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Old 08-14-2010, 03:17 AM
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Default Statins and vitamin D

It is becoming more and more well known that statin use can lower levels of co-enzyme Q10. What is probably less well known, but just as important, is that statin drugs can also deplete levels of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) which is made in the body from cholesterol.
As statins lower cholesterol, statin-users may not have enough cholesterol to produce sufficient vitamin D.
Vitamin D is important for immunuity, brain and heart health as well as for absorbing calcium from the diet.
Lack of vitamin D and co-enzyme Q10 may also contribute to the muscle pain that some statin-users experience.
Nutritional therapists therefore recommend that if you are taking a statin, you should consider taking both CoQ10 (100-200 mg) and vitamin D3 (20 mcg) supplements
- Healthspan magazine Spring 2010
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Old 08-15-2010, 08:45 PM
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Nutritional therapists should be recommending Niacin in place of statins.
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Old 08-16-2010, 04:32 AM
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Niacin is very good for reducing LDL and Lp(a) as well as increasing HDL, which is far more than any statin will do.

Niacin causes a hot flush when taken at dosages required to help in heart conditions. However 'no flush' niacin which is sold at some health shops, is useless in helping heart problems.

https://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2007/mar2007_atd_01.htm

If the niacin flush is very troublesome Quercetin has been found to help.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18831918
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Old 09-04-2010, 11:43 AM
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The mechanism and mitigation of niacin-induced flushing Here is a detailed explanation of the niacin flush issue, it also explains the benefits of niacin.

Points to remember are the flushing decreases as you get used to niacin but if you stop the niacin you will lose some of that flush resistance and have to reacclimatise to niacin when you restart.

Asprin 325 mg taken 30minutes before the Niacin reduces flushing Ibuprofin does the same.
A quercetin containing supplement reduces niacin-induced flush in humans. This study used 150 mg quercetin per capsule but Quercetin and luteolin (4.3mg per rat; 1000 mg per human), administered i.p. 45min prior to niacin, inhibited the niacin effect by 96 and 88%, respectively. Aspirin (1.22mg per rat; 325mg per human) inhibited the niacin effect by only 30%.

These are the Niacin I use Code WAB666 introductory discount at IHERB. I will try some Quercetin just so I know it does actually reduce niacin flush

See also Heartscanblog Niacin and Hydration

Perhaps one of the reasons the niacin flush doesn't bother me is because I have to drink a lot of water and I regularly test my urine and one of the strip pads is for hydration so I get a visual reminder to drink more water if that particular test marker doesn't go green straight away.

Another idea may be to take the niacin immediately before you go to bed. It usually takes 30~60mins for the flush to occur so you will probably be asleep and not bothered by it.

Another idea may be to use an anti histamine if you have them available.
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Old 11-29-2010, 05:11 AM
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Default statins and vitamin D

I also noticed a study that sugested that the muscle pains folk experience on the statins goes away when you take vitamin D
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Old 11-29-2010, 05:33 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tobylee02 View Post
I also noticed a study that sugested that the muscle pains folk experience on the statins goes away when you take vitamin D
There is a school of thought that statins work by immitating the action of vitamin D. In which case restoring the natural level of vitamin D status human living near naked mostly outdoors under unpolluted skies and at which humans store vitamin D and are able to supply vitamin D breast milk, seems more sensible than taking a statin.

We don't have a natural statin deficiency syndrome but unless you are currently a UVB sunbed user or take an EFFECTIVE (5000IU/D+) amount of vitamin D3 it is certain you are vitamin D insufficient.

It's also the case that statin work as anti inflammatory agents. I don't suppose I have to remind readers here that correcting omega 6 <> omega 3 ratio by decreasing pro inflammatory omega 6 industrial seed oil consumption such as such as corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower and cottonseed oil and commercially made foods that contain them while increasing omega 3 consumption will reduce the chronic inflammation burden as does correcting vitamin D and magnesium deficiency states. Doing the above removes the cause of the problem while taking statins leaves those root causes of chronic inflammation still operating.

It's not just omega 6 seed oils that cause inflammation. Refined carbohydrates particularly wheat (modern dwarf wheat varieties having higher gluten content lower zinc/magnesium content) caloric sweeteners sugar/hfcs and other corn syrup derivatives add to the problem.
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Old 11-29-2010, 06:13 AM
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My mom is on zocor, I talk her out of taking it sometimes, but in her mind the Doctor is God. She is taking D-3 2000 Units a day. I try to get her to take the 5000 unit capsules, but she refuses. However, I do talk her into taking a co q10 every now and then and she is also taking vit c and french red wine extract from Dr's Best.
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Old 11-29-2010, 10:00 PM
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20 mcg of D3? 40000 IU = 1 mg. 1 mcg = 40 IU. So 20 mcg is 800 IU. Not very much. More like 5000 IU minimum. 10000 daily for a few months to get levels up. One should get levels tested. See vitamindcouncil.org
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