What is the truth about Cholesterol?

newjourney2015
newjourney2015 Posts: 216 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So just got my bloodwork back from the doc and my HDL is 59 and my LDL is 141 and VLDL is 18 = 218

My HDL is "in range" but my LDL is high. How do I lower my cholesterol? And what is the truth about cholesterol? Do I eat the whole egg or not? Some say yes some say no.

I'm so confused!
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Replies

  • brendaj39
    brendaj39 Posts: 375 Member
    i know exercise like walking is suppose to help lower the bad cholesterol, and so does soy milk, these are two things my doctor told me about that could help lower it.

    I still and always will eat whole eggs, can't stand just the whites...

    good luck!
  • bradwwood
    bradwwood Posts: 371 Member
    and fiber
  • craigineson
    craigineson Posts: 88 Member
    Your body produces FAR more cholesterol than you can get through diet. Eat the whole egg and don't worry about cholesterol.

    If you're worried about cholesterol, low carbohydrate eating will put your blood lipids in good shape within a few weeks - upping HDL, decreasing the deadly VLDL, and decimating triglycerides like your body forgot how to make them.

    Certainly don't worry about lowering your numbers if your VLDL and triglyceride numbers aren't unhealthy. From what I've read, lower cholesterol is associated with higher incidences of all-reason mortality.
  • Celeigh12
    Celeigh12 Posts: 763 Member
    I've eaten 2 whole eggs every morning for a year and my total cholesterol just came back 149 and my triglycerides 101 (less than 150 is low risk). At least for me, eating cholesterol doesn't equate to raising my blood cholesterol.
  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
    If you want to lower your cholesterol, stop eating dietary cholesterol. It's that simple.
  • JoeSzup
    JoeSzup Posts: 51 Member
    Three years ago, I was diagnosed with High Cholesterol. I simply changed my diet and started taking fish oil. To quote WebMD "Load your plate with fruits and vegetables -- five to nine servings a day -- to help lower LDL "bad" cholesterol. "

    Check out this slideshow here:
    http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/ss/slideshow-lowering-cholesterol
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    If you want to lower your cholesterol, stop eating dietary cholesterol. It's that simple.

    Rubbish!
  • n0ob
    n0ob Posts: 2,390 Member
    If you want to lower your cholesterol, stop eating dietary cholesterol. It's that simple.

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  • craigineson
    craigineson Posts: 88 Member
    If you want to lower your cholesterol, stop eating dietary cholesterol. It's that simple.

    Your body produces significantly more cholesterol than diet. Dietary cholesterol reduction will do nothing to decrease blood lipid cholesterol.

    If you want a great primer on cholesterol, Dr. Mercola provides a great overview here:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/the-cholesterol-myth-that_b_676817.html
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    One of the reasons I've made this life style change is due to my high LDL and low HDL levels. Here's what I do:

    Keep my dietary cholesterol at or below 200
    Keep my saturated fats at or below 15
    Trans fats..as close to zero as possible; there are trace amounts in meat, but steer clear of hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated oils.
    No butter...margarine of the tub variety...the stick variety contains hydrogenated oils and some tubs do as well, so read the label, if it says hydrogenated/partially hydrogented oil on there, steer clear.
    exercise

    I have also increased my consumption of omega 3 fatty acids by eating more salmon and tuna...and just fish in general, as well as taking an omega 3 supplement. I do eat red meat, but usually only once per week...sometimes twice. I focus primarily on lean protein sources and have substantially increased my fiber intake. Soluble fiber is particularly good for this...see oatmeal for breakfast; I'm also fond of the Kashi heart healthy, whole grain cereals...particularly the "Go Lean Crunch"...loaded with soluble fiber. I limit my eggs to one weekend breakfast per week...usually on a Sunday. I usually do a 1 egg/2egg white scramble or omelette or just one fried egg sunnyside over my 21 whole grains toast. I don't worry so much about the dietary cholesterol as I do my sat fats.

    I'll be getting more blood work done in another 6 weeks or so and I'm hoping for more, continued, positive results.
  • newjourney2015
    newjourney2015 Posts: 216 Member
    Thanks to everyone for your advise! I will review the website links posted and hopefully in 3 months (when I have my bloodwork done again) the results will be better.
  • Phaedra2014
    Phaedra2014 Posts: 1,254 Member
    So just got my bloodwork back from the doc and my HDL is 59 and my LDL is 141 and VLDL is 18 = 218

    My HDL is "in range" but my LDL is high. How do I lower my cholesterol? And what is the truth about cholesterol? Do I eat the whole egg or not? Some say yes some say no.

