Get off statins

Get off statins by changing your diet rather than taking medication to get your cholesterol down.

Taking any drugs long-term should invite questions. Could or should I be doing something different? All medication has side effects, especially if taken for an extended period.

This page was last updated by Dr Barrie Lewis on 30th June, 2023.

Remember that 200,000 people die every year in the USA alone from the side-effects of medical drugs. Sometimes you have no option; but usually that's not the case.

Here's an interesting anecdote; it has no scientific value, but hopefully it arouses your interest. Yesterday, a returning patient, whom I had not seen for over ten years consulted me with severe lower back pain; he told me that recently he had vomited blood, and had a black stool.

Medical examination established that indeed he had a bleeding ulcer; but his doctor did not think to ask if he had been taking anti-inflammatory drugs.

Previously I had pleaded with him to lose weight and stop smoking. He is now suffering from gout and suffers regularly with knee and big toe pain and swelling. So he is taking NSAIDs daily, even since the gastric bleed.

14,000 Americans die every year from a gastric bleed directly caused by taking anti-inflammatory drugs.

But back to statins, do they have side-effects? Yes, sir, and some nasty ones, including an increase in haemorrhagic stroke, impotence and important for the chiropractor, ache and tingling in feet and legs.

But research does show that if your total cholesterol is above 8 (320), but not below, then statins do indeed decrease the overall risk of stroke by some 31%. 

Drug companies colluded with a group of doctors who did not declare the funding they were getting for their research. Their (discredited) opinion was that you should be taking statins, even if your cholesterol was lower than 5.

Get off statins

Get off statins because they have nasty side-effects including impotence, raised risk of diabetes and even metastatic tumours.

But say your cholesterol is 7, you have no family history of heart disease and stroke, your blood pressure is good and your doctor wants you to take statins, then what do you do? You don't want to take drugs long term but you also do not wish to be devious, or ignore your his advice.

Or perhaps you've been taking statins and have started getting some of the nasty side effects.

My advice

Ask your doctor for three months to change your lifestyle, and then have another test. Your goal is whether you get your cholesterol down to around 5.1 with exercise and changing what you eat?

Yes, you can do it.

Memory

I was personally shocked five years ago to discover that I was prediabetic; my blood glucose soared after drinking fruit juice. I made no connection but I was also unable to recall numbers, even my own cellphone.

I made three fairly profound changes. None were difficult when faced with diabetes.

1. Taking a short brisk walk after starchy meals; especially supper.
2. Cutting out all commercial bread, scones and cakes; except for "high and holy days."
3. Saying goodbye to sugar for ever; that was the hardest.

But now my HbA1_c is a perfectly normal 5.4. And to my astonishment I can now remember my cellphone number without the slightest difficulty.

Chiropractic Help Get off statins safely programme

These are all things you should be doing anyway. Every one of these recommendations will improve your general well-being. You'll experience less pain in your joints and muscles; And enjoy lower blood pressure; better memory and weight loss too.

And really not one of them is painfully difficult.

Breakfast

Lignans are estrogen-like compounds found particularly in oats, flax and sesame seeds but many other foods too; they are potent phytosterols that lower cholesterol and help you get off statins naturally.

• Oats

There's strong research showing that just one cup of oats a day will reduce your cholesterol by 17%; that's a massive.

But a cup is a lot of oats; try a half perhaps. Or have a muesli rich in whole grains, nuts and seeds.

Oats are rich in lignans that also give protection against nasty breast tumours and heart disease. 

Soak the oats and a dozen raisins in boiling water, add a touch of salt and leave it to stand for ten minutes. Nuke it for 60s perhaps.

If your lipid numbers are seriously not good, then think about using oats milk^[6] instead of dairy; it is really not a bad alternative as far as taste is concerned but do use the fibrous remains as a thickener in your other cooking.

• Slice in half an apple

Add any other fruit that's in season. Berries are rich in substances called phenols that not only lower cholesterol but also reduce neoplasms and arthritis. That is a winning situation.

Two to three apples a day (and probably the equivalent of most fruits) will reduce your cholesterol by 10%. 

Prunes too are loaded with soluble fibre, the good stuff to lower cholesterol; and other benefits.

• Quick constipation relief
  

Sprinkle a tablespoon of flaxseed on your cereal.  It's rich in lignans and omega-3, both known for their cholesterol lowering properties; and reduction of heart disease.

• Freshly cracked nuts

Walnuts are best but three pecans would be excellent too. Whatever you can lay your hands on.

• Pecans nutrition ...

Is it really so difficult to get off statins safely? Why are we not equally concerned that anti-inflammatory drugs are so dangerous?

• Eggs

An egg on a bed of onions and spinach is a very good way to finish your breakfast. Don't be anxious about the egg; it's the best source of B12, a vital ingredient in the body's mechanism of lower homocysteine, far more toxic than cholesterol. Eggs Florentine on half a slice of toasted low GI bread is a winner at breakfast.

