Policosanol for cholesterol

[Sober]

has any one had any success with this, i just stumbled on this. it seems there's a fine line between too little and too much. but doesnt have the sides that some prescription statins have.

im assuming bloodwork is needed to achieve some baseline before and after cycle...any input?

regards
sober

 

[BrownUniversity2]

Cholesterol medicines--all of them--are metabolized in the liver and/or kidneys. Being on a cycle already increases the load on your liver, so I would suggest not taking a medicine that will only further increase the load on your liver, but that is up to you.

has any one had any success with this, i just stumbled on this. it seems there's a fine line between too little and too much. but doesnt have the sides that some prescription statins have.

im assuming bloodwork is needed to achieve some baseline before and after cycle...any input?

regards
sober

 

[gjohnson5]

Cholesterol medicines--all of them--are metabolized in the liver and/or kidneys. Being on a cycle already increases the load on your liver, so I would suggest not taking a medicine that will only further increase the load on your liver, but that is up to you.

I would only worry about that unless you liver enzymes reach the worrying point. 150 sgot I've been told by my gastroenterologist to not worry about that. 30000 is another thing entirely.

Secondly niacin is best for increasing HDL. Inositol hexanicotinate (no flush niacin) can be gotten at any GNC , vitamin world or similar supplement store. Start there. monounsaturated fats (flax , macodamia , peanut, olive oil) and fiber will reduce LDL. Polyunsaturated fats can help too but there are issues about quantity with such things as sunflower kernels.

Policosanol is supposed to work as well.

 

[DJ_UFO]

has any one had any success with this, i just stumbled on this. it seems there's a fine line between too little and too much. but doesnt have the sides that some prescription statins have.

im assuming bloodwork is needed to achieve some baseline before and after cycle...any input?

regards
sober

Policosanol is a natural supplement. Its not a medicine. It doesn't have the same side effects. I've seen some studies proving his efectiveness but I don't remember the doses. I think around 40mg per day to be effective but maybe I'm wrong. Do some google search about it.

 

[Mavy]

Secondly niacin is best for increasing HDL. Inositol hexanicotinate (no flush niacin) can be gotten at any GNC , vitamin world or similar supplement store. .

K to you gjohnson. I didnt know this.

I always take Kyolic aged garlic, Udos choice oil blend, and policosanol.

On another note, has anyone ever heard of Choleve? The local health store guy (an actual good health store, not your local GNC) told me that this is the supposedly the latest med out for your lipid levels and is more effective than Policosanol.

"Choleve is a new and exciting product that contains a patent-pending black tea extract and is intended to provide nutritive support for normal cardiovascular health. Regular black tea is produced through a fermentation process of green tea leaves. This fermentation process produces theaflavins. Theaflavins are the actives in black tea that are responsible for black tea's characteristic color and flavor. Theaflavins are also the active components responsible for the product's support of healthy blood lipid levels"

Never heard of this til the other day. Anyone using it? I may give it a shot on next cycle. Since my cycles tend to be more anabolic than anything, I want to take supps for my lipids.

Mavy

 

[Gel2]

Niacin is best for increasing HDL.

Not compared to Policosanol it isn't

See my post here:

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=354288

 

[junk]

Search for my posts on Policosanol. detailed LDL and HDL done before and after several months of usage of my mom taking it. basically it did absolutly SHIT to lower her LDL and increase her HDL. It also did nothing to help me while on cycle of var, my hdl reached single digit and ldl sky rocketed. In my experience Policosanol is crap.

JUNK

 

[gjohnson5]

Not compared to Policosanol it isn't

See my post here:

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=354288

When I get back from Cincinnati, I'll post my last blood test. I got my hdl from 18 to 45 using no flush niacin. ..

What you may not know is that cardiologists prescribe niacin to people with cronically low HDl. The drug is called niaspan. The flushing makes it not as good as no flush niacin. Infact I read on webmd or one of those sights that no flush niacin is even better then niaspan for HDL.

Hope that helps

 

[gjohnson5]

Actually I just did another lipid panel. I took policosanol for about a month before this test with no flush niacin and here's the deal. The normal range is to the right

triglycerides = 102 mg/dl 0-149
total cholesterol = 215 mg/dl 0-199
hdl = 51.9 mg/dl 40-100
ldl = 143 mg/dl 0-129

Based on the last test policosanol did nothing to lower ldl but did raise hdl from 45 to 51.9 So policosanol did have some merit in my case. Since total cholesterol and ldl are on the high side , my doctor will do another one.

 

[geoboy]

Actually I just did another lipid panel. I took policosanol for about a month before this test with no flush niacin and here's the deal. .................................

Based on the last test policosanol did nothing to lower ldl but did raise hdl from 45 to 51.9 So policosanol did have some merit in my case.

are u saying that you had been taking the niacin all along, and that your HDL improved since adding policosanol?

