HDL/LDL/Cholesterol Won't Budge

Try plant sterols. I have a similar story: after losing over 30 lb my cholesterol was still high and I really don't want to go on statins. So, I asked for three months. I started fish oil, plant sterols and red rice yeast. Blood tests showed LDL down about half of what the doctor wants to see, but I am trying another three months. I also was able to up the exercise after suffering an injury last summer. I did read that CoQ10 is helpful, as well.
My doctor is convinced that my cholesterol levels are genetic, and was quite surprised that they had come down as much as they had. I'm not really expecting that big a drop again, but we will see.

From the Mayo Clinic:

1. Oatmeal, oat bran and high-fiber foods

Oatmeal contains soluble fiber, which reduces your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the "bad," cholesterol. Soluble fiber is also found in such foods as kidney beans, apples, pears, barley and prunes.

Soluble fiber can reduce the absorption of cholesterol into your bloodstream. Five to 10 grams or more of soluble fiber a day decreases your total and LDL cholesterol. Eating 1 1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal provides 6 grams of fiber. If you add fruit, such as bananas, you'll add about 4 more grams of fiber. To mix it up a little, try steel-cut oatmeal or cold cereal made with oatmeal or oat bran.

2. Fish and omega-3 fatty acids

Eating fatty fish can be heart healthy because of its high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which can reduce your blood pressure and risk of developing blood clots. In people who have already had heart attacks, fish oil — or omega-3 fatty acids — reduces the risk of sudden death.

The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two servings of fish a week. The highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids are in:

Mackerel
Lake trout
Herring
Sardines
Albacore tuna
Salmon
Halibut

You should bake or grill the fish to avoid adding unhealthy fats. If you don't like fish, you can also get small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids from foods like ground flaxseed or canola oil.

I would skip the canola oil

Thanks for all the input so far. Just so you know. I eat quick rolled oats 7 days a week. Oatmeal may be the best diet food ever invented. I eat next to no red meats, and use next to no oils in food prep and rarely if ever eat fried foods. I've added red rice yeast. I don't like fish but I've added a fish oil supplement to Omega 3. I do a lot of weight lifting in addition to the cardio.

I'll certainly look into the CoQ10. At this point, I've certainly been cursing my parents and grandparents. They did this to me. lol. Of course no one in my family has ever had any issue with heart disease either so maybe stressing about the cholesterol numbers isn't really necessary either. But any other ideas are certainly appreciated.

try old fashioned oats mixed with quick and oat bran (about 1/3 each). that's what worked for me. I would mix it in a big container and every morning take about 3 Tablespoons mix with yogurt or water/milk.

I'm looking for any suggestions for any dietary supplementation ideas people might have above and beyond what I'm currently trying. Here's the situation. Last year at my physical, when I was about at the high point of my weight and worst point of my diet and exercise (or lack thereof), I was at about 200 pounds, my total cholesterol was at 197, my LDL was about 130, my HDL was at 37. This year after many months of exercise, including aerobic and strength training, getting my diet well controlled with good clean eating (no fried foods, minimal fats), my weight was down to about 170, but my total cholesterol was 197, my LDL was about 130 and my HDL was at 37. Nada, zip, zilch. No changes at all. They wouldn't budge. In spite of diet improvement and exercise improvement. The doc doesn't think they are serious enough to consider statins at this time. But we are trying fish oil, a rapid release niacin, and red rice yeast. to see if we can at least move the needle a little.

So does anybody have any other suggestions of things to try diet or supplementation wise that might help even a little?

TIA.

who told you that your cholesterol numbers are bad? they arent.. you are well in normal ranger for your age. Unless you have serious CVD in your family, you are fine.

Edit: only issue i have is your hdl, you need to get that up a tad. and never forget the triglyceride numbers. keep that bad boy down! also, LDL is made of 2 numbers... you need to get to a real doctor and find out the dense ldl number. thats the bad guy.

old fashioned oats can work wonders! It doesn't just keep your cholesterol down, it can also keep you on the right track with your diet.

My dad had success with cutting out all milk from his diet and cutting down on dairy products. Could be a connection to the saturated-fat perhaps?

Perhaps!

