High cholesterol

veronicaearthgirl

Recent blood work has revealed I have high cholesterol. LDL 131 (should be 90-100), HDL 37 (should be 48 or higher). Any suggestions on diet? I'm going to try that route first before medication although I understand only 25% of cholesterol issues are diet related. The rest are hereditary and I do have this family history. Still gonna give it a shot.

nancybuss

I started my journey 4 years ago because of my cholestoral. My HDL was17. Yes 17. I had a 2 and 4 year old and knew I had to be better for Them.
Eating better, working out, drinking Shakeology It took me awhile to be consistent and find what workouts I liked. I started with zumba, then a gym (couldn't make the hours work with kids and work) and then home.
My last HDL was in the low 40's.... still some room for improvement but a HUGE difference.

I've also been diagnosed with Celiac's disease in the last year, so that's a whole new change up for me.

Absolutely give it a try!!!!!
Good luck !

glassyo

Do you have a lot of weight to lose? That'll help. Otherwise (as I always go against the grain), if your high cholesterol isn't strictly because of a medical reason, adding egg yolks to my diet actually lowered my LDL and triglycerides. Yes, I stand by that being the reason.

ToxDocAR

Eating vegetables, fruit, and meat [plenty of eggs, pork, fish, and beef (I don't love chicken)], and eliminating processed carbohydrates (flour etc) from my diet results in a dramatic drop in my cholesterol levels. I'm talking from 250 to 150 total cholesterol.

cwolfman13

My cholesterol was the primary reason I started all this good livin' almost four years ago. First off, simply losing excess weight (fat) is going to help quite a bit...so is regular exercise...regular exercise will help bump up your HDL numbers.

Beyond that, I made it a point to get in more veg and fruit...I usually get in around 4-6 servings of vegetables every day and a serving or two of fruit...in the past I might have gotten one actual recommended serving of vegetables on any given day and I rarely ate fruit. I eat a lot of berries and I like apples a lot...these things are high in pectin which is a soluble fiber which helps control cholesterol.

I also made it a point to up my fiber in general...as I mentioned, more (way more) veg and fruit, but I also started eating things like oats (high in soluble fiber), legumes and lentils, brown rice, and other whole grains...legumes are a great source of plant sterols and stanols which also help control cholesterol.

I also started eating more chicken and fish and less beef...and in particular less fatty cuts of beef...just more lean protein. I introduced more healthy sources of fat like avocados, nuts, good cooking oils, etc which helps up the HDL.

In general I started eating more whole foods and much less processed foods...particularly highly processed foods that just come in a box or something and add water....most of what I eat is derived from whole foods or minimally processed food stuffs.

Oh...and did I mention regular exercise?

I have a family history of this as well, and while it plays a significant roll, I think diet and exercise is often overlooked namely because people just don't tend to stick with their good livin'...almost four years later and I'm rockin' and rollin...my LDL was around 160 back then and it's around 93 now.

RodaRose

Most of the time, losing weight will bring down the cholesterol numbers.

tennileb

My cholesterol was creeping up in my early 30's and I have a family history of high cholesterol and heart disease, I am on a whole food, plant based diet and that is helping keep it stable for me.

gonetothedogs19

I ditched my statins with exercise and a 20 lb. weight loss. I did high-fat, low-carb, low-sugar, with no calorie counting. But that's up to you.

dlkfox

Most of the time simply losing weight takes care of it. Studies do indicate that fiber intake really helps reduce bad cholesterol -- oats, bran, whole grains, popcorn, high fiber vegetables and beans, etc.

andrea_nichol

Soluble fiber in things like oatmeal and Cheerios can help lower LDL.

ronjsteele1

I have a deep family history of high cholesterol, early deaths by heart attack (my dad died at 42), heart disease, etc. In my 20's my total cholesterol was 350. I'm 46 now and it runs right at 200, LDL 146, HDL 50. While those numbers look high, they are fantastic for me (the HDL is good). I eat a high fat diet and swear by it. Otherwise, I've done nothing else to lower it (low fat diets don't work!!). Eggs, red meat, bacon, sausage, butter, fatty dairy (when I can handle it), etc. and I'm still 80#'s overweight at least so I'm sure losing will only make those numbers better.