High Cholesterol/Trigylceride Diet
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kaylahardison
Posts: 141 Member
Hi guys,
I've been on MFP for a while, but I haven't really tried that hard. Yesterday, I received news that I have elevated cholesterol levels (209). The range of normal cholesterol ends at 206, so it's not "scary" high, but it's something that stuck out for my Dr. My mother had a quadruple bypass at 44 years old. I am 27. Dr. told me that I should start now by being on a heart healthy (low cholesterol) diet. A nurse friend told me to also watch my triglycerides also- they are currently normal.
SO... I got online and was looking up foods to (and not to) eat for low cholesterol. Then I looked up foods not to eat for keeping your triglycerides normal. Well, basically, heart healthy patients should eat a Vegan diet. Plenty of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts. Patients lowering triglycerides should watch their fruit and other natural sugar intake.
Basically, I'm confused. LOST. Overwhelmed. Scared.
Can someone give me some insight on good foods to help my nutrition all the way around?
I've been on MFP for a while, but I haven't really tried that hard. Yesterday, I received news that I have elevated cholesterol levels (209). The range of normal cholesterol ends at 206, so it's not "scary" high, but it's something that stuck out for my Dr. My mother had a quadruple bypass at 44 years old. I am 27. Dr. told me that I should start now by being on a heart healthy (low cholesterol) diet. A nurse friend told me to also watch my triglycerides also- they are currently normal.
SO... I got online and was looking up foods to (and not to) eat for low cholesterol. Then I looked up foods not to eat for keeping your triglycerides normal. Well, basically, heart healthy patients should eat a Vegan diet. Plenty of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts. Patients lowering triglycerides should watch their fruit and other natural sugar intake.
Basically, I'm confused. LOST. Overwhelmed. Scared.
Can someone give me some insight on good foods to help my nutrition all the way around?
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Replies
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#1...maintain a healthy weight and exercise.
then worry about the foods. Stay within your calorie goals and shoot for at least 20g of fiber (I pulled that outta my *** but basically hit your recommended 25g of fiber with most from fruits and veggies) from fruits and veggies every day and don't overcomplicate the choices.
2 quick tips for adding nutrition without changing much: Add 3+ servings of greens daily (if you don't eat any already). Doesn't add much calories and super nutritious.
Replace a serving of apples, bananas and oranges with blackberries, raspberries or strawberries. Berries have more nutrition and fiber than those fruit choices.
Above all: don't major in the minors.0 -
I guess that's my problem: overcomplication.0
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losing weight will help. I eat a diet consisting largely of whole food nutrition and exercise regularly to help control my cholesterol and triglycerides. I eat about three servings of fruit per day and 6 servings of veg...the fruit has not made my triglycerides go up...triglycerides are generally elevated when you aren't burning off enough fat.
In my experience, my blood work is rock solid when my diet is overwhelmingly comprised of plenty of veg, fruit, lean sourced protein, whole grains and legumes/lentils, and fat from things like avocados, nuts, olive oil, etc.
I tend to have issues with my blood work when I get a little loosey goosey and start letting more "junk" type of foods into my diet...commercially prepared baked goods, fatty cuts of meat on a regular basis, regular soda consumption, etc. I'd worry way more about that stuff than cutting back on your apple consumption.0 -
My doctor wants me to drop 30 pounds by June 2016. Totally do-able.0
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Food cholesterol has little to no impact on blood cholesterol.
High Triglycerides and LDL are more of an issue, and much of this is hereditary. To lessen the negative effects:
•Eat more whole foods; limit processed foods and refined sugars.
•Exercise more; make exercise a lifestyle change, not something you do on occasion.
•Limit alcohol consumption; alcohol abuse can substantially raise triglyercides.
•Take 2-3 grams of combined EPA & DHA from Fish Oil per day. Carlson Elite is a good brand to cross-reference with other EPA & DHA amounts per capsule. The science on fish oil is incredibly strong, it almost doesn't matter what your goals are... Everyone should be taking it. ~ http://www.leangains.com/2011/05/omega-3-fatty-acids-for-muscle-growth.html
Also, 200-240 mg/dl total cholesterol is not an issue (in fact, people live longest in this range):
Here is the link: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/O-Primitivo-Cholesterol.jpg0 -
My last blood work done last month- total cholesteral 150, triglycerides 49. Got these numbers by losing the extra weight and doing a few minutes of low impact exercise a week.
Keep things simple and focus on eating at an appropriate calorie deficit. Throw in some walking for good measure. Chances are your numbers will improve as you start to lose the extra weight.
eta: my husband used to have higher cholesteral and he also improved his numbers by just eating at a calorie dedicit.0 -
Thank y'all! Very helpful!0
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Sarasmaintaining wrote: »My last blood work done last month- total cholesteral 150
See chart above. Very low total cholesterol is associated with the highest worldwide death rate.
It is best to stay in the middle (not at either side of the extremes).0 -
I guess I should feel very lucky. As overweight and unhealthy I am. My blood work seems to stay somewhat positive. I wish you the best of luck adjusting to a new diet!0
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Sarasmaintaining wrote: »My last blood work done last month- total cholesteral 150
See chart above. Very low total cholesterol is associated with the highest worldwide death rate.
It is best to stay in the middle (not at either side of the extremes).
I'm on my phone so I can't see chart (will lok0 -
Thank you
It will certainly be a learning process. 0 -
Sarasmaintaining wrote: »My last blood work done last month- total cholesteral 150
See chart above. Very low total cholesterol is associated with the highest worldwide death rate.
