Need to reduce cholesterol

JaneAero

Hi everyone.
Im a 57 year old woman, 5 ft.4" , I started my diet on February 10th this year. It will be 5 weeks tomorrow. My starting weight was 16st.3lbs. (227lbs) my weight 5 weeks later I have lost 13lbs. I now weigh 15st.4lbs. (214).
I know I have a long way to go but I was feeling quite pleased with this start especially as I overhaul my diet completely out with all the junk food.
I have switched to olive oil, which is a mono saturated and polyunsaturated margarine and skim milk and low-fat yogurts, that is for the dairies and fats.
Grains I have switched to 100% wholemeal bread, started to eat porridge and try to consume more beans, like kidney beans, baked beans and chickpeas.
Fish I eat tuna in brine, sardines.
Meat has only been chicken, or very lean meat or low fat sausages and only very occasionally.
Mostly I have been consuming lots of fruit vegetable and salad too numerous to mention.
Lots of water or decaffeinated coffee and no soda, squash, fruit juices or anything. (Except for one very small 50ml glass of cranberry juice in the morning to help with constant UTIs which are now a thing of the past).
In addition I cook with lots of garlic where possible.
So when I went to see my doctor for my blood test results yesterday I was told that my overall cholesterol was No.4. (0r 400 something?)

Three of that was bad cholesterol and one was good cholesterol.

He said the Numbers were the wrong way round they would be much better if the good cholesterol was number three and the bad cholesterol was number one

The doctor told me I have to get the bad cholesterol down to no. 2. at least.

I have Googled the top 10 cholesterol reducing foods and what percent they have upon your body at lowering bad cholesterol.

Apparently olive oil is number one, but I very rarely eat fried food, I try to eat mostly raw food and wouldn't like the thought of consuming more than a teaspoon full drizzled across a salad. And some days I have soup rather than salad at lunchtime, so it wouldn't be every day.
The next one is apparently bran or flaxseed which sometimes I have toast breakfast and there is bran in that, I will go to the health food shop and buy more Bran and stir a little bit into a yoghurt, on the days where I have a yoghurt, ditto flaxseed.
I have never eaten soya in my life and don't fancy it, I know you can buy soya meat products which is a possibility I suppose but I can't buy soya dairy products because they nobody else in the house will eat it or drink it, we are on a fairly limited budget for foodfood.
Oats are another good source and I already eat porridge, ditto garlic.
I have made a note to buy some almonds from the shop , because I can have a couple of those every day.
I am already consuming as much fruit vegetable and salad as possible every day and I'm trying to eat at least 10 different sorts everyday.

So apart from adding flaxseed and almonds to my shopping list, I already consume most of the products mentioned

I guess I am a little disappointed at my cholesterol readings and wondered if anybody knows whether those numbers will come down as I continue to lose weight, or are dietary changes the only way to bring these numbers down.

if it is just dietary changes I am anxious that I am not going to be able to get the numbers down,

can anybody else think of anything further I could do or buy to get these numbers down many thanks in advance

markrgeary1

How are you doing with saturated fats? I was told to reduce mine. I guess 700 calories worth of Ben and Jerry’s is too much everyday.

geneticsteacher

Losing weight in and of itself will lower your cholesterol unless you have a genetic abnormality such as familial hypercholesterolemia. It does take time - I had to drop 33 lbs. before I had a difference in my numbers. Exercise also helps, even something as simple as walking every day. Recent research is actually questioning the link between ingesting saturated fat/cholesterol foods and blood cholesterol.

Need2Exerc1se

Aerobic exercise can make a huge difference in your lipid profile. If you aren't already exercising you should start.

ditditdee

Refined sugars also harm your cholesterol numbers.

cmtigger

My doctors have had me both work on diet and put me on a small amount of medication. With my family history I'm not sure if diet will control much of it, but they want to see.

JaneAero

Thank you for the very helpful replies everyone.

I try to avoid saturated fats, will make it a point to educate myself on refined sugars, am delighted to learn that exercise will help and that losing weight will help, this has cheered me up enormously as I can lose weight and exercise, it is reassuring to know that it is not just solely what I eat although of course I am trying to make sure I eat the right things her thank you very much everyone who took the time to reply I appreciate it very much thank you so much

nvmomketo

I recommend the books:

Cholesterol Clarity
The Cholesterol Myth
The Great Cholesterol Con

Peter Attia has some great blogs about cholesterol too. They are a bit technical but very smart.

http://eatingacademy.com/cholesterol-2/heart-disease-begin-tell-us-prevention

http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-part-i

n622921

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-fried_Mars_bar
thats the first thing you need to avoid.....

uneamie

I think you are doing well with the foods you are eating. However, most margarine is full of "trans fats....not good for you at all. Make sure you look at the newer margarines and check the label to see if it contains trans fats. Butter does not contain trans fats. You might also want to take a "fish oil" pill.......google it and you will find that it helps to lower cholesterol. Good luck....I have the same problem.

Aclaire88

@JaneAero Try going Vegan for half the week!

kathleennf

Exercise is the number one thing that will affect your HDL/LDL ratio (good and bad cholesterol). Diet will affect your total cholesterol. Focus on saturated fats- make that one of the things you track in MFP. To lower cholesterol you should try to get saturated fats less than 7% of your total calories. I'm working on the same thing! I found this post trying to look on here for advice about editing recipes to lower saturated fat content. It's going to be a challenge!

littlechiaseed

It's more about what you need to reduce eating rather than start eating when it comes to cholesterol...try having more meatfree meals....even 'lean' meats can increase bad cholesterol if eaten alot.....and add more whole grains,beans and veggies and fruits to your diet...

WickAndArtoo

I have heard that our bodies can't absorb the nutrients from whole flaxseeds, so if you do purchase any, you might want to get the ground flax seed. It's super easy to mix in and has a very mild taste in my opinion.

Also nice work on the diet changes! You are going to have healthy numbers in no time

Rocknut53

Even though you are eating right to accomplish your cholesterol goal, exercise and losing the weight are probably necessary to get your numbers where they need to be. I'm 5'4" and started at 190 pounds and took meds to keep my numbers good. I am now down 60 pounds through better eating (not perfect) and lots of exercise, my numbers are now good and I'm no longer on meds. My doctor was amazed! She had originally told me that my genetic predisposition for high cholesterol would make it unlikely I could get my numbers down without meds. I was happy to prove her wrong.

monimoore

I am going to add to a couple comments above and suggest cutting out animal products (animal flesh, dairy, eggs) for at least part of the day or week. Cholesterol only comes from 2 sources: what our own bodies produce and what comes from animal products we eat. Cutting that 2nd source out of the equation was the only thing that worked for me. I started with "vegan before six" which means you only have plant based meals for breakfast and lunch, but are allowed to have animal products with dinner.
Best of luck to you!

psuLemon

Increases in PUFA/MUFA fats and fibrous veggies and oats, along with weight loss and exercise has helped my numbers the most.