Citrus & Cholesterol

[Millet]

Lowering cholesterol is incredibly important considering our current food and nutritional environment. Studies by U.S. and Canadian researchers published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that compounds in orange peel may lower cholesterol as effectively as statin drugs. The results indicated that when animals were given diets containing citrus flavonoids tangeretin, hesperidin, and naringin, VLDL and LDL – two types of bad cholesterol – levels were reduced by 19-27 percent and 32-40 percent, respectively. That being said, the white pulp that comes off while you peel the skin of oranges, which you normally throw away, is about as valuable as the billion-dollar industry of anti-cholesterol drugs.
Millet

[gunnar429]

another obvious solution is to eat less cholesterol-containing foods. 

[cory]

It's really not that simple. Some of us just make a lot of cholesterol without eating any.  I was just tasting the pith on a Cara Cara and it is not that bad.  I think I will start eating it rather than throw it away.  My body doesn't tolerate the statin drugs.  Having a total Cholesterol of 650, it is worth trying to eat the pith and see if it helps at all. 

Cory

[ClayMango]

My Doctor told me about 70 percent of it is genetics, the other 30 can be managed through Diet and excercise.

[RodneyS]

We have been lied to about cholesterol.  Dietary cholesterol has little impact on total cholesterol levels.  The important thing to worry about is inflammation.  Lowering cholesterol with statins leads to muscular cramps, dementia, Alzheimer's etc.  Cholesterol is important for hormone production, cell repair etc.  People who had "high" cholesterol lived longer than people with "low" cholesterol

Check out these books & videos-
Statin Nation
The Great Cholesterol Myth

[ClayMango]

We have been lied to about cholesterol.  Dietary cholesterol has little impact on total cholesterol levels.  The important thing to worry about is inflammation.  Lowering cholesterol with statins leads to muscular cramps, dementia, Alzheimer's etc.  Cholesterol is important for hormone production, cell repair etc.  People who had "high" cholesterol lived longer than people with "low" cholesterol

Check out these books & videos-
Statin Nation
The Great Cholesterol Myth

Sounds about right! Just like 3/4 of all Cancer occur through natural ginetic mutation according to the latest research. Diet and Lifestyle factor in a very small 25 percent.

[gunnar429]

My Doctor told me about 70 percent of it is genetics, the other 30 can be managed through Diet and excercise.

I am calling bullshit on that one!  A few years back, I stopped eating meat and cheese and in just 6 months my cholesterol went from 230 to 145.  It makes for a ripe pharmaceutical market though if everyone believes that there's nothing they can do.  The bottom line is the American diet/lifestyle is the worst in the world, and the health results fall in line with that.  Just my 2 cents.  Not looking to start a quarrel.

[ClayMango]

My Doctor told me about 70 percent of it is genetics, the other 30 can be managed through Diet and excercise.

I am calling bullshit on that one!  A few years back, I stopped eating meat and cheese and in just 6 months my cholesterol went from 230 to 145.  It makes for a ripe pharmaceutical market though if everyone believes that there's nothing they can do.  The bottom line is the American diet/lifestyle is the worst in the world, and the health results fall in line with that.  Just my 2 cents.  Not looking to start a quarrel.

Hmmm....yeah I would also agree to disagree and that your situation is on case by case basis.

I mean the simple fact that African Americans are ginetically predisposed to have  higher cholesterol and chances of heart desease is evidence enough... I mean it's just ginetics and how our human bodies have evolved.

[Millet]

It is said that if you eat a healthy diet, do plenty of exercise, stop smoking and over drinking you will live 10 years longer.  The problem is those 10 years are from 85 to 95. - Millet

[cory]

