Hi, Dr. Sears,
Q: I am 36 years old, 5'7” weigh 110 pounds, eat an extremely healthy diet (lean meats, fruits, veggies, nuts and Ezekiel bread - no other carbs), work out four to five hours per week (P90X program - intense weight lifting and cardio) and still cannot get my cholesterol to a level where my cardiologist is satisfied. My numbers last week were LDL 138, HDL 51, TRI 32 = 194. She still wants me on a statin. My 38-year-old brother died in 2007 and his autopsy report revealed that he had hypertensive heart disease and atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, multiple vessel and severe. My question is what other than fish oil can I take to help and what is the best fish oil in your opinion? I am currently taking 4000 mg per day (1000mg per capsule with 300 mg of EPA/DHA.
A: I would not be concerned with your cholesterol levels as your TG/HDL ratio is well under 1.0 indicating that whatever LDL particles you have are the fluffy non-atherogenic types. The best way to lower cholesterol is by lowering insulin since it drives the formation of cholesterol in the liver. This means eating more vegetables and fewer fruits and really restricting the grains. The primary benefit of statin drugs is not cholesterol lowering but their anti-inflammatory effects. You are only taking 1.2 grams of EPA and DHA per day. I would recommend at least doubling that dosage to get greater anti-inflammatory benefits and also taking additional polyphenols like SeaHealth Plus.