Trying to gain while lowering my cholesterol...

caloriesnme
caloriesnme Posts: 6 Member
edited November 28 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hi guys.. so I'm a female 29 years old, 128 lbs and I'm 5'7". I would like to be at 145-150. I have hypothyroidism and when I saw my Doc last week she stated that my cholesterol is a little high and my iron was fairly low. Started taki g Iron supplements.

So I would like to know if you guys have any suggestions as to what types of foods can help me gain weight all the while lowering my cholesterol?!...
Thanks ;-)

Replies

  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    Why do you want to gain weight? You're at a healthy BMI now. Do you want to gain muscle?
  • mikejholmes
    mikejholmes Posts: 291 Member
    So you want to stay away from foods with high fat to lower your cholesterol. Avoid red meats, nuts, avocado, etc. You should be OK with carbs, but your focus (I'm assuming you're looking to build muscle), should complete proteins. Poultry, whey protein -- go nuts.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    I found that exercise had a lot to do with lowering my cholesterol. Years ago, I tried vegan substitutes for meat and dairy, and only lowered my cholesterol by about 25 pts. After starting to exercise, cardio and weights, I lost weight and lowered my cholesterol by almost 100 pts. Having your weight in a healthy range, eating healthy foods, and working hard should have a positive impact on cholesterol levels.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    edited January 2016
    mikejholmes wrote: »
    So you want to stay away from foods with high fat to lower your cholesterol. Avoid red meats, nuts, avocado, etc. You should be OK with carbs, but your focus (I'm assuming you're looking to build muscle), should complete proteins. Poultry, whey protein -- go nuts.

    high fat for most people wont raise cholesterol, for me I avoided those things and guess what? my cholesterol elevated. for me what lowered my cholesterol was going lower carb. 150g or less. that brought it down to more than half of what the numbers were in less than 6 months(its back up now because I eat higher carbs). exercise and losing weight did nothing for me. it all depends on the person. if you are at a healthy weight. gaining weight can raise cholesterol too but I developed mine when I was at a healthy weight,I did the low cholesterol diet the dr gave me and it raised. I gained weight eventually and it stayed the same. then I lost weight and it was still high so they gave me meds. . I dont take them now for many reasons, but you may be the kind of person who needs meds to lower it. not everyone will but some people do.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    Yes, I think lower carb/less sugar esp. Helps a lot. I forgot that part in my first post.
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited January 2016
    To lower total cholesterol:
    Plain oatmeal, Salmon, Nuts, Beans, Olive oil (to replace other fats), Spinach, Avocado
    http://www.prevention.com/health/health-concerns/how-lower-cholesterol-naturally Avocado is #12
    High fiber cereals, Almonds, Whey Protein
    http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/cholesterol/art-20045192?pg=2
    Exercise is best for your HDL. For me, a high fiber, plant based diet has done wonders. I did a high (good) carb and high fiber diet. Note: Alcohol messes everything up.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    I thought the body produced it's own cholesterol, from being in an excess calorie environment. This is why all those Atkins folk dropped cholesterol while eating high density protein and fat yet having a calorie deficit.(by default)
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    Yeah, my mom always drops her cholesterol when starting the south beach diet, it is lower carb like Atkins in the beginning. I think working out also helps a lot, esp. with your hdl/ldl ratio.
  • ejbronte
    ejbronte Posts: 867 Member
    My LDL is too high, and neither my doctor nor I want me to start medication. She made me promise to have, every day: oatmeal, fish oil, flax seed. So, I do have at least one serving of oatmeal every day, and I take a fish oil/flax see combo vitamin every morning. In December, I had bloodwork done and the LDL had dropped by about 65 points from its September score (HDL went up a little bit, and total cholesterol dropped a nice bit).

    So my recommendation is oatmeal, flax seed and fish oil.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    ejbronte wrote: »
    My LDL is too high, and neither my doctor nor I want me to start medication. She made me promise to have, every day: oatmeal, fish oil, flax seed. So, I do have at least one serving of oatmeal every day, and I take a fish oil/flax see combo vitamin every morning. In December, I had bloodwork done and the LDL had dropped by about 65 points from its September score (HDL went up a little bit, and total cholesterol dropped a nice bit).

