Dietary versus Blood Serum Cholesterol

Dietary cholesterol has no bearing on blood serum cholesterol. Cholesterol is a very large molecule. It has to be broken down into tiny fragments to be absorbed through your gut wall, at which point these building blocks are normally used for something else. All the cholesterol in your blood/body is produced by your liver.

And that's ignoring the fact that when people talk about 'good cholesterol' and 'bad cholesterol' they're not actually talking about cholesterol but rather the cholesterol transporters.

LDL (low density lipoprotein/'bad cholesterol') transports the actual cholesterol molecules in the blood from the liver to wherever needs it. Cholesterol is vital for regulating cell membrane fluidity - you'd die without it.

HDL (high density lipoprotein/'good cholesterol') transports it back to the liver when its finished.

An overall poor diet (many different and complex factors - none of which are how much cholesterol you consume in your diet) causes the overproduction of LDL and underproduction of HDL, so more is going out than is coming in, leaving fatty deposits in your arteries which causes high blood pressure and all the knock on effects.

Best and Cheapest way to Manage Cholesterol

Niacin, also known as nicotinic acid or vitamin B3, has long been regarded as one of the most effective weapons in managing cholesterol. It can lower levels of triglycerides, fatty acids and to a lesser extent, the "bad" kind of cholesterol (LDL) while at the same time powerfully increasing the "good" kind (HDL).

But there's a catch – a big one. Patients don't like to take niacin because in most of them, it causes embarrassing, uncontrollable intense flushing, a rush of blood to the face and other skin surfaces accompanied by a prickling sensation.

Now, however, scientists have identified the discrete molecular pathways that are triggered when niacin enters the body, and they say that knowledge may lead to a revival of niacin-based treatments as therapies of choice.

Read the full article....

Niacin, Lipids, and Growth

A study in Archives of Internal Medicine (Guyton, et al, 2000) confirms the superiority of niacin (vitamin B3) as a lipid-lowering agent.

A proprietary timed-release version of niacin (Niaspan) was compared to the pharmaceutical drug gemfibrozil (Lopid). The study involved 399 male and female subjects ranging in age from 21 to 75, all of whom had low levels of HDL (high density lipoproteins - "good cholesterol") less than 40 mg/l. Other criteria for inclusion in this study were triglycerides less than 400 mg/l, and LDL (low density lipoproteins - "bad cholesterol") less than 260 mg/l. Niacin was administered once daily at bedtime.

The niacin dosage was begun at 375 mg/day, and then increased progressively over the course of the study, and maintained at a level of 2,000 mg nightly for 8 weeks. The duration of the study was 16 weeks. Subjects took an aspirin as-needed to prevent flushing.

Gemfibrozil 600 mg was administered twice daily over the entire 16 weeks. Niacin increased HDL levels over 25%, compared to an increase of 13.3% due to gemfibrozil. Gemfibrozil actually raised LDL (the "bad cholesterol"), while niacin slightly lowered this fraction. Gemfibrozil lowered triglyceride levels by 40%, compared to a 30% decrease from niacin.

Thus, niacin resulted in an overall improvement in the lipid profile which exceeded that induced by gemfibrozil. However, niacin favorably altered several other cardiovascular risk factors as well.

• Apolipoprotein levels were significantly (20%) reduced by niacin, but were not altered by gemfibrozil.
• Both substances reduced serum apolipoprotein levels by the same amount.
• Fibrinogen, a third risk factor, was reduced by niacin, but increased 6-9% by gemfibrozil. The authors concluded, "Niaspan, 2,000 mg, had a significantly better effect on fibrinogen levels than gemfibrozil."

These results support many previous studies on the use of niacin as a lipid-lowering nutrient.

For example, in the Coronary Drug Project, which enrolled men with a previous myocardial infarction, niacin use resulted in a 26% decrease in second non-fatal heart attacks over a six-year period, and an 11% decrease in total mortality after 15 years of followup.

Niacin Improves Microcirculation

Anyone who's taken niacin (nicotinic acid) has no doubt experienced the niacin flush, but are there any benefits to this (for some) uncomforatable flushing and tingling of the skin?

Here's a study (Influence of xantinole nicotinic acid on cutaneous microcirculation in patients with coronary artery disease and hyperlipoproteinemia) that took 8 adults (admittedly a small sample) who had already been identified with coronary artery disease, gave them nicotinic acid, and then measured the microcirculation bloodflow in teh skin resulting from the vaso dilation caused by the niacin.

"...nicotinic acid (NA) dose dependently lowers plasma levels of atherogenic lipoproteins and increases blood flow through vasodilation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of NA on cutaneous microcirculation in patients with coronary artery disease and hyperlipidemia."

The results:

"The administration of 1000 mg of NA resulted in a significant improvement of the cutaneous microcirculation in patients with coronary artery disease and hyperlipidemia."

So taking niacin resutls in increased blood flow to the skin, which could be beneficial for healing or other therapeudic purposes.