    I'm so confused!

    How did you get your HDL to be that high? It's excellent.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    If you want to lower your cholesterol, stop eating dietary cholesterol. It's that simple.

    Its all coming together for me now! If you want lower your bodyfat, stop eating fat. If you want to stop having gas, stop drinking gasoline. It makes complete sense to me. What else can we lower by this easy to follow method?
  • cordianet
    cordianet Posts: 534 Member
    For most people, dietary cholesterol is not a problem.

    http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/cholesterol-food
  • portwein
    portwein Posts: 29 Member
    Visit with a registered dietitian, your doctor should be able to recommend one. Once you know the basics, it's fairly easy to comprehend.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    If you want to lower your cholesterol, stop eating dietary cholesterol. It's that simple.

    Its all coming together for me now! If you want lower your bodyfat, stop eating fat. If you want to stop having gas, stop drinking gasoline. It makes complete sense to me. What else can we lower by this easy to follow method?

    If you want more hair, forego hair transplants and eat a hairy chicken.
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
    If you want to lower your cholesterol, stop eating dietary cholesterol. It's that simple.

    Its all coming together for me now! If you want lower your bodyfat, stop eating fat. If you want to stop having gas, stop drinking gasoline. It makes complete sense to me. What else can we lower by this easy to follow method?
    Obviously some should lower their intake of bull excrement.
  • NuggetLovesEdie
    NuggetLovesEdie Posts: 477 Member
    1 to 1.5 cups of oatmeal every day was also recommended to me by a dietician at my doc's clinic.

    Is that because of the fiber that it helps lower cholesterol?
  • takumaku
    takumaku Posts: 352 Member
    I would suggest going back to the doc and asking about a more detailed cholesterol test. Some of your reading is genetic.

    For example, I had a detail cholesterol test done. Mine were:
    HDL-P: 26.9
    LDL-P: 446
    Large VLDL-P: 0.8
    Small LDL-P: <90
    Large HDL-P: 9.9
    VLDL Size: 47.4
    LDL Size: 20.8
    HDL Size: 10.0
    LP-IR Score: 14

    While my HDL-P is high risk, the ratio of LDP-P to HDL-P is extremely small. I am a runner, vegetarian, and take omega-3 via flax seed. To me and my doc, there is nothing more I can do.
  • SarahAFerguson
    SarahAFerguson Posts: 250 Member
    Well, what worked for me was lowering my stress level significantly (I took a year off work). I also completely stopped eating out at any restaurants. I ate anything I wanted including lots of eggs and ice cream. I wasn't actually trying to lower my cholesterol at all, it just happened. My total cholesterol went from 200 down to 129 in a year.
  • Danni3ll3
    Danni3ll3 Posts: 365 Member
    You have a very similar profile to mine.

    Total Cholesterol: 284.9
    LDL: 191
    HDL: 77.3
    Triglycerides: 83.2
    Ratio: 3.7

    (I had to convert from the units we use in Canada to those of the US).

    This is what my naturopath doctor recommended for me to do to lower my LDL even though she felt it really was unnecessary considering my other numbers, however, my medical doctor is threatening to put me on statins if I don't get it down.

    1. Continue the daily walks
    2. Increase my intake of vegetables (especially cruciferous veggies) and fruit
    3. Make sure I get lots of soluble fiber (put fiber supplement in smoothies or drinks.)
    4. Drink 2 to 3 cups of green tea daily
    5. Take 2000 iu of Vitamin D daily
    6. Take 800 to 1000 mg of EPA fish oils daily
    7. Take 500 mg 3x per day of Inositol hexaniacinate (This one is available in health food stores but please don't take unless you check with a doctor)
    8. Increase my intake of Vitamin C (I take something call Medi C Plus available in Canada. It is a combo of high Vitamin C, Lysine and Calcium)

    I hope this helps.
  • Spokez70
    Spokez70 Posts: 548 Member
    Your body produces significantly more cholesterol than diet. Dietary cholesterol reduction will do nothing to decrease blood lipid cholesterol.

    If you want a great primer on cholesterol, Dr. Mercola provides a great overview here:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/the-cholesterol-myth-that_b_676817.html

    Can anyone comment as to the validity of this article? I know Mercola is iffy at best (the recent death box / microwave oven thread comes to mind) but I have to say a lot of this makes sense to me and does ring true with my personal experience with cholesterol. My lab work was never worse than after I was a vegetarian for a year.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    If you want to lower your cholesterol, stop eating dietary cholesterol. It's that simple.

