Low-Carb, Exercise Lowers Total Cholesterol

Gary Schultheis is living proof that low-carb lowers total cholesterol

This Evansville, Indiana-based Courier & Press story about a man who didn't accept the inevitability that he would have to take statin drugs to control his high cholesterol for the rest of his life.

To that I say, YOU GO BOY!

When Gary Schultheis, a licensed marriage counselor and family therapist in Evansville, Indiana since 2000, got the shocking news from his doctor last year that his total cholesterol had reached 270, he knew he needed to do something about it fast. But, like so many other patients all across the United States, his doctor was strongly pushing him to start taking a statin drug such as Lipitor or Crestor to bring the numbers down.

But the then 49-year-old Schultheis didn't accept the fact that prescription drugs was the answer. Instead, he tried to lower his cholesterol the natural way -- through good diet and exercise.

At first he attempted to lower his fat and exercise on his bike to lower his cholesterol, but it only brought his cholesterol down to 228. His doctor was not pleased and again wanted Schultheis to take a statin drug.

That's when Schultheis started on a low-carb lifestyle. In the story they say he didn't try the "Atkins diet," but rather began a "high-protein, low-carbohydrate weight-loss diet." Uh, okay, so what's the difference?

I realize there are many different low-carb programs out there, but everyone who talks about a "low-carb diet" automatically calls it the "Atkins diet" just as we describe a soda as a "Coke" or a tissue as a "Kleenex." Whether Schultheis knows it or not, he was doing the Atkins diet, or as I like to call it, he was "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb."

Again, while the story notes that he "didn't cut out carbohydrates," Schultheis did shun sugar and while flour as well as sodas and beer. Instead, he ate more whole grains and nuts while exercising on his bike even more.

That sounds a whole lot like he was low-carbin' it to me. Low-carb living does not "cut out" carbs, it just keeps your carb intake at a level where you are not gaining weight. Eliminating sugar and white flour from his diet alone was probably more beneficial to Schultheis' health than anything as well as the regular exercise.

Thanks to the miraculously wonderful way of eating known as low-carb, Schultheis successfully dropped his total cholesterol down to 178 with an increase in his HDL "good" cholesterol and a descrease in his LDL "bad" cholesterol and his total number has not been above 190 since.

Kudos to Schultheis for not buying into one of the biggest money-making scams being perpetrated on the American people known as statin drugs. Studies are already underway to see what the long-term effects of taking these drugs will have on the health and well-being of the people who take them.

I know from personal experience and with the results of my own blood work this month that your HDL levels can go way up without taking any drugs as mine did (currently at 71, up from 26 in December 2003) while your LDL levels and total cholesterol come down naturally on a high-protein, low-carb plan. Studies are confirming this is a fact.

We owe Schultheis a great debt of gratitude. While his act of defiance against the pharmaceutical companies who are pressuring doctors to shove these statin drugs down the throats of the American people will not be recognized as prominently as the heroic feat that the late Rosa Parks did 50 years ago on the back of a segregated bus, I believe people everywhere who have improved their health and cholesterol numbers while livin' la vida low-carb should stand up and cheer for Schultheis because he bucked the trend and proved the "establishment" all wrong.

Ironically, the name of his therapy practice in Evansville is called "A Place For Change." That's a perfect description for this great man who may have singlehandedly changed the way many people react to the news that they have high cholesterol!

You can send Gary Schultheis a congratulatory e-mail at gary@aPlaceForChange.com.

10-26-05 UPDATE: I received this very nice e-mail response from Gary Schultheis about my blog post:

Jimmy,

Your story is quite impressive. Congratulations on your success. I'm also impressed that you got the article so quickly. Keep up the good work.

Gary

Again, THANK YOU, Gary! You have inspired me today that I will never again take statin drugs to control my cholesterol as long as I've got the low-carb lifestyle to help me keep it under control.