Managing high cholesterol with diet & excercise

RachaelRenk

I recently got a primary physician for the first time in years and also had labs/bloodwork/general wellness done for the first time. It turns out I have high cholesterol and my good cholesterol is quite low. I wasn't terribly surprised by this, part of it is hereditary. Really bad cholesterol runs rampant on my dad's side of the family. I also love cheese and beer and butter and bacon and carbs. Duh.

I'm only 25, so it is concerning. My numbers ranged from not great to pretty bad. My doctor gave me three months to try and bring those numbers down on my own through lifestyle changes before she puts me on medication (I would really like to avoid being on yet another medication). I've been on MFP on and off for something like 5 years, and never stuck with it more than 3-4 months or so. In any event, I really have to get serious now. My main goal is to improve my cholesterol, but I know there will be other benefits: such as losing weight, having more energy, hopefully helping with my chronic acid reflux, etc.

I was hoping to get some experiences and ideas with other users who have successfully managed their cholesterol with diet and exercise.

My doctor didn't give me a lot of specifics. She said I have to do exercise that makes me sweat and gets my heart rate up so that my "receptors" get bigger, and said only about 25% of my diet should be carbs. I've been googling articles about diets for cholesterol, and I've gotten a few ideas for snacks, but I'd like to see that more in action with someone who's gone through it.

Any input is appreciated!

geneticsteacher

Walking daily and losing 25 lbs. dropped my total cholesterol over 30 points. I didn't make any specific dietary changes, but the general advice, especially if you have a family history of high cholesterol/heart disease, is to limit saturated fats and ingested cholesterol.

RachaelRenk

Thanks for the feedback!

Vizhen

I dropped mine by 30 points over two years I think. I learned that shrimp is high in cholesterol. Since I don't eat beef or pork, chicken, fish, turkey, and shrimp were my go to. I no longer eat shrimp. Any processed food is high in saturated fat. I decreased my fast food intake. I just learned that lamb is high in cholesterol and saturated fat. It was my other go to when I wanted fast food that was semi-healthy. I eat more almonds. Drink more water. Cut out the sodas and juice. I thought it was eggs. Eggs are not the culprit. it's the saturated fat in processed food. I switched my fitness tracker to include saturated fat. Now I can keep a better eye on it. It's surprising which foods hurt us more than help. I also exercise 4-5 days a week. I'm a runner and I go to the gym.

fr33sia12

My cholesterol was 5.9 and I got it down to 4.5 with diet and exercise. I changed to a healthy eating plan with healthy fats, natural sugars, cut out alcohol and junk food.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

it all depends too on the cholesterol, I have Familial hypercholesterolemia(genetic defect that is rare) and even with diet and exercise it still wont come down much so I have to take meds (again I tried lowering it with just diet and exercise and that didnt work),I tried lower carb,a low cholesterol diet(per drs orders) and other ways of eating and nothing worked well enough to not need meds. I lost weight too and it didnt help. so I am eating low saturated fats,no fried foods,no white breads,pasta(nothing made with white flour),no beef or pork and watching my sugar intake. my body cant process the cholesterol like most people can.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

Vizhen wrote: »

I dropped mine by 30 points over two years I think. I learned that shrimp is high in cholesterol. Since I don't eat beef or pork, chicken, fish, turkey, and shrimp were my go to. I no longer eat shrimp. Any processed food is high in saturated fat. I decreased my fast food intake. I just learned that lamb is high in cholesterol and saturated fat. It was my other go to when I wanted fast food that was semi-healthy. I eat more almonds. Drink more water. Cut out the sodas and juice. I thought it was eggs. Eggs are not the culprit. it's the saturated fat in processed food. I switched my fitness tracker to include saturated fat. Now I can keep a better eye on it. It's surprising which foods hurt us more than help. I also exercise 4-5 days a week. I'm a runner and I go to the gym.

I eat shrimp,the cholesterol in foods supposedly dont affect the cholesterol in your body, but I have to avoid egg yolks,processed foods,beef and pork,fried foods,etc(others I mentioned above). I too am counting sat fats as well.

ahamm002

Don't worry about avoiding dietary cholesterol. That has a very minimal impact (if any) on blood cholesterol. Focus on eating more vegetables, more fruit, and less calories. This will be a lot easier if you minimize fast food and highly processed foods.

