Which supplements or foods can help lower cholesterol and keep my heart healthy? Are there any to avoid?

Dear Consumer Lab, I take Red Yeast Rice from Costco and have had very good results in reducing my cholesterol from 205 to 182 in a short time. My husband tried Red Rice Yeast and got an upset stomach. Apparently some individual are unable to tolerate it. Also ,my doctor prescribed a calcium CT scan for heart as mentioned in another post. Insurance did not cover it. Cost was around $100 in Calif. I had a good scan, my husbands showed calcification. He is finally he is taking his health more seriously. A customer of mine had the same scan and an aneurysm was found in her artery. She had surgery and is fine now.

There may be a surprisingly easy and natural way to reduce cholesterol with very low cost. Flax seeds.

Pretty easy to add, like sprinkling some on salads, bowls of cereal, etc.

I have reduced my “bad” cholesterol numbers by over a hundred points by losing 50 pounds on a low carb diet that excludes sugar, salt and meat while including lots of plant based foods, fiber, seeds, nuts, fish, same eggs, collagen and whey protein isolate. Also including many of the other supplements mentioned by Consumer Lab as being helpful. It worked for me, without any prescription medications at age 77. In fact my cardiologist remarks that now my numbers are better than his.

I eat a diet relatively high in animal proteins, high in animal and vegetable fats (I avoid "low fat" products and get hungry without fats.) I avoid processed carbohydrates, especially most breads, pastas, and desserts) and keep sugar to a minimum. I also snack a lot on cashews. Over 15 years, I had one VERY SlIGHTLY raised cholesterol, but my HDL/LDL levels were excellent. Never had raised cholesterol since then, and HDL and LDL are excellent. My BMI is under 18.

It's so strange, my husband has been vegan for 15 years. Eats a remarkable diet of fresh organic plants, is an athlete, he's thin and muscular. Perfect blood pressure. A recent blood test just showed high HDL and LDL. We're stumped. I will have him try some of the ideas on this page. Thanks!

There's a product from HealthyCell called Heart and Vascular Health

( Calories 35
Total Fat 0.5 g 1%*
Total Carbohydrate 7 g 3%*
Dietary Fiber 1 g 4%*
Total Sugars 2 g **
Includes 2 g Added Sugars (from juice concentrate) 4%*
Niacin (as niacinamide) 32 mg 200%
Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxine HCl) 4.5 mg 265%
Folate (as Calcium L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate) 400 mcg DFE 100%
Vitamin B12 (as methylcobalamin) 19.2 mcg 800%
Magnesium (as magnesium citrate) 100 mg 24%
Sodium 20 mg 1%
Potassium (as potassium citrate) 100 mg 2%
Soluble Fiber (inulin, oat beta glucan, and pectin) 1 g **
Beet (beta vulgaris) root powder 500 mg **
Ahiflower® (buglossoides arvenis 45% Omega-3) oil 500 mg **
Aronia (photina melanocarpa) berry juice concentrate 250 mg **
Coenzyme Q10 100 mg **
Vitamin K2 (as Menaquinone-7) 100 mcg **
Grape (vitis vinifera L.) seed extract 50 mg **
Trans-Resveratrol (polygonum cuspidatum) root extract )

I'm not affiliated nor gain any commission from this product, I'm just an end user. It brought by triglycerides from 395 to 240 and I just had consumed half of them ( 15 days ) l. So I'm going to get retested after I'm done with a full 30 days supply. Also brought my ldl down 5 points. It's very expensive but health has no price ????

I took Cholestoff Plus for 1 month & it strongly impacted my Liver enzymes. My Alkaline Phosphatase jumped to 116, AST 144 and ALT 247! A year prior they had been normal. LDL didn't move (but it was taken 5 months before starting & then only 1 month after taking Cholestoff Plus). 3 months after stopping Cholestoff Plus, Alkaline Phosphatase was back to 76, AST 16 & ALT 20. Be sure to watch liver enzymes if taking it!

Few, if any, "supplements" and many of the drugs prescribed for chronic health conditions would not be necessary if our diets did not largely consist of highly processed foods and were not full of sugar, especially fructose. Such diets are responsible for the virtual epidemic of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease (especially as related to metabolic syndrome), leaky gut issues, autoimmune diseases, obesity, clinical depression, and even dementia. All of those conditions have increased greatly since our diet has changed from "real food" to processed "food."

The Laffin study cited above is REALLY disappointing to me. They failed to compare statin treatments with niacin (particularly Slo-Niacin) which has been known for decades to control all aspects of lipid levels including LDL, HDL and Triglycerides. I did not tolerate statins so I researched alternate methods. My doctor reluctantly agreed but stood by me. With careful monitoring I increased my intake of Slo-Niacin until an effective amount was reached. I asked for an NMR lipid panel test. My doctor was shocked by the positive results. I have maintained this program for years and my doctor has also switched to this program as she also had statin side effects.

Lipid Shield dropped my LDL 30 points after one month

Citrus Bergamot lowered cholesterol. I have specifically tried it and it works dramatically. Here is a link that describes a clinical trial: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6497409/. I know of people that swear by it and it lowered mine from 260 to 200 in 30 days. I did a blood draw before and month later. I can even lower it more than that, but that's good enough evidence for me.

