Advice On Lowering High Cholesterol With Thyroid

[zane93]

My mother in law came to me with her blood work wanting some help lowering her cholesterol. It is well know that a poorly functioning thyroid will lead to high cholesterol as well as a poor diet of PUFAs... She is overweight and has some depression too.

I do not have a thyroid gland so I have never really helped anyone with a thyroid nor have I looked at using Thyroid meds to help lower cholesterol. I just wanted to double check with you guys and get your thoughts about these results(attached). Her blood work only shows TSH, Free T3, T4, and the usual cholesterol panel.

On a side note she has a very low budget so all she can afford is ThiroyD because I get them for $10 per 1k direct from a Thailand pharmacy. Her MD will not do a proper thyroid panel and will not even consider treatment(usual BS).

Many Thanks!

 

[zooma]

The most simple thing you can do to lower cholesterol is to start eating coconut oil.

Ray has said that anything that improves thyroid function will tend to lower cholesterol.

will lead to high cholesterol as well as a poor diet of PUFAs

I don't think this is correct. PUFA should lower serum cholesterol and this is one of the main reasons it is considered 'heart healthy'. Of course, it isn't a good thing.

 

[zane93]

I don't think this is correct. PUFA should lower serum cholesterol and this is one of the main reasons it is considered 'heart healthy'. Of course, it isn't a good thing.

Did not know that thanks!
I have told here to radically change her diet and to start consuming coconut oil daily.

 

[zane93]

Do you think 1/2 a grain for 3-4 weeks would be a good place to start with her?

 

[zooma]

I don't have much experience supplementing thyroid so probably not the person to ask - but if it was me i would go for it.

Just make sure she is consistent with it for at least 3 weeks and doesn't mess around with the dose.

 

[Aulii]

Aloha,
This is my 1st post. I appreciate all the information & studies cited. I have spent more than a few hours sorting thru and my brain is overloaded so I am forced to ask for assistance. The diet makes sense. My husband and I are trying to follow the principles to the extent we can.
One issue we need to deal with is his cholesterol. He is 63. When he was around 30 he discovered he had high cholesterol and extremely high triglycerides. He refused all meds and we went on with our busy lives. He would get the tests every 3 or 4 years. His numbers for cholesterol fluctuate between 700 & 900 and triglycerides are 3000+ when they can even b measured.
He is average weight (175), 6 ft, can easily pass for 45, no gray, lots of hair, nice soft skin, few wrinkles. He does nothing cosmetically to maintain.
Now that we retired I pressured him to do something about the numbers so he went to a doc and got medicine called gemfibrozil 600mg 2x daily. Has been about 2 or 3 months and cholesterol is down around 480. Now I am wondering if he would better served not taking it.
He appears healthy & strong
Works circles around younger guys
Has a hard time getting going though
Appears to need too much sleep 9-10 hrs + nap
Has a big stomach (bloated, gassy) - Evacuates at least 3 times a day
Temp is in low 97/high96 area

So my question is which of the ideal labs formulas might benefit him? If any might help should he stop the gemfibrozil? . He has never had many supplements except some vitamins (multi) and takes advil for frequent headaches. Any insight is sincerely appreciated.

 

[tara]

Aloha Aulii,

I am no expert - you might want to look for Haidut's posts on cholesterol and triglycerides.
I don't know anything about that drug.

But what I have picked up is that sometimes cholesterol levels get high because there is something missing that is needed to convert the cholesterol to the needed steroid hormones - pregnenolone and the various others the body makes from this. There are various possibilities, one of them being low thyroid function. Does your husband have any lab test results for thyroid hormones? Peat and people here often interpret them differently that most drs, so if you want to post numbers (rather than just 'dr said they were OK') you may get other opinions. The lowish body temps may be an indicator of general low metabolism. There could also be other nutrients missing in the diet that might make a difference.

I guess if you've been reading here you'll have come across the common theme of trying to minimise PUFA consumption, because PUFA oils tend to suppress thyroid function - and therefore metabolism - in a few ways. (PUFA oils: eg seed oils, margerine, many nuts and seeds, oil fish, pork and chicken tend to have high PUFA if fed on such too.)

