PERSONS TAKING CHOLESTEROL MEDICINE NO LONGER MODIFYING THEIR DIET

In a comparison of Americans taking statins today and a decade ago, researchers found that those previously on statins ate fewer calories and less fat than other adults but, today, statin takers and those not prescribed statins eat similar amounts of fat and calories.  Researchers are concerned people believe because they are on the medicine, they can eat excess fat and calories without health consequences.  

Using records collected from the large U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey researchers compared people who took statins in 1999-2000 to those taking the drugs in 2009-2010.  They found that over that period statin takers increased their total calorie intake by 9.6% and their intake of calories from fat by 14.4%.  While in 1999-2000 persons taking statins consumed less calories and fat than those who were not taking cholesterol medication, a decade later the two groups consumed similar amounts of calories and fats.   Body mass index increased in statin users by 1.3, compared with an increase of 0.4 in nonusers. The effect persisted even after controlling for age, race, education and diagnoses of diabetes and high cholesterol.

Statins are used by about one-sixth of U.S. adults. The researchers postulated that because use of the drugs has become so pervasive, needing statins has become accepted as “normal”.  Patients do not feel an urgency to make lifestyle changes to improve their blood cholesterol and when the medicines lower their cholesterol to acceptable levels, some fail to recognize that they still have a blood cholesterol health problem. Unfortunately, excess calories and the intake of unhealthy fats can worsen cholesterol levels (even when treated with statins) and lead to weight gain which itself worsens cholesterol levels and chronic disease risk.   

What to do:  Cholesterol treatment is not a license to eat more calories or to choose items rich in unhealthy saturated fats such as meat, butter, and full-fat dairy products! Regardless of whether one takes medicine, consuming a diet low in saturated fat and rich in soluble fiber, getting regular activity, and aiming for a healthy weight are key to minimizing the risk of high cholesterol and heart disease. 

Adapted from articles available at:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_145897.html

https://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1861769

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/01/do-statins-change-our-eating-habits/

Source:

Sugiyama T, Tsugawa Y, Tseng C, Kobayashi Y, Shapiro MF. Different time trends of caloric and fat intake between statin users and nonusers among US adults: Gluttony in the time of statins?  JAMA Intern Med. Published online April 24, 2014. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.1927.