Just Ask Terry

Terry is happy to provide his opinion on diet and nutrition, supplements and lifestyle choices. This information is for educational purposes only. It is not meant to replace the advice of your physician and is not to be considered medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Should you have any concerns please contact your physician directly.

Q. Terry, “Is it true that cholesterol lowering drugs, also called statin drugs, drain your body of vitamin D?” —Chip B., Galveston, TX A. Dear Chip, Your question is at the heart of a huge debate! While there needs to be more scientific investigation on this, I firmly believe that these drugs do interfere with vitamin D in the body. They do not “drain” your body of existing vitamin D; instead, they block it from being created in the firstplace. When your skin is exposed to sunlight, it triggers your body to make vitamin D. One of the raw materials used to make vitamin D is cholesterol. It just makes sense that if you take away the raw materials, you will subsequently have less of the end product! In the book, Statin Drugs Side Effects and the Misguided War on Cholesterol, former astronaut and former USAF flight surgeon Dr. Duane Graveline discussed the vital role of cholesterol in the human body. He reports that “most important hormones depend upon adequate reserves of cholesterol for their production and nowhere is this more important than as the precursor substance for the synthesis of Vitamin D, known also as calcitrol.” He goes on to state that the overuse of statin drugs is contributing significantly to the epidemic of vitamin D deficiency. Though mainstream medicine has not yet fully examined this negative consequence of statin drug use, there is a recent study published that includes this topic. [Rezen T, Rozman D, Pascussi JM, Monostory K. Interplay between cholesterol and drug metabolism. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2010 Jun 4. PMID: 20570756] I think we are going to see a lot more on this negative aspect of statin drugs in the coming months. In the meantime, make sure you are taking enough vitamin D. Most people need between 2,000 and 4,000 IU per day, and some need more. And go out in the sun. We should avoid sunburn, not sunshine! Best wishes.