It is best to stay in the middle (not at either side of the extremes).
The data from your chart can be misleading because it is average total cholesterol for different countries. Populations from less developed countries will have lower cholesterol because the populations cannot afford to eat a high fat diet. They may not be dying as a consequence of low cholesterol, they may be dying because of the generally low quality of healthcare in their countries.0 -
Sarasmaintaining wrote: »Sarasmaintaining wrote: »My last blood work done last month- total cholesteral 150
See chart above. Very low total cholesterol is associated with the highest worldwide death rate.
It is best to stay in the middle (not at either side of the extremes).
I'm on my phone so I can't see chart (will lok
oops, dumb phone! Anyways I'll look at chart later when I can, but my doctor was very happy with my results? I'm considered very low risk for heart disease, have great blood pressure etc. Now I'm curious why you think I have too low cholestetal, didn't know that was a thing-off to google 0 -
PatrickH59 wrote: »Sarasmaintaining wrote: »My last blood work done last month- total cholesteral 150
See chart above. Very low total cholesterol is associated with the highest worldwide death rate.
It is best to stay in the middle (not at either side of the extremes).
The data from your chart can be misleading because it is average total cholesterol for different countries. Populations from less developed countries will have lower cholesterol because the populations cannot afford to eat a high fat diet. They may not be dying as a consequence of low cholesterol, they may be dying because of the generally low quality of healthcare in their countries.
That doesn't make it misleading. That makes it more comprehensive. One is able to use that data to make more correlations. Look to the solid blue line for the evidence that moderate cholesterol levels are good (extremes are bad).
The chart also breaks down other causes of mortality unrelated to cholesterol.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »losing weight will help. I eat a diet consisting largely of whole food nutrition and exercise regularly to help control my cholesterol and triglycerides. I eat about three servings of fruit per day and 6 servings of veg...the fruit has not made my triglycerides go up...triglycerides are generally elevated when you aren't burning off enough fat.
In my experience, my blood work is rock solid when my diet is overwhelmingly comprised of plenty of veg, fruit, lean sourced protein, whole grains and legumes/lentils, and fat from things like avocados, nuts, olive oil, etc.
I tend to have issues with my blood work when I get a little loosey goosey and start letting more "junk" type of foods into my diet...commercially prepared baked goods, fatty cuts of meat on a regular basis, regular soda consumption, etc. I'd worry way more about that stuff than cutting back on your apple consumption.
This is my understanding of how things work as well.0 -
Sarasmaintaining wrote: »My last blood work done last month- total cholesteral 150
See chart above. Very low total cholesterol is associated with the highest worldwide death rate.
It is best to stay in the middle (not at either side of the extremes).
well *kitten*. my total cholesterol is 89.
i'm so doomed.
Editing to add, i'm pretty sure total cholesterol is supposed to be between 125 and 200 so i think that 150 is pretty good?
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veganbettie wrote: »Sarasmaintaining wrote: »My last blood work done last month- total cholesteral 150
See chart above. Very low total cholesterol is associated with the highest worldwide death rate.
It is best to stay in the middle (not at either side of the extremes).
well *kitten*. my total cholesterol is 89.
i'm so doomed.
Editing to add, i'm pretty sure total cholesterol is supposed to be between 125 and 200 so i think that 150 is pretty good?
Ive had bloodwork that lists "normal" as 125 or 140 for low and 180 or 200 for high.
Low cholesterol is associated with increased cancer risk, anxiety and depression. But it's weak with no direct link to a cause of the cancer.
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Everything causes cancer these days.0
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veganbettie wrote: »Sarasmaintaining wrote: »My last blood work done last month- total cholesteral 150
See chart above. Very low total cholesterol is associated with the highest worldwide death rate.
It is best to stay in the middle (not at either side of the extremes).
well *kitten*. my total cholesterol is 89.
i'm so doomed.
Editing to add, i'm pretty sure total cholesterol is supposed to be between 125 and 200 so i think that 150 is pretty good?
Ive had bloodwork that lists "normal" as 125 or 140 for low and 180 or 200 for high.
Low cholesterol is associated with increased cancer risk, anxiety and depression. But it's weak with no direct link to a cause of the cancer.
I haven't seen too much of the cancer information to be honest, but i have read about the anxiety and depression, anxiety holds true to me. Granted some people are playing this off as it hasn't been researched enough and it's probably not that big of a deal...I don't know, i'm pretty freaked out about my low numbers.
unfortunately there isn't much information out there for me in regards to low cholesterol as everyone is trying to lower theirs, not raise it. blah.
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veganbettie wrote: »Sarasmaintaining wrote: »My last blood work done last month- total cholesteral 150
See chart above. Very low total cholesterol is associated with the highest worldwide death rate.
It is best to stay in the middle (not at either side of the extremes).
well *kitten*. my total cholesterol is 89.
i'm so doomed.
Editing to add, i'm pretty sure total cholesterol is supposed to be between 125 and 200 so i think that 150 is pretty good?
I'm not saying that 200-240 mg/dl cholesterol is what a doctor would recommend. Most doctors would probably agree with less than 200 mg/dl total cholesterol (60+ HDL and lower than 100 LDL within reason).
What I'm saying is that according to a major meta-analysis study done on the relationship between cholesterol & morbidity (referenced above), those within the 200-240 mg/dl total cholesterol range tend to live the longest on average. It is however a correlation and not a direct connection. I just found that interesting is all. Doctors may not have the whole truth yet when it comes to cholesterol.0
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