or get out of breath, or doing that in part of his cardio work, doing some of that in his exercise routine may also boost his HDL levels.

(You can also add more vigor to longer cardio by going much faster at intervals during your cardio until you get a bit winded & then slow down until your breath recovers.

That’s also been shown to help you get into good shape faster.)

3. He may need to eat just a bit more eggs, or more extra virgin olive oil, or more wild caught salmon—or even some free range chicken or grass fed only beef.

That might help because your body needs something to make the HDL from. And, he may be getting a bit too little.

That strategy is best when you also add supplements with sterols like Beta Sitosterol or supplements like policosanol that keep your LDL low.