HDL, LDL, Triglycerides, and Cholesterol HELP.

SanteMulberry

"...fiber has been over-exaggerated..."

Probably---especially the craze for sprinkling wheat bran or oat bran on everything. In a lot of people, wheat bran irritates the ileocecal valve and causes gut issues. But the other extreme of eating very little fiber (no vegetables, barely any fruit and lots of sugar and starch) is not good either. Vegetables--especially lightly cooked vegetables---are very gut friendly and make for "smooth moves".

chasetwins

Check out my profile...I've almost completely reversed all of this in about 6 months with proper diet and exercise...I predict I will be at normal levels for all come July and my next appointment...no meds here (though do follow your doctors advice...I'm doing my diet with the blessings of my cardiologist).

My overall diet is very Mediterranean inspired. This means, lots of veg..fruit..some whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats from things like nuts, avocado, and olive oil. These fats help up your HDL levels and lower LDL levels.

I've substantially limited dairy as it tends to be high in saturated fats...I've almost completely cut it out, though I do have an oz of cheddar now and then or fetta...but it's pretty rare. I used to drink about 1/2 gallon of whole milk daily along with about 1/4 Lb of good sharp cheddar...yeah...every day.

On that note, Saturated fats are something I track closely in my diary and you'll want to as well...also, eliminate anything with partially hydrogenated oil...that stuff goes straight to clogging your arteries. This means I've also reduced my intake of red meat (saturated fats)...I'll never give the stuff up, I like steak too much, but I keep it to once per week or twice at the most. It is getting harder now that I'm in grilling season...but still doing a lot more fish and poultry and lean cuts of pork on occasion to mix it up.

In RE to the triglycerides, watch your intake of simple, refined carbohydrates. I've eliminated high fructose corn syrup altogether and substantially cut back on my refined/added sugar intake. I have the occasional soda these days..maybe one every week or two, rather than the 3-5 per day that I used to have but I make sure they're cane sugar and not high fructose corn syrup. Like I said, I completely eliminated that crap.

In RE to your fruits and veg and grains, look for stuff high in soluble fiber...oatmeal, berries, oranges, grapefruit (just be careful with reactions to certain meds)...Brussels sprouts are natures drano as far as veg goes. Also, up your intake of omega 3 EPA and DHA....eat more fish, particularly fatty fish like salmon and tuna (more salmon if you're worried about mercury) but you'll also probably want to supplement with some fish oil pills. I try to get a combined 1,000 mg of EPA and DHA daily.

And as important as all of that, start moving more. Even if that means just going for a walk 3-5 times per week for at least 30 minutes...get some cardiovascular exercise...it goes a long way.

^^^^^^^^ only thing missing - avoid shell fish (shrimp,lobster,scallops etc) - my levels were becoming dangerous previously and I was told MOST if not all of above plus the avoidance of shell fish. I too have BAD family history so they watch me closely (I am 37) - I still struggle with avoiding dairy I love my ice coffee and I love most cheese But everything he says here...is precisely the key to fix your levels

neanderthin

Cut out the sugar entirely and any white flour type breads. NO deep fried foods! Eat lots of fresh veggies and some fresh fruit. Eat whole grains. Oatmeal everyday and add ground flax and chia. Eat some nuts and seeds for snacks. Instead of ducolax have Metamucil or psyllium whole husks everyday in plenty of water. You may also add 2 fish oil pills a day and 400mg of magnesium citrate. Lots of broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower. You'll drop weight and flush out the bad cholesterol. Eat wild fatty fish like salmon and halibut. I brought my bad numbers to normal in 3 months! My MD wanted to put me on a statin but didn't after I got rechecked. Also MOVE your body and QUIT smoking for sure. You CAN do it!!!

fiber has been overexaggerated.
The first thing to do with lowering cholesterol is
Increase monounsaturated fats, increase activity, and lose weight.

cholesterol can change very easily over a few weeks and dietary cholesterol has little to do with it

Something for people to know. Europe has a much higher cholesterol than america and saturated fat intake.
They also have a much lower risk of CHD
Take a look into red wine as well
shoudl check up the

well, that's how I got my LDL down and my HDL up. I've been using olive oil all my life and drinking red wine too. I really believe changes in diet truly work and moving of course. The biggest difference in my eating life was the elimination of white sugar and the addition of flax and chia seeds. Whatever it was exactly worked and I'm satisfied.

sugar doesnt have much to do with cholesterol because that its not its normal function.
Studies have showed that fiber can do it but it is not very noticeable but just like getting heart disease, lowering your cholesterol are collaborative factors

But sugar has a lot to do with triglycerides.

