How to boost low HDL....

Today's Post:  Tuesday, 5-10-2016

Many years ago when I knew much less about heart protection I had two people ask me how to boost their low HDL.

I did know that having a high HDL was protective and that a low HDL reading was undesirable.

But I didn’t know then exactly why a high HDL was protective or how to help them get it.

Mercifully I’ve learned a lot since then!  (The people I’ve learned it from -- back then -- didn’t know either or hadn’t published it yet where I could find it.)

1.  Here are the reasons a high HDL is desirable:  You do need cholesterol for many functions; but you want any small particle LDL to either not show up often or be removed quickly when it does.

One of the two or three biggest direct causes of plaque buildup in your arteries and other blood vessels is having too much small particle LDL. 

This kind of LDL is like tiny, superglue like particles that are physically small enough they literally stick into the molecular chinks in your blood vessel walls.  That creates damage and inflammation which your body then patches over.

Then two things happen if you don’t take action to stop it.  You get so much plaque buildup your blood vessels become less flexible and the space between the blood vessel walls shrinks.

Then if the plaque breaks off in a chunk or your blood platelets form a clot, the resulting clot which cannot pass the inflexible and narrow opening, gets stuck and blood no longer flows past that point.  If that happens in your heart, you get a heart attack.  If it happens in your brain, you get an obstructive or ischemic stroke.

This can kill you or cause permanent damage.

But if your HDL is high, it acts like garbage men and removes excess small particle LDL.

AND, Harvard researchers found that, in fact, the ratio of HDL to triglycerides is a very accurate indicator of how much small particle LDL is in your system.

And THAT is the secret to how to increase your HDL to very desirable levels even if that is not now the case.

Do the things that directly lower small particle LDL; do the things that boost HDL; and do the things that lower triglycerides.

AND, STOP the things that directly increase small particle LDL or lower HDL or increase triglycerides!

So recently when I was asked how a man with an HDL of 45, low enough to be a worry, could boost his HDL, I knew what to send him and sent him this:

“….an HDL of 45 is low enough to be a worry.  The good news is you can sharply increase it in a few weeks or less.

You can increase it sharply if you find out what is keeping it low and stop those things AND you find out what boosts it and do those things also!

(I'm not a doctor nor do I know your medical history; 

   but research shows that the following list of things have caused very fast increases in HDL with a corresponding lowering of heart disease risks.  

     That's because they also sharply lower your triglycerides and small particle LDL that is a direct cause of heart disease.)

A.  The four things to stop that all cause low HDL are:

Any wheat of any kind; 

any soft drinks and the high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners in soft drinks in other foods; 

foods with real sugar more than once or twice or three times a week;

AND any hydrogenated oils.

B.  And the most important things to do to increase it are:

Eat wild caught fish two or three times a week that is high in omega 3 oils AND take the MaxDHA supplement from Jarrow AND take the omega 3 supplement from Nordic Naturals.

Do an effective strength training workout twice a week; and an interval cardio short workout  three times a week.  Short brisk walks also help.

If you aren't taking statin drugs or have a liver problem, take one 300 mg tablet of niacin from Whole Foods after your two largest meals; and take one 300 mg No Flush Niacin capsule at two other times in your day.

Eat several foods that have health OK proteins and oils each day.  

(Locally, Whole Foods has canned wild caught Alaskan Salmon, smoked Alaskan Salmon; Kerrygold grass fed Irish Cheese -- they most often have their Dubliner Cheddar in stock ; they have Maple Hill 100 % grass fed Yogurt; and they have Organic Valley Grass Fed Whole milk.

Whole Foods also has eggs from pasture fed chickens.

Another protein that works and goes well with strength training is Jarrow Grass fed Whey.

Raw tree nuts also work if you aren't allergic.  And another two source of the health promoting monounsaturated fats are avocados and extra virgin olive oil)

C.  Note that adding four to eight servings of organic vegetables and even ONE serving of an organic fresh fruit each day just about triples the heart protective effect of all the HDL boosting things!”

Several things I didn’t add then in order to email him the important things to do right away are:

1.  Dr Al Sears has reported people taking DHA and adding wild caught salmon soon getting HDL readings of 75 or more who had never gotten readings that high before.

2.  And the things that lower HDL by boosting triglycerides a LOT are all sugary and cause excessive increases in blood sugar.  Dr William Davis has found that today’s Hybrid wheat which people often eat as refined flour boosts blood sugar and triglycerides AND inflammation just as much even if people eat only 100% whole wheat.

AND, he has found that totally eliminating wheat and other grain foods often produces similar large increases in HDL!

So, clearly doing both at once will boost your HDL quickly!

3.  Effective strength training and brief interval cardio and short, brisk walks done almost every day of every week have been directly tested to lower small particle LDL and increase HDL.

4.  Hydrogenated oils have been shown to directly INCREASE small particle LDL; lower HDL; and increase triglycerides.  They are one of several things that can legitimately be called “heart attack starter!”

5.  EVERY exposure to tobacco smoke, whether as a smoker or as second hand smoke, lowers HDL and increases triglycerides AND causes deposits to the plaque in your blood vessels.

6.  Drinking red wine, particularly Zinfandel, Burgundy, and Pinot Noir also increases HDL.

Drinking just one or one and half glasses of red wine before dinner we now know is the healthiest way to consume it.

7.  Doing these all these things often boosts the HDL of men who do them to the 90 to over 100 range.  AND studies show men with HDL readings of 100 or more are often found in men who live to 100 or more and in good health.

So, making the effort to do these things is worth it!  It is a key to living decades more healthy and worthwhile years.