Excess cholesterol now affects more than one third of French. But there are ways to lower its rates.

A diet cholesterol-lowering

When we discover hypercholesterolemia, the first step is to order diet. Action is needed on dietary habits to reduce cholesterol levels to normal. The dietary measures must focus on specific benchmarks, such as Professor Bruckert said: “The regime of high cholesterol should revolve around 4 axes: the reduction of saturated fats (butter, cheese, ham … ), increased fruit and vegetables (including fiber help lower cholesterol), consumption of fish (including Omega 3 can reduce cardiovascular risk) and finally making products fortified with plant sterols, which reduce cholesterol.

The diet before statin

The establishment of an adequate diet should be the first measure to be adopted. Besides the health authorities have issued recommendations in this sense: only by failure of the diet that drug treatment should be implemented. “It depends of course patients.” Underscores Professor Bruckert. If cardiovascular history, is not necessarily expected. But otherwise, it takes three to six months of implementation diet before turning to drugs … But it may be more! In moderate hypercholesterolemia, there is no urgency to initiate drug treatment. We can focus on dietary advice, especially as the habits take time to change .. .

Prescribe a suitable diet

Are these recommendations are followed? One has the impression that physicians tend to be easier on statins, much easier to prescribe a medication to establish a change in eating habits to adopt difficult for patients. However, Professor Bruckert tempers: “No serious study has been conducted in France to check when the doctors put up a statin therapy, they have prescribed dietary changes. It is likely that this is done in a number of cases.

It also believes that patients are more comfortable with medication, sometimes because they wrongly believe that these dietary measures can not solve their problem of excess cholesterol. Yet, they are very effective: “Only by such nutritional measures can reduce very significantly the cholesterol,” says Professor Bruckert. Enough indeed to solve the problems of cholesterol from the majority of patients. For often excess cholesterol remains limited.

Difficult to change eating habits …

Even if we know that dietary changes are effective, difficult to ask a patient to revolutionize the old habits of 30 years or more! “No behavior change is easy, whether diet or taking medication, said Professor Bruckert. The principle of any diet is to adapt to the patient. It must be a compromise between the ‘ideal and the feasible! ”

It is therefore important to make changes smoothly … without losing sight of the goal. “While some are keen to keep a little butter over the meal, we will focus more on reducing meats” and advises Professor Bruckert.

Medication, diet and always!

And it should be noted that even if we go on statins, dietary recommendations are still valid: “I always tell patients that reducing cholesterol, everything is done by the regime, it is less to do with drugs! In addition, dietary changes affect the cardiovascular risk in other ways than just lowering cholesterol, “insists Professor Bruckert.
In fact, eating fruits and vegetables or eat fish, it will have additional benefits for the heart and blood vessels.

Finally, we must not forget that drugs or dietary habits are not the only factors to take into account, as noted by Professor Bruckert: “The dietary management is complementary actions against other risk factors known: stop smoking and practicing regular physical activity in particular.
To fight against cardiovascular disease, it does not take medication or diet, we must adopt a true lifestyle!