Help...I need to lower my Cholesterol

aacosta11
aacosta11 Posts: 16
edited September 27 in Food and Nutrition
I just got word yesterday from my doctor that I need to lower my cholesterol. If I don't get it down in 3 months then I will be put on meds. I am too young to be put on meds, and this is something that I can control.

I am asking if anyone has any recommendations for meals or snacks that I may use? Thanks in advance.

Replies

  • otr12
    otr12 Posts: 632 Member
    Oatmeal!
  • LillysGranny
    LillysGranny Posts: 431
    Oatmeal with a heavy dose of cinnamon every morning, niacin supplements (ask your doc how much) and intense exercise are all helpful. A good friend in your same situation got hers under control w/ a combination of these three things. Good luck!
  • Altiv
    Altiv Posts: 174 Member
    Bump, I also would like to know how to lower my cholesterol D:
  • otr12
    otr12 Posts: 632 Member
    How high is it? On 3/14/11 mine was 242, HDL 43, LDL 158. My Dr told me I was borderline high.

    Since then I've eaten lots of oatmeal, lost 20 pounds, and started walking on a regular basis. She doesn't want to retest me until December! Grrrrrrr! I want to know how it's going. To be honest I want to give myself a little gold star for lowering it.
  • mduvall612
    mduvall612 Posts: 9
    Hi,

    I read your post and I had a similar issue last year. My doctor told me that my cholesterol was "border line" high. Fortunately she didn't threaten me with medication. I just went back to her earlier this month and it's back where it should be:happy: My suggestion would be to load up on fruits and vegetables in your diet. Anything with animal fat (dairy, meat of course, and fried foods) is what you want to avoid. Of course exercise helps as well. And oatmeal is good to as OTR12 suggested. I hate the stuff but I forced myself to eat it and it's grown on me.

    I have article about lowering cholesterol that's very informative. It's very detailed and I found it on a government website. If I can find it i'll send you the link.

    Good luck!
    mduvall612
  • ShellyKay67
    ShellyKay67 Posts: 489 Member
    Oatmeal (and I just started added ground flaxseed to it which has omega 3's which are supposed to help keep cholesterol down.)

    ALSO, exercise helps bring cholesterol down also.
    I have gotten off 2 cholesterol meds since starting my healthy lifestyle!!!!!!!!!! Good luck!
  • hamton
    hamton Posts: 245
    I'm kind of in the same situation. I was on meds(vytorin) for about 2 years. Went off the drugs for 6 months and got retested. Even with all the weight loss my physical activity, my Cholesterol level didn't change. HDL went up but total cholesterol was about the same. Actually it was 20 points higher which coincides with how much my HDL went up. He then gave me a sample of Crestor (another statin drug). I took one pill and noticed a significant decrease in energy and strength the next day. My muscles were also really sore. I stopped taking them. Feeling depressed, I started researching of increasing my HDL instead of lowering my total cholesterol.

    I'm going to get a lot of slack for this but here goes.

    What I found out was the best way to increase HDL is to eat more saturated fat. I know people are going to say saturated fat is going to clog my arteries, but that is not true. Those old studies were flawed. New studies show that there is no correlation between heart disease and saturated fat. There are various types of saturated fat. Some increase HDL and LDL, but they all increase HDL much more so than LDL. Saturated fat also decreases triglycerides significantly. Lauric acid is the type of saturated fat that seems to boost HDL w/o raising LDL. They are found are mostly found in coconut oil and palm kernal oil.

    So I plan to increase my saturated fat with low carb intake for a over a month and get retested. I will try to maintain a macro of 30/10/60 for protein/carb/fat. Lots of fish and animal fat. Four tablespoon of virgin coconut oil a day.

    Just google "Saturated fat myth" or "Saturated fat HDL" and you'll get a lot of info.
  • slick_fox
    slick_fox Posts: 85 Member
    Omega-3 Purified Fish Oil with a high DHA & EPA. I use Natraceutical Sciences Institute which Cost $16.99 plus approx, $4.00 shipping for 1 month. You can order it thru Vitacost online. This will up your hdl (good colesterol) and lower your ldl (bad cholesterol). I know the price might be high for you but it is very worth. I use the liquid and the DHA & EPA is higher but my son uses theirs in pill form. Watch you numbers on MFP, exercise and watch you labels. Good luck!
  • mduvall612
    mduvall612 Posts: 9
    I found the article!! If you go to www.nutrition.gov and search for an article called "Your Guide to Lowering your Cholesterol with TLC", that's an excellent source of info. It really gives you the basics and goes from there.
  • courtneycuth
    courtneycuth Posts: 30
    I got the same message from my doctor when I was 21 - my cholesterol was 241. I paid a lot of attention to what I ate, and the four rules I stuck to were:
    1. No hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils (stuck most to this one)
    2. No cocoa butter
    3. No palm oil (palm fruit oil ok - if it's palm fruit oil it will say so)
    4. No fried foods (chips, french fries, etc)

    My triglyceride levels were fine so I didn't worry about sugar intake. I was drinking one 8 oz glass of concord grape juice per day, and I upped my salmon intake. I lowered the amount of dairy I was consuming and when I was eating or drinking dairy products I made sure they were low fat. I turned to a lot of vegetarian soy products - veggie burgers, etc. I switched my bread to ones with more whole grains. Finding foods that are high in unsaturated fats is good too. Avocados are a good source of unsaturated fat. I ended up eating a lot of foods I didn't think I would like because I was more focused on heart health than taste. A good example of this for me was grapefruit.

    Working out can help your good cholesterol levels so I added 30 minutes of Dance Dance Revolution to my daily routine (silly, I know). After about 3 months, I had lost about 30 pounds and my cholesterol level overall was 186. .... (Sadly since then I entered a relationship and gained the weight back, but here's to losing it again!) :)

    Good luck!
  • fridayjustleft04
    fridayjustleft04 Posts: 851 Member
    My doctor told me that the main source of cholesterol is animal products, specifically meat. I would start by cutting way down on that. I have slightly elevated cholesterol, which I got from my dad. That's when my doc told me to eat less meat. Only problem with that is that I'm a vegetarian. Lol..he pretty much ran out of suggestions after that except "exercise more". Good luck!
  • Barneystinson
    Barneystinson Posts: 1,357 Member
    Processed sugars and starches are the things you should be severely limiting. These increase triglycerides and LDL levels.
  • irridia
    irridia Posts: 527 Member
    Pretty much what every one else said, oatmeal good, fatty fish good,
    ground flaxseed, but buy it whole and grind in a coffee grinder as you use it, and keep it cool. Whole Grains, fruit and veg, advacado, coconut oil, olive oil, naicin but beware of flushing/itching, start low and work your way up if you go that route. Vitamin D.
    keep reading too because dietary discoveries seem to be happening daily.
  • aacosta11
    aacosta11 Posts: 16
    Thank you all for your suggestions. i will definitely go out and by lots and lots of oatmeal. Went to the store last night and stocked up on fruit and veggies too. Good luck to all of you on your journeys :happy:
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