Finish it off with a tablespoon of plain yoghurt and a little raw honey if it's not sweet enough for you. Don't mix prunes with your cereal, or you may break a tooth.

Now what was difficult about that? Do you really want to get off statins?

Your goal if you want to get off statins and reduce your risk of cancer is to eat a minimum of five coloured foods per day.

I aim for ten because research shows that those enjoying on average a rainbow of seven to ten coloured foods per day have a 35 percent lower all cause of death; that's massive.

Already you have strawberries and an apple, and raisins, prunes and spinach. The nuts should count too.

Lunch

Fibre is the word here. And a few more coloured foods. Your favourite salad, and now add a tablespoon of hummus. Garbanzo beans are number two (after oats) in the cholesterol stakes.  Make your own authentic hummus recipe; I make it twice a week, it takes only four minutes to make your own hummus once you have the ingredients at hand. Chickpeas, olive oil, sesame paste and parsley. Sesame tahini is an important ingredient.

You may want to start with a soup, and there's none better than this Irish potato and leek soup. The active ingredient in the onion family is a phytochemical called allicin.

Hummus is rich in vegetable protein, but perhaps you want to add some chicken, or cheese, or tuna.

Every man wants to have a tomato and/or an avocado every day for his prostate, preferably both. Avocado benefits ...

Eggplant have proven cholesterol lowering properties; there are many ways to enjoy it, but baba ghanoush is one of our favourites; all you need is tahini.

• How to cook cauliflower ...
• How to grow peas
• Glycemic Index and Carbohydrate Count chart ...

Do you really want to get off statins? Then make it fun and enjoy the ride. This is food to titivate your tongue. The flavours are delicious.

• My favourite curcbit recipe is about is how to cook cauliflower and make it interesting.
  
• How to grow peas is best done on a fence in full sun.  Sugarsnaps are our favourite; you can eat them pod and all.
  
• A certain amount of sweet foods like this plum jelly is fine, just make sure you lower the glycemic index by having it with protein such as fish or cheese and fat like olive oil or butter which lower the GI. 
• Glycemic index and carbohydrate count chart are the secret to easier weight loss.

These salads give you the added advantage of reducing any toxic homocysteine in your blood, whilst supplying the vitamins like folate that are necessary for the break down of this toxic byproduct of protein metabolism; it's the villain of many conditions like Alzheimer's disease, stroke and heart disease.

I was to choose one change to make, then it would be to make your hummus; it's so easy and will make any dull green salad. The other is a pesto with either sweet basil or parsley; it's simply divine and will enable you to start enjoying that salad which let's face it can be dull.

Dinner

Lots more strong research that the omega-3 in fatty fish like salmon or mackerel, or fresh tuna, has a powerful cholesterol lowering affect. Perhaps this smoked salmon dip recipe on crackers after dinner, or a fish soup.

Vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, leeks, butternut... enjoy at least three of your favourite veg, the more colourful the better.

• Broccoli

Broccoli is the queen of the anti-cancer vegetables, and is particularly rich in vitamin B9 (folate), that substance that helps children perform better in school, amongst many other things. Benefits of folate ....

• Cauliflower

Cauli is simply the easiest vegetable to cook, though to my mind it needs to be spiced up. Perhaps this cauliflower soup recipe with a dash of curry...

• Sweet potato

This delic veg has a surprisingly low Glycemic Index for such a sweet food, provided you don't roast it. My favourite is a sweet potato and broccoli soup. Prepare the vegetables, pressure cook it for five minutes, and hey presto you have a delicious cholesterol lowering meal.

• You just choose three of your favourites. The brighter the colours the better. 

Have we reached ten coloured foods? I should think so, you can too.

• Sweet potato and chicken broccoli recipe ... make it in ten minutes
• Homocysteine cardiovascular ...

Exercise

More strong research showing that moderate exercise gives you a double benefit, lowering the bad cholesterol, and raising the good HDL cholesterol that returns the cholesterol in the blood stream to your liver for degradation. Exercise and cholesterol ...

Perhaps a brisk twenty minute walk at lunchtime, apple in hand? Escape the stress of the office for a round-the-block. Or twenty lengths of the pool before breakfast? Cycle to the shops? Use the stairs instead of the lift? Be creative. It is all about your determination to get off statins.

Foods that lower cholesterol

Foods that lower cholesterol are such an easy way to enable you to get off statins; be creative. Add plenty of garlic to your cooking, change to olive oil to reduce the omega-6 in your diet (too much is inflammatory), eggplant, apples, vegetables, grow your own pole beans in the summer, an occasional glass of red wine, red grapes in season.

Growing green beans ... really, pole beans are like weeds in the summer; so easy. Unless you have nasty little insect called the Mexican bean beetle; then you have to get hens too.

You can do it, really you can; get off statins.

