Concerns about Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs, Statins?

12034477_1629901563935661_1877214184107351802_oOne in four Americans over 45 years of age has been put on a statin drug to lower their bad cholesterol levels to avoid heart disease. It’s true, statins can be effective for lowering cholesterol. Here’s the question we have to ask though: does low cholesterol really help you to avoid heart disease? The shocking answer is NO for the majority of the population.

In fact, research has shown that statin drugs actually make your heart less healthy! Statins can stimulate atherosclerosis (commonly known as hardening of the arteries) and heart failure by depleting the body’s vitamin K2 and CoQ10, an antioxidant very important for heart health. Besides, there are multiple risks for heart disease besides cholesterol such as fasting blood sugar, insulin and iron levels. Diet habits, exercise and family history play a huge part too.

Has your doctor recommended you take statins to lower your cholesterol levels to avoid heart disease? Let’s think about this…statins work by blocking the liver from making cholesterol. Yes, the cholesterol that your body needs to survive. Cholesterol is essential for us to make hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, to digest fats, to keep our brain healthy and for making our cell walls. So statins can create unwanted effects such as cancer, liver damage, diabetes, sexual dysfunction, memory problems and muscle pain.

Our naturopathic perspective is that there is no such thing as bad cholesterol. Any cholesterol and triglyceride levels can be “bad” if they are too high, including our “good” HDL cholesterol. The goal is to optimize all your cholesterol levels by managing your diet and optimizing your nutritional vitamins and minerals. There are many natural foods that can keep your heart healthy. In addition, we take a more holistic view of your other risk factors and use natural, safe therapies to help you maintain your heart health.
Get in touch with us if you are concerned about taking statins.

Please call Dr. Tim Kuhlman at Chehalis Naturopathic Medicine at (360) 996-4761 to schedule your appointment.