-

 

[gjohnson5]

are u saying that you had been taking the niacin all along, and that your HDL improved since adding policosanol?

-

yep. I am getting off the niacin for next test

 

[PolfaJelfa]

Bro , can you please tell me what is the diference between normal naiacin adn no flush.?

 

[DJ_UFO]

Bro , can you please tell me what is the diference between normal naiacin adn no flush.?

Normal niacin will give you some flushes...like sensation of burning skin in your face, arms and back. The no flush version doesn't have this side. I take normal niacin with a glass of cold water and no flushes. But once I took it with a hot soup and I was burning like hell!!!...it was disgusting

 

[hrt39]

The no-burn version of niacin is niacinamide, if I remember correctly. The policosinol seems to work with a dose of 30 or more mg/day. I take 10 mg with 3 main meals. If you are taking policosinol, you should also be taking co-Q-10, as policosinal depletes something that co-Q-10 can replace in your system.

 

[geoboy]

The no-burn version of niacin is niacinamide, if I remember correctly. The policosinol seems to work with a dose of 30 or more mg/day. I take 10 mg with 3 main meals. If you are taking policosinol, you should also be taking co-Q-10, as policosinal depletes something that co-Q-10 can replace in your system.

1) yes, niacinamide is a version of niacin without the flushing effect, but it also doesnt have the cardiovasular benefits. the non-flush niacin that retains the CV effect is inositol hexanicotinate.

2) The statin drugs deplete C-Q10. Some supplement makers added Co-Q10 to their policosanol products (& charged lots more) and say that since policosanol works "on the same metabolic pathway" as the statins, that it may deplete CQ10 as well, but thats not the case.

http://www.bodyandfitness.com/Information/Health/Research/policosanol.htm
excerpt:
".....Best of all, policosanol does this without the side effects of drugs. Unlike statin drugs, policosanol does not interfere with the body's production of CoQ10....."

p.s. if thats u in the avatar, the HRT experiment is a success :-} .

 

[gjohnson5]

Bro , can you please tell me what is the diference between normal naiacin adn no flush.?

Inositol hexanicotinate = no flush niacin. The simple explanation is that it's

A newer form of vitamin B-3 (niacin), which does not cause flushing, is
inositol hexaniacinate, sometimes called inositol hexanicotinate. When six niacin molecules are attached to a large molecule of inositol, inositol hexaniacinate is the result. Inositol hexaniacinate delivers niacin in a natural slow-release way, allowing for all the cholesterol-modulating benefits of niacin with little potential for side effects such as flushing (itching, heat and redness in the skin) or liver damage. Preliminary research has shown that inositol hexaniacinate has similar actions to niacin.

It can be gotten at most any GNC or vitamin world store. But it's "flush free" because it's a slower release. The body probably has to bbreak it down get the niacin out of it

Back on the policosanol issue, niacin remains in the body for a long time so I will have to get off niacin and retest in 3 months.

excerpt from http://www.loweringcholesterol.net/show/raise-hdl-cholesterol

A larger patient group of 437 patients in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study received either Policosanol or a placebo once a day for twelve weeks. The patients who had been given Policosanol showed a 25% reduction in LDL cholesterol, a 17% reduction in total cholesterol, and a 28% increase in HDL cholesterol.[5]

With my latest results I didn't see a drop in total cholesterol or ldl , the hdl did increase but not 28%. If used alone it may get better results so I will get off niacin as the 2 may be canceling eachother out.

 

[kbrkbr]

I bought the flush niacin from BAC because I'd read that non-flush caused a terrible stress to the liver and that's something I wanted to avoid while on.

The first 4-5 times I took it, it made me feel slightly uncomfortable. Itchy like a mild sunburn. Forehead, forearms, quads. Lasted about 45 min each time.

Now I feel little or no flushing whatsoever. I take it with dinner every night.

 

[Ulter]

What geo said, Nicotinamide or niacinamide, same thing, won't help with Cholesterol levels. You need to use nicotinic acid and build up slowly from 500mg to 2000mg. If you get flushing take asprin with it and reduce the dose until you build a tolerance for it. It is hard on the liver so stay low (500mg) if you're cycling with Orals.

Polycosanol works great. 60mg/day or twice a day if you're lipid profile is trashed.

 

[poantrex]

What geo said, Nicotinamide or niacinamide, same thing, won't help with Cholesterol levels. You need to use nicotinic acid and build up slowly from 500mg to 2000mg. If you get flushing take asprin with it and reduce the dose until you build a tolerance for it. It is hard on the liver so stay low (500mg) if you're cycling with Orals.

Polycosanol works great. 60mg/day or twice a day if you're lipid profile is trashed.

