Ask the Coaches Healthy Lipids on Testosterone
Question:
I have been cycling with 600mg of Testosterone for 12wks but plan to go back to a TRT dose of 200mg/wk. My doctor sent me for lab work, and my cholesterol came back high with a low HDL. When it comes to cholesterol what can I do to help raise my HDL and lower my LDL?
Answer:
There is a difference between running a cycle of Testosterone and being on Testosterone Replacement Therapy. The difference is how much Testosterone is being used and what other drugs are being used in conjunction with the Testosterone. Let’s just assume you are running 600mg of Testosterone weekly for your cycle. There was a study done on Testosterone using a group using 300mg/wk and a group using 600mg/wk, in each case HDL levels dropped by at least 20+% while LDL levels either remained stable or moderately increased. This means the HDL/LDL ratio was going in a negative direction. There was very little difference between the 300mg and 600mg group, which suggests that even a low amount of Testosterone could cause these effects. This negative impact on the lipids is still much less than the adverse effect of many other steroids especially the effect methylated oral steroids on the lipids. It is believed that the HDL lowering occurs due to an increase Hepatic Lipase activity. Hepatic Lipase is an enzyme produced by the liver that clears the HDL from the bloodstream. In most cases it is evident what happens to protective HDL fraction of cholesterol, they go way down. Though I have seen some guys on TRT have a minimal negative impact and maybe even a slight improvement a few times. Usually, an improvement in cholesterol values from Testosterone is because the TRT can make men suffering from lower testosterone feel good enough to get back in the gym when they had not been going due to lack of motivation. In men with low testosterone TRT can also help to provide the motivation needed to follow a better diet. In most studies done with just Testosterone by itself there seems to little effect on triglycerides, or at least they don’t seem to respond negatively as much as cholesterol to steroids but tend to increase slightly.
Knowing that Testosterone can have a negative impact on cholesterol overall should be a reason for most users to look for ways to negate these adverse effects.
Here are 10 ways to help combat this adverse health effect:
- Making diet changes is the best way to help fight this. Track your calories for a few days with an app like My fitness pal or something similar and see where your fat calories are coming from. Try to make sure you get the majority of your fats from healthy sources. This means mono and polyunsaturated fats. Nuts, Nut butter (natural), Avocadoes, Salmon, Fish oils, and Nut oils (macadamia nut oil). Adding healthy fibrous foods like Oatmeal can help lower LDL.
- Taking a product like the MPA Heartsolve / Cardiosolve combo. These two products contain ingredients like Citrus Bergamot, Olive extract, Celery Seed Extract, Grape Seed extract, Ubiquinol, Arjuna, and Pycnogenol. These are all good for heart health. The Citrus Bergamot can increase HDL and lower LDL in some individuals. I usually like to add an additional 500mg of Citrus Bergamot on top of this product stack. Other products I recommend are Niacin (must be the flushing version). Also, red yeast rice when a statin is needed, but this may have side effects similar to prescription statins in some people. One last thing is a digestive enzyme product like the Project AD Ravenous.
- Control Inflammation by using diet and supplementation. I use French Grape Seed extract, CBD and Curcumin supplements to help keep cholesterol balanced and to help with chronic inflammation. Cut out alcohol and sugar as much as possible to also help with lowering total body inflammation and help improve cholesterol.
- Avoiding too many saturated fats and trans fats. I would try to limit red meat consumption as well as fried foods while trying to keep cholesterol levels in a healthy range.
- Avoiding too many saturated fats and trans fats. I would try to limit red meat consumption as well as fried foods while trying to keep cholesterol levels in a healthy range.
- Avoiding too many saturated fats and trans fats. I would try to limit red meat consumption as well as fried foods while trying to keep cholesterol levels in a healthy range.
- Avoiding too many saturated fats and trans fats. I would try to limit red meat consumption as well as fried foods while trying to keep cholesterol levels in a healthy range.
- Add Whey protein into your diet. If you are not using any whey protein I have one question, why not? Whey protein comes in a variety of qualities nowadays, and the better quality products have minimal negatives yet many positives. Whey Isolate or Hydrolyzed whey isolate many times doesn’t even have any lactose now. Even though dairy is one of the things that should probably be cut out due to saturated fat whey protein actually can lower cholesterol and blood pressure in those with healthy kidneys. This has been backed up by the Mayo Clinic. I look at Protein as food more than a supplement. You pay for protein when you buy meats.If you look at the average cost of a quality whey like that of Rule 1 R1 Whey Iso (red Label) to that of any quality protein source. You may be surprised to see that for a $1 or less per serving that you can get 25g of quality protein that has a higher biological value than any meat-based protein and costs less per gram in many cases.
- Adding in a Niacin product will help correct cholesterol balance. You want to make sure you get the Niacin that will give you a flush. The flush free is said not to be as effective. Niacin is actually used by doctors to help with cholesterol. Another b vitamin is B5 which can help with the metabolism of fats and overall energy production. This will help improve total cholesterol. A side note, B5 in higher doses can even have a positive impact on acne.
- Get labs done every 2-3 months to monitor how your plan is working. I have heard doctors say that it takes up to 3 months to notice a difference in cholesterol values, but I have seen pretty drastic changes within 2wks. Lab Tests that you want to get done are: Total Cholesterol, HDL, LDL, VLDL, Triglycerides, LP-A, Homocysteine, C-Reactive Protein, and if possible apoB/apoA-I ratio. These labs must be done fasted. Quest labs have a lab test called Cardio-IQ report which contains all of these tests including particle size.Other labs offer a similar panel but under different names.
Ref:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/reduce-cholesterol/art-20045935
Ask the Bodybuilding Coaches section-
Written by- Mod Ghiachetti and Trevor Benko
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