Lowering Cholesterol

Yes! I've had great success with getting to healthy blood lipid levels. I recommend going to the RealAge site, taking their "real age" test and at the end they'll give you a report analyzing your diet and lifestyle along with recommendations for what to change. They also have a part (I think it's during or after the test) where you can check boxes for more info on health and nutrition subjects that interest you. They'll send daily email tips and links to articles about whatever you select. I've found this to be tremendously helpful because they give it out in short quick bursts of info, and then provide links to related subjects that you can follow up on if you're interested.

What I found was that I had to reduce the amount of saturated fat in my diet, boost the mono and polyunsaturated fats, and get lots of exercise. But by golly it worked!!! My doctor was thrilled - no meds, just diet and exercise, and I'm down to this:

Blood sugar: 74
Total Cholesterol: 148
Triglycerides: 44
HDL: 69
LDL: 70

Go for it!

Diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and gout all run in my family. I got them all and I'm only 28. I went in for a diabetic coma + acute pancreatitis just last April, and they also discovered I had a fatty liver. When I survived, I made the choice to eat whole grain and wheat everything, that included brown rice, incorporating dark leafy greens, lean meats, no shellfish, increased water intake, and increasing my physical activity once my body got used to doing a routine. Literally, a complete lifestyle change.

I'm pretty much healthy enough to say, I no longer have any of those symptoms, since June of last year. I'm still considered diabetic because I can always have high blood sugar much easier now from straining my pancreas, but I'm asymptomatic from any of it. I have the kind of rebellious nature to go against anything that gets in my way, genetics included. But it's because of my hardheadedness that drove my motivation benefit my life, rather than hinder it.

Diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and gout all run in my family. I got them all and I'm only 28. I went in for a diabetic coma + acute pancreatitis just last April, and they also discovered I had a fatty liver. When I survived, I made the choice to eat whole grain and wheat everything, that included brown rice, incorporating dark leafy greens, lean meats, no shellfish, increased water intake, and increasing my physical activity once my body got used to doing a routine. Literally, a complete lifestyle change.

I'm pretty much healthy enough to say, I no longer have any of those symptoms, since June of last year. I'm still considered diabetic because I can always have high blood sugar much easier now from straining my pancreas, but I'm asymptomatic from any of it. I have the kind of rebellious nature to go against anything that gets in my way, genetics included. But it's because of my hardheadedness that drove my motivation benefit my life, rather than hinder it.

Way to go! You rock. Very inspirational!!

This goes against what a lot of people think, so I took the time to site sources.

A July 2007 study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reported that diets high in bad carbohydrates increase a woman's risk for developing heart disease. In a commentary within the same journal, Dr. Frank Hu, of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, explained that such research underscores the impact of bad carbs on cholesterol and emphasizes the need to go beyond limiting fat intake as a strategy for heart health.

Instead, Dr. Hu recommends several steps:

* Choose whole grain foods over refined grains.
* Avoid sugar-sweetened beverages, which are the source of almost half the added sugar in the American diet.
* Replace carbohydrates (especially sugars and processed flour) with healthy proteins such as beans, peas and nuts, as well as unsaturated fats, such as olive oil, canola oil and other vegetable oils.

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Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL) -- "Bad Cholesterol"
Although there is some controversy on this point, LDL cholesterol is considered "bad" in terms of heart disease risk. The relationship between low-carb diets and LDL cholesterol is more complex than with triglycerides and HDL cholesterol. There are some studies in which LDL is reduced on a low-carb diet, some in which it doesn't change, and some in which it goes up. But there is one thing about LDL changes which is consistent with low-carb diets, and that is that it causes a change in cholesterol particle size.

What has particle size got to do with it? Evidence is accumulating that the size of cholesterol particles has a lot to do with risk for heart disease. Basically, the smaller the particles are, the greater the risk -- it is thought that perhaps the small particles lodge in the walls of blood vessels more easily.

The good news for those of us following a low-carb way of eating is that studies of diet and cholesterol particle size have consistently shown that low-carb diets produce larger-sized cholesterol particles. However, a larger-sized particle weighs more than a smaller one. When LDL does go up on a low-carb diet, it may be due to the larger particles, since weight is what's being measured. (A total cholesterol of 200, for example, means 200 mg per deciliter.)

On the other hand, high-carb diets seem to produce a greater percentage of smaller cholesterol particles in some people. So the total LDL goes down (particles are smaller, so the total is lighter.) While the reading may be low, it can be deceiving as risk goes up in those cases.

A good way to sort out risk? LDL particle size seems to be strongly correlated with triglyceride level (high triglycerides go with small particle size and vice versa). So if your triglycerides are low, your LDL particles are probably larger.

The Bottom Line
Reducing carbohydrate in the diet generally has a positive effect on both HDL and LDL blood cholesterol and triglycerides. Still, there are different reasons for high cholesterol in different people. As with almost everything going on in our bodies, there is much individual variation. There is almost certainly a strong genetic component to the all the different correlations between blood lipids and risk for disease.

Sources:

Lamarche, Benoit, et al. “A prospective, population-based study of low density lipoprotein particle size as a risk factor for ischemic heart disease in men.” Canadian Journal of Cardiology 2001 Aug;17(8):859-65.

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In March the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a meta-analysis—which combines data from several studies—that compared the reported daily food intake of nearly 350,000 people against their risk of developing cardiovascular disease over a period of five to 23 years. The analysis, overseen by Ronald M. Krauss, director of atherosclerosis research at the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, found no association between the amount of saturated fat consumed and the risk of heart disease.

The finding joins other conclusions of the past few years that run counter to the conventional wisdom that saturated fat is bad for the heart because it increases total cholesterol levels. That idea is “based in large measure on extrapolations, which are not supported by the data,” Krauss says.

One problem with the old logic is that “total cholesterol is not a great predictor of risk,” says Meir Stampfer, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. Although saturated fat boosts blood levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, it also increases “good” HDL cholesterol. In 2008 Stampfer co-authored a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that followed 322 moderately obese individuals for two years as they adopted one of three diets: a low-fat, calorie-restricted diet based on American Heart Association guidelines; a Mediterranean, restricted-calorie diet rich in vegetables and low in red meat; and a low-carbohydrate, nonrestricted-calorie diet. Although the subjects on the low-carb diet ate the most saturated fat, they ended up with the healthiest ratio of HDL to LDL cholesterol and lost twice as much weight as their low-fat-eating counterparts.

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I'm not saying do it this way, or don't do it this way - that's something you'll want to research yourself and discuss with your doctor, but there are two sides of this coin. I actually believe that both sides will work for both lowering Cholesterol and overall weight loss. What I don't believe works, is going back and forth between systems. Pick a high fat or a low fat path and stick to it and allow the results to come.

Best of luck to you and do a bunch of reading - there is so much great stuff out there!

Steve
KnightFit.com

Wow! I have really enjoyed reading everyone's posts regarding lowering cholesterol. This is the number one reason why I joined this site. I have currently started trying to excerise and eat healthier. My doctor says that the next time I go that I will have to start taking cholesterol medicine if I don't get it under control. I have started taking vitimins, fish oil, and also red yeast rice pills. A nurse told me that Red Yeast pills were great.....Has anyone else heard of this? Also, High cholesterol runs in my family too...My dad, my brother and my sister. I am really excited about this website...I think it is great. Thank you everyone Oh yeah...I forgot one thing, I have been cigarette free for 3 months!!! yay me