That shit is expensive.....anyone know of a good cheap place to buy it

 

[kbrkbr]

The label on my bottle just says Niacin, B-3. It does cause a flush.

Is that the same thing as nicontinic acid?

 

[poantrex]

What geo said, Nicotinamide or niacinamide, same thing, won't help with Cholesterol levels. You need to use nicotinic acid and build up slowly from 500mg to 2000mg. If you get flushing take asprin with it and reduce the dose until you build a tolerance for it. It is hard on the liver so stay low (500mg) if you're cycling with Orals.

Polycosanol works great. 60mg/day or twice a day if you're lipid profile is trashed.

Niacin has another drawback: It is known to raise blood glucose quite a bit. CoQ10 and Polycosanol are the best bets IMO

 

[gjohnson5]

What geo said, Nicotinamide or niacinamide, same thing, won't help with Cholesterol levels. You need to use nicotinic acid and build up slowly from 500mg to 2000mg. If you get flushing take asprin with it and reduce the dose until you build a tolerance for it. It is hard on the liver so stay low (500mg) if you're cycling with Orals.

Polycosanol works great. 60mg/day or twice a day if you're lipid profile is trashed.

I was only taking 10mg. Thanks for the tip as always!

 

[Ulter]

That shit is expensive.....anyone know of a good cheap place to buy it

I will pretty soon.

 

[view]

polisocanol works great in my experience. nothing works like a high fibre diet for improving cholesterol though.

 

[MR. BMJ]

Although i'm not counting it out entirely, i'm not totally sold on Policosanol yet. I think more research needs to be done on it. I'd probably take it anyway as a precautionary purpose...to be on the safe side. But the following study showed no positive effects using 20mg/d of wheat germ policosanol.

Metabolism. October 2004 • Volume 53 • Number 10

"Wheat germ policosanol failed to lower plasma cholesterol in subjects with normal to mildly elevated cholesterol concentrations"

Sugar cane policosanol, a mixture of long-chain primary alcohols (~67% as octacosanol), has been reported to lower plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol. We investigated the effect of wheat germ policosanol (WGP) on plasma lipid profiles in 58 adults (30 men and 28 women, aged 49 ± 11 years) with normal to mildly elevated plasma cholesterol concentrations in a double-blind, randomized, parallel placebo-controlled study. Subjects consumed chocolate pellets with or without 20 mg/d WGP for 4 weeks. Plasma lipid concentrations, routine blood chemistry and hematology were determined at the start and the end of the study. The initial plasma total, LDL-cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, and triacylglycerol concentrations in the WGP and the control groups were identical. Over the 4 weeks, neither the WGP nor the control treatment significantly changed plasma total cholesterol, LDL- and HDL-cholesterol, or triacylglycerol concentrations when compared to baseline values. In addition, there was no significant difference in plasma lipid profiles between the WGP and the control groups at the end of the study. WGP did not result in any adverse effects as indicated by plasma activities of L--glutamyltransferase (-GT), ALT, AST, bilirubin concentrations, and blood cell profiles. Chemical analysis showed that WGP consists of 8% hexacosanol, 67% octacosanol, 12% triacosanol, and 13% other long-chain alcohols, which is similar to the composition of sugar cane policosanol. In conclusion, WGP at 20 mg/d had no beneficial effects on blood lipid profiles. It therefore seems unlikely that the long chain (C24–34) alcohols have any cholesterol-lowering activity.

BMJ

 

[MR. BMJ]

If using it, i'd definately start with 40-60 mg's starting off like Ulter mentioned. Maybe 20mg in the morning and 40mg at night. The only true measure to see if it is working is to have blood panels done regularly. There are many factors involved so it may be hard to tell which is the positive factor for those who undergo complete healthy living turn-arounds.

BMJ

 

[Ulter]

I agree with that. 20mg/day is not going to be enough. I had to use 60mg twice a day. But that's because these studies aren't done on people on steroids cycles.

Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1999 Apr;65(4):439-47.


Effects of policosanol in patients with type II hypercholesterolemia and additional coronary risk factors.

Mas R, Castano G, Illnait J, Fernandez L, Fernandez J, Aleman C, Pontigas V, Lescay M.

Center of Natural Products, National Center for Scientific Research, Havana City, Cuba.

