Need help with Cholesterol

cweaver1981
cweaver1981 Posts: 76 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I recently had a physical. All of blood work came back great, except my good cholesterol is low. The doctor isn't very concerned because my bad cholesterol is in a good range, but she wants me to work on improving my good cholesterol number. She specifically said to improve the good cholesterol through my diet, but I am not really sure what kinds of food would help with this. Any suggestions?

Replies

  • bonoeuf
    bonoeuf Posts: 58 Member
    Eggs, prawns, oily fish, nuts.
  • cwsreddy
    cwsreddy Posts: 998 Member
    COCONUTS! (oil, milk, meat etc)
  • cheri03
    cheri03 Posts: 172 Member
    Actually ( I was a cholesterol nurse at a big hospital for years), the best thing you can do to increase your HDL (good cholesterol) is exercise (cardio) esp walking. Good oils, nuts help but cardio is best. Also avoid excessive vitamin E. It is imperative to get it greater than 50 if you can and higher if possible.
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
    I recently had a physical. All of blood work came back great, except my good cholesterol is low. The doctor isn't very concerned because my bad cholesterol is in a good range, but she wants me to work on improving my good cholesterol number. She specifically said to improve the good cholesterol through my diet, but I am not really sure what kinds of food would help with this. Any suggestions?

    What was your triglyceride count compared to your HDL's - the lower the ratio the better.

    As the post above mentioned exercise is good to increase HDL's. Also a diet high in sat fat and low in carbs will also reduce triglycerides and increase HDL's (plus increase the size of your LDL's).
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    I increased my total/HDL cholesterol from 119/30 to 138/48 by eating more of fats as saturated fats. I go out of my way to eat dark chocolate/coconut/palm oil. My HDL/LDL ratio has always been good, but I didn't care for my total and HDL cholesterol being that low.

    I can't argue with the results it got for me...basically raised my cholesterol entirely by my HDL.

    I eat a LOT of lean meat, lowfat dairy, veggies and fruit (usually 20g+ fiber from them daily on weekdays, a little laxer on weekends), and whole grains when I eat grains.

    Probably more superstition than anything on my part for chosing lowfat meat and lowfat dairy and the plant based saturated fats instead of just eating more fatty meat, but I actually like the foods better when I do it that way.

    My macros are set at 35% carbs, 35% protein and 30% fat. I am very aware that I need to consume as much nutrient dense foods for my carbs to maintain good nutrition.
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    Exercise is the key.
  • cweaver1981
    cweaver1981 Posts: 76 Member
    I can't recall what my bad cholesterol number. I didn't write it down because the nurse said the number was very good. My good cholesterol was 44 and she said that they wanted it above 50.

    I am not a fan of fish at all so I would be looking some non-fish options. I have already added nuts and eggs to my diet.

    I exercise quite a bit already. I do Tabata (HITT) 3 hours a week, TRX 1 1/2 hours a week, a conditioning class 1 hour a week and work out on my own 2 days a week (around 2 hours total) doing a combination of cardio and weights. I would say I average approximately 6 1/2-8 hours a week doing exercise.

    The doctor suggested I lose 18-20lbs which I have been working on since way before she suggested it.

    Is taking a fish oil supplement helpful?
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    Is taking a fish oil supplement helpful?

    Depends on your diet. I could look up the exact names, but I don't remember intricate details I don't care about very well, so here's the laymans terms on that.

    Fish oil and fats from particular coldwater fish have a longer chain omega 3 FA that is very healthy for the body. You CAN get a shorter omega 3 from plants, but your body is very inefficient in metabolising the shorter to the longer, and this can be further complicated by overconsumption of omega 6 FA which compete with this metabolic pathway. Studies don't necessarily show that vegans who don't get DHA have health issue because of it, but basically you only get it from animal products (and I may be wrong there, as I forgot what omega 3 form is in seaweed).

    One of the studied benefits is better triglycerides and more healthy cholesterol.

    So if you're eating adequate omega 3's, you probably won't notice a difference. Not eating (usually processed) foods rich in omega 6's also can help (soybean oil being one of the worst culprits).

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