And cholesterol. Only when the diet is replacing protein for carbs, refined primarily. Trigs go up as does ApoB LDL cholesterol and HDL is reduced......consuming moderates amount of sugar is not a problem, only a diet that's high in sugars and processed carbs....basically a typical SAD diet has this effect on Lipids.

neanderthin

You are freaking out unnecessarily.

I'm just going to say do NOT go on statins if that is suggested.

Please DO read Dr Peter Attia's blog entries "The straight dope on cholesterol." There is a long series of in-depth posts backed by studies.

Thanks I will check it out. Just a bit freaked out about the huge increase in the triglycerides. At my height and weight, it can't be healthy. Sorry if I seemed a bit freaked, just wish I could understand it all and kick my self in the rear for not paying attention to it sooner.

Exercise is extremely important as is reducing weight, both will help. Lowering trigs, you might want to try a low carb type diet with little to no processed foods and recheck in a few months........These actions also raise HDL which you need to do.

healthygreek

Research is starting to add up that more important than those numbers is the amount of inflammation you have going on in your body. In my own family, my 49 yr old BIL who has no history of cardiac issues in his family, has great numbers, exercises and is not overweight had a massive heart attack last fall. Everything was fine but he showed high inflammation (high CRP - which is a general indication that inflammation is going on somewhere in the body).

Quitting smoking really will make a huge difference - it helped my numbers a lot. Changing my diet has also helped. I have really worked to lower inflammatory foods and eat things that fight inflammation. A great side effect is that my total cholesterol number dropped from 226 to 164. Just through diet and quitting smoking and exercise. Foods high in sat fat can increase inflammation. Personally, I limit butter, cheese and red meat. I avoid anything with trans fats, and avoid full fat dairy. I eat plenty of unsaturated fat (seeds, nuts, avocados, hummus). I also take fish oil capsules and eat fish 1-2x week. Quit panicking and start educating yourself with regards to using food as medicine and I bet you'll see those numbers drop.

europeans have a diet high in saturated fat and they do not have that effect.
there are many factors for why.
he may have an underlyng cardiac inflammatory condition or already had high cholesterol.

there are alot of things floating around that do not make much sense for us vs europe. they are also big smokrs. so it may have something to do with exercise and wine drinking but there are also factors such as overall diet.

europeans are fast catching up with us in terms of heart disease except in the very rural areas where the med diet is still going strong.

DatMurse

Cut out the sugar entirely and any white flour type breads. NO deep fried foods! Eat lots of fresh veggies and some fresh fruit. Eat whole grains. Oatmeal everyday and add ground flax and chia. Eat some nuts and seeds for snacks. Instead of ducolax have Metamucil or psyllium whole husks everyday in plenty of water. You may also add 2 fish oil pills a day and 400mg of magnesium citrate. Lots of broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower. You'll drop weight and flush out the bad cholesterol. Eat wild fatty fish like salmon and halibut. I brought my bad numbers to normal in 3 months! My MD wanted to put me on a statin but didn't after I got rechecked. Also MOVE your body and QUIT smoking for sure. You CAN do it!!!

fiber has been overexaggerated.
The first thing to do with lowering cholesterol is
Increase monounsaturated fats, increase activity, and lose weight.

cholesterol can change very easily over a few weeks and dietary cholesterol has little to do with it

Something for people to know. Europe has a much higher cholesterol than america and saturated fat intake.
They also have a much lower risk of CHD
Take a look into red wine as well
shoudl check up the

well, that's how I got my LDL down and my HDL up. I've been using olive oil all my life and drinking red wine too. I really believe changes in diet truly work and moving of course. The biggest difference in my eating life was the elimination of white sugar and the addition of flax and chia seeds. Whatever it was exactly worked and I'm satisfied.

sugar doesnt have much to do with cholesterol because that its not its normal function.
Studies have showed that fiber can do it but it is not very noticeable but just like getting heart disease, lowering your cholesterol are collaborative factors

But sugar has a lot to do with triglycerides.

again. you keep talking about sugar with triglycerides
you talk about fructose with renale failur and diabetes.

This is only in a long term hypercaloric state is when it starts doing damage.
Even your Dr. Ludwig said it was hypercaloric state was the issue.

I am not in a hypercaloric state. atleast not in a long term

no one should be in a sustained hypercaloric state. On top of this most of these beliefs are based around people with inactivity in their life