Cholesterol Issues

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doberman

doberman

Well-known member
Joined
May 12, 2004
Messages
187
Location
Toronto, Canada
I was recently told I have high cholesterol levels, not high enough to go on medication but I am at the threshold. I have read the red meat, dairy products, shrimp and eggs contribute to high levels of cholesterol. At any rate I am going to try and manage this with my diet. I eat pretty well most of the time but will have to cut out the fries, pizza and a few other things I eat occasionally. I am having my coffee without cream right now and will have to get use to that.
If anyone has diet suggestions I would like to hear them. I do have a follow up planned with my GP.
thx
 
I will watch this thread with interest, John. Like you, my last check (just prior to surgery) pointed out that I didn't have 'bad' numbers, but numbers that were just outside the desired ranges for both the good and bad cholesterols. My doc didn't give me a prescription or a diet plan, but rather told me that exercise was the key. If you exercise frequently you will do a lot towards converting the bad to good cholesterols, which I think I remember being the LDL's to HDL's. That being said, I am interested in others' suggestions for diet to support cholesterol health.
 
Adding a daily walk of 30 - 40 minutes can make a big difference in cholesterol numbers for some people.
 
And unfortunately...some of it is hereditary. My oldest daughter had 300 plus levels and my youngest, had her levels go to over 950, when she was 22..they both eat appropriately, but due to high cholesterol running in my family, they are both on meds, the youngest 40 mg of Crestor daily,plus 145mg of Tricor daily. Yet....my cholesterol has never been high, mine is 135 at present, at its highest it was 160....and I'm the one needing an AVR ( born with BAV) and a triple bypass. Gesh....
All my children know to have their cholesterol checked, due to it being hereitary....and now I have asked them to ask their Doctor check them for a BAV. Diet, maintaining a healthy weigh and exercise help......but they will not keep it within the normal ranges, when it is a hereditary factor causing it....as my children are finding out. So knowing our family history seems to be a very important factor, along with diet, maintaining an ideal weigh, and exercise... to give our Doctors help in deciding when to start us on meds and which meds they should be. Hoping the day comes, when science has advanced to the point, genetics will no longer be a factor, in the health of our children.
Renee
 
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I have learned that sugar and carbs are actually the killer.. NOT FAT. However, when you mix saturated fat, sugar and empty carbs, it's a bad cocktail. I eat a lot of fat (not hydrogenated though) but don't eat white sugar or high starch foods and my cholesterol has gone down.. and so have my trigylcerides.. which is the amount of fat in my blood. So, the more fat I eat (less sugar and carbs) the better my numbers are.. go figure... caveman diet anyone?
 
The daily fat in my diet comes mainly from nuts and seeds (almonds, pumpkin, sunflower, walnut, pecan etc).
A weekly amount of 2 organic eggs and 2 servings of cheese.
Red meat is limited, nothing fried. Salmon poached is amazing. Salads rock. Healthy whole grains rule.
And of course walking and exercise is a must even though I don't do it. ;)
 
DeuxofUs said:
I have learned that sugar and carbs are actually the killer.. NOT FAT. However, when you mix saturated fat, sugar and empty carbs, it's a bad cocktail. I eat a lot of fat (not hydrogenated though) but don't eat white sugar or high starch foods and my cholesterol has gone down.. and so have my trigylcerides.. which is the amount of fat in my blood. So, the more fat I eat (less sugar and carbs) the better my numbers are.. go figure... caveman diet anyone?
Click to expand...



That sounds a lot like Atkins.

I prefer either Mediterranean or South Beach. Find it's better for me.
My 'numbers' are great though my weight has been creeping up as I've aged.

[/B]
 
I've had great luck with food combining. Both with weight loss and my cholesterol dropped too even though it was not high. Its been attributed to reducing hypertension, blood sugar etc. The principle is that you don't eat meat or fats in combination with starches or carbs. The reason is that protein and fats are digested with acids. Carbs/starches are digested with alkaline solution. Basic chemistry tells us that when you mix acid and alkaline you get a neutral solution. So a meal with equal amounts of protein and carbs (meat and potatoes with bread) will not only take a much longer time to digest than it should, but also not digest as well as it should.

So food combining is really eating food combinations that optimize digestive chemistry.

What do you eat? With meat I eat vegetables and salad, no bread or potatoes. If I want pasta, potatoes, bread or cereal I just don't eat meat and do something similar and eat veggies or salad.

