Diet to lower cholesterol

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amandadunwoody
amandadunwoody Posts: 204 Member
in Food and Nutrition
A friend has recently been diagnosed with high cholesterol. I'm trying to help her learn the ropes of healthy eating. There's so much mixed information out there. Can you recommend any resources that give reliable info on a heart healthy diet?
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  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Cholesterol/Cholesterol_UCM_001089_SubHomePage.jsp
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
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    High fat / low carb is a proven diet for: Increasing HDL, lowering triglycerides and increasing LDL particle size.

    That being said it's not for everyone and if your friend just ate a balanced diet, in a calorie deficit and exercised, they would probably see an improvement.

    High cholesterol isn't necessarily a bad thing. The cholesterol we get in out diet really has no bearing on our cholesterol level (those levels are determined by your body) on account of the fact it is a essential hormone that your body naturally produces.

    If your friend maybe just tries to reduce the amount of inflammatory foods and eats more food high in anti oxidants it will probably help as well.

  • amandadunwoody
    amandadunwoody Posts: 204 Member
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    Wow that's so interesting @tennisdude2004. She's been avoiding fat and ice been trying to encourage her that good fats are super important. I have not found anything recommending high fat /low carb. Is there a site with info that you can recommend?
  • Melmo1988
    Melmo1988 Posts: 293 Member
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    Look up Atkins diet (same as high fat/low carb) and read Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution, it'll explain it all :)
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
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    amandadunwoody wrote: »
    Wow that's so interesting @tennisdude2004. She's been avoiding fat and ice been trying to encourage her that good fats are super important. I have not found anything recommending high fat /low carb. Is there a site with info that you can recommend?

    Good fats are important.

    Eat mostly:
    Saturated Fat
    Monounsaturated fat

    Limit:
    Polyunsaturated fat (focus on omega 3 when you have your polyunsaturated fat).

    And if possible avoid:
    Man Made trans fats
    interesterfied fats

  • amandadunwoody
    amandadunwoody Posts: 204 Member
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    queenliz99 wrote: »
    http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Cholesterol/Cholesterol_UCM_001089_SubHomePage.jsp
    I looked at the link and will definitely go back and check it out later.

    Thanks for the info everyone.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    when I did lower carb(100g) for awhile it did make a big improvement in my cholesterol. the numbers went down half on some to more than half on others, mine is also hereditary as well.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    I also had elevated cholesterol numbers but I got my weight in check and I exercise everyday.
  • NewMeSM75
    NewMeSM75 Posts: 971 Member
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    When I lowered mine enough to cut my meds in half, I exercised (doesn't have to massive amounts. A walk after dinner helps); stopped frying my foods, baked most of my meats, changed to olive oil and ate really high fiber foods. It's amazing how sweet and flavorful roasted vegetables are; even radishes are great.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    I took up MFP, lost 50 pounds, started eating oatmeal w/ fruit, berries, walnuts (any tree nut will do), chia seeds and almond milk daily. Added running 25 miles a week to my routine and dropped my bad cholesterol over fifty points. Blood pressure is down too. I cut back on breads and potatoes and gave up fast food & fries.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    The most proven method for improving lipid profile is aerobic exercise. Diet wise, the Mediterranean Diet is probably the most proven. Olive oil, nuts, beans, vegetables and exercise. It works.
  • amandadunwoody
    amandadunwoody Posts: 204 Member
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    Great to hear your success stories! Her carbs are coming mostly from fresh veggies and beans, eating lean meats, and no more sausage, bacon, deep fried food, or processed cookies etc. We're walking a few times per week and working her towards doing more. Thanks for all of the information.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    edited September 2015
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    I've personally found a Mediterranean inspired diet to work quite well...and it's very balanced and full of nutrition. I personally think the whole low carb/keto thing is very cultish at the moment...
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Tell your friend to go back to her dr and get instructions. Is she truly going to follow advice based on the replies you get from strangers on the internet? What if the advice is contradictory? Or if you get an eating plan that will no work because of other medical issues your friend might have? She needs to go back to the dr and get an eating plan. if her dr cannot do this, then she should see a dietitian or see if the local hospital has a department dealing with this. There a few standard approaches about lifestyle changes.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    I agree she needs to see a dr/dietitian, but they instructed me to follow a low cholesterol diet which meant cutting out fats,oils,eggs, fatty meats,full fat dairy,eggs,and so on. that did not work at all even after exercise and losing weight. it even made my cholesterol worse. for me I had to stop meds due to the health problems they were given me(I dont recommend going off them unless the dr says its ok). but I stopped my meds and ate lower carb,not low carb but lower carb and that is what made the biggest difference. I was also eating eggs,full fat dairy,etc again, and it still went down.Drs will tell you to follow the low cholesterol diet and exercise. for some that may work for others exercise and lower carb will help. everyone is different.its not going to hurt to try lower carb(I dont mean keto either,unless you want to try that).It wont hurt to try the Mediterranean diet either. I would say try one for awhile and then have bloodwork done. if that is helping then stick with it as long as its not causing any other health issues.of course clear it with a dr first but sometimes drs think that certain foods causes cholesterol to raise and thats usually not the case. also cholesterol can be hereditary or caused by other health issues,so make sure she has no other health issues causing it.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    The most proven method for improving lipid profile is aerobic exercise. Diet wise, the Mediterranean Diet is probably the most proven. Olive oil, nuts, beans, vegetables and exercise. It works.

    And adding wine to raise those HDL...MMMMM wine
  • Traveler120
    Traveler120 Posts: 712 Member
    edited September 2015
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    amandadunwoody wrote: »
    A friend has recently been diagnosed with high cholesterol. I'm trying to help her learn the ropes of healthy eating. There's so much mixed information out there. Can you recommend any resources that give reliable info on a heart healthy diet?
    In this study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4338379/, a patient with angina and a family history of heart disease dropped his LDL from 158 to 69 mg/dl in four months of eating a plant-based diet. At the 2 yr checkup, he was symptom free and still off meds and didn't need surgery.

    I started a plant-based diet 2 months ago to reduce my LDL which was 113 (should be under 100) even after exercising for 6 months and getting down to 135 lbs. I'll be checking it again at the 3 month mark to see if it's working. All other labs were normal.
  • mrs_j_smith
    mrs_j_smith Posts: 24 Member
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    Google the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) Eating Plan. Here's the link to the PDF http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/chol_tlc.pdf. Yes, I know it's the government and they can't be trusted (I kid), but the TLC is a good guide to follow. Good luck!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,389 MFP Moderator
    edited September 2015
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    Personally weight loss and exercise had the greatest impact on cholesterol for me, except for LDL because genetics.. so thank you genetics for that one.
  • amandadunwoody
    amandadunwoody Posts: 204 Member
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    @aggelikik Yeah, I know it was a shot in the dark!

    Yes, the responses here have been all over the place. The info on the internet is all over the place. Most docs and dieticians are parroting the FDA guidelines they learned in school with little new info. And the FDA says every couple of years that they were wrong about everything... So again thanks lol. I feel like regardless of the details she is on the right path with cutting out processed pork, deep fried everything, and junk food. She's supposed to go back in 6 months but I'll ask her if she had thought about asking to see a dietitian.

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