I'm starting to believe sugar causes more issues than cholesterol as well.

A personal anecdote, when I started going to a CrossFit gym and eating a Paleo ish diet that consisted of a lot of eggs, bacon, meat and veggies, my numbers went way down. I was eating very little processed food or sugar. No soda etc. I'd add a teaspoon of honey to my coffee so I had something sweet and sometimes a sugar free energy drink.

The heavy exercise and weight loss did a lot, but I was eating a lot of "bad" for your heart foods and still my numbers went down.

I still take a baby aspirin, I have the family history, but the cardio guy saw no reason to recommend more at this time.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:

Diet and exercise may work to some extent, but the statins work MUCH better.

Really? How did man survive prior to these drugs? The usefulness of statins depends upon who you ask, there are heart surgeons that believe sugar is the root cause of heart disease, not cholesterol.

If you are talking about lowering cholesterol, yes, the statins work better for most people. Whether or not lowering cholesterol results in fewer heart attacks is an entirely separate argument.

The "What did they do before?" argument is silly. Many of my grandparents contemporaries walked around with nitro glycerin tablets for their angina and died of heart attacks several years younger than we typically do now. You could say the same thing about blood pressure meds vs meditation.

quote:

Originally posted by Riley:
I'm starting to believe sugar causes more issues than cholesterol as well.

A personal anecdote, when I started going to a CrossFit gym and eating a Paleo ish diet that consisted of a lot of eggs, bacon, meat and veggies, my numbers went way down. I was eating very little processed food or sugar. No soda etc. I'd add a teaspoon of honey to my coffee so I had something sweet and sometimes a sugar free energy drink.

The heavy exercise and weight loss did a lot, but I was eating a lot of "bad" for your heart foods and still my numbers went down.

I still take a baby aspirin, I have the family history, but the cardio guy saw no reason to recommend more at this time.

I actually had a whole other paragraph typed out about my change in diet, but people in general, aren't ready to hear that processed carbs, sugar (real or synthetic), and "heart-healthy" grains are literally killing you.

I've cut my triglycerides in half, since going of pravastatin, by eating low carb/high fat. My LDL has been steady at 190, which is considered high, but not dangerous. This is contrary to conventional wisdom.

Search for ketogenic diet, or Vinnie Tortorich No Sugar No Grains.

quote:

Originally posted by g8rforester:

quote:

Originally posted by Riley:
I'm starting to believe sugar causes more issues than cholesterol as well.

A personal anecdote, when I started going to a CrossFit gym and eating a Paleo ish diet that consisted of a lot of eggs, bacon, meat and veggies, my numbers went way down. I was eating very little processed food or sugar. No soda etc. I'd add a teaspoon of honey to my coffee so I had something sweet and sometimes a sugar free energy drink.

The heavy exercise and weight loss did a lot, but I was eating a lot of "bad" for your heart foods and still my numbers went down.

I still take a baby aspirin, I have the family history, but the cardio guy saw no reason to recommend more at this time.

I actually had a whole other paragraph typed out about my change in diet, but people in general, aren't ready to hear that processed carbs, sugar (real or synthetic), and "heart-healthy" grains are literally killing you.

I've cut my triglycerides in half, since going of pravastatin, by eating low carb/high fat. My LDL has been steady at 190, which is considered high, but not dangerous. This is contrary to conventional wisdom.

Search for ketogenic diet, or Vinnie Tortorich No Sugar No Grains.

I agree, it's easier to pop pills and believe the all knowing doctors. Even if I provided proof people would still doubt, society has shaped our beliefs around cholesterol and nothing will change that for some.

I don't see it being a big deal. I am two years younger than you and was put on Lipitor about 3 months ago. I appreciate my doctor recognizing the need and putting me on it.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:

Diet and exercise may work to some extent, but the statins work MUCH better.

Really? How did man survive prior to these drugs? The usefulness of statins depends upon who you ask, there are heart surgeons that believe sugar is the root cause of heart disease, not cholesterol.

The "What did they do before?" argument is silly. Many of my grandparents contemporaries walked around with nitro glycerin tablets for their angina and died of heart attacks several years younger than we typically do now. You could say the same thing about blood pressure meds vs meditation.

It may be silly to you because you are not looking at the entire picture, you are blinded by what you have been told. Farmers I knew traditionally ate diets that doctors today would say lead to heart disease yet the ones I knew lived long lives despite their high fat, high cholesterol diets. There are groups like some Eskimos that used to eat very high fat diets yet they lived long lives. The heart disease connection is not cholesterol. Look sometime into the rise of heart disease and our countries increased use of sugars and processed foods. The typical diet that the heart doctors state leads to heart disease was consumed for decades and perhaps everyone around you carried nitro but I do not know anyone that did. There is a reason some doctors like Gilati and Dr. Hotze promote a Paleo diet. The choice is yours, the statins have not cured nor stopped heart disease, believe what you want but eventually I think they will convince people the underlying cause is other than what they now state. There are a few books with similar titles about the cholesterol myth, they offer a lot of proof to my assertions.

http://blog.texasliver.com/about-dr-galati/
http://www.hotzehwc.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Cholest...X49JW4JPBGHC3K3M8X3C
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E...encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

As a follow up to the last several posts. I'm literally and figuratively on the same page. Ha!

I found these videos very informative and explains LDL and how dietary oil/fat oxidizes in the bloodstream and eventually causes the hardening of the arteries or blockages.

The gist of where I'm at on this thread: I gave up sugar and cigars, intermittent fast with a ketogenic diet. I cook my meals at home most of the time. These are just a few things I've done since the new year and I've dropped 20lbs.

One of the unexpected benefits to not eating processed foods is I have less cardboard to recycle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...X41oCi1M&spfreload=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkPAwbaQnaM

-TVz