Cholesterol

whasara1

I was just at the doctor and she said my cholesterol is too high (248) and my LDL is 176 which is the bad kind that should be lower.....anyone in a similar situation that has been able to lower it with diet and exercise alone? HINTS? TIPS? I already eat very little red meat.

kimny72

My parents increased exercise and fiber. My dad did eat a fair amount of saturated fat and reduced that as well. They both saw pretty dramatic reductions in LDL, enough to keep my mom at least off of statins.

Terytha

I dropped mine by almost half just by exercising more, eating more veggies and dropping a few pounds.

My doctor wanted me to go low carb and no red meat. I am endeavoring to prove that he's full of it and I can fix my cholesterol while eating whatever I want.

That said, saturated fats are linked to bad cholesterol and eating less of them may have helped me as well.

lynn_glenmont

My numbers weren't quite that bad, but under the standards in place at the time I was looking at medical (pharma) intervention if I didn't do something. I mainly ate to lose weight (i.e., tracked and controlled my calorie intake) and increased exercise (initially just more walking) and brought my numbers down. I did pay a little more attention to getting fiber, especially soluble fiber, and increasing omega-3 EFAs, but since I ate a plant-heavy diet before but don't have logs of my diet before I was paying attention, I can't really quantify whether and how much I actually changed in those areas.

glassyo

I lost weight and started eating egg yolks instead of just the whites.

cwolfman13

whasara1 wrote: »

I was just at the doctor and she said my cholesterol is too high (248) and my LDL is 176 which is the bad kind that should be lower.....anyone in a similar situation that has been able to lower it with diet and exercise alone? HINTS? TIPS? I already eat very little red meat.

Yes...losing some weight and getting in regular exercise were a big part of it. I also started eating a more nutritionally sound diet to include quite a bit more fiber than I used to get from things like oats, beans, lentils, etc. More veg and fruit, more fish, and leaner cuts of meat in general.

apullum

For most people, cholesterol levels respond most strongly to increased exercise and weight loss if you are overweight. Diet does not have much effect on blood cholesterol levels unless you have a specific form of high cholesterol that is genetic.

AnnPT77

Mine dropped dramatically when I got to a healthy weight (lost 50 pounds). Cholesterol went from 230 to 176 in a year, LDL from 146 to 95.

I didn't increase exercise because I was already very active, had been for a decade plus, even while obese.

I had tried lowering cholesterol just by eating different things (more oatmeal and that sort of thing), but with minimal success. Weight loss brought success.

OooohToast

Lowering my carb intake did a lot to put mine in the right range (actuall Excellent as per the Dr - shame about the weight !).

liz0269

Mine used to be in the 210-220 range. My doctor wanted to put me on statins because I am at high risk for heart disease.
I eliminated butter and eggs. I cut way back on red meat and switched to a high carb low fat diet.
I just had my annual a few weeks ago. My total cholesterol is down to 132. My fasting glucose is down from the prediabetic stage to well within a healthy range.
I have only lost about five pounds so I don't think it's the weight loss.
I also exercise regularly but I have done that all along.

psuLemon

Exercise and weight loss had the biggest impact on my cholesterol levels. Also, increasing foods like fish, fibrous veggies and fruits, and oats can all improve markers. Limiting saturated fats, added sugars and ultra processed foods can also be beneficial as it will allow you to incorporate more whole foods.

nvmomketo

LDL is not considered to be a strong risk factor. HDL, triglycerides and CAC scores will tell you if you have a larger risk.

To quickly change LDL, you could always eat slightly high calories with high fat - it's been shown to reliably lower LDL in about 3-7 days. Dave Feldman has some interesting work on it. https://cholesterolcode.com/

Longer term, lchf, high fibre, weight loss, more exercise and statins lower LDL. Which ones people choose to use is a personal question.

kimny72

nvmomketo wrote: »

LDL is not considered to be a strong risk factor. HDL, triglycerides and CAC scores will tell you if you have a larger risk.

To quickly change LDL, you could always eat slightly high calories with high fat - it's been shown to reliably lower LDL in about 3-7 days. Dave Feldman has some interesting work on it. https://cholesterolcode.com/

Longer term, lchf, high fibre, weight loss, more exercise and statins lower LDL. Which ones people choose to use is a personal question.

To be clear for those reading who might not be thorough, according to his "About Me" page, Dave Feldman says "I’m a senior software engineer and entrepreneur." The other two contributors discussed on the About Me page also list no medical, biological, or clinical qualifications or credentials either.

*
*

Are you still around @whasara1 ? Do you have weight you need to lose and have you started logging yet?