Best diet to help to reduce high cholesterol?

fobsgonewild
fobsgonewild Posts: 6 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Besides getting more active, what types of food should you try to eat to help lower cholesterol?

What are some big things (and maybe not so obvious) to avoid?

I just got my first cholesterol results back, and they were high (250), so I want to try to reduce the numbers for my next checkup, so I can avoid having to go on meds!

Any feedback would be appreciated, thank you!!
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Replies

  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,364 Member
    I eat lots of avocados.


    My cholesterol is usually between 120 and 140 and my HDL (good cholesterol) is 60-something.
  • Bekahmardis
    Bekahmardis Posts: 602 Member
    Higher fiber foods are excellent for lowering cholesterol levels - just have a bowl of high fiber oatmeal every morning! Do NOT listen to anyone who tries to tell you that the food you eat makes your cholesterol higher, though - it has been proven that is not the case....I listened to them for a while and cut eggs out of my diet along with bacon. Didn't have ANY impact after a whole year of that! The following year, I ate high fiber oatmeal for breakfast and lowered my cholesterol by over 20 points just from that alone. Now I've added exercise into the mix and hope for a good number.
  • ToFatT0B3S1ck
    ToFatT0B3S1ck Posts: 194 Member
    No meat, No Dairy.

    Didn't read. Cholesterol is in animal products. Get rid of animal products and your cholesterol should decrease.
  • reggiestarkey
    reggiestarkey Posts: 7 Member
    Try looking up the mediterranean diet. Olive oil, nuts, fish. Also, check your HDL - if it's high, it may be contributing to your total cholesterol being high. The LDL is the bad stuff and should be near 100.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    So, while you want to reduce your overall cholesterol, you want to do it by reducing LDLs ("bad" cholesterol) and maintain or raise HDLs ("good" cholesterol). Exercise/activity is probably the best way. But you can eat some foods to help you do that - look for monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. Avocado, nuts, olives/olive oil, etc. It's not a carte blanche to eat all the fats you want - a balance is still essential - but it also means that you don't need to be afraid of food with fats. (Saturated fats aren't evil either, and it's okay to eat some: meat, eggs, full fat dairy, etc).

    I also agree with the poster who said fiber. Oatmeal, fresh veggies, whole grain breads and cereals, etc, are good for heart health, digestive health, and those numbers :wink:
  • jamiem1102
    jamiem1102 Posts: 1,196 Member
    Lots of fiber and dark green vegetables. Also limit the amount of red meat you're eating. Try to stick to chicken and fish. :) Good luck!
  • fobsgonewild
    fobsgonewild Posts: 6 Member
    Wow, you guys are FAST and AWESOME! Great suggestions and motivation!!

    I just started logging my food today to a better idea of my cholesterol intake, but seems like that isn't as important as I thought! But I'll still keep an eye on it... and try to motivate myself to get more active! and eat better!!
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Besides getting more active, what types of food should you try to eat to help lower cholesterol?

    I originally did it ketogenic - high fat, high protein, low carb. Inside of six months, my blood work went from kinda poor to excellent. Turns out the magic ingredient was just getting active and dropping weight - I am now back on high carb high protein low fat, and my levels remain rock solid. Eating at a deficit, and working my butt off.

    in my experience, diet composition is the least important factor - not over-eating and getting active have far more impact. One thing is for sure - consuming cholesterol has no meaningful impact either way on cholesterol levels in your blood.

    YMMV.
  • fobsgonewild
    fobsgonewild Posts: 6 Member
    And these are my numbers if anyone has advice or suggestions!


    CHOLESTEROL 252
    HDL 67
    CHOLESTEROL, NON-HDL 185
    TRIGLYCERIDE 111
    LDL 163
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member

    Didn't read. Cholesterol is in animal products. Get rid of animal products and your cholesterol should decrease.

    No, just no...
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    Dietary intake has little impact on blood serum cholesterol. Exercise, obesity, & genetics are the real impactors.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    Lots of fiber and dark green vegetables. Also limit the amount of red meat you're eating. Try to stick to chicken and fish. :) Good luck!

    Chicken has more dietary cholesterol than beef, just sayin'.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    No meat, No Dairy.

    Didn't read. Cholesterol is in animal products. Get rid of animal products and your cholesterol should decrease.

    False.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    No meat, No Dairy.

    Didn't read. Cholesterol is in animal products. Get rid of animal products and your cholesterol should decrease.

    Except dietary cholesterol has virtually zero impact on serum cholesterol levels.

    There's some evidence that increasing fiber intake can help. But, realistically, the two things that have been proven over and over again to have by far the biggest positive impact on lipid profile (increasing HDL, decreasing LDL and triglycerides) are:

    1) Losing weight
    2) Exercise

    So lose weight, exercise regularly, and eat sufficient quantities of fiber.... and your lipid profile is virtually guaranteed to improve dramatically, within the limits of your genetics.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    And these are my numbers if anyone has advice or suggestions!