High intensity exercise that gets your heart rate up and makes you sweat is helpful. For example, a spinning class might be a good place to start.

Francl27

It's a tough subject.. it runs in my family too. After losing 80 pounds (and eating low fat/fat free stuff) my bad cholesterol actually went up too... but my ratio was better. Then I said sod it and ate more full fat dairy and my next bloodwork was better.

My doctor told me to eat fat free dairy, nuts, oatmeal. I eat more nuts and oatmeal (when I can stomach it). I don't eat much fat free dairy anymore, but I suppose I mostly eat low fat protein. Research is all over the place on this so... who the hell knows.

cwolfman13

I started eating a diet consisting largely of whole foods and getting in a good 4-6 servings of veg daily along with a couple servings of fruit, lean sourced protein, whole grains, legumes, and good fats from things like avocados and good cooking oils.

I'm curious about the whole carb thing...I never watched my carbs and in fact I eat quite a bit...albeit they are primarily from whole grains and beans and veg, etc...that's where you're going to get your fiber which helps with lowering LDL.

Regular exercise will help up your HDL levels...so will good heart healthy fats.

Losing weight in and of itself will tend to decrease your LDL as well.

I took my LDL from 163 to 90 in about a year and my HDL from 23 to 55.

stblyoung

Hey! If you were to eat a plant based diet it would lower your cholesterol significantly. There is no cholesterol in plant based foods. Your chances of heart disease while eating plant based is highly unlikely. I switched 4 years ago and then wavered a bit after a couple years but I always go back. Forks over knives is a great film, the China study is a good book to read as well. It will blow your mind. I know it might seem 'radical' to change your diet to a plant based one but taking medication to combat health problems like high cholesterol is scarier to me! Nothing but love

jessicapk

Exercise to improve your HDL, which helps clean up the LDL "bad cholesterol"
Fiber to help lower LDL even further
Mine was never very high but, with those two changes, I knocked off 20 points. In addition, the exercise is great for general cardiovascular health and the fiber is great for intestinal health.

geneticsteacher

stblyoung wrote: »

Hey! If you were to eat a plant based diet it would lower your cholesterol significantly. There is no cholesterol in plant based foods. Your chances of heart disease while eating plant based is highly unlikely. I switched 4 years ago and then wavered a bit after a couple years but I always go back. Forks over knives is a great film, the China study is a good book to read as well. It will blow your mind. I know it might seem 'radical' to change your diet to a plant based one but taking medication to combat health problems like high cholesterol is scarier to me! Nothing but love

Plant based helps many people. It did not help my father; he has genetically high cholesterol and is on a statin for life.

P.S. Forks over Knives and the the China Study have been debunked as scientifically inaccurate.

stealthq

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I started eating a diet consisting largely of whole foods and getting in a good 4-6 servings of veg daily along with a couple servings of fruit, lean sourced protein, whole grains, legumes, and good fats from things like avocados and good cooking oils.

I'm curious about the whole carb thing...I never watched my carbs and in fact I eat quite a bit...albeit they are primarily from whole grains and beans and veg, etc...that's where you're going to get your fiber which helps with lowering LDL.

Regular exercise will help up your HDL levels...so will good heart healthy fats.

Losing weight in and of itself will tend to decrease your LDL as well.

I took my LDL from 163 to 90 in about a year and my HDL from 23 to 55.

Generally, yes, though some people see the opposite effect. Additionally, when you lose weight some people see a short term increase in LDL and/or total cholesterol followed by the more expected decrease below starting levels. I have a family member who experienced the latter - they have to get monthly blood tests for a pre-existing medical issue that does not affect their cholesterol levels, though they check cholesterol every time.

OP, I'd recommend some more frequent cholesterol tests for a bit so you and your doctor have a handle on how your diet and exercise changes are affecting you.

louann_jude

When I saw this I had to go and look at my numbers to check. In April 2015 my labs were

Triglycerides 259
LDL (bad) 134
HDL (good) 27
Overall 212

My triglycerides were high and my over all but my good cholesterol was low it should be over 40. I started my diet in January and lost a significant amount of weight. I still have about 50 to go. I had them retest in June and here is the results.

