Diet, statins and coronary artery disease

Dr Rosedale:

Can you comment on your diet and coronary artery disease? I have a strong family history and suspect LDL receptor insufficiency. Whether it is low starch or higher starch I generate significant LDL particles; many more small particles with more starch, and with little to no starch very low level of small LDL, but still very high particle count. Do not have hypercholesterolemia, and thyroid and weight all normal.
Do you ever recommend statins?

Answer:
I never recommend statins.. They will actually impede ejection fraction that is a measure of the ability of your heart to pump blood. This is secondary to the general ability of statins to reduce energy production, possibly through a lowering of CoQ10. I personally feel that particle size is more important than particle number though I do know that articles recently have come out placing more importance on particle number. I strongly suspect that this is because statins do not influence particle size, and many if not most medical “studies” are funded by the pharmaceutical industry to sell drugs.

A study that I recently posted on another blog showed that small, dense LDL particles were much more susceptible to oxidation compared to large particles, and it is becoming fairly well known that oxidized LDL is the fraction that is particularly damaging. There are labs that will measure this, and it might benefit you to have this done, for your own peace of mind. Without knowing the numbers exactly, but from what I have heard, it doesn’t sound like your lipids are worrisome. Thanks for the question