High Cholesterol
AngieAsha68
Posts: 2 Member
Need to lower cholesterol, what foods should I eat ? No animal fats I know.. anything else ?
2
Replies
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For most people, dietary cholesterol doesn't have a big impact on blood cholesterol. Regular exercise, and weight loss if needed, generally have a much greater impact on lowering blood cholesterol.8
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Weight loss was the magic for me - all lipids (and blood pressure) once high, now solidly in normal range . . . but that's without familial hypercholesterolemia (i.e., genetic predisposition).5
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Weight loss and exercise have the greatest impact. Eliminating or reducing highly processed foods can help, but so can minimizing Sat Fats with some populations. And a diet rich in fish, oats, legumes, fruits, and veggies seem to be helpful (thing Mediterranean diet).6
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Egg yolks!
(People are probably tired of hearing about the experiment I conducted on myself to lower my cholesterol.)10 -
Thank you for asking!
The only thing I did was add a whole egg (sometimes two but not often) and some egg whites to my diet. Nothing else changed except for the calories of the egg and egg white (100) replacing something bready or chocolately. And trust me, I'm not shy about eating anything bready or chocolately. :)The rest of my diet, exercise, or hell, even weight didn't change over the time period (I actually can't remember how long it was but it might about been about 6 months. My doctor got tired of me asking for them to test my cholesterol). Both LDL and triglycerides went down 7 points in total.
*curtsies*
Disclaimer: I'm sure any food with cholesterol you shouldn't be scared to eat will do.8 -
Thank you for asking!
The only thing I did was add a whole egg (sometimes two but not often) and some egg whites to my diet. Nothing else changed except for the calories of the egg and egg white (100) replacing something bready or chocolately. And trust me, I'm not shy about eating anything bready or chocolately. :)The rest of my diet, exercise, or hell, even weight didn't change over the time period (I actually can't remember how long it was but it might about been about 6 months. My doctor got tired of me asking for them to test my cholesterol). Both LDL and triglycerides went down 7 points in total.
*curtsies*
Disclaimer: I'm sure any food with cholesterol you shouldn't be scared to eat will do.
Nice. I am a big fan of whole eggs. And even more of fatty fish. My current experiment is i have increased seafood consumption to 2-3x a week (from 1x) to see if i get improvements to my LDL which hasn't really changed (thank you parents).2 -
Thank you for asking!
The only thing I did was add a whole egg (sometimes two but not often) and some egg whites to my diet. Nothing else changed except for the calories of the egg and egg white (100) replacing something bready or chocolately. And trust me, I'm not shy about eating anything bready or chocolately. :)The rest of my diet, exercise, or hell, even weight didn't change over the time period (I actually can't remember how long it was but it might about been about 6 months. My doctor got tired of me asking for them to test my cholesterol). Both LDL and triglycerides went down 7 points in total.
*curtsies*
Disclaimer: I'm sure any food with cholesterol you shouldn't be scared to eat will do.
Nice. I am a big fan of whole eggs. And even more of fatty fish. My current experiment is i have increased seafood consumption to 2-3x a week (from 1x) to see if i get improvements to my LDL which hasn't really changed (thank you parents).
I used to eat the liquid egg substitute. Not often but if I needed it for something else, I'd use it up by eating it on its own. It was ok but after eating whole eggs again....rubbery crap!
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As a very general rule, fatty foods and lower carb will usually raise HDL, lowers triglycerides, and can improve Lp a. LDL usually stays about the same although it does go up or down in some people; regardless, LDL usually shifts to a larger less dense particle size.
Fasting and higher carb diets tend to have higher triglycerides and lower HDL.
Dave Feldman's experiments are interesting:
https://cholesterolcode.com/
Polyunsaturated vegetable oils will usually also lower LDL (often while lowering HDL and raising triglycerides) but it also correlates with increased cancer risk and greater all cause mortality.
I would eat the animal fats. In fact, I do.
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OP, it seems to me and this is purely anecdotal, that different people find a wide range of dietary choices can work to improve cholesterol readings. What seems more universal is that losing weight and becoming more active is most effective for most people. If you have weight to lose and are able to increase your activity level, that's where I would focus if it were me. Just my amateur 2 cents 9
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I'm not a dr and your results may differ but an insurance actuary once told me that people who eat oatmeal 4 + times a week typically have low cholesterol. She said it sweeps the crap away!1
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For most people, dietary cholesterol doesn't have a big impact on blood cholesterol. Regular exercise, and weight loss if needed, generally have a much greater impact on lowering blood cholesterol.
Thank you for this. I still see people villifying eggs and shrimp when they are actually not going to impact one's cholesterol negatively.