Here are some links to check out, if you are curious.

http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/food-combining.htm

http://www.food-combining-diet.com/

http://drbass.com/
 
Also many folks here posted regarding sugar. I read a book called sugar busters and there is a link to sugar and cholesterol. The link is insulin and its affect on the liver. Increased sugar causes a release of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that affects more things in the body than simply blood sugar balance. The liver is affected by insulin and since cholesterol is produced in the liver. So the less sugar the less insulin release and the less excess cholesterol is produced. Another thing I read was that sugar is basically carbs with no nutrients, unlike say whole grain bread. So the body ends up using its store of nutrients and minerals to burn, convert and store these empty calories.

Best of luck with your health.

have fun
Herb
 
I'm with you Herb. Cut the carbs way down with meat meals and add more veggies.
My preference is cereals and grains for breakfast and a very small amount later in the day. NO white bread.
 
Both of the low sugar plans sound a lot like Sugar Busters as mentioned and Suzanne Somers so-called Somersizing way of eating. She advocates 'good carbs' but not combined with proteins. Eat either a protein or a carb meal but don't combine.

Both advocate whole wheat, whole grain, brown rice and whole wheat pasta, no processed foods etc..... as does South Beach.
 
Thanks I will look into the suggestions above. I am lean and have always eaten whatever I liked so this will be a learning opportunity. I am going to try cutting down on the sugars as that does seem the main culprit. I likely should have been doing these things at any rate being someone who has had OHS! In response to the main suggestion exercise I get as much as I have time for, cycle in summer and play hockey in winter.
Again I appreciate the input.
 
Herb_Webb said:
I've had great luck with food combining. Both with weight loss and my cholesterol dropped too even though it was not high. Its been attributed to reducing hypertension, blood sugar etc. The principle is that you don't eat meat or fats in combination with starches or carbs. The reason is that protein and fats are digested with acids. Carbs/starches are digested with alkaline solution. Basic chemistry tells us that when you mix acid and alkaline you get a neutral solution. So a meal with equal amounts of protein and carbs (meat and potatoes with bread) will not only take a much longer time to digest than it should, but also not digest as well as it should.

So food combining is really eating food combinations that optimize digestive chemistry.

What do you eat? With meat I eat vegetables and salad, no bread or potatoes. If I want pasta, potatoes, bread or cereal I just don't eat meat and do something similar and eat veggies or salad.

Here are some links to check out, if you are curious.

http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/food-combining.htm

http://www.food-combining-diet.com/

http://drbass.com/
Click to expand...

Yes! this sounds like "The French Diet". A very good theory and it worked for many people I know. Thanks, Herb, for the links.

Stay away from sugar as much as you can. Easier said than done!

Good luck.
 
Two years ago, before surgery, I weighed 160 and had a cholesterol of 155. Three weeks ago I weighed 182 and had a cholesterol of 260 and all the associated numbers were bad. Plus my blood pressure was taking off. A little too much post-op "enoying life". That was a wake-up call. I'm cutting back all the bad stuff and am back on a vigorous exercise program. I'm counting on weight loss and exercise to fix all this. So far, my BP is way down, I've lost 6 lbs and will check my cholsterol again in another month.
 
Thanks for starting this thread, John. I was getting ready to start one myself. I just got my results back from my annual physical and they are not good .
Cholesterol is 223 (range 120-200)
Triglycerides are 286 (range 30-199)
LDL is 131 (range is 0-130))
HDL is 35 (range is 27-68)
HDL risk factor is 6.4 (and the range for that is 0.0-7.0)
My poor physician has tried several times to get me on cholesterol meds, but it's hard for me to say yes when my heart cath 5 years ago was completely clean (and my numbers are actually better now, I think) and my recent nuclear stress test was similarly fine.

Thanks for all the responses and I hope we will get more ideas as this thread progresses. I am looking forward to reading through all the links.

My blood sugar is the best it's been in a very long time -- right in the middle of normal range. I used to drink 2 full glasses of orange juice a day (habit from childhood) and now I drink none. I've switched from buttered W/W toast to whole grain cereal and soy milk for breakfast. I know I eat way too much cheese. We started buying frozen shrimp at Costco and I've been eating it much more than usual....... I forgot about its being high in cholesterol, but how many shrimp are too many, I wonder.

Definitely going to do this with diet and exercise.

Maybe we should start a cholesterol Throwdown?? :tongue2::eek2::biggrin2:

Marguerite
 
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