Just so you know, you can get healthier alternatives to dairy products, like Flora, that can lower cholesterol. Hope he gets good results!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1768013/

bring it to your next doctor visit and ask him for his input.

this is a legit study

Thanks for all the input so far. Just so you know. I eat quick rolled oats 7 days a week. Oatmeal may be the best diet food ever invented. I eat next to no red meats, and use next to no oils in food prep and rarely if ever eat fried foods. I've added red rice yeast. I don't like fish but I've added a fish oil supplement to Omega 3. I do a lot of weight lifting in addition to the cardio.

I'll certainly look into the CoQ10. At this point, I've certainly been cursing my parents and grandparents. They did this to me. lol. Of course no one in my family has ever had any issue with heart disease either so maybe stressing about the cholesterol numbers isn't really necessary either. But any other ideas are certainly appreciated.

My husband has had a lot of success with fish oil in getting triglycerides down, so hopefully that'll work for you. I do wonder if the quick rolled oats are as heart healthy as the non-quick oats, though? I'd think they'd have less fiber, but maybe I'm wrong.

I was lucky enough that my numbers responded really well to changes in exercise and diet (LDL from 119 to 88, woot!), but before they did, one of my doctors was telling me about a test called a cardiac calcium scan--basically it's like a CAT scan of your heart and they can see the level of calcium deposits, which is your real risk factor for heart disease. She said insurance doesn't pay for it, and it costs a few hundred dollars, but it's a way of assessing risk that can help you avoid statins if that's your goal. She had had the test done as her total cholesterol is over 200 despite being very thin, and it showed she had no deposits, so she doesn't personally take statins.

Thanks for all the input so far. Just so you know. I eat quick rolled oats 7 days a week. Oatmeal may be the best diet food ever invented. I eat next to no red meats, and use next to no oils in food prep and rarely if ever eat fried foods. I've added red rice yeast. I don't like fish but I've added a fish oil supplement to Omega 3. I do a lot of weight lifting in addition to the cardio.

I've done almost completely the opposite. I now avoid all grains, including oatmeal. Eat red meat 1-2 times per week and always use oil (coconut, butter/bacon fat) in my cooking. Like you, I've added a fish oil supplement and do 1/2 hours of weight training 3x per week in addition to 30-60 minutes of cardio per week. In addition to normalizing my blood sugar, my lipid panel has improved drastically

total cholesterol was 207 - now 161
HDL was 37 - now 53
LDL was 136 - now 89
Triglycerides was 169 - now 86

I'm not a medical person by any means. From my experience, it could just be genetics.

Your HDL needs to be higher. Other than that, I don't see what is wrong with your numbers. Triglycerides is missing but I assume they're acceptable if your doctor doesn't want to put you on statins. My doctor told me if it gets to 200 then statins are mandatory. I had my cholesterol tested last month and my doctor and I had a very interesting conversation about the results.

He told me that it used to be they'd tell you a cholesterol level of over 200 was bad. Now they look at the ratio of your cholesterol and your HDL. If that ratio falls within a certain range of what they consider normal then there's nothing to worry about. I don't remember my numbers exactly but I do remember that even though my cholesterol is 219, my doctor isn't worried because my triglycerides are very low and the ratio of my HDL to cholesterol is better than average. My HDL level is quite high. The only thing I did to raise it and lower my triglicerides was diet and exercise. If your numbers really are bad and you're eating right and exercising, it could just be genetic. Most of the cholesterol in our bodies is produced by our livers and some people naturally produce a lot of cholesterol. It is my understanding that statins wills shut down cholesterol production in the liver. Obviously, talk to your doctor if you still have concerns.

A couple things:

1. I believe there are legitimate concerns about using blood cholesterol at anywhere but the highest levels as an indicator for disease risk-factors (including CVD), and the science is starting to bear that out.
2. You don't list your triglycerides, of which high levels of blood triglycerides generally coincide with insulin resistance, and are primarily a function of carbohydrate metabolism. Generally, low fat diets are high in carbohydrates, which create issues for people in that state.
3. Statin drugs can lower your blood serum cholesterol, but that lowering does not correlate into increased patient outcomes.

wow someone other than me knows this. I know cholesterol ratio still matters though.

Yeah, if you got a really whacked out ratio, something is going on that isn't good. Though I think doing a VAP test to determine LDL particle size is likely a better indicator than just raw numbers.

More fat, less carbs. It's a constant recommendation for people who ask me about things.