I had gained weight last year and my cholesterol was borderline high. High cholesterol runs in my family and is somewhat genetic. I eat more eggs and shrimp now than I ever have, and with just a 10 lb weight loss, my cholesterol is back to normal.4 -
The changes that I made that now have my cholesterol back to "normal" levels (My HDL is too low by like 1 pt of normal so I am working on bringing this up more):
- Losing weight
- Increasing fiber and whole grains
- Increasing fish
- Being more active
Those are really the only changes I made. I went from everything being quite a bit off, to almost totally normal with these changes and my weight loss was only 8 lbs so far (1.5 months).
If you have a family history of high cholesterol it can be a constant battle to try and stay normal... and you may not be able to on your own.3 -
My doctor said my high cholesterol was genetic and so I am on daily medication for the rest of my life.1
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My doctor suggested fish oil once a day and red rice yeast twice a day. That along with a healthier diet and exercise. Just over two months later and I'm seeing a big improvement. I still need to get my numbers down some but they're a lot better than what they were before. Good luck.2
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JohnnytotheB wrote: »I'm not a dr and your results may differ but an insurance actuary once told me that people who eat oatmeal 4 + times a week typically have low cholesterol. She said it sweeps the crap away!
I have a relative who swears by oatmeal now. She had high cholesterol and is already a healthy weight/active etc. She read about the oatmeal trick and added it to her daily menu and she now has better cholesterol numbers (I've seen her blood work panels and it really has improved).
It might not hurt to add oatmeal to your diet and see if it helps.
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outofthisworldemail wrote: »My doctor suggested fish oil once a day and red rice yeast twice a day. That along with a healthier diet and exercise. Just over two months later and I'm seeing a big improvement. I still need to get my numbers down some but they're a lot better than what they were before. Good luck.
Your doctor is being sneaky... red rice yeast is a naturally occurring statin7 -
I have been eating oatmeal for 25 years, six days a week for breakfast. Raw with skim milk and fruit. I have the cleanest arteries anywhere. The cardiac catheterization doc at the Cleveland Clinic told me to go home and have a bacon sandwich. I attribute it to oatmeal since my diet is very high in cholesterol.2
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JohnnytotheB wrote: »I'm not a dr and your results may differ but an insurance actuary once told me that people who eat oatmeal 4 + times a week typically have low cholesterol. She said it sweeps the crap away!
I have a relative who swears by oatmeal now. She had high cholesterol and is already a healthy weight/active etc. She read about the oatmeal trick and added it to her daily menu and she now has better cholesterol numbers (I've seen her blood work panels and it really has improved).
It might not hurt to add oatmeal to your diet and see if it helps.
The benefit to oatmeal is the soluble fiber. Other grains have some but oats have a good amount. One can also supplement with Psyllium Husk. That works well also. Soluble fiber helps block the absorption of cholesterol.4 -
Three years ago I lost 50 pounds, began logging foods focusing on healthy. I. Don’t eat butter, high fats, chips or hardly any sweets. I get 10,000 steps at work and walk 4.5 miles 2-3 times a week as well as work with weights 1-2 times a week . Lots of fruits , vegetables, things like chia, flax, almonds, green tea, avacado, and occasionally dark chocolate. I don’t know what else to tweak! Recentl blood work has me over the top:(( Was hoping to avoid medication. Apparently it’s familial.0
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AngieAsha68 wrote: »Need to lower cholesterol, what foods should I eat ? No animal fats I know.. anything else ?
Losing weight (if you need to) combined with regular exercise is likely going to be the biggest factor.
I also started eating a more nutritious diet in general...more veg and fruit and high fiber foods like oats, lentils, legumes, etc.
Mine has gone up and down over the last few years...I have a bit of an uphill battle as most of my family on both sides have/had high cholesterol, so it is likely I will be on medication at some point even if I'm doing all of the other things right.0 -
I take apple cider vinegar pills and flaxseed oil pills from costco and add ground flaxseed and chia seeds to oat meal and my total cholesterol is down from 180 to 165. it works3
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Dietary Cholesterol is mostly a Fake News Myth. Take the medicine and accept that genetics left you with high bad cholesterol. I'd like to be taller, but I'm stuck at 5'10" no matter what I eat.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/197514434 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »Dietary Cholesterol is mostly a Fake News Myth. Take the medicine and accept that genetics left you with high bad cholesterol. I'd like to be taller, but I'm stuck at 5'10" no matter what I eat.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19751443
I believe you are making some inaccurate assumptions based on the valid findings of this study. The findings of this study "The relationship between dietary cholesterol and heart disease risk was likely largely over-exaggerated" does not negate the fact that Serum cholesterol (blood values) does have a correlation with heart disease risk, and serum cholesterol can be altered through lifestyle modifications. True, dietary cholesterol intake will likely not impact total cholesterol values, BUT like many others on here have already stated, weight loss, exercise and eating more soluble fibre WILL have an impact on lowering cholesterol and lowering heart disease risk. Simply stating its all genetics and there is nothing you can do about it but take medication is grossly false.4 -
Persons with genetic disposition for high bad cholesterol need to be medicated or risk unnecessary cardiac events. touting complex dietary schemes as described in these forums is "much bad medicine." After the first heart attack or surgery, usually folks get the message.0
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wilson10102018 wrote: »Persons with genetic disposition for high bad cholesterol need to be medicated or risk unnecessary cardiac events. touting complex dietary schemes as described in these forums is "much bad medicine." After the first heart attack or surgery, usually folks get the message.
