Which foods raise your good cholesterol (HDL) and lower your bad cholesterol (LDL)?

April 24, 11:40 AMSacramento Nutrition ExaminerAnne Hart

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If you want to raise your HDL (good cholesterol) you might view the Dr. David Williams.com site about how "Advanced Nattokinase (tm)" raises your HDL cholesterol levels. The product even takes out the vitamin K for those who don't want that vitamin in their nattokinase.  Also see my other Examiner article on natto titled, "Natto lowers blood pressure and inhibits renin."

Natto "resembles plasmin (an enzyme that’s critical to break down and dissolve unwanted fibrin), and also increases your levels of plasmin," according to the Dr. David Williams.com site. "This is the key to improving your circulation and keeping your blood flowing to your heart as it should." The product contains 'amla.' It's an Indian goosebery in the euphorbiaceae family used in Ayurvedic medicine for cardiovascular benefits.

The ellagic acid is extracted from amla, according to the site, also a clinically-researched antioxidant and heart health promoter. The site notes that, "Dr. Williams has discovered a rare form of amla called Amlamax. This form of amla consists of pure extracts which are standardized to contain 20% of hydrolysable ellagic acid."

All you have to do now is find the three clinical studies that... "found that 500 mg of Amlamax a day for three months raised levels of  'good' HDL cholesterol, and lowered triglyceride and C-reactive protein levels." So check out the site.

I didn't find the three studies cited on the Dr. David Williams.com Web site that discussed the product. Readers need to know what the studies were so they can look up the articles to read and photocopy to show to their health care professionals. Also see the Mountain Home Nutritionals Health Bulletin.

If you want to eat natto, try the recipes at the Natto Recipes site. Try adding vinegar first before you add any other condiments to get rid of the ammonia smell of natto or adding yogurt to get rid of natto's slimy texture if you're buying frozen natto from an ethnic groceries store.

Other methods of raising HDL and lowering inflammation include taking certain amino acids such as a small amount of taurine and carnitine. Are you also consuming a spoonful of cod liver oil to restore nutrients drained by your lifestyle or eating habits? What you eat or medicines you take can drain your body of nutrients. If there's inflammation in your body causing problems with cholesterol, what foods can you take to restore the nutrients you need?

Your first step is to look at your good (HDL) cholesterol. If it's genetically low, here's how you can raise it and override some of your genes with foods and natural (not synthetic) nutrients that come from foods. Does your form of natural vitamin E have all of the tocotrienols?

According to the book, Is Your Cardiologist Killing You? by Sherry A. Rogers, M.D., (page 25) your good cholesterol HDL moves your bad cholesterol, LDL to your liver where it is sent to the bile and the intestines (your gut) to be removed forever.

A little turmeric produces more bile, but don't eat too much turmeric or the whites of your eyes and upper palate in your mouth could turn yellow. Your HDL protects you against the buildup of plaque in your arteries. It keeps your arteries from calcifying from too much calcium in the blood and not enough calcium in your bones.

What foods or vitamins raise your good cholesterol, HDL? The first is vitamin C and B3. Niacin helps, but too much niacin raises your homocysteine level.  So you need vitamin B6, B12, and folate to lower the homocysteine level. But too much folate (folic acid) raises other problems. The cancer level goes up, but the stroke and heart attack levels go down. Check your family history. Which choice do you want to make?

What amino acids raise  your good cholesterol, HDL? It's taurine and carnitine, all of which are sold separately in most health food stores or online. What else raises HDL? It's NAC (N-acetyl cysteine). What else raises HDL that's found in most health food stores? It's the tocotrienols, those eight parts of vitamin E in its whole, natural state.

What else? Magnesium citrate powder, like Natural Calm. Again, found in heath food stores or online. There's also HDL, Rx, a product that has most of these nutrients already in it. But is it right for your body and your needs? What else that's a simple solution? It's cod liver oil that contains DHA and EPA. (There's also a supplement called Super DHA.) But keep your EPA and DHA in balance.

One of the best nutrients that boosts your HDL (good cholesterol) is the DHA in cod liver oil. I take a spoonful of Carlson's cod liver oil daily. You need to have the EPA and DHA balanced. That's why cod liver oil is a good start. If the DHA isn't balanced with the EPA, the benefit is gone. So check out some of these medical and scientific studies below to validate your approach to raising your HDL (good cholesterol) with the nutrients found in foods or in supplements from your health food store such as cod liver oil and magnesium citrate powder. And do about 45 minutes of walking a few times a week.

 Check out the list of these medical studies which appear on pages 26-27 of  Is Your Cardiologist Killing You? by Sherry A. Rogers, M.D., and find the foods or cod liver oils, multiple minerals, magnesium, vitamins, taurine, carnitine, or other nutrients, all working in balance, that  could raise your HDL if it's lower than it should be. The ideal should be above "the optimum of 60." Look up the studies in the journals in any university library, or when available, online. Show them to your doctor.

Morgan J. et al. High-density lipoproteins subfractions and risk of coronary artery disease, Current Atherosclerosis reports 6; 5:359-65, Sept. 2004.

Hallfrisch, J. et al, High plasma vitamin C associated with high plasma HDL-and HDL-2 cholesterol, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 60; 1:100-105, July 1994.

Morgan JM, et al, The effects of niacin on lipoproteins subcalss distribution, Preventive Cardiology, 7; 4:182,-7, Fall 2004.

Itoh, K, et al., The effects of high oral magnesium supplementation on blood pressure, serum lipids, and related variables in apparently healthy Japanese subjects, British Journal of Nutrition, 78:737-50, 1997.

Rossi CS, et al, Effect of carnitine on serum HDL-cholesterol: report of two cases, Johns Hopkins Medical Journal, 150; 2:51-4, Feb. 1982.

Mochizuki, H., et al, Increasing effect of dietary taurine on the serum HDL-cholesterol concentration in rats, Bioscience, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, (BBB) 62; 3: 578-9, March 1998.

Handler, SS, Rorvik D, eads, Taurine In: PDR(r) for Nutritional Supplements, Montvale, New Jersey, Medical Econonics, Co, 442-4, 2001.

Franceschini, G, et al, Dose-dependent suppression of serum cholesterol by tocotrienols-rich franction (TRF 25) of rice bran in hypercholesterolemia, humans, Atherosclerosis, 161; 1:199-207, March 2002.  

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