Follow this routine, really not so painful, and I can give you a reasonable assurance that in two to three months time your doctor will not be able to give you sound reasons why you shouldn't get off statins.

The exception is people suffering from hypercholesterolemia, a rare, serious disease caused by a deficiency of an enzyme, putting your cholesterol levels into orbit. It's hereditary. Did your non-smoking father have a heart attack at thirty-five?

A health nut? Yes, perhaps, but it's better than going impotent! Or suffering from those aching legs that we see in chiropractor clinics on a regular basis.

Foods to avoid high cholesterol

Foods to avoid high cholesterol is one other arrow in your quiver, though I have to say, for the majority if you are enjoying healthy choice foods, you can have your eggs, and still get off statins safely. They are excellent food and the best source of vitamin B12 and choline.

Well, I'm sure you don't need to be told, it's in the press daily. Limit your eggs, cream and red meat. In the context of the delicious foods expounded above, for most folk foods to avoid high cholesterol is simply not necessary. I enjoy all three and have rock bottom cholesterol. No one was happier than I when researchers proclaimed after examining more than 80 studies that there is no scientific reason to change to margarine; butter is back.

Anecdote: Yesterday I had lunch with an old friend whom I hadn't seen for over ten years. Surprising me, he related that he was Type II diabetic, and couldn't enjoy the dessert. He had always been extremely active, a very good sportsman who didn't carry an extra ounce of fat.

So he told me, some fifteen years previously he had been prescribed beta blockers for some complaint. Three years later the pharmacist told him the medicine had been withdrawn because it had a serious side effect: a large number of patients were becoming diabetic. Too late,  the damage was done. Within a few months he too became diabetic.

It's known as an iatrogenic illness or doctor-caused disease. According to Wiki it's the third most important cause of death after heart disease and cancer; 225,000 persons per year. Dead. Do your level best not only to get off statins but all drugs; with your medical doctor's support, of course.

Is a life without medication a pipe dream? Hippocrates, the father of Medicine knew the secret; let your food be your medicine, said he.

Omega 3

Omega 3 is found in fatty fish and freshly ground flaxseed, in the main; walnuts too and true free range cage free eggs; if you're planning to get off statins safely then you must have more of these very important fatty acids; there are three of them, ALA, DHA and EPA. 

If you really can't get fresh cold water fish then taking omega 3 capsules is a second best. Getting the omega 6's down and the 3's up for lowering the omega 6/3 ratio is a vital part of the anti inflammatory omega 3 program.

It's that inflammation of the inner lining of blood vessels that is killer; get omega 3 one way or another, enjoy your salads and lignans and get off statins.

Real free range eggs, if you can find them, have three times the omega-3, from plants like legumes and a common weed, the purslane plant. 

Statins actually cause atherosclerosis

In a 2015 research printed in Expert Revue Clinical Pharmacology, scientists declare that contrary to popular belief, statins actually cause atherosclerosis, or calcification in the coronary arteries, and impair heart muscle strength by inhibiting ATP production.

So does taking best calcium for osteoporosis out of a bottle, by the way. Dinkum, just read the research; rather let your food be your medicine.

Statins do this, they declare, by inhibiting the synthesis of vitamin K2 and selenium containing proteins, known to cause congestive heart failure.

Get off statins if at all possible. In the chiropractic setting it's tingling in legs and feet that invites the question, are you taking cholesterol-lowering medication?

There are 5 Reasons Why You Should Not Take Statins according to Dr Mercola. Google his site.

Statins cause metastatic disease

There are numerous studies showing that those taking any form of statin are significantly more at risk from breast, prostate and skin metastatic disease.

For example, in the 'cholesterol and Recurrent Events' trial 12 out of 286 women in the statins group got breast carcinoma, but only one in 290 in the placebo group.

Statins raise prevalence of skin infections

Scientist reviewing prescription data of 228,000 people over 12 years found that those taking statins were 40% more likely to suffer from skin and soft tissue infections^[1].

They theorised that cholesterol is a crucial component of the skin enabling it to be an effective protective barrier; statins appear to compromise this important function.

They also found that statins raised the risk of diabetes and, by disturbing the normal metabolism of bile acids, disrupted the human gut microbiome further diminishing innate immunity to pathogens, in the skin but affecting the whole body too.

We recommend that all those taking statins thus also make use of a home-based probiotic such as kefir^[2].

Statins and cataracts

An analysis of 50,000 elderly people in Taiwan found that those taking statins were 20pc more likely to undergo cataract surgery^[4].

Summary

We humans are always looking for short cuts; rather than alter our diets to lower raised cholesterol naturally, we'd rather risk these nasty side effects; and even cancer.

It's the simple things that make for better health and a life without medication a real possibility. Is it really that difficult to enjoy a few apples every week, start making hummus regularly and growing green beans? Get off statins naturally and safely is our advice.

Do you know what high cholesterol symptoms^[5] are in any case?

• Gout