Human trials of aged garlic have shown no significant side effects, even at high doses. I take 2400mg a day which is on the high side with no issues. I’m hoping that my increases in Calcium Score will be slowed. Will be testing in a year or so. There are big CVD risk reductions if you can keep the CAC score increases to below 15% per year. Aged garlic has been effective at minimizing CAC score increases in multiple trials.
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I have a document here with many many references and ideas for plaque reversal (e.g. high dose EPA, etc):
I meant to put this into a series of blog posts. But raw data itself can be useful.
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There’s a lot to look at here, including quite a few things I haven’t seen before.
Immediate question is how much of this are you personally doing, and what results have you obtained? Have you been doing CAC scans over time to monitor progress of plaque reduction.
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Make sure you are getting enough Vit K2 to make sure your calcium is deposited in the bones and teeth and not in soft tisue like arteries.
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The studies indicate that supplementing with vitamin k2 may help with bone mineral density but not with calcifiation of arteries.
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I’m on ~20 drugs and supplements. I started the Facebook Rapamycin group in ~2020, which everyone is welcome to join (link). Last year I started a heart disease group for those of us who wanted to protect ourselves against CVD or reverse plaque (link). I share most of my research in those two groups as deep-dive posts with citations. I like to do my own research, and also maintain some kind of blog (here). If you check out any of these links, you’ll get more insights into what I’m doing.
Some of my favorites include
- GLP1 class of drugs for insulin resistance and weight loss (I’ve had it most of my life)
- Keeping LDL-C below 70mg/dL (what levels to target).
- ACE inhibitor to keep your SBP below 120
- Aspirin if it’s indicated for you (I take 80mg x 2)
- Daily hibiscus tea and green tea (those are fantastic! No brainer life extension supplements)
- Fish oil (3.2g)
- Aged Garlic Extract
- Digestive Enzymes (Wobenzym) to lower TGF-Beta
- Some anti-inflammatories and anti-oxidants (Singulair, NAC)
- AKG (to inhibit platelets & epigenetic programming)
- Green Banana Flour, Oat Fiber, Miyarisan (pre-biotics for C Butyrate)
The heart disease group has a few testimonials from folks who reversed their CAC by maintaining a very low LDL-C, and by using off label drugs and supplements. Fairly unique. (link).
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I had two stents 12 years ago and have tried to stay plugged into all things CVD since. Your BP is excellent. ApoB is very good, but lipid experts might suggest being < 50 for high risk patients. Your HbA1c seems less than ideal. Would make a goal of 5%, and confirm fasting insulin is <5. Glucose excursions can damage artery walls. You might try home experiments with glucose meter in which you track glucose every 10 to 15 minutes out to 2 hours or so. Or have Dr prescribe glucose tolerance test. Healthy response is peak around 1 hour of 140 or less and back to baseline (80s to low 90s) at 2 hours. You might try tracking inflammation - hsCRP is a general marker, and there are several related to the vascular system, like La-PLA2. Time restricted eating also gives vascular system time to recover, so might consider eating within 10 hour window (plenty of good research on this). I eat a plant based except a little fish but it is still easy to let simple carbs creep in, so maybe double check your diet for things like excess bread and pasta, again to prevent damaging glucose excursions. Also, good to make sure you move throughout the day and not just during formal exercise sessions. A little walking after a meal can blunt glucose. Your Lp(a) is clearly a problem, so may take a revisit to see if it can be lowered more.
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I have been taking kyolic for some time along with French pine bark. Don’t know if it has any positive effects. My ApoB dropped 30+ points (also am on ezetimibe/rosuvastatin). My BG improved too and is within normal range.
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Peterz54 - Thank you for the detailed response. It is very helpful. Here is my summary of what you wrote:
Risk Factor 1: Lp(a) - Lower it
Risk Factor 2: HbA1c (Glucose) - Go for a goal of 5%
I am currently on Metformin 1000mg twice a day and it comes around 5.4%. I avoid sugar. I am doing strength training and Zone 2/5 exercise. What else can I do to lower it?
