Heart disease is a serious condition that affects both men and women in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health. Statins help prevent or reduce the risk of cardiovascular health events such as heart disease and heart attack, and can slow the progression of atherosclerosis.
High Cholesterol, Heart Disease and Statin Drugs
High cholesterol increases your risk of developing heart disease. Over time, elevated cholesterol can build up in arteries, causing hardening and preventing or slowing blood flow to the heart. This can result in chest pain and possibly heart attack. Treating high cholesterol requires lifestyle changes such as eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight and quitting smoking. When lifestyle changes are not enough, drug treatment is available. Statins are a type of drug used to reduce total and LDL cholesterol as well as lower triglycerides in the blood.
Nutritional Considerations
Take statin drugs with food and eat a diet low in fat and cholesterol. Statins may cause side effects that can affect your food intake. For example, you may experience nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation or flatulence, so be sure to inform your doctor if you experience any of these symptoms.
Foods to Avoid
Avoid large amounts of grapefruit or grapefruit juice when taking specific statin drugs such as atorvastatin (Lipitor), lovastatin (Mevacor or Altoprev) or simvastatin (Zocor). Other types of statin drugs have no or only minor interactions with grapefruit or grapefruit juice and these include fluvastatin (Lescol), pitavastatin (Livalo), pravastatin (Pravachol), or rosuvastatin (Crestor). Do not take the herbal supplement St John's wort and avoid red yeast, which contains lovastatin. Avoid taking lovastatin with a meal high in fiber as this can decrease absorption of the drug.
Special Diet Plan
The TLC, or therapeutic lifestyle change, diet is appropriate for lowering LDL cholesterol. It includes a low cholesterol, low saturated fat eating plan containing less than 200mg cholesterol and less than 7 percent total calories from saturated fat daily. Foods low in saturated fat include low-fat dairy products, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and very lean meats. Avoid trans fat and limit foods high in cholesterol such as liver, organ meats, egg yolks, and full-fat dairy products. If weight loss is necessary, the TLC diet should also be low in calories until a healthy weight is achieved. Eat foods rich in soluble fiber including oats, dried peas, beans and certain fruits and vegetables such as oranges, pears and brussels sprouts.
Considerations
There are no physical symptoms of high cholesterol, so be sure to have your cholesterol checked regularly. Always take statin drugs in conjunction with lifestyle changes to effectively reduce cholesterol.
References
- Food-Medication Interactions; Zaneta Pronsky; 2010
- National Institutes of Health; High Blood Cholesterol: What you Need to Know
- National Institutes of Health; Your Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol with TLC
