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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
cholesterol and nutrition
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
cholesterol and nutrition
by tomy__0, Nov 03, 1998 12:00AM
Do any of the dietary supplements out there effectively combat high cholesterol?
I have beneficial stories about the following:
Vitamins C,E
Niacin (in doses > 2gr)
Co-enzyme Q10
Omega 3 Fatty Acids
Garlic
Ginger
Magnesium
Are any of these supplements worth while? If so, how come my internal medicine doctor and cardiologist both looked upon these with disdain when I brought these up? Is their an MD or different type of doctor who specializes in 'nutriceuticals' as I've heard them called?
Thanks,
Tommy
Doctor's Answer
by CCF Cardio MD - MTR, Nov 03, 1998 12:00AM
Dear Tommy, of the vitamins you mention, only niacin and omega-3 fatty acids have a proven benefit with cholesterol reduction. Niacin is a proven cholesterol-reducing agent, but the associated side effects limit its use. Niacin can cause severe flushing which causes most people who use it to discontinue the drug. The way to overcome this side effect is to start at a very low dose and slowly increase the dose. Aspirin is often used to reduce the severity of the flushing. However, niacin should not be started without first talking with your physician. Omega-3 fatty acids are recovered from fish and have been shown to raise the good HDL cholesterol levels with modest reductions in cardiac events. This agent, however, is not accepted as a standard cholesterol reducing agent. Bottom line - it shouldn't hurt you but it probably won't help with the elevated cholesterol. Vitamins C and E are anti-oxidants that do not lower cholesterol but may stabilize atherosclerotic plaques by scavenging free radicals - however, there is no data that these agents reduce cardiac events. Coenzyme Q10 doesn't appear to have any effect - good or bad. Finally, garlic, ginger, and magnesium do not affect cholesterol levels and are not cardioprotective. Thus, I think you will do better to follow my advice in your other post rather than focusing on vitamins and minerals that probably will have little to no beneficial effect for you.
I hope you find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.