Can you comment on Psyllium husks and their cholesterol lowering effects? Do they contain the same fiber as oats?

Does anyone know the difference between Cholestoff Plus (reviewed by CL) and Cholestoff Complete? Why would you take one over the other to lower cholesterol.

What about Omega-7 to lower cholesterol?

I was impressed with the data until I learned the project was funded by the walnut
industry.
I'm always suspicious when there's no corroborating studies by an impartial entity.

We've tried citrus bergamot and other supplements to lower cholesterol. So far, the only thing that has caused our cholesterol to go down by about 20 points is intermittent fasting. We eat two meals in an 8 hour period and that's it.

Can Bergamot be helpful in lowering LDL?

I started taking fish oil supplements and increased the amount of fish in my diet a couple of years ago, as part of a regimen to help lower my cholesterol, as I wish to avoid taking statins. I stopped the fish oil when I discovered it was causing occasional nosebleeds, sometimes heavy nosebleeds, and my research confirmed that this experience is common, especially in older women (I am 68). The nosebleeds have stopped now. I just wanted to share this, as I keep seeing fish oil recommendations for lowering cholesterol. Be careful!

Over years I tried various supplements, but the best results yet I got with
Citrus Bergamot extract- in my annual checkup I saw reduction of total cholesterol from 270 to 225, improved the ratio, and for the first time lowered triglyceride levels.

About 10 years ago, I successfully lowered my cholesterol with high dose Niacin. For the next 8 years, my numbers were excellent. Two years ago, my cardiologist said that studies had shown that lowering cholesterol with Niacin has no effect on longevity. He told me to stop the Niacin, and go on a statin. Although the statin lowered my cholesterol in comparison to not taking anything, it did not lower it nearly as well as Niacin. I did not see anything about this in your information on Niacin. I would certainly prefer to take Niacin than Lipitor. What is the truth?

What about citrus bergamot or pycnogenol for lowering cholesterol? There are several studies that support this claim. I just started taking citrus bergamot so I won't know for several months whether it works or not. I took pycnogenol but it caused aphthous stomatitis (one of the side effects) according to published research.

Cappello, A., Dolce, V., Iacopetta, D., Martello, M., Fiorillo, M., Curcio, R., … Dhanyalayam, D. (2016). Bergamot (Citrus bergamia Risso) Flavonoids and Their Potential Benefits in Human Hyperlipidemia and Atherosclerosis: an Overview. Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry, 16(8), 619–629. doi: 10.2174/1389557515666150709110222

I had read that citrus bergamot can lower cholesterol. So I searched and found clinical tests that used the brand Jarrow Citrus Bergamot. I had a total cholesterol of 258. It said to give the supplement a month and get my cholesterol rechecked. So I ordered 2 bottles for $45, which lasts 2 months. I re-took my cholesterol and my cholesterol was 200. I changed nothing else. A drop of 58 points in 30 days equals, I am staying on citrus bergamot.

I've done multiple lipids tests with fish oil and krill oil. The most extreme was 5 grams of Kirkland fish oil a day for three months. I've tried various other strict regimens of fish and krill oil, but not in that high of dose. The 5G fish oil test actually left me with higher triglycerides, up ~10%-20%, but not conclusively. In the end, none provided any noticeable benefit to my LDL, HDL, and especially my triglycerides (I have hypertriglyceridemia). It's good to see that acknowledged in your post here.

I was very surprised to read the following in the above article:

"There is strong evidence that sterol esters (like the phytosterol beta-sitosterol) and stanol esters, available in supplements and in some "heart healthy" margarines and spreads, can significantly lower LDL cholesterol."

Really???!!!. Do you recommend margarine and spread as something healthy and especially good for reducing risk of heart disease? What about the trans fats that margarine and spreads are so famous about? I feel like I am in the '60 again when butter was evil and margarine was godsend!

Pantethine can help lower cholesterol.
and
small bad particles should be evaluated with cholesterol.

What about Acetyl L-Carnitine? Does it have the same potential problems re atherosclerosis??

What about vitamin K2?
There are many observational studies showing that K2 directs calcium away from arteries and into bones.
What do you think?

I use flaxseed oil caps rather than fish oil for my omega-3. How does that fit in for "heart healthy"?

Regarding the statement that fish oil can have a blood-thinning effect, I think this should be researched because I have read that they do not thin the blood. Fish oil 'conditions' the blood so that the platelets are slippery and do not stick together. For many people taking blood thinners, with monitoring, their medication can safely be reduced.
Another benefit of good fish oil is it does not have mercury.

One of the most beneficial dietary supplement for cardiovascular health was left out of your list. Among its many benefits such as anti-inflammation and blood clotting, RESVERATROL provides blood thinning properties, and softens the arteries walls. Both benefits may prevent heart-attacks and strokes.

Recent Cacoa (as pure as possible eg. 85% cacao) studies show improved circulation and imply improved cardio vascular function. Should be considered for further review to include here.