It turns out that adding a fiber supplement to your diet can have the very same effect as doubling the dose of powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs. According to a recent study conducted by Dr. Abel Moreyra of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey, patients worried about the side-effects of statin drugs could consider adding more fiber to their diets.
Statin drugs work powerfully to lower cholesterol but can badly affect kidney and muscle function in some patients.The findings also support the advice that a healthy diet high in natural fiber is the first line of defense against cholesterol and heart disease.Dr. Moreyra found that three servings a day of Metamucil, a commercial fiber supplement, lowered low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad” cholesterol, an average of six percent in 68 patients over two months. That was the same effect as doubling the dose of a statin drug, he told a meeting of the American Heart Association.
In the study, patients who had taken a cholesterol-lowering drug didn’t do as well as those to also increased fiber. So, if you’re interested in lowering cholesterol without increasing the medicine you take, talk to your health care provider about how you can add fiber to your diet.
