cholesterol and your cycle

As we all know, when on cycle, "usually" our lipid profile goes to hell. hdl drops and ldl can skyrocket. In the past, as long as it did not get too high or we we not on cycle for too long, not much attention has been paid to this. I would like to suggest a slightly different appraoch that i HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

DO NOT LET YOUR CHOLESTEROL LEVELS GO UP! A not so great analogy is choleterol levels and arterial plaque build up is like asbestos, they are both accumlative. When your cholesterol levels are up and your hdl is low, you start getting placque build up in your arteries, It is a slow process but nevertheless happens and ultimately you will pay the price. Every time you go on cycle and your cholesterol/ldl goes up you gain a little buildup, not much but a little. Over the years this can make the difference between a healthy heart and one with blocked arteries.

What can you do? Simple, lower your ldl. eliminate saturated fat from your diet as best you can and totally eliminate trans fats from your diet. THe newer recommendation for a healthy heart have your ldl way below what is now recommended, somewhere around 70mg/dl in a range of 0-119mg/dl. that is low!

How to raise your hdl? Take good fats, avoid anyhting that is solid at room temp. polycosinol has mixed reports but can not hurt and timed release niacin. Timed release niacin just before bed 30 minutes after a full strenth aspirin has a lot of research supporting it for lowering lipds but mostly raising your hdl with minimal impact on your liver. i would recommend not taking orals if you are doing this but if yo can get your liver enzymes checked you can monitor it and should be ok.

In short be safe, do not assume that you are doing no damage just because your cycle is only 8-14 weeks long.

research what i have said here for details, perhaps someone who is interested can followup on this.

jb