Diabetes and Resins

Your multitalented liver not only makes cholesterol, but it can convert the waxy fat into bile acid, which you need to digest food. Resins (sometimes called bile acid sequestrants) lower cholesterol by forcing the liver into borrowing resources to get its work done. These drugs enter the gut and kidnap bile acids by binding to them, then carrying them through your GI tract to be excreted. The liver figures out that the intestines are low on bile, so to produce a fresh batch it pulls cholesterol out of the blood to use as raw material. Resins lower cholesterol levels by 10 to 20 percent.

Resins have a relatively clean safety record, too, though any time you start messing with business in your intestines you risk tummy trouble. As that goes, resins may cause nausea, gas, constipation, and other gastrointestinal unpleasantness. Convenience is a small matter, too, since resins come in the form of powders that must be mixed with water or juice and taken with a meal.

• Diabetes and Heart Disease explains the relationship between these two conditions.
• Diabetes Symptoms covers the diverse signs of the disease, from increased thirst and hunger to sudden weight loss.
• To learn more about diabetes in general, including diagnosis, causes, symptoms, and treatment, visit our main Diabetes page.
• For more information on cholesterol and its effect on your health, read How Cholesterol Works.