High Cholesterol?
 

Doc called with the results of my bloodwork from last week.

Good news: I don't have HIV, Hep, or any other STD
Bad news: My cholesterol is high... 258

My diet typically consists of tons of butter, cheese, bacon and the like. I'm not sure I can live without the culinary wonders provided by "rich foods", but apparently I might not live that long with them. He also doesn't want to put me on any cholesterol drugs.

Has anyone else had a similar issue and what was the best way to lower cholesterol without sacrificing food tastiness?

Lots of cardio, and eat some Cheerios in the morning. 258 is pretty high.

Stop eating all that shit and exercise.

Find replacements/alternatives to your food

my cholesterol is surprisingly low - 156 but my blood pressure is like 150/95

I will try to get in shape in the next week/months so that I can avoid being put on blood pressure meds

oh and congrats :thumbsup

Lower the High cholesterol diet. start eating a little better and start some exercise.

For being so completely out of shape and a smoker of about 10 years my blood pressure is very very good. Cholesterol is my only problem.

I have no idea how I'll change my cooking/eating habits. Fat = flavor. It's an inescapable culinary reality.

I already eat tons of garlic with almost everything.

The article suggests legumes, maybe I'll go buy a gigantic sack of edamame from Costco if they sell it there and just eat that for 3 months straight.

It's the cigs...lentils help lower cholesterol and you can sneak those buggers into every dish.

Long time since I talked with you uno but it sounds like you've got exactly the same problem that I had about a year and a half ago. After a scare one morning when I woke up with severe lower back pain and was short of breath I decided to get the full cardio testing done.

Good news was my heart was in great shape, bad news was my cholesterol was at 275 from years of eating hamburgers, chicken wings, chicken fingers, french fries and tons of whole milk dairy products including ice cream and cheeses.

On top of that my triglycerides were off the chart at over 700 primarily from a high sugar diet for most of my life. All this combined caused my gall bladder and thyroid to be totally whacked out.

Needless to say I went on a few medications for about a year and changed my diet pretty drastically and that sounds like where you are at now. I did however go back to taking Tricor as my cholesterol medication.

Here's what I did first. I cut out everything that is deep fried; chicken wings, french fries, fish sandwiches, fried shrimp, chicken fingers, Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and nuggets. The only fried foods that I eat now are ones cooked with Olive Oil.

Second I switched to low fat cheese products and 2% or non-fat milk (Simply Smart Fat-Free Milk is the best) and low-fat ice cream or sherbert.

Third I started eating at least 4 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables a day concentrating on as many green vegetables as possible. Also after dinner I try to only eat fruit as a snack but popcorn or nuts, especially almonds are also very good for you.

I feel as good now as I did 20 years ago and I am taking a daily vitamin to top it off. Bottom line is that I lost 22 pounds in 14 months with NO exercise involved :)

Good luck to you and remember spices are your best bet to offset the taste of most of the new things you should/will be eating.
_

You can still have a rich diet, just keep it varied and of course add in some corrections. The addition of legumes (assorted beans) is one way, adding oatmeal (try pin oats) each morning for breakfast (slow cookers rock for this). Add in whole grain breads more often. Branch out some and add in such items as quinoa, and other grains besides pasta. Speaking of pasta there are some very good ones now made with more whole grains. Wild rice also is a great addition. Of course keep in a glass or so of red wine per day. Add in plenty of dark green vegetables and things very high in anti oxidants. Then I still think one of the best things you can do is switch to a more seasonal diet to help keep it very assorted.

One other thought...change doctors, to one who will put you on the meds (in addition to changing your diet)?
I went on the meds and went from 205 (I know, not that high) to 145 in two months, and have stayed there ever since.

get on the atkins diet, yes, you'll be eating mostly meats but your cholesterol will start to go down if you are cutting our carbs.

Cut out the crap and start exercising.I was a walking heart attack at one time

Did your doc suggest any meds like lipitor to help lower your cholesterol? Of course this only works with diet and EXERCISE!

Uno

Had the same results from my Dr. 3 weeks ago

Cut out all red meat, dairy, and just about everything I loved.

U know what?

I already feel better and have been eating chicken and fish and concentrating on all organic fruits and veggies.

I am also on thyroid meds since my thyroid was very low, creating an insanely high cholestrol count

I was at 311

Holy shitballs huh?

I had no idea why I was so tired all of the time and had lower back pain consistently.
It sucks getting old, and the American diet is shit.

I am back to only buying things in grocery stores that existed over 100 years ago.
Anything with trans fat or wasn't around 100 yrs ago, i don't eat.