Yes persons with genetic predisposition to high bad cholesterol usually need to be medicated. The most common form of hereditary disposition to high bad cholesterol is called Familial Hypercholesterolemia and occurs in about 1/500 people. Those people continue to have impaired cholesterol values despite lifestyle modifications. However, the vast majority of people do respond to lifestyle modifications, or are at least helped by them. ALSO, people with hereditary conditions DO need to make lifestyle modifications, they don't get a free pass. NO ONE should JUST rely on medication, that is extremely foolish. Weight loss, exercise and diet should be part off any medical treatment plan, any doctor who says just take a pill and forget the rest isn't worth seeing again and is neglecting treating the person as whole and is instead just chasing a number, which isn't good medicine. The point of the article that was quoted was to dispute the fact that dietary cholesterol intake was a significant factor in heart disease risk, it did not dispute every other lifestyle modification out there.3 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »Persons with genetic disposition for high bad cholesterol need to be medicated or risk unnecessary cardiac events. touting complex dietary schemes as described in these forums is "much bad medicine." After the first heart attack or surgery, usually folks get the message.
Yes persons with genetic predisposition to high bad cholesterol usually need to be medicated. The most common form of hereditary disposition to high bad cholesterol is called Familial Hypercholesterolemia and occurs in about 1/500 people. Those people continue to have impaired cholesterol values despite lifestyle modifications. However, the vast majority of people do respond to lifestyle modifications, or are at least helped by them. ALSO, people with hereditary conditions DO need to make lifestyle modifications, they don't get a free pass. NO ONE should JUST rely on medication, that is extremely foolish. Weight loss, exercise and diet should be part off any medical treatment plan, any doctor who says just take a pill and forget the rest isn't worth seeing again and is neglecting treating the person as whole and is instead just chasing a number, which isn't good medicine. The point of the article that was quoted was to dispute the fact that dietary cholesterol intake was a significant factor in heart disease risk, it did not dispute every other lifestyle modification out there.
Agreed. My dad was put on statins, but had side effects with all the ones they tried. He has lowered his LDL a bit and raised his HDL substantially by losing a few pounds, increasing his daily activity, and eating more fiber (specifically eating oats daily). There does seem to be a genetic predisposition at play as well, so he might end up back on medication, but it has given them some breathing room to find the right med and dosage now that his numbers are in a better place.
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For the vast majority of persons (not one in 500) diet has absolutely nothing to do with high LDL leading to CVD. Sorry to persist, but it is fake news like this that gets people dead. Of course a balanced diet, healthy weight and exercise are good for a person's general health. So is wearing a seat belt. But, elevated LDL numbers portend CVD and should be medicated.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024687/0 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »For the vast majority of persons (not one in 500) diet has absolutely nothing to do with high LDL leading to CVD. Sorry to persist, but it is fake news like this that gets people dead. Of course a balanced diet, healthy weight and exercise are good for a person's general health. So is wearing a seat belt. But, elevated LDL numbers portend CVD and should be medicated.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024687/
Changing diet should always be the first move. IMO.
Obviously if levels are very dangerously high, action needs to be taken. But I personally believe non-medicated avenues should be explored first.1 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »For the vast majority of persons (not one in 500) diet has absolutely nothing to do with high LDL leading to CVD. Sorry to persist, but it is fake news like this that gets people dead. Of course a balanced diet, healthy weight and exercise are good for a person's general health. So is wearing a seat belt. But, elevated LDL numbers portend CVD and should be medicated.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024687/
That study isn't about all dietary factors, though, unless I'm missing something. It's about dietary cholesterol. And yes, it seems that avoiding high cholesterol foods is unnecessary for most people. That study does not in any way suggest that "diet has absolutely nothing to do with LDL leading to CVD", it suggests that dietary cholesterol has nothing to do with it.
I don't see anyone here saying not to take medication. But dietary and lifestyle changes that can lead to a person avoiding their LDL getting that high in the first place, or reducing it to the point you can get off medication should be part of the plan. Prescription drugs cost money and have side effects.0
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