INTRODUCTION: This study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of policosanol, a new cholesterol-lowering drug, in patients with type II hypercholesterolemia and additional coronary risk factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: After 5 weeks of a standard step-1 lipid-lowering diet, 437 patients were randomized to receive, under double-blind conditions, 5 mg policosanol or placebo once a day with the evening meal for 12 weeks and 10 mg policosanol or placebo for the next 12 weeks. RESULTS: Both groups were similar at randomization. Policosanol (5 and 10 mg/day) significantly reduced (P < .001) serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (18.2% and 25.6%, respectively) and cholesterol (13.0% and 17.4%), and it significantly raised (P < .01) high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (15.5% and 28.4%). Triglycerides remained unchanged after the first 12 weeks and lowered significantly (5.2%; P < .01) at study completion. Policosanol was safe and well tolerated, and no drug-related disturbances were observed. Two male patients who received placebo died during the study--one because of a myocardial infarction and the other because of a cardiac arrest that occurred during a surgical intervention. There were 11 serious adverse events (5.1%) in 10 patients who received placebo (4.6%), 7 of which were vascular, compared with no serious adverse events reported in patients receiving policosanol (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Subjects in the group treated with policosanol did not have serious adverse events during the 24-week study. This study shows that policosanol is effective, safe, and well tolerated in patients with hypercholesterolemia and concomitant coronary risk factors.

 

[geoboy]

Metabolism. October 2004 • Volume 53 • Number 10

"Wheat germ policosanol failed to lower plasma cholesterol in subjects with normal to mildly elevated cholesterol concentrations"

just to make it clear, most versions of policosanol are sugar cane policosanol, which HAS been shown in several studies to be as effective as stains at lowering ldl, and better than statins at raising hdl.

 

[MR. BMJ]

just to make it clear, most versions of policosanol are sugar cane policosanol, which HAS been shown in several studies to be as effective as stains at lowering ldl, and better than statins at raising hdl.

True, but what was interesting is that both wheat germ and sugar cane both have a 67% octacosanol long-chain alcohol composition. This tells me that it is something else that is providing the benefits. I haven't really researched policosanol as much as some, so maybe somebody out there can share their thoughts on this???

My understanding was that policosanol's primary positive lipid effects were due to octacosanol. Whatever it is, this study does show that wheat germ is useless at low 20mg dosages on non-AAS users. Policosanol made from sugar cane should definately be used over wheat germ policosanol. They should have used sugar cane policosanol in this damn study as well. Oh well.

BMJ

 

[Ulter]

I thought the point of the study WAS to show that wheat germ shouldn't be the source.

Sugar cane policosanol, a mixture of long-chain primary alcohols (~67% as octacosanol), has been reported to lower plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol. We investigated the effect of wheat germ policosanol (WGP) on plasma lipid profiles in 58 adults (30 men and 28 women, aged 49 ± 11 years) with normal to mildly elevated plasma cholesterol concentrations in a double-blind, randomized, parallel placebo-controlled study.

 

[PolfaJelfa]

Now im confused as fuc* Ulter you saying NO FLUSH will not work for my cholesterol?
What is the bottom line will the NON flush kind that is good for liver and no flushing BRING DOWN MY CHOLESTEROL.???????

Also does policasonol have any sides?

 

[Ulter]

I don't know what label they call it. If Nicotinamide or niacinamide are no flush, then no they won't help you improve cholesterol.

No sides from Policosanol

 

[PolfaJelfa]

Ok thax bro,
if you could.....list the chemical names of the Niacins that will help and are good

No sides from Policasonol...im definatelly gona try it....Do you have any in your store?

 

[geoboy]

Now im confused as fuc* Ulter you saying NO FLUSH will not work for my cholesterol?
What is the bottom line will the NON flush kind that is good for liver and no flushing BRING DOWN MY CHOLESTEROL.???????

Also does policasonol have any sides?

theres three forms of niacin being discussed:
niacin (flush, cardiovascular benefit)
niacinamide (no flush, no CVS benefit)
inositol hexanicotinate (no flush, CVS benefit)

THE NO FLUSH VERSION OF NIACIN THAT IS LIVER FRIENDLY (FRIENDLIER?) AND HAS CARDIOVASCULAR BENEFITS IS CALLED
INOSITOL HEXANICOTINATE
-

 

[NRF]

Niacin has another drawback: It is known to raise blood glucose quite a bit. CoQ10 and Polycosanol are the best bets IMO

Just a small addition to your response.

Co-Q10 has become obsolete. Idebenone, is a much more powerful form of Co-Q10.

100mgs Co-Q10 = approx. 40mg Idebenone. Also better benefits.

 

[firebolt]

Anyone know anything about red yeast rice? I was told this is very effective in lowerin cholesterol.

 

[kbrkbr]

theres three forms of niacin being discussed:
niacin (flush, cardiovascular benefit)
niacinamide (no flush, no CVS benefit)
inositol hexanicotinate (no flush, CVS benefit)

THE NO FLUSH VERSION OF NIACIN THAT IS LIVER FRIENDLY (FRIENDLIER?) AND HAS CARDIOVASCULAR BENEFITS IS CALLED
INOSITOL HEXANICOTINATE
-

Good stuff. K4U