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Cholesterol?

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Atticus

Atticus

:)
Hello,
I wanted to start a more definitive thread regarding bloodwork and Cholesterol. I have never had high Cholesterol. But, my most recent bloodwork shows high cholesterol now. I am fairly certain it is related to the Kava.
I wanted to find out how many others have noticed this and to examine the process for this.
I really don't buy into the whole Cholesterol scare too much. But, I do want to get my HDL numbers higher.
Just curious. Thanks.

Todd
 
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sɥɐʞɐs

sɥɐʞɐs

Avg. Dosage: 8 Tbsp. (58g)
Review Maestro
We have some prexisting threads on blood work, but as for cholesterol results, I (and others) have noted high cholesterol.

It isn't really a new discovery, I remember reading papers that discussed it, in the past. They may have even theorized how/why it happens, I can't remember for sure.

In my case, I have no previous cholesterol reading to compare my result too, but I know that it was just slightly out of range on the high side. I also have a terrible diet that largely consists of cheese, bread and butter, sausage, eggs, chips, meat, burritos, fries, pizza, curry, ramen....
 
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Sam Handwich

Sam Handwich

Kava Enthusiast
Good post Todd, I too am very interested in this topic. After four months of near daily kava use and no alcohol use I went in for a liver panel. Every liver and kidney function number came back great, right down the middle of normal. The only thing that was off is my cholesterol, 217 total. My doc advised that I lay off the fast food and fried foods. The only problem is that I eat things like that almost never. I'm 6'1", 170lbs. and eat like a rabbit. Well, a rabbit who also likes lean meats :). I think this is an issue that could use more research. Is the cholesterol number accurate or is the kava throwing it off somehow? Should we be worried? I'd like to know.
 
Atticus

Atticus

:)
Sam Handwich said:
Good post Todd, I too am very interested in this topic. After four months of near daily kava use and no alcohol use I went in for a liver panel. Every liver and kidney function number came back great, right down the middle of normal. The only thing that was off is my cholesterol, 217 total. My doc advised that I lay off the fast food and fried foods. The only problem is that I eat things like that almost never. I'm 6'1", 170lbs. and eat like a rabbit. Well, a rabbit who also likes lean meats :). I think this is an issue that could use more research. Is the cholesterol number accurate or is the kava throwing it off somehow? Should we be worried? I'd like to know.
Click to expand...
I'm with you. I got a call from the nurse at my doctors office. Obviously, my doctor didn't review the results. She said, "You need to lose 15 lb's and lower your cholesterol". I nearly started laughing. I eat really healthy, exercise and am in fairly good shape. My girlfriend was like, "I don't know where you would find 5 lbs. Much less 15 lb's" Obviously, she had looked at the numbers and didn't take into account real things. But, it is strange. I've NEVER had high cholesterol. In fact, it's always been too low. I have read alot about how the cholesterol numbers can be a myth in many ways. But, it does concern me that it would raise LDL levels and things like that. I do know one thing. "Stress" is the killer. And, if I have to choose between higher cholesterol levels or no Kava. I will take Kava and higher cholesterol. lol. I'm serious. The stress reduction properties are too high for me.
 
kilakila

kilakila

Kava keeps me going.
Honestly guys - unless you have existing heart disease don't worry about your cholesterol numbers (unless TC is in the 300+range). If you eat healthy - a good well-balanced diet, reducing trans-fatty acids and carbs - you'll be fine.
Let the doctor put you on statins and you'll be much worse off. If you want to show your doctor lower numbers, try taking a supplement with plant sterols and stanols. try Cholestoff or Benecol.
But again - don't worry!
 
Jerome

Jerome

Kava Lover
I think a good source of information would be rate of heart disease in regular kava drinkers vs non drinkers. Unfortunately, there's no money to be made in a study like that so I doubt it will ever happen.

Unfortunately, from what I've heard, many pacific island nations that drink kava have also recently started drinking soda and eating junk food and have the high obesity rates to show for it.

It would be hard to get useful information.
 
kilakila

kilakila

Kava keeps me going.
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v58/n7/full/1601921a.html

The only study I can find. And it looks at a lot of different responses in an already compromised ethnic group (Australian aboriginals). So the results don't necessarily show any absolute correlation between high cholesterol and disease. Well, at least insofar as I can tell. There's a lot of science-y stuff in there.

I'm on the lightweight side, eat a healthy diet (better now than I did when I was younger), exercise regularly, and my total cholesterol would probably have a doctor reaching for his script pad. But no thanks. Won't take statins. I've seen how people's health (particularly my dad and my mother-in-laws) declined once they get put on the stuff. They're both deceased now.
Inflammation from bad food choices, lifestyle, stress is one of the major causes of ALL disease. If the body is not at-ease, then it is in dis-ease. Kava reduces stress therefore kava reduces inflammation. Therefore dis-ease is reduced.
 
Jerome

Jerome

Kava Lover
kilakila said:
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v58/n7/full/1601921a.html

The only study I can find. And it looks at a lot of different responses in an already compromised ethnic group (Australian aboriginals). So the results don't necessarily show any absolute correlation between high cholesterol and disease. Well, at least insofar as I can tell. There's a lot of science-y stuff in there.