Triglycerides 122
LDL 135
HDL 30
Overall 189

Just in over a year I think some of my numbers did great. The problem is my good is still low. He has given me a little more time to get it up. If I don't have to be on medicine too. I am working on one thing at a time to get healthier. The next project is to stop smoking. I know doing that will also help a lot.

geneticsteacher

Good point stealthq. I also found that my triglycerides were temporarily higher after weight loss.

littlechiaseed

Well it's not always genetic, diet plays a big part and the foods you listed that you eat do raise your bad cholesterol. Reduce meat and dairy and eggs and up your fiber and vegetables. Mine was never high but it was borderlining there and changing my diet made all my numbers go into the ideal range. I should add that I did switch to a vegetarian diet around this time (not because of health reason) and I upped my intake of whole plant foods and increased healthy fats like avocado and nuts and reduced dairy.

RachaelRenk

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

it all depends too on the cholesterol, I have Familial hypercholesterolemia(genetic defect that is rare) and even with diet and exercise it still wont come down much so I have to take meds (again I tried lowering it with just diet and exercise and that didnt work),I tried lower carb,a low cholesterol diet(per drs orders) and other ways of eating and nothing worked well enough to not need meds. I lost weight too and it didnt help. so I am eating low saturated fats,no fried foods,no white breads,pasta(nothing made with white flour),no beef or pork and watching my sugar intake. my body cant process the cholesterol like most people can.

I could be in the same boat. My doctor did say that since it is also genetic for me, even if I do really well with diet and exercise, I could still end up needing to be on medication. Either way, I have to try.

RachaelRenk

louann_jude wrote: »

When I saw this I had to go and look at my numbers to check. In April 2015 my labs were

Triglycerides 259
LDL (bad) 134
HDL (good) 27
Overall 212

My triglycerides were high and my over all but my good cholesterol was low it should be over 40. I started my diet in January and lost a significant amount of weight. I still have about 50 to go. I had them retest in June and here is the results.

Triglycerides 122
LDL 135
HDL 30
Overall 189

Just in over a year I think some of my numbers did great. The problem is my good is still low. He has given me a little more time to get it up. If I don't have to be on medicine too. I am working on one thing at a time to get healthier. The next project is to stop smoking. I know doing that will also help a lot.

My overall right now is 220, I don't remember the other numbers specifically because I don't have the report right in front of me - although I believe my HDL was around 37 and my doc told me it should be at least 50. That feels like so much! And golly gosh, I feel your pain. I'm also a smoker. *embarassed* That's something I have to work on, too.

AnnPT77

I think mine's not familial (cholesterol testing was not a common when my parents were still living), but maybe my n=1 experience might have some helpful nuggets of info anyway.

I've been vegetarian for 42 years, so lots of plant-based eating (plus enough rich/calorific things that I got fat/obese). I've been quite active for around 14 years (spin class twice a week, rowing on water or machine 4-6 times/week during much of that, plus random low-impact aerobics, swimming, yoga, biking, and more).

In January 2013, my blood test results were:

• Cholesterol 253
• Triglycerides 402
• HDL 43
• LDL 156
• VLDL 89
• Chol/HDL Ratio 5.9

My doctor was threatening statins, which I didn't want. I did a bunch of research, and tried to improve my eating, including focussing on supposed anti-inflammatory foods, fewer carbs, more veggies, healthy fats, and more. By December of 2014, I was at:

• Cholesterol 230
• Triglycerides 193
• HDL 45
• LDL 146
• VLDL 39
• Chol/HDL Ratio 5.1

In other words, only slightly better. Then I started losing weight. In November 2015, then 54 pounds down, I was at:

• Cholesterol 176
• Triglycerides 82
• HDL 65
• LDL 95
• VLDL 16
• Chol/HDL Ratio 2.7

I'm sure I was eating somewhat differently (besides fewer calories), but I think not dramatically differently. My workout routine had not changed (remember, I was l already active). I'm convinced the weight loss made the difference. Now, in weight maintenance at a healthy weight (120lb at 5'5", 63 pounds down), my last round of numbers were about the same as November 2015.

YMMV, of course.

RachaelRenk

Wow! AnnPT77, that looks like such a huge improvement. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

fishgutzy

When I went LCHF my cholesterol numbers improved to the best in my adult life. Triglycerides dropped from over 300 to 66. Total Cholesterol under 200. And GDL higher than LDL.
For me, carb cutting helped more than exercise. Ate fatty meats, the ones the supposed professionals tell us to avoid to lower cholesterol.