Another cholesterol question

CeleryStalker

I'm trying to lower my cholesterol through diet and exercise. There are certain cholesterol-containing foods that actually help lower your cholesterol (salmon, for instance). I've been advised to keep my cholesterol intake below 300mg/day. How do we differentiate between the good cholesterol intake and the bad? For instance, 4oz salmon has 70mg of cholesterol. Do I count that as part of my 'don't go above 300' calculation? I'm guessing the answer is yes, count all cholesterol intake, and be mindful to choose cholesterol-containing food items that are known to assist in lowering cholesterol (salmon) as opposed to elevating it (beef and full fat dairy). Just wanted to bounce this off the community to be sure I've got it right

I realize I should have asked the doctor for better guidance, but I'm finding that I have a lot of questions that I didn't think to ask when he sprung this on me in his office last week, LOL

Themuseinme

sounds like you got it pretty good.reason the fish helps is it s high in omega threes -so is flax oil.
eating more soluble fiber like oat bran too helps -do your oatmeal 1/2 bran 1/2 oats. with added gornd flax seeds- beans are high in soluble fiber too -good too, cut out butter,cheese all the good stuff. also
some herbs help garlic, red yeast rice,guggulipid,policosanol-soy protein good too.(unless you haev thyroid problems)

neanderthin

Dietary cholesterol isn't either good or bad, it's just cholesterol. The liver decides which types of lipoproteins that contain cholesterol will be administered based on many factors, one being heredity, overall health, diet, lifestyle, ethnicity etc.......basically dietary cholesterol is a red herring and a platform for misinformation and a cash cow.

bridgie101

Dietary cholesterol isn't either good or bad, it's just cholesterol. The liver decides which types of lipoproteins that contain cholesterol will be administered based on many factors, one being heredity, overall health, diet, lifestyle, ethnicity etc.......basically dietary cholesterol is a red herring and a platform for misinformation and a cash cow.

I heard from someone that meat does not give you cholesterol any more. I remember when eating shellfish gave you cholesterol, shellfish magically stopped doing that in the late eighties. Eggs too. If you had more than three eggs a week that gave you cholesterol! (sorry, high cholesterol runs in my family.)

Eat the fish.

AJ_G

Dietary cholesterol intake only determines about 15% of your blood cholesterol levels. Make sure you're eating enough fiber and you really don't have to worry about dietary cholesterol because soluble fiber binds to dietary cholesterol and helps excrete it. The vast majority of your blood cholesterol level is determined by the ratio of insulin to glucagon(not to be confused with glycogen) in your body. High carbohydrate intake causes your body to produce more and more insulin to lower blood glucose levels because your body decreases sensitivity to insulin and forces your body to increase insulin production. Protein and fat both increase glucagon production without increasing insulin production. You can think of glucagon as the inverse hormone to insulin. The ratio of these two hormones largely determines the amount of cholesterol in your blood and tissue. Best way to lower cholesterol is to increase fiber, protein, and fat intake, and decrease carbohydrate intake.

mahanaibu

Your cholesterol ratio is what matters most. So yes, you want to lower LDL cholesterol if it's too high, but you want to raised your HDL or "good" cholesterol levels, and the best way to do that is with frequent aerobic exercise. HDL is protective.

SkinnyWannabeGal

My grandpa's doctor told him to lower his cholesterol and gave him some suggestions. He successfully lowered it by cutting out all red meat, increased his vegetable intake and ate the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day. Bran cereal with skim milk for breakfast and oatmeal for lunch every day. He ate white rice, chicken or fish and a ton of veggies for dinner every night. He ended up losing a bunch of weight too, which also improved his health.

CeleryStalker

OK, so when watching cholesterol, it's not a matter of deciphering what is good/bad cholesterol, just be aware of the total cholesterol content, keep the total under 300/day, and let my liver figure out the rest. Good deal. Oh, and the fiber, to help escort it out of the system. Thanks! But when I see the recommendation below to up the fiber/decrease the carbs, I have to ask, decrease to what point? When I think 'decrease carbs', I'm thinking below 100g, because I've followed many lower-carb diet plans that preached <100g carbs. I'm not doing that now, as my dr told me to knock that off and eat a balanced diet. But because I've got this mental hangup about carbs, I don't know what is considered 'normal' intake, 'excessive' intake, or appropriate.

I have been enjoying eating on a lowered cholesterol/high fiber diet because I've done enough damage to my thoughts on proper nutrition by losing a lot of weight low-carbing. Not to knock low carbing, just that it's a highly unsustainable way of living for me, always results in me returning to carb inclusion and eventually, weight gain. My approach to weight loss/health is eating a balanced diet, which is hard when I still feel deep down that carbs are the enemy. By enjoying oatmeal in the morning, along with items like long grain rice or black beans in other meals, I've successfully lowered my cholesterol intake (good), upped my fiber intake (good), and I'm enjoying foods I've blacklisted for so long.