It's a pretty good rule of thumb my Dr. told me and I think he is right

Try eating oats (porridge) for breakfast. Oats are a good source of soluble fibre, which helps carry the LDL (bad) cholesterol to the liver for removal. 1 bowl of porridge + 1 banana = 10 gm soluble fibre per day, which is enough to lower your cholesterol 10% in some cases.

I took a blood test a few months ago

HDL 75 (dr even wrote "excellent" next to the result!)
LDL 116 H
Cholesterol 201 H

My tryglicerides is 51

I eat really unhealthy btw, lots of burgers, in n out, cheese, sweets, ice cream, pizza etc

You have to change your taste so you find flavor in non-greasy, non-fatty foodstuffs. You skip all those bad things and your taste buds will adjust and you will really love more healthy types of food after a few weeks, especially if you start to exercise. I always recommend my favorite breakfast or post workout food, which one should eat with some protein- raw oats with ground cinnamon on top. Very good to lower cholesterol and yummy!

Since I'm only 28 he'd rather get me on a diet and exercising rather than on meds. I have to say I'm inclined to agree with him.

Right now we're making a shopping list and I figured I'd return to this thread and pick up some of the suggestions.

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I'm going to try to live a somewhat healthier lifestyle.

*Holy shit KB, I'm surprised you're still walking around.

Oat meal and bran, cut out hydronated fats..get excercise.

I was told I had Diabetes Type II in May of 2007 and they gave me some pills first off that jacked my cholesterol up way too high, for whatever reason, they did. They started trying to put me on Statins and they made me so damn sick I could barely hold myself up...... I did loads and loads of research and found out that Omega Complex (fish oils) really did the trick for me. I take two of them a day and within 30 days I had mine back down to where it is supposed to be. I also eat a bowl of Cheerios almost everyday..... A bowl of oatmeal a day will help too.

I eat very healthy foods, I just have hell eating ALL of the meals they want me to eat everyday. To look at me you'd think differently, but they told me that's why I held onto the weight I didn't when I was younger.... I wasn't eating enough. made NO sense to me whatsoever, but once I started eating the 6 small meals a day, I lost 20lbs pretty quickly.

Take some Omega Complex vitamins and eat smaller meals..... I also only eat fried foods about once a week, I am a french fry freak, so I can't just drop them out totally. lol

BUT I don't eat or like cheeses or anything like that.... so I didn't mind giving that one up.... and fat free cheese is even worse. lol

Start watching nutrition labels.... that will help you alot to JUSt be aware of what you put in your mouth. I drive my family wild doing it, but it's really helped my whole family alot. You'll be shocked at how much fat and shit is in the things that you would THINK are very healthy foods. lol

If they try and get you to take any of those Statins.. do NOT take them without reading up on them first, the side effects are insane...... so be VERY cautious of those.... they made me deathly ill.

Buy some cholestin.

OK i picked up some omega 3 complexes, lots of salad, some sea food, chicken, turkey, oatmeal, spinach, fake butter(ugghh one of the ones with omega-3 vegetable spread things), and a few other items. I'll see if I can deal with eating them.

I like to have steak several times a week. It's going to be rough.

Well, that makes sense if you can see some drastic improvement with diet and exercise - best of luck :thumbsup

Maybe you could try grilling instead of pan frying or buying one of those george foreman grills so all the fat drains off... Despite the bad rep, red meat is an easy source of protein and iron in moderation.

Phew glad all the std test came back ok. I feel better about that.. :winkwink:





hehe. Ya Uno I had to start eating right, so you do too brother. :thumbsup

Fish Oil / Omega-3s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_oil read up, essential supplement here

Some experts believe that taking fish oil (in any form) can help regulate cholesterol in the body,[who?] because fish oil has high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. The regulation occurs through effects of the EPA and DHA constituents on Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα). Besides cholesterol regulation, benefits include anti-inflammatory properties and positive effects on body composition.

Eat vegitarian. You will look better,skin will glow and best of all your cells reproduce 2x faster so you fuck 20 times a day.

I have been taking this since July of 2007 and it's made major improvements on how I feel as well as how my cholesterol numbers are reading. The pills they gave me jacked mine from a 140 to over 200 in a month, but this has helped me get it back down and keep it in a safe area, with little diet change to speak of.

BUT then I didn't eat a completely unhealthy diet to begin with.... I am a veggie lover... lol

http://www.trustmark.org/store/cholarest_lg.html

if your not going to change your diet atleast take that.

it lowered my levels by 80 points but i was excercising

GFY (and the online adult industry) is rapidly becoming a geriatric forum.

wow...thats high...take it easy!

Uno watch the seafood-

Fish is ok broiled or grilled, but believe it or not
Lobster, Shrimp and crab are loaded with cholesterol

omega-3s is good for your heart