Popular Dietary Supplement May Actually Raise Cholesterol Levels

Many of us start our day by drinking a glass of water and washing down a handful of supplements. There seems to be a pill or packet for every ailment under the sun, including fibers for smooth movement. But if you're taking supplements to lower your cholesterol, recent research may make you rethink your routine. And read on to see what you can do instead.   According to the U.S. Food&Drug Administration (FDA), the agency regulates supplements "under a different set of regulations than those covering 'conventional foods and drug products'" and "does not have the authority to approve dietary supplements for safety and effectiveness, or to approve their labeling, before the supplements are sold to the public." That means that while the FDA is able to take action against mislabeled or diluted supplements, not everything on the supplement shelves at your pharmacy has actually been vetted for effectiveness. It's important to keep both "bad" and "good" cholesterol within a healthy range.

When it comes to HDLs, Healthline says "[the] higher this number, the better," noting that this metric should be at least 55 mg/dL for women and 45 mg/dL for men. Whereas when it comes to LDLs (yep, you guessed it) "[the] lower this number, the better" (ideally no more than 130 mg/dL for folks who don't have heart disease or diabetes).

Cholesterol is a wax-like substance in the blood that our bodies need in order to build healthy cells, the Mayo Clinic explains. When cholesterol levels get too high, fatty deposits can clog blood vessels, causing heart attacks and strokes.High-density lipoproteins (HDL) travel through the body to collect excess cholesterol, It's known as the "good" cholesterol because it returns it to your liver so it doesn't clog your liver. Conversely, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is known as "bad" cholesterol. This is because it builds artery walls and carries cholesterol particles throughout the body.

New research shows that these supplements can increase "bad" cholesterol.

According to Nov. If you want to lower your LDL levels, don't reach for a bottle of garlic supplement, according to the 2022 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

In this study, researchers followed 190 patients over a 28-day period, including those taking placebos, those taking statins (a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs), and those taking six "heart-healthy" compared the cholesterol results of patients taking either of the 'strong' supplements. :

Garlic, red yeast rice, fish oil, cinnamon, turmeric, plant sterols.

Patients given garlic supplements had almost an 8% increase in LDL (“bad” cholesterol).