FWIW, I don't think I'm in any kind of super danger zone, just to the point of being aware and trying to make lifestyle changes to fix things up a bit. My HDL is high, at 79. My total cholesterol is 244, and my LDL is 107. The triglycerides worry me at 277........

Changes I've made- following high fiber/low cholesterol diet. Walking 4-5 miles a day, riding my bike 50+ miles on the weekend. Signed myself and my husband up for MMA classes which start this weekend. :-|

neanderthin

OK, so when watching cholesterol, it's not a matter of deciphering what is good/bad cholesterol, just be aware of the total cholesterol content, keep the total under 300/day, and let my liver figure out the rest. Good deal. Oh, and the fiber, to help escort it out of the system. Thanks! But when I see the recommendation below to up the fiber/decrease the carbs, I have to ask, decrease to what point? When I think 'decrease carbs', I'm thinking below 100g, because I've followed many lower-carb diet plans that preached <100g carbs. I'm not doing that now, as my dr told me to knock that off and eat a balanced diet. But because I've got this mental hangup about carbs, I don't know what is considered 'normal' intake, 'excessive' intake, or appropriate.

I have been enjoying eating on a lowered cholesterol/high fiber diet because I've done enough damage to my thoughts on proper nutrition by losing a lot of weight low-carbing. Not to knock low carbing, just that it's a highly unsustainable way of living for me, always results in me returning to carb inclusion and eventually, weight gain. My approach to weight loss/health is eating a balanced diet, which is hard when I still feel deep down that carbs are the enemy. By enjoying oatmeal in the morning, along with items like long grain rice or black beans in other meals, I've successfully lowered my cholesterol intake (good), upped my fiber intake (good), and I'm enjoying foods I've blacklisted for so long.

FWIW, I don't think I'm in any kind of super danger zone, just to the point of being aware and trying to make lifestyle changes to fix things up a bit. My HDL is high, at 79. My total cholesterol is 244, and my LDL is 107. The triglycerides worry me at 277........

Changes I've made- following high fiber/low cholesterol diet. Walking 4-5 miles a day, riding my bike 50+ miles on the weekend. Signed myself and my husband up for MMA classes which start this weekend. :-|

Yeah, your triglycerides are kinda high. Sugar, refined carbs in a ratio that would be considered dominant along with a sedentary lifestyle, being overweight etc does influence the particle type and when trigs are elevated generally speaking LDL's are of the small variety. All LDL's are not created equal and to keep it simple, there's large and small particles, with the small more atherogenic. But high trigs also generally lower HDL and yours being 79 is not consistent with that generalization. Your LDL at 107 is not worrisome imo.

Lowering carbs basically means more protein and fat which generally refects dramatically in lowering triglycerides and also increases the particle size of all lipoproteins. For example my HDL is around 105 and my LDL is just sitting under 100 and my trigs are 45 and most Dr's would want me on meds if they had their way. It's important to seek guidance from someone that specializes in lipidology or at least a Dietitian's imput, most understand this issue, but not all.

As far as consuming cholesterol, again it depends on the general policies and awareness of the Country you live in. For example the USA is consumed and predisposed with dietary cholesterol and restricts it, where in many other Countries there is no restriction at all. Canada where I live there is no restriction for dietary cholesterol........it's not the cholesterol we eat, it's the overall healthy and lifestyle that dictates how the body reacts to the inflammation and free radical damage that takes place when those factors are compromised.............. Anyway, with your numbers, personally I wouldn't be overly concerned. imo.

I consume a lower carb content than what is recommended, but not too low. My carbs represent about 25% of my total calories, so you don't have to go to the extreme, which is basically a knee jerk reaction, like most diets, which is a bit ridiculous......try lowering them to reasonable amounts, exercise and lose weight, I would expect your HDL to go up further, and LDL to be about the same and your trigs to drop significantly.

CeleryStalker

I like you, Neanderthin Nothing beats a knowledgeable response, and I appreciate yours. Working hard to balance the diet. Having to re-learn the fact that carbs (especially the ones I'm eating) are not the devil has been difficult. Certainly not difficult to consume them. I love carbs, LOL

However, based on my 'i need to watch my cholesterol intake' approach, I've noticed that carbs are now taking up what I think is probably too much of my caloric intake. Looking at yesterday, for example:

Consumed: 1721 calories
20% protein
51% carbs
29% fat

Cholesterol intake: 124mg
Fiber: 40g

Burned: 2773 (I wear a body media)
Exercise: Walked 5 miles

Today I think I'll work on increasing the protein and decreasing the carbs some. With a goal of under 300mg of cholesterol, I've got plenty of wiggle room in the protein department. I wish I could afford a nutritionist and personal chef. This stuff is getting hard!