Recommendations for high cholesterol
Hi community,
I have high cholesterol (genetics, not diet related as I'm vegetarian). I'm menopausal in my late 50s and have tried to control it via diet (increasing healthy fats, etc). I've had very marginal success with this and now need to consider my options. I would prefer to try supplements such as red rice yeast, niacin, etc. Am hoping someone in the community has had success with lowering their cholesterol via supplements. If so, I would love to know what worked for you? Thanks.
Apr 13, 2025
Parent Replies
Hello! I have the exact same situation as you do—genetically related high cholesterol that I could not control with diet from the first time I had my cholesterol checked. Did not want to go on a statin because I was trying to get pregnant. Decided on high dose niacin and that made my numbers better! Side effects were not pleasant (hot flashes) and I had to work my way up very slowly to quite a high dose . It also made my stomach upset eventually—that bothered me more than the hot flashes. Once I was done building my family, I opted to go on a statin and it was so much better and easier with no side effects for me. Reading up on statins, there are a lot of benefits besides cholesterol. Hope that helped!
I've had success lowering cholesterol, a1c, visceral fat, and lost 40 pounds following intermittent fasting. I've also been able to stop taking most of the supplements I used to take. I worked with a fasting coach who specializes in working with women 44 or over. She does both group and 1-1 coaching, and I highly recommend her. Her name is Laurie Lewis and her website is https://fastforwardwellness.com/ - she's been on various podcasts, so you could check her out by listening to podcast interviews. She helped me turn around my health.
I was in that same situation and my cholesterol was up to 270.I finally agreed to take a statin which I had fought for years.It is a lower dose that what the Doctor first suggested and I always take Co Q 10 along with it to avoid side effects.It has been about 5 years and it’s been fine.Cholesterol is now below 200.
I also have high cholesterol due to a combo of both genetics and diet. On the diet front, the belief that only red meat and other animal products cause high cholesterol is now outdated. The latest research also points to diets heavy in processed foods, sugar, and refined carbs as having a big role in high cholesterol. I and others I know have had a lot of success in lowering cholesterol through just cutting out sugar, most wheat, and all highly processed foods. You may want to take a look at your diet and see if that's possible for you.
i also have high good and bad cholesterol genetically. ive had some success with Red Rice yeast and berberine. i just tried a course of statins which helped but threw my liver markers off. not sure what’s next
Been there, done that! Nothing worked (including Ornish diet, etc). I did a bunch of research, ended up on smallest dose of Crestor (generic), 5mg and worked with a wonderful cardionutritionist Michelle Routhenstein (look her up on web). She has a nutritional approach to lowering cardiac biomarkers like high cholesterol (I've also got the genetically related high Lp(a) which means that my overall parameters are even lower than recommended for general public). She has private as well as group offerings. I learned SO MUCH, and I worked as a medical writer for years - very eye opening on latest research, etc. My numbers are way, way down because of my multi-discipline approach. Feeling great. My cardiologist and endocrinologist both told me that if the majority of their patients did what I did they would have much less busy schedules :)