What is the best foods and/or ways to eat to lower cholesterol?
Madi365
Posts: 1 Member
Hi There,
I just found out that I have genetically been gifted with high cholesterol. I am actually on the low side of my acceptable weight range and work out for 50 min. 4-6 days a week. The only thing left to improve and see if it helps is to manipulate my diet to lower my numbers hopefully. I want to avoid any medication if possible.
So is there any one who has good information on diet modification to lower cholesterol or can relate to my situation?
I just found out that I have genetically been gifted with high cholesterol. I am actually on the low side of my acceptable weight range and work out for 50 min. 4-6 days a week. The only thing left to improve and see if it helps is to manipulate my diet to lower my numbers hopefully. I want to avoid any medication if possible.
So is there any one who has good information on diet modification to lower cholesterol or can relate to my situation?
0
Replies
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What did your doctor suggest?1
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I'll suggest a non-dietary prevention. Get better at handling stress.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/34047.php
https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend/transcript?language=en
https://hbr.org/2013/12/reduce-stress-with-mindfulness1 -
Check out Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease and Forks Over Knives for a good starting place. A whole foods plant based diet will lower cholesterol. My cardiologist put me on this diet and I have had some very good results.
Foods that help lower cholesterol are oatmeal, beans, peas and lentils, greens, vegetables, whole grains and fruit.3 -
It used to be thought that one avoided high cholesterol in their blood by avoiding high cholesterol food. It turns that dietary cholesterol (eating it) has little effect on serum cholesterol (blood cholesterol numbers).
There are three diet changes now known to help reduce serum cholesterol. One is avoiding transfats completely. Two is replacing saturated fats with mono- and poly-unsaturated fats, e.g. replacing beef with tree nuts, replacing butter with olive oil. The third is increasing consumption of whole grains, vegetables and fruit.
Finally, there is a non-diet way to reduce "bad" cholesterol and increase the "good" and that's exercise.
One caveat: there are some people for whom the consumption of dietary cholesterol directly affects serum cholesterol. The only way to find out if you are one of these people is through testing of various diets in consultation with a doctor and repeated cholesterol screening.
My favorite place for keeping track of the most scientifically accurate and up-to-date information on the effects of diet on health is Harvard's Nutritionsource, a great site aimed at consumers. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2 -
One year ago I had very high cholesterol. Although it appeared to be hereditary, it was more a result of my eating habits. Butter was replaced with Smart Balance spread; corn oil was replaced with olive oil. No more Crisco or lard-like ingredients in my recipes. Hotdogs, breakfast sausage, bacon, and most cheeses were avoided. More fish and less red meat. I stopped eating most fried foods and ordered my meals grilled or blackened. The biggest factors in bringing my numbers down to normal were avoiding trans fats and monitoring saturated fats. Eating eggs and shellfish did cause my cholesterol to spike because I could not eat enough fiber to keep the cholesterol from absorbing into my system. I still eat eggs but sparingly.
I also check the ingredient labels for partially hydrogenated oils. They can be found in many seasonings and boxed dinners. They should be avoided if you need to lower your cholesterol.1 -
What was high? triglycerides? HDL? LDL? Lp (a)? Total cholesterol (the most useless test)?
LCHF and ketogenic diets seem to help most people lower cholesterol, meaning triglycerides drops, LDL often changes ito a healthier less dense form, and HDL goes up. Total cholesterol may increase but risk of CAD drops. Only those not up to date in current lipid panel thinking would say it's a bad thing.
Read Cholesterol Clarity or the Great Cholesterol Myth. Peter Attia has a great blog series on cholesterol and heart disease.
http://eatingacademy.com/cholesterol-2/heart-disease-begin-tell-us-prevention
http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/how-did-we-come-to-believe-saturated-fat-and-cholesterol-are-bad-for-us
http://eatingacademy.com/category/cholesterol-2/page/3
http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-part-i0 -
Hi There,
I just found out that I have genetically been gifted with high cholesterol. I am actually on the low side of my acceptable weight range and work out for 50 min. 4-6 days a week. The only thing left to improve and see if it helps is to manipulate my diet to lower my numbers hopefully. I want to avoid any medication if possible.
So is there any one who has good information on diet modification to lower cholesterol or can relate to my situation?
What are your numbers? If you just found out you may have a genetic tendency toward high cholesterol (I THOUGHT I did) get tested, then follow your doctor's recommendations. I brought my numbers into a good range by losing 50 pounds, eating sensibly, and getting lots of exercise. I was taking meds and now don't. All the above advise from others is worth listening to.0 -
Hi There,
I just found out that I have genetically been gifted with high cholesterol. I am actually on the low side of my acceptable weight range and work out for 50 min. 4-6 days a week. The only thing left to improve and see if it helps is to manipulate my diet to lower my numbers hopefully. I want to avoid any medication if possible.
So is there any one who has good information on diet modification to lower cholesterol or can relate to my situation?
Welcome to the club.
By lowering my weight, continuing to exercise, and adding foods known to lower cholesterol - I was able to drop my numbers to perfect numbers without using the statin medication that I took for years.
Two years off the meds now and maintaining perfect numbers thanks to the discipline.
Every day, I try to grab several items off my list to include in my daily consumption:
Cinnamon - every morning on my cereal
Oats
Apples - red skin preferred
Grapes - red
Strawberries
Red Wine - YES!
Grape Juice
Salmon
Soy
Nuts
Green Tea
Beans/Legumes
Dark Chocolate
Garlic
Olive Oil
Spinach
Avocado
Carrots
Psyllium
Tomatoes
Attacking the midsection remains a top priority. The picture on the left is the golden ticket when combined with the dietary foods listed above...
2 -
SingingSingleTracker wrote: »Hi There,
I just found out that I have genetically been gifted with high cholesterol. I am actually on the low side of my acceptable weight range and work out for 50 min. 4-6 days a week. The only thing left to improve and see if it helps is to manipulate my diet to lower my numbers hopefully. I want to avoid any medication if possible.
So is there any one who has good information on diet modification to lower cholesterol or can relate to my situation?
Welcome to the club.
By lowering my weight, continuing to exercise, and adding foods known to lower cholesterol - I was able to drop my numbers to perfect numbers without using the statin medication that I took for years.
Two years off the meds now and maintaining perfect numbers thanks to the discipline.
Every day, I try to grab several items off my list to include in my daily consumption:
Cinnamon - every morning on my cereal
Oats
Apples - red skin preferred
Grapes - red
Strawberries
Red Wine - YES!
Grape Juice
Salmon
Soy
Nuts
Green Tea
Beans/Legumes
Dark Chocolate
Garlic
Olive Oil
Spinach
Avocado
Carrots
Psyllium
Tomatoes
Attacking the midsection remains a top priority. The picture on the left is the golden ticket when combined with the dietary foods listed above...
This is my goal. Started Crestor on 9/15/16 & I'm giving myself one year to get my body together AND GET OFF THIS MEDICATION. Statins have so many negative side effects. I won't be on this forever!0 -
MiamiSeoul wrote: »This is my goal. Started Crestor on 9/15/16 & I'm giving myself one year to get my body together AND GET OFF THIS MEDICATION. Statins have so many negative side effects. I won't be on this forever!
All the best on reaching that goal. I was - or thought I was - in good shape. Turns out, I had to drop another 15-20 pounds (a spare tire) as I was stuck in the "skinny fat" syndrome at 6'4" and 180-185 pounds. Yet I had visceral fat that needed to be shed. So I dropped down to the 165-170 weight range, which when combined with the food list above did the trick.
Statins were messing with my memory big time, so it has been glorious to gain that back.
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