B12 & Cholesterol

[toddis]

How do I reduce my cholesterol but at the same time, increase my B12 levels

Thanks

[Brightfeather]

If you're vegan please take a supplement

[andyswarbs in reply to Brightfeather]

if you're not vegan take a supplement. Many cows are fed b12 supplements as well. Even so many 35% of meat eaters are deficient. B12 is cheap and should be taken by everyone every week because not taking it can cause early death.

[Brightfeather in reply to andyswarbs]

Thanks Andy. Good info to know.

[benwl]

Have you been diagnosed as B12 deficient? If so your doctor may consider injections to quickly bring it up

[toddis]

Thanks for your replies. I’m not vegan.

I recently had a blood test which showed my B12 level to be 290. As the range is between 145-914, I consider it to be low, but the doc says it’s fine. How can my level be ok if the range is so vast and I’m not even half way?

My cholesterol was 6.2 btw

[andyswarbs in reply to toddis]

I think you are right to increase it. It's not needed to do this as a rush job, B12 stocks can last for a couple of years. However there is strong research indicating early death (in their 60's) due to homocysteine levels, and that's inexcricably linked to B12.

My last B12 blood test showed my level was good, but I still take the tablet regularly.

[CDreamer in reply to toddis]

Your B12 is low and optimum levels can be higher than 1000. Whatnthe NHS diagnoses as low and a nutritionist or Functional Medicine doctor is very, very different. A good quality VitB Complex is often a better way of absorbing B12. What are your ferrous and folate levels? There is sometimes a connection. If you have an autoimmune disease you will normally have B12 supplements because B12 is often lower than optimum but acceptable to your GP because the ‘low’ range for NHS is 200 - whereas in Japan normal range is 500-1300. You may find this article of interest

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

What are your ratios of cholesterol? Levels of triglycerides? I wouldn’t think 6.2 very high if the ratios were ok. I reduced my cholesterol by eating more, not less fat - using avocado oil, more seeds & nuts, coconut oil daily and eating 7-10 portions of green vegetables & plenty of brassicas daily. Avoid all the hamoginised fats ie - anything that says ‘low fat’ and all vegetable oils.

When my cholesterol went very high I did take a supplement - Cholesterase by Nature’s Aid. I do take dairy and eat red meat once or twice a week.

My neurologist likes my cholesterol numbers and I range from 6.8 - 7.8. Cholesterol is good for the brain, but high cholesterol can indicate inflammation.

[benwl in reply to toddis]

Think about how scientists calculate "healthy" ranges. Mostly it's done by just looking at the levels in people who appear to be healthy and aren't suffering from any symptoms of deficiency. In the case of B12 there is apparently a wide range in the levels because people are different, eat different diets etc. I wouldnt't worry much about your B12, maybe take a 1000mg tablet once a week but it doesn't look like a problem.

In the UK a cholesterol level of 5.0 is considered the upper normal value, so your cholesterol does seem a little high.

[Hidden]

Hi toddis, B12 acts like a laxative for me so I get B12 from my diet and my iron levels are high and my cholesterol low and I don't eat meat and am a coeliac.

[andyswarbs]

I never replied on the subject of cholesterol, the way to reduce is generally simple.

Bad cholesterol exclusively comes from animals products, so anything you can do to reduce your intake of meat, fish, dairy (whether it be commercial, free-range, organic, wild, grass-fed or whatever) will bring your cholesterol inevitably down. All plant food contains zero cholesterol.

The body naturally manufactures all the cholesterol it needs. Why distort that?

There are a small group of people who need to entirely eliminate refined oils from their diet and these are people in whom cholesterol may otherwise stay stubbornly high.

[toddis]

Serum cholesterol 6.2

Serum triglycerides 1.28

Serum HDL 1.43

Serum LDL 4.2

Non HDL cholesterol 4.77

Total HDL ratio 4.3

Folates 6.11

[andyswarbs]

Vegan Diet, Subnormal Vitamin B-12 Status and Cardiovascular Health ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[andyswarbs]

All B12 comes from bacteria in the soil, nowhere else. Because all our vegetables are washed and and because commercially farmed animals do not see much of the meadow therefore our sources of B12 have become more and more depleted in modern times.

This and other research shows that a lack sufficient B12 can cause early death due to heart disease. This research shows that vegans were at risk. Now the B12 message is shared extensively across vegans that problem has largely gone away. Further research shows that vegans now generally have very good B12 levels.

[grace111]

i often dont understand things i read and its very annoying, its my lack of education too. some people who are not greatly educated. ( probablly thats the wrong wording ) are excellent at other things like yourself who is great in the garden and cooking. where as im a very physical person and was a rebel at school but was the fastest runner and very creative in other ways too.

[Penel]

Modern research suggests that sugar and refined carbohydrates contribute to raised cholesterol levels. Make sure you are eating high fibre carbs, limit highly processed foods generally.

Vitamin B12 is present in fish, eggs, red meat and nutritional yeast. If you are already eating these foods, you may need to look at your intrinsic factor, as the two are closely linked. B12 levels can decline with age.

[benwl]

I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Vegans do have to worry about B12. I worry about B12. Its the only nutrient I do worry about as a vegan and thats why I take a supplement for it.

As for non vegans being deficient in it, that can happen but is probably rarer. The oxford-epic study reports:

(from a study of 689 men) "In all, 52% of vegans, 7% of vegetarians and one omnivore were classified as vitamin B12 deficient"

epic-oxford.org/publication...

What is interesting is that the oxford-epic study is known for having quite healthy subjects, so other populations might show different results.

I've not yet found an authorative references for the 35% claim.