I'm on the lightweight side, eat a healthy diet (better now than I did when I was younger), exercise regularly, and my total cholesterol would probably have a doctor reaching for his script pad. But no thanks. Won't take statins. I've seen how people's health (particularly my dad and my mother-in-laws) declined once they get put on the stuff. They're both deceased now.
Inflammation from bad food choices, lifestyle, stress is one of the major causes of ALL disease. If the body is not at-ease, then it is in dis-ease. Kava reduces stress therefore kava reduces inflammation. Therefore dis-ease is reduced.
Click to expand...
Amen. Stay off the statins!
 
Jerome

Jerome

Kava Lover
Alright, so I just had my work-based health screening and my LDL is pretty dang high. Total choesterol of 247 and LDL at 172.

I'm wondering if kava has anything to do with elevated LDL numbers.
 
kilakila

kilakila

Kava keeps me going.
Jerome said:
Alright, so I just had my work-based health screening and my LDL is pretty dang high. Total choesterol of 247 and LDL at 172.

I'm wondering if kava has anything to do with elevated LDL numbers.
Click to expand...
First of all, don't panic. Its high but not disaster-pending high! Did you drink kava the day before the test? When did you have the blood draw? Was it after a 12 hour fast? Did you drink alcohol or kava in the 24 hours previous to the test? Could you have been dehydrated - even slightly? Do you have any other risk factors? Did they look at the ratios? The ratio numbers are really what counts but a lot of doctors and insurance companies still go by old out-dated reference ranges. LDL itself is made up of two types of cholesterol - sticky little particles, and nice fluffy particles - maybe you've got a ton of nice fluffy particles floating inside you. You want those. You don't want to go on a medication that lowers the LDL number itself but in the process destroys the fluffy particles.
It could be that the presence of kava is skewing the results. I don''t necessarily see that as being a bad thing. Because the liver produces cholesterol - that your body needs in order to function - maybe the liver is compensating for the kava which is also metabolised by the liver. I have no clue, but I haven't heard of anyone here on the boards having major health problems because of kava.
Try taking Cholestoff capsules if you're worried. A natural way to reduce your cholesterol to numbers that would make your doctor happy.
 
Atticus

Atticus

:)
Jerome said:
Alright, so I just had my work-based health screening and my LDL is pretty dang high. Total choesterol of 247 and LDL at 172.

I'm wondering if kava has anything to do with elevated LDL numbers.
Click to expand...
I hate to say this. But, it might. I have NEVER had high cholesterol numbers my whole life. Mine are dramatically higher after beginning Kava. I have researched alot lately and I'm not firmly convinced about the reliability of these numbers to assess health. But, it is still something that I need to be aware of.
 
Jerome

Jerome

Kava Lover
kilakila said:
First of all, don't panic. Its high but not disaster-pending high! Did you drink kava the day before the test? When did you have the blood draw? Was it after a 12 hour fast? Did you drink alcohol or kava in the 24 hours previous to the test? Could you have been dehydrated - even slightly? Do you have any other risk factors? Did they look at the ratios? The ratio numbers are really what counts but a lot of doctors and insurance companies still go by old out-dated reference ranges. LDL itself is made up of two types of cholesterol - sticky little particles, and nice fluffy particles - maybe you've got a ton of nice fluffy particles floating inside you. You want those. You don't want to go on a medication that lowers the LDL number itself but in the process destroys the fluffy particles.
It could be that the presence of kava is skewing the results. I don''t necessarily see that as being a bad thing. Because the liver produces cholesterol - that your body needs in order to function - maybe the liver is compensating for the kava which is also metabolised by the liver. I have no clue, but I haven't heard of anyone here on the boards having major health problems because of kava.
Try taking Cholestoff capsules if you're worried. A natural way to reduce your cholesterol to numbers that would make your doctor happy.
Click to expand...
I agree. I'm not at all panicked. I have no other risk factors and I just lost a bunch of weight. Last year I had the same test and hadn't had kava in two years. My numbers were ideal. So I think kava has some involvement.

But I won't go near a statin. They're evil.
 
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Jerome

Jerome

Kava Lover
Todd Graves said:
I hate to say this. But, it might. I have NEVER had high cholesterol numbers my whole life. Mine are dramatically higher after beginning Kava. I have researched alot lately and I'm not firmly convinced about the reliability of these numbers to assess health. But, it is still something that I need to be aware of.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I don't think they're an accurate predictor of heart health.
 
Sam Handwich

Sam Handwich

Kava Enthusiast
Jerome said:
I agree. I'm not at all panicked. I have no other risk factors and I just lost a bunch of weight. Last year I had the same test and hadn't had kava in two years. My numbers were ideal. So I think kava has some involvement.

But I won't go near a statin. They're evil.
Click to expand...
@Jerome do you think recent weight loss increases cholesterol? I too have recently dropped some lbs. (35 since September) and have had my first high cholesterol test results.
 
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