I have pretty much been eating a vegan diet for years but do eat a small amount of salmon (2-3 oz every few days) now.  I have exercised regularly for years.  My cholesterol is still 650 with a terrible bad to good ratio.  I stopped taking statin drugs 20 years ago because of the severe side affects I suffered with from them and really didn't lower my cholesterol very much although high doses have brought my brother's down to 180.  He had to have heart bypass surgery in 5 arteries when he was 42.  He is 70 now.  He has cancer now, but so did my mother and sister and they never took statins and lived a healthy lifestyle.  Even if statins reduced my cholesterol 25% it would still be too high.  Living a healthy lifestyle can't hurt, but some of us just make a lot of cholesterol for some reason and it seems to run in the family even though we all try to live a healthy lifestyle.  If heart attacks didn't occur in the family I would think there was no relationship, but since they are prevalent, there seems to be a correlation.  I just try to live healthy and hope for the best.  I am not the average person though; diet and exercise do help most people lower their cholesterol levels.  If eating the pith of the orange could help, I am not unwilling to try it.  It isn't really bitter like I was expecting on the Cara Cara and Moro I have tried.  Thanks for the article Millet.  Maybe we should all be eating the whole fruit, peel and all as long as they are organic as it appears the peels are full of flavinoids and other nutrients too.

Cory

[ClayMango]

I have pretty much been eating a vegan diet for years but do eat a small amount of salmon (2-3 oz every few days) now.  I have exercised regularly for years.  My cholesterol is still 650 with a terrible bad to good ratio.  I stopped taking statin drugs 20 years ago because of the severe side affects I suffered with from them and really didn't lower my cholesterol very much although high doses have brought my brother's down to 180.  He had to have heart bypass surgery in 5 arteries when he was 42.  He is 70 now.  He has cancer now, but so did my mother and sister and they never took statins and lived a healthy lifestyle.  Even if statins reduced my cholesterol 25% it would still be too high.  Living a healthy lifestyle can't hurt, but some of us just make a lot of cholesterol for some reason and it seems to run in the family even though we all try to live a healthy lifestyle.  If heart attacks didn't occur in the family I would think there was no relationship, but since they are prevalent, there seems to be a correlation.  I just try to live healthy and hope for the best.  I am not the average person though; diet and exercise do help most people lower their cholesterol levels.  If eating the pith of the orange could help, I am not unwilling to try it.  It isn't really bitter like I was expecting on the Cara Cara and Moro I have tried.  Thanks for the article Millet.  Maybe we should all be eating the whole fruit, peel and all as long as they are organic as it appears the peels are full of flavinoids and other nutrients too.

Cory

Respectfuly speaking, I believe as stated here in this post, ginetics are key.

[RodneyS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAq7Sxyp-JQ

[brian]

I wonder if kumquats contain the same chemical.  You can eat them whole, so it seems more straightforward.

I remember reading that oyster mushrooms also contain natural statins.

[Luisport]

another obvious solution is to eat less cholesterol-containing foods.

Other natural way to lower cholesterol and a lot of other beneficts is to take turmeric pills or introduce it on food.

[manfromyard]

Well, the government finally 'fessed up and admitted that foods high in cholesterol don't really make your cholesterol go up by much.
http://wtkr.com/2015/02/20/cholesterol-in-food-not-a-concern-new-government-report-says/

Sure enough, there it is, buried on page 91 of the 572-page Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee: “Previously, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended that cholesterol intake be limited to no more than 300 mg/day. The 2015 DGAC will not bring forward this recommendation because available evidence shows no appreciable relationship between consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum (blood) cholesterol, consistent with the AHA/ACC (American Heart Association / American College of Cardiology) report. Cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.”

Genetics rule all....

[ClayMango]

Well, the government finally 'fessed up and admitted that foods high in cholesterol don't really make your cholesterol go up by much.
http://wtkr.com/2015/02/20/cholesterol-in-food-not-a-concern-new-government-report-says/

Sure enough, there it is, buried on page 91 of the 572-page Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee: “Previously, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended that cholesterol intake be limited to no more than 300 mg/day. The 2015 DGAC will not bring forward this recommendation because available evidence shows no appreciable relationship between consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum (blood) cholesterol, consistent with the AHA/ACC (American Heart Association / American College of Cardiology) report. Cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.”

Genetics rule all....

Science, Ladies and Gentleman

[Millet]

I seen the new cholesterol guidelines on local night news broadcast.  It really is to a great extent genetics. - Millet

[ClayMango]

I seen the new cholesterol guidelines on local night news broadcast.  It really is to a great extent genetics. - Millet

On that same note, it really sucks for many of us who carry these bad genes.