Triglyceride Buster-Update

17. June 2009 William Davis (8)
In the last Heart Scan Blog post, I described Daniel's experience reducing his triglycerides from 3100 mg/dl to around 1100 mg/dl with use of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil, along with modifications in his diet. This was accomplished in the space of around two weeks.

An update: Daniel has continued another 10 days on his fish oil, along with elimination of wheat, cornstarch, and sugars.

Repeat triglyceride: 202 mg/dl. That's 93.5% reduction in the space of three weeks--no drugs involved.

Daniel really did nothing extraordinary. He simply followed the simple advice I provided to take a moderate dose of EPA+DHA from over-the-counter fish oil supplements, along with elimination of the foods that are extravagant triggers of triglycerides.

He's got just a little further to go to achieve the biologically ideal level of less than 60 mg/dl. You can see that it is not really that difficult--provided someone didn't load you down with nonsense about "cutting your fat," or statin or fibrate drugs.
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Comments (8) -

  • Sifter

    6/17/2009 4:00:58 AM |

    What is the dosage and frequency of fish oil supplements you recommend?

  • Ganesh Kumar

    6/17/2009 7:29:00 AM |

    Your Update is amazing! My triglycerides was 496 around 9 weeks back, and just with Vit D3 and Omega 3s, it came down to 283. But Vit D3 shot up from a dangerously low of 12.2 ng/ml to 239 ng/ml. I am 'trying' to be on a low-carb high dietary fat. Should I take remedial measures to 'lower' my D levels?

  • Dr. William Davis

    6/17/2009 12:16:01 PM |

    Sifter--

    Please put "fish oil" or "omega-3" into the  site-specific search and you'll come up with the previous posts detailing this issue, a question to which there is no "___ mg" answer.

  • TedHutchinson

    6/17/2009 3:37:56 PM |

    @ Ganesh Kumar
    But Vit D3 shot up from a dangerously low of 12.2 ng/ml to 239 ng/ml.

    The only time I've had a high reading was a faulty test. A repeat test a few weeks later showed normal readings.
    The half life of D3 is about 3 weeks. Stopping D3 supplementation should allow level to drop from 240 to 120ng in 3 weeks and then to 60ng by week 6, depending on sunshine exposure.  
    Postal Vitamin D testing isn't that expensive
    80ng is a reasonable natural maximum level. But as I have found it could possibly be a fluke test result. However living where you do should allow sufficient vitamin D from sunshine over the next 6 weeks and so it's best to be on the safe side and avoid supplementing while your status drops and a retest is ordered.

  • stern

    6/17/2009 6:32:28 PM |

    is it realy the omega 3 yhats is to thank for low tryglicerides ,lets look from scratch from we are coming from ,we loaded ourself with denatured refined hydrogenated omega 6 oil ,vs our omega 3 are the live healthy form one ,add to this the debate outhere on the right ratio between the 3 and 6 oils ,all this may conclude that eliminating all the junk oils and consuming only live natural organic fats ,than will find that omega 6 does reducr even more tryglicerides then omega 3 does!!!

  • Anonymous

    6/17/2009 8:46:22 PM |

    I see these commercials for Mega Red Krill Oil that are supposedly 3x more effective than fish oil.  Is this bunk?

  • pmpctek

    6/18/2009 1:22:37 AM |

    My last lipid test showed triglycerides at 52mg/dl.

    That may have something to do with my taking 1.3 grams of EPA/DHA omega-3 fish oil three times a day over the past year.

  • michael

    6/18/2009 6:51:40 PM |

    Interesting blog. I like to take 2x 300mg of omega 3 oils per day.

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It really helps to have someone to lean on

It really helps to have someone to lean on

16. April 2006 William Davis (0)
Among my patients are several husband and wife teams, both of whom have heart disease by some measure. Several couples, for instance, consist of a huband who's received a stent, survived a heart attack, or has some other scar of the conventional approach. The wives generally have a substantial heart scan score in the several hundred range.

There are a few couples for which the roles are reversed: wife with bypass, heart attack, etc. and husband with a substantial quantity of coronary plaque by CT heart scan.

From them all, however, I've learned the power of teamwork. When both wife and husband (or even "significant other") are committed to the effort of controlling or reversing heart disease risk, the likelihood of success is magnified many-fold. Everything is easier: shopping for and choosing foods, incorporating supplements in the budget, taking vacations with a healthy focus, following through and sticking with your program.

Several of the couples have succeeded in obtaining regression of plaque for both man and woman. Both have reduced their heart scan scores and, as a result, dramatically reduced the potential for future heart attack and procedures.

Unfortunately, I will also see the opposite situation: One spouse committed to the program but the other indifferent. They may say such things as "You can't control what happens in the future." Or, "There's no way you can get rid of risk for heart disease. My doctor says it's hereditary." Or, "I've eaten this way since I was a kid. I'm not changing now for you or for anybody else."

Such negative commentary can't help but erode your commitment to health. Most of us recognize these sorts of comments as self-fulfulling and self-defeating.

What should you do if you have an unsupportive partner? Not easy. But it really can help to seek out a supportive partner, whether it's a friend, relative, or other significant person in your life. Of course, not everybody can find such a person. Perhaps that's another way our program can help.

I'd like to hear from anyone who does obtain substantial support of someone close, or if you are struggling to do so.
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