[dgrilli]

Has anyone tried this and if so what was your success?

I want to raise my HDL and this seems to be a hard thing to do.

Raising Your "Good (HDL) Cholesterol"
HDL Cholesterol is also knowns as "Good Cholesterol" and should be as high as
possible. It is the reverse transport mechanism for "Bad Cholesterol, taking it to the liver
for elimination from the body.

Raising HDL is important - in fact, absolutely vital - because Low HDL Cholesterol is one
of the strongest indicators of future cardiovascular problems (1) . Additionally, a
Triglycerides-to-HDL Cholesterol ratio of 6 or higher, increases your risk of a heart attack
by 1600% (vs. a normal ratio of 2)

So just wanted to know if any here has stumbled on to this stuff.

Here is a link to there web site:
Link removed to be fair to paying advertisers. Anyone can Google it.

[princesslinda]

When diagnosed, I had an HDL of 23....I started taking fish oil tablets and drinking red wine at bedtime 3-4 times a week and 3 months later it was 46. I do know of several people who take Niacin with good results. Milk thistle i'm not familiar with.

[REDLAN]

If you are interested in raising HDL, then this link is quite informative.

Log In Problems

According to this synopsis, niacin was the most effective at raising HDL - by between 15%-35% at pharmacological doses, which in this case was 3g daily.

note according to the Wiki, Niacin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that people can often experience toxic side effects at such high doses.

Effects include dermatological complaints - skin rashes and the like, indigestion, and more worryingly liver failure, arrythmias, birth defects, and hyperglycemia.

silymain (the active ingredient of milk thistle), is widely thought to have liver protective effects - I found a study where it protected baboons from the effects of alcohol. Liver Study Comments - unfortunately human trial results are inconsistent.

amusingly this means that you could take the supplement, which should raise your HDL, while the milk thistle might protect you from the hepatotoxic effect of Niacin. You could boost the effects of niacin by drinking alcohol, knowing you'd be protected by the silymarin (assuming your response to alcohol is the same as a baboon's)

you could also try...

exercise

fish oil supplements

or

statins

I found the link to the medscape article via google, but unfortunately the link requires a log-in so won't work.

[dgrilli]

Ok the Company has sent me some samples of their product.

The Product claims that flushing has been greatly reduced due to the Milk Thistle and Policosanol.

I did not pay attention and took a whole tablet with my breakfast and went out the door to go to work.

Does anyone or has anyone experienced the Flushing Effect?

Well all I can say is what a RUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For 2 hours I thought I was going to burn up. Now I kept my cool by rolling down the window and letting the air hit me that helped.

The only thing that would have helped me was knowing that the Flushing Effect is what you want when doing this.

Flushing is the desired effect.

This stuff opened veins that were probably closed for years. Then the itching and burning and oh the warm feelings or should I say boiling warm feeling at different places on your body.

You could get hooked on the feeling I bet.

After reflecting on what I was feeling I could imagine the blood vessels opening and the desired things beeing taken away through this flushing effect.


Ok don't take a full 500MG Tablet to start could get intense.

Maybe just half the tablet for a couple of weeks.


Anyone here ever ecperience Flushing from Niacin before? All I can say is what a RUSH!!!!

[princesslinda]

Flushing is a common side effect of niacin. Niacin stimulates prostaglandin (a hormone that affects many different body functions), which causes blood vessels to abruptly dilate and fill with blood - hence the flushing and sometimes even a light-headed feeling. NSAIDs like aspirin and ibuprofen interfere with prostaglandin function, so taking one about 1/2 to one hour before the niacin may help.