    CHOLESTEROL 252
    HDL 67
    CHOLESTEROL, NON-HDL 185
    TRIGLYCERIDE 111
    LDL 163

    FWIW, my lipid profile in 2006 was somewhat similar to yours:
    Total 230
    HDL 42
    LDL 171
    Triglycerides: 87

    This year:
    Total 183
    HDL 68
    LDL 104
    Triglycerides 55

    So I went from borderline to near-optimal. This was done by losing weight and increasing overall activity level. You will note from my ticker and diary that I eat a lot of various meats and fast food.
  • RonW956
    RonW956 Posts: 105 Member
    Just had my cholesterol checked and after a 12hr fast total was at 148 HDL was 48 & LDL was at 88 , triglyceride level 64 and blood sugar at 79...... I dont know what my numbers were last year however my total cholesterol last yr was 170..... so it went down quite a bit.....
    all that I changed in my diet was to eliminate all deli meats, lunch meats, red meats entirely. Just an occasional piece of chicken. no eggs or cheese except maybe for occasional low fat cottage cheese & no fat milk for the oatmeal....... I started eating more oatmeal for breakfast, more whole grains such as Ezekiel sprouted whole wheat bread.... Thats what worked for me at least.
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
    I eat a LOT of red meat and 450-600 mg of cholesterol daily and my numbers were 109 total and 31 HDL. I had to increase my fat macro and I purposely added about 25g of saturated fat to my diet and got my numbers up to 140/49.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    so it went down quite a bit.....
    all that I changed in my diet was to eliminate all deli meats, lunch meats, red meats entirely

    And in the time your cholesterol went down, did you lose any weight or become more active?
  • lisabinco
    lisabinco Posts: 1,016 Member
    Meat, dairy as 10% or less of your total diet = reduction in cholesterol levels.
  • RonW956
    RonW956 Posts: 105 Member
    so it went down quite a bit.....
    all that I changed in my diet was to eliminate all deli meats, lunch meats, red meats entirely

    And in the time your cholesterol went down, did you lose any weight or become more active?

    I started eliminating the red meats/lunch meats & sodas back around march of this year and started walking/jogging everyday by mid july, lost about 38 pounds so far so I'm sure the weight loss had helped a lot as well
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    so it went down quite a bit.....
    all that I changed in my diet was to eliminate all deli meats, lunch meats, red meats entirely

    And in the time your cholesterol went down, did you lose any weight or become more active?

    I started eliminating the red meats/lunch meats & sodas back around march of this year and started walking/jogging everyday by mid july, lost about 38 pounds so far so I'm sure the weight loss had helped a lot as well

    How do you determine whether the weight loss, increased activity, or dietary change had the biggest effect?
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
    Your body makes cholesterol... or vegans would all die. Up your fiber, take out all added sugars.

    They say a diet with bacon in it can actually *lower* your cholesterol...
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
    so it went down quite a bit.....
    all that I changed in my diet was to eliminate all deli meats, lunch meats, red meats entirely

    And in the time your cholesterol went down, did you lose any weight or become more active?

    I started eliminating the red meats/lunch meats & sodas back around march of this year and started walking/jogging everyday by mid july, lost about 38 pounds so far so I'm sure the weight loss had helped a lot as well

    How do you determine whether the weight loss, increased activity, or dietary change had the biggest effect?

    I think other diet changes were probably responsible. Excess sugar can lower HDL and raise triglycerides.
  • EmilyEmpowered
    EmilyEmpowered Posts: 650 Member
    Your body makes cholesterol... or vegans would all die. Up your fiber, take out all added sugars.

    They say a diet with bacon in it can actually *lower* your cholesterol...

    Good to know, bacon is my favorite food group... :love: :love: :love:
  • Barbellgirl
    Barbellgirl Posts: 544 Member
    No meat, No Dairy.

    Didn't read. Cholesterol is in animal products. Get rid of animal products and your cholesterol should decrease.

    Please don't listen to this. Some people still haven't received the memo that there is no link to the consumption of dietary cholesterol and blood serum cholesterol. There's lots of information out there people just apparently aren't receiving it.

    Exercise and a diet with as little processed and fast foods, some healthy fats (including animal products), lean meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds should help. Lots of water, and be sure to get your fiber. Avoid the foods that upset your body and cause issues for you, these are different for different people. Inflammation in the body is the enemy not dietary cholesterol.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,300 Member
    Meat, dairy as 10% or less of your total diet = reduction in cholesterol levels.

    Nope.

    As was already stated (and it seems you missed), dietary cholesterol has little to no impact on blood serum levels.

    So many people don't read current scientific information it seems.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,994 Member
    Mine is a little high. My GP recommended getting more water soluble grains, such as oatmeal.
  • bahls24
    bahls24 Posts: 32 Member
    OATMEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
  • RonW956
    RonW956 Posts: 105 Member
    No meat, No Dairy.

    Didn't read. Cholesterol is in animal products. Get rid of animal products and your cholesterol should decrease.

    Please don't listen to this. Some people still haven't received the memo that there is no link to the consumption of dietary cholesterol and blood serum cholesterol. There's lots of information out there people just apparently aren't receiving it.

    Exercise and a diet with as little processed and fast foods, some healthy fats (including animal products), lean meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds should help. Lots of water, and be sure to get your fiber. Avoid the foods that upset your body and cause issues for you, these are different for different people. Inflammation in the body is the enemy not dietary cholesterol.

    +1 Mine dropped 30 points within a year from exercise & change of diet that includes drinking only water, nothing else, staying away from processed foods and eating more fiber such as oatmeal & vegetables.
  • beaches222
    beaches222 Posts: 437 Member
    bump

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