    So my recommendation is oatmeal, flax seed and fish oil.

    Just out of interest, did anything else change firing this period? Did you lose weight, or feel smaller in your clothes?
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    ejbronte wrote: »
    My LDL is too high, and neither my doctor nor I want me to start medication. She made me promise to have, every day: oatmeal, fish oil, flax seed. So, I do have at least one serving of oatmeal every day, and I take a fish oil/flax see combo vitamin every morning. In December, I had bloodwork done and the LDL had dropped by about 65 points from its September score (HDL went up a little bit, and total cholesterol dropped a nice bit).

    So my recommendation is oatmeal, flax seed and fish oil.

    I did all this and continue to do so and mine shot back up. its not going to work for everyone though. for me lowering carbs brought mine down. but thats not going to work for everyone either.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    Springfield1970 wrote: »
    I thought the body produced it's own cholesterol, from being in an excess calorie environment. This is why all those Atkins folk dropped cholesterol while eating high density protein and fat yet having a calorie deficit.(by default)

    not always true. some people produce too much and some dont produce enough or none at all-which is a rare disease that causes it not to be produced at all. I developed cholesterol when I was at a normal weight 15 years ago).then I gained weight over those 15 years.cholesterol was still really high. they put me on a low cholesterol diet. it did nothing,took those many years and it lowered it some but not much, then figured Id lose weight and that still didnt make much difference,so several months ago I decided to go lower carb(not low carb) and my cholesterol for the first time in 15 years went down dramatically. it went down over half of what it was. still high but better. then I started eating a higher amount of carbs and its back up again just not as high. so for some losing weight wont make a difference and for some that can mean it will climb as well because the dr told me that it can be stored in fat cells and when you lose weight it can be released into the blood stream as it has to go somewhere.not sure how true this is or not but mine did go up when I started losing weight. especially the "particles" part
  • ejbronte
    ejbronte Posts: 867 Member
    Springfield1970 wrote: »
    ejbronte wrote: »
    My LDL is too high, and neither my doctor nor I want me to start medication. She made me promise to have, every day: oatmeal, fish oil, flax seed. So, I do have at least one serving of oatmeal every day, and I take a fish oil/flax see combo vitamin every morning. In December, I had bloodwork done and the LDL had dropped by about 65 points from its September score (HDL went up a little bit, and total cholesterol dropped a nice bit).

    So my recommendation is oatmeal, flax seed and fish oil.

    Just out of interest, did anything else change firing this period? Did you lose weight, or feel smaller in your clothes?

    Not really - but I had already started maintenance at that point. We were both surprised to see the LDL go up after my losing about 30 pounds. I was kind of hoping to feel more energetic or something, but things felt and pretty much stayed the same. I was easily able to switch from dry cereal to gloppy oatmeal (you can tell how thrilled I was about it!). The fish oil and flax seed combo pill added nothing to weight gain.

    Now, also at this time, my sister-in-law suggested that during weightloss phase, I had cut out things which *had* controlled the LDL. And yes. I had stopped all wine intake - I used to have a glass or so every few days. So I added back in around 4 oz of red wine every day or so, along with a little dark chocolate every few days. NOW I had to rejigger macros and CI a bit. With the addition of red wine and chocolate, I did gain around 2 or 3 pounds, but got back into gear and am now at a comfortable 106/105 pounds.
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
    Hi, op. I have had pretty high cholesterol since I was a child. For me, it's hereditary. I've always been lean or skinny fat tops. I even tried being vegan/vegetarian and that didn't matter. Not much difference diet wise. Also, I am healthy. I've been training since 2000 seriously but active prior. I guess what I'm leading to is this: I quit trying to lower my cholesterol. I'm not giving advice, but don't really believe it's a fatal condition anymore. Not everyone with high cholesterol develops heart disease. Not everyone with heart disease had high cholesterol. Anyway, if it's not hereditary you probably have better chances than I at dropping it. I eat whole eggs and bacon and feel healthy. I do have high HDL and it balances out LDL. My triglycerides were 59 last I checked.
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