Risk Factor 3: Inflammation - I agree as I do get psoriasis/eczema flare ups on my finger tips. I have my dinner before 7PM (generally by 6PM) and will have green tea at 8PM. Nothing else.
I have two questions here: What is the list of tests for inflammation? and What can I do to reduce inflammation?
So the questions are:
- What else can I do to lower glucose?
- What is the list of tests to determine inflammation?
- What can I do to reduce inflammation?
Than you
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Gokhan - Thank you for the invitation and I have joined your Facebook Group. You have some of the best distilled information for someone like me. THANK YOU.
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Michelle,
I’ll try to answer more completely later, but for time being:
As Lp(a) seems to be your biggest risk, here is a discussion with one of the lipidologists I follow, Thomas Dayspring.
Lp(a): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WRRyG8il4g&t=320s
You might find value in this youtube channel which is very scientific and run by an MD PhD, Gil Carvalho
Another good discussion with lipidologist William Cromwell, which might provide some additional insight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwzNnUhqUzc
There are many inflammatory markers. Aside from hsCRP, Lp-PLA2 seems to have relevance to CVD. May not be relevant, but the Sonnenburg Lab at Stanford has shown that eating fermented foods lowers many inflammatory markers, but unknown if it is very relevant to your situation.
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One more on Lp(a)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H0mVPKsGG8
You might want to watch the short 8 to 10 min segment starting at 2h10m first
Also, just noticed another entry of yours which indicates you have a good hsCRP (0.3) and have done inflam markers MPO and LP-PLA2 although i don’t recall the desired values. Anyhow, the thing that I noticed was your insulin which appeared a bit high assuming it’s a fasting value. This should be down around 5 or less. Definitely less than 10. Addressed by lifestyle.
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Over the period your ApoB drop by 30 points did you do anything besides addition of Kyolic and pine bark? I have been taking a small dose of Kyolic for years (also eat garlic) but have never tried to sort out effect by testing. I ask in part because I am renewing my effort to further reduce ApoB and keep it under 60 mg/dL. I am generally under 80 but this is not enough for someone with CVD, Starting with tweaking diet. Then supplements if applicable.
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Besides garlic and pine bark, I’m on rosuvastatin 5mg, ezetimibe 5 mg, and take a-cyclodextrin fiber every morning. I didn’t remeasure ApoB after the last result, but my new lipid panel shows a great improvement for a short period of time on this protocol. I also suspect that being on mostly a plant diet helps too.
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Thanks. Yes, to plant-based diet. It moved the needle the most. Prior to cardio issues in 2012, my TG ran about 220, as did TC, LDL-C around 120, and HDL-C in 30s. Very quickly after going plant based, essentially non junk food vegan, all my numbers dropped like a stone, except for HDL-C which came up to normal values. TG cut to 1/3rd, LDL-C to about 80, and TC to 140. Best ApoB, as I haven’t measure much, has been 67, but I haven’t been as disciplined as I should be so looking to add low dose rosuvastatin, which I stopped about 10 years ago, and do whatever it takes to stay under 60 consistently (ideally 50 but…). This goal is based in large part on recent review of work by cardiologist & lipidologist who study this and the fact that I have CVD. I will look at whether the other drugs and needed in my case…
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Hi @Gokhan great info all around, thanks for sharing. What medications you are on and for what purposes? Thanks!
How many of us are on Colchicine? Prevention or Combination treatment? How long? In the paper of Low-Dose Colchicine for Secondary Prevention of Coronary Artery Disease, it stated:
Which one is anti-inflammatory agent?
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What is your evidence for that? Is it this study?
Yes, I believe Digestive Enzymes (Wobenzym) will lower (elevated) TGF-Beta because of that study.
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Is it ok to take garlic and aspirin together? That does increase the risk of bleeding.