If you want to post something about diet, you may get opinions (possibly many and contradictory:)) and ideas on this to.

Getting regular sunshine?
Breathing relaxed, nasal, diaphragmatic, including in sleep?

Good luck.

 

[Aulii]

It appears I posted this in the wrong subject area. I apologize that it changes the subject. The subject should b more cholesterol than thyroid. I have never done this before!
Tara, Thank you for responding.
Our diet is gradually moving in the right direction. As we learn and assimilate we try to apply. The only struggle I am facing (diet wise) is cultured vegetables and kefir. I have been keeping the grains going for some time and part of the fridge is devoted to jars of cultured veggies, so I am a little stuck trying to figure out if I should abandon all that! Definitely we understand PUFA and avoid them.

I looked through the last blood test and I do not see any thyroid tests. I do not think he has ever been tested but I only have the last test to look at. I probably tossed the earlier ones. But I thought by reading through the different posts (which I have done for a while b4 joining) that the Peat diet is Thyroid friendly so if applied the diet will auto correct the thyroid over time. Is that wrong?

It is the cholesterol i was focusing the comment on, looking for supplements ( going through the skin sounds like something he he could stick to) that would help reduce those high numbers and complement the diet. However hormone/metabolic support is something we have never done. I do not know where to start. I did order a bag of pregnenolone from health natura, LLC a while back when I first looked to Peat ideas but the smallest serving is 70mg of the powder. When I compare it with 5mg on the idea labs Panettone, for example, I am thinking the 70 mg dose may b too high to start with. Or maybe one of the other formulas would b a better fit for him? But are you saying he has to have a blood Thyroid test to take the supplements?

 

[HDD]

Welcome Aulii,
Here is a thread with some ideas on lowering cholesterol you might find useful:

Help lowering Cholesterol w/o drugs- labs incl.

 

[tara]

But are you saying he has to have a blood Thyroid test to take the supplements?

Not necessarily, just if you have them they give more info. Monitoring body temps and heart rate may give enough info. You could also consider other signs and symptoms.
Some people seem to get their metabolism up with diet, some people seem to do better if they also use supplements. I think it makes sense to see what you can do with diet for a while first, before experimenting with supplemental hormones, unless there are clear signs of extreme trouble. Having lots of energy seems like a good sign. I don't think there is a single version of the diet that works optimally for everyone - some people seem to do better with little or no starch, others seems to do well with quite a lot of starchy foods, for instance. Monitoring body temps can help give an indication over time of whether changes you make are helping restore metabolism.

The only struggle I am facing (diet wise) is cultured vegetables and kefir. I have been keeping the grains going for some time and part of the fridge is devoted to jars of cultured veggies, so I am a little stuck trying to figure out if I should abandon all that!

I wouldn't necessarily suddenly and completely abandon them if you enjoy them and they seem to do you good.
You could experiment with reducing the amount you eat of them, or taking a couple of days off, and see if it makes a difference. Maybe also consider straining the keffir and eating more of the solid curds than the liquid whey? That way you'd get less of the lactic acid and tryptophan, but still get a good bit of probably useful protein.
Peat seems to see lactic acid as a metabolic burden (takes energy and work by the liver to deal with it), but some people here seem to do fine with Greek/strained yogurt (unfortunately not me though - I'd love to be eating yogurt or keffir).

I did order a bag of pregnenolone from health natura, LLC a while back when I first looked to Peat ideas but the smallest serving is 70mg of the powder. When I compare it with 5mg on the idea labs Panettone, for example, I am thinking the 70 mg dose may b too high to start with.

My non-expert impression is that pregnenolone serves some people really well, and others not so much, and that useful dose varies a lot. I had a rough week when I tried it, but that could have been other factors. Seems to lower stress hormones, so for those of us how are relying on stress hormones to function, it can reduce available energy. But I'm not aware of any risk of long term harm from trying it. If you decide to try it, I'd probably go for less than 70mg for starters too - maybe measure out that 70mg and the spread it over a week? Or not take it every day - longish half-life, I think. But if it seems to be having no effect, or seems good, you could try more too.