    28214401.jpg
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
    So just got my bloodwork back from the doc and my HDL is 59 and my LDL is 141 and VLDL is 18 = 218

    My HDL is "in range" but my LDL is high. How do I lower my cholesterol? And what is the truth about cholesterol? Do I eat the whole egg or not? Some say yes some say no.

    I'm so confused!

    Don't worry about avoiding dietary cholesterol. It's more important to worry about getting enough servings of fruits and veggies in per day, and continuing to improve your body composition.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    I have no idea what my numbers are and I don't care.

    Blaming cholesterol (whatever variety) for heart issues is like blaming the fire brigade for fires.

    The whole cholesterol thing is a huge con, if someone tried to push statins onto me I tell them to shove them up their bum.

    Eat eggs, all of them, wonderful food, you can make a whole chicken with one.

    (edit) Not that dietary cholesterol has any effect on blood cholesterol, as others have said. Really, there is a shedload of stuff to be more worried about than these meaningless numbers.
  • twilight_princess
    twilight_princess Posts: 270 Member
    If you want to lower your cholesterol, stop eating dietary cholesterol. It's that simple.

    Its actually saturated fat that you should be concerned with if you have an issue with cholesterol. Monounsaturated fat (e.g. from plant oils and nuts) and insoluble fibre can help reduce LDL and increase HDL.
  • olivesoils
    olivesoils Posts: 2 Member
    Nothing wrong with eating eggs they contain good cholesterol you can eat two per day without worrying.
    Garlic and Olive Oil are good cholesterol lowering/controlling foods.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    Nothing wrong with eating eggs they contain good cholesterol you can eat two per day without worrying.
    Garlic and Olive Oil are good cholesterol lowering/controlling foods.

    But it doesn't need controlling or lowering!

    It's just cholesterol, it's necessary, it ain't going to kill you.

    I correct myself, too little cholesterol WILL kill you.

    Treat it like air, the body will work out how much it needs and adjust accordingly.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,206 Member
    Your body produces FAR more cholesterol than you can get through diet. Eat the whole egg and don't worry about cholesterol.

    If you're worried about cholesterol, low carbohydrate eating will put your blood lipids in good shape within a few weeks - upping HDL, decreasing the deadly VLDL, and decimating triglycerides like your body forgot how to make them.

    Certainly don't worry about lowering your numbers if your VLDL and triglyceride numbers aren't unhealthy. From what I've read, lower cholesterol is associated with higher incidences of all-reason mortality.
    Agreed. Our body has about 35000mg's of cholesterol at any given time with the liver producing about 1000mg's daily, so eating cholesterol isn't the problem.

    Cholesterol is just cholesterol there is no bad cholesterol per se, it's the proportion and type of protein the body produces (lipoprotein) for transportation that is important. It's the small dense LDL proteins that are of concern and trigs in the blood in tandem with it's relationship with HDL proteins. If the body produces too many sdLDL and our HDL is low and trigs are high, we're in deep trouble, but if LDL is the larger more buoyant LDL and trigs are very low with high to average HDL, we're doing well.

    A recent study of 231,986 hospitalizations from 541 hospitals, admission lipid levels were documented in 136,905 75% of those patients who had a heart attach with an average LDL of 104, half under 100 and with 17% under 70. Average trigs were 160 and HDL was under 40 with only 1.4% of patients with HDL over 60. This was run by the National Cholesterol Education Program and their conclusion was that LDL cholesterol guidelines are still too high and need to be lowered further. I wonder if any of the directors of NCEP have any honorariums from any drug companies that produce cholesterol lowering drugs?

    Of course the 25% group had higher overall cholesterol, I think I would prefer to be in the minority in this study.
  • newjourney2015
    newjourney2015 Posts: 216 Member
    So just got my bloodwork back from the doc and my HDL is 59 and my LDL is 141 and VLDL is 18 = 218

    My HDL is "in range" but my LDL is high. How do I lower my cholesterol? And what is the truth about cholesterol? Do I eat the whole egg or not? Some say yes some say no.

    I'm so confused!

    Didn't post that my triglyceride is 89.

    All levels are "in-range" except LDL. Hmmmm - freaking out about nothing? Just a little diet tweeking and I should be good. I will NOT take statins! I am already on HBP meds and they tell me it's genetic so there's nothing I can do with diet and excercise. Doesn't mean I'm not going to continue to try!

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