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Disappointing results for Cholesterol Formula?
10/28/2005 12:00:00 AM
This week's newsletter is quite different in the respect that it relays one of the rare times when we have a less than happy customer. He wrote to me today and in his last paragraph he says.
"In the interests of business integrity and balance I look forward to see whether you publish this result in your online newsletter?"
So, here we go, we will publish his letter verbatim, and then I will comment further below it.
Dear Warren,
On the 6 Jan 2005 I had a blood test and the results are shown in the first column.
These indicated an above average level of bad cholesterol.
My doctor suggested I change my diet & exercise more, which I did.
I furthermore started looking for a natural versus statin remedy to lower my cholesterol and discovered Xtend-Life.
It was suggested by your Company that I start taking 2 tabs daily of your Cholesterol lowering product.
On the 21 April 05 I had a follow-up blood test after following your recommended protocol for lowering my cholesterol.
The results are shown in the second column. Despite my bad cholesterol level dropping slightly from 5.88 to 4.86 my good cholesterol level also dropped.
After the results of this test it was suggested by your staff that I add your Omega 3's product to my regimen which I did.
After reading your glowing testimonials I decided to continue taking both your cholesterol & omega products for another 6 months.
Of my own accord I chose to add your Men's balance by way of a multi-vitamin supplement.
On the 24 October 05 I had my third blood test for the year and while the below results speak for themselves it is somewhat disconcerting to note that my bad cholesterol level has in fact increased to almost the level it was at before I stared taking any xtend-life products.
As of 21 April 2005 till now I have been taking:
- 6 xTotal Balance for Men daily
- 4 xOmega 3 daily
- 2 xCholesterol daily
Below are the results of each of my blood tests.
| | 6 Jan 2005 | 21 April 2005 | 24 October 2005 |
| Total Cholesterol | 7.5 mmo1/L | 6.5 | 7.2 |
| Triglycerides | 1.0 mmo1/L | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| HDL | 1.13 mmo1/L | 0.80 | 1.20 |
| LDL | 5.88 mmo1/L | 4.86 | 5.60 |
| Total / HDL ratio | 6.6 | 8.1 | 6.0 |
You will note the following:
Despite adding your Omega 3's & continuing to take your Cholesterol tabs my bad cholesterol has in fact increased not decreased. This is absurd.
My doctor is now insisting that I start taking One x 10 mg tablet daily of the statin "LIPITOR" and stop taking your Cholesterol & Men's Balance tabs and only continue taking the Omega 3's.
He maintains that I have given your products 10 months to lower my cholesterol level and they have not worked, despite exercising 5 times a week and maintaining a healthy diet. His explanation for the increase in my cholesterol levels is due to GENETICS and that I need to immediately start taking statins to lower it. Sure it's easy for him to prescribe a product which has negative side effects for me & not him.
While I am inclined to agree with him as regards giving your Xtend-Life products ample opportunity to prove themselves I am extremely upset and unhappy by this result; and was so hoping for a different outcome.
Furthermore I still remain very reluctant to start taking Statins.
I would appreciate your comments.
In the interests of business integrity and balance I look forward to see whether you publish this result in your online newsletter?
This is my reply...
I can understand Silvano your frustration and unhappiness and I accept that the results are strange…but it does happen from time to time and neither we nor anyone else can give a logical reason for it. What we do know is that this protocol is very effective for the overwhelming majority of customers.
I know you feel that you are no better off now than what you were before you started, but is it really as bad as you feel it is? Let's have a look at what has happened.
First period just on the Cholesterol Formula.
Your triglycerides went up 50%
Your HDL went down 29%
Your LDL went down 17%
The next period after adding on Omega 3 and Total Balance
Your triglycerides went down 50%
Your HDL went up 50%
Your LDL went up 15%
Compared with your starting point...
- Your triglycerides are the same
- Your HDL is up 6.2%
- Your LDL is down 3.7%
Now, I would be the first to concede that these are not brilliant results. But, they are better than your starting off point. I honestly don't think that you will get any better results by any natural protocols. It would certainly seem that you are one of these people who have genetically high cholesterol and the only way you will get it down is by putting your overall health at risk and taking a statin drug. Statin drugs set up an abnormal reaction in your body.
Even then bear in mind that the statins don't always work, and indeed this is the case with many prescription drugs. It's just that the drug companies (unlike us) do not publish the results of patients for whom the drugs don't work.
I agree with what your Doctor says about your high cholesterol likely being genetic. I have the same situation in that my cholesterol is higher than normal but I believe that this is the right level for my body. It used to be a lot higher than it is now which is what prompted us to develop the cholesterol formula. I was able to drop it back a lot further and then it leveled out and has stayed the same ever since.
I am not the slightest bit worried about my higher than normal levels of cholesterol for two reasons. One is because I know that if it was right for my body to have lower levels then our Cholesterol Formula would have brought my levels down further. Our formula will only bring the levels down to what is right for your body and not force an artificial reduction. Secondly, all my other 'markers' for heart health are excellent.
If you are concerned about it look at your father and mother. If they have passed away was it due to high cholesterol? I would take a bet that it wasn't. My Father died at 84 and my Mum at 89 and it wasn't from high cholesterol. In fact, it is very rare for someone to die as a direct result of this 'condition'.
If you look at heart attack statistics the majority of heart attack victims have 'normal' cholesterol. Cholesterol is only one factor in good heart health and I am firmly of the belief that there is no 'one shoe fits all' when it comes to assessing the optimum levels for each individual.
However, there is a current 'mania' about lowering cholesterol further and further, and the goal posts keep shifting on at best, very flimsy evidence.
The downside of artificially lowering cholesterol is virtually ignored. I truly believe the 'epidemic' of impotency of 50+ males sweeping the western world is partly due to this push for low cholesterol. Cholesterol is the most important substance needed to produce the sex hormones. Reduce it excessively and you pay the price. Combine that with the other known side effects of the statins and you have a potential for serious long term problems.
Having said all that, you naturally need to make your own decision as to what you do from here. Because the trend is now heading the right way I would continue on the same protocol for another couple of months before jumping into the statins and discontinuing what you are doing.
I would feel differently if your triglycerides were excessively high because high cholesterol and high triglycerides are a dangerous combination.
Another factor which is often overlooked when focusing on such a narrow range of blood markers is general overall health. For example, I would hazard a guess that during that same period your PSA has probably gone down, your levels of HGH and Testosterone have increased, the overall strength of your heart and circulation has improved, your neurotransmitters are firing more effectively and any inflammation in your body has lessened and the aging of your various organs has slowed and your immunity has significantly improved.
So…just bear in mind what I said earlier that higher than normal cholesterol levels won't kill you but just about everything else will.
In summary... we have published the 'negative' results as requested but I would also like to reiterate that our cholesterol formula is still the finest natural remedy that I know of in the world market today.
This view is shared by a group of eminent published cardiologists in New York who sought out our product because of the number of statin 'intolerant' patients they have to deal with.
They are so convinced of the efficacy of our product above anything else on the market that they are conducting a double blind placebo clinical study on the product. This will be complete early next year and the results published in medical journals. No doubt they will find that some people don't respond as well as expected, but they are as I am convinced that the overall results will be as anticipated.
In good health,
