Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
Many people can lower cholesterol with diet changes
alone. A study in the Journal of the American Medical
Association (July 23, 2003) shows that a combination of
cholesterol-lowering foods is as effective as statin drugs in
lowering both blood cholesterol and C-reactive protein. The
subjects who were fed a diet that included plant sterol margarine,
soybeans, almonds, psyllium fiber, barley, oats, eggplant, okra
and many other vegetables had the bad LDL cholesterol levels
drop by 29 percent compared to 31 percent in the statin drug
group.
A cholesterol-lowering diet appears to be completely
safe, while statin drugs can cause muscle pain. Athletes and
serious exercisers train by taking a hard workout that makes their
sore on the next day, take easy workouts until their muscles feel
fresh again and then take another hard workout. Statin drugs
make it difficult to maintain a good training program because they
can delay recovery.
February 1, 2006