Let's talk about cholesterol
quebot
Posts: 99 Member
Ok- I've been struggling with this for a few years now among other things. In the beginning, I was told to monitor dietary cholesterol input, but I'm reading now that that's not a thing? Dr told me to monitor it, but he sometimes advises old fashioned things. Ok. Now I'm really curious. What do I do now? If my diet isn't causing it, what does? And if it's genetic, is there a way to remedy it without meds? I'd love to know what you know about this. If anyone has experience lowering your numbers, I'd love to know how. I was watching my numbers, but if that's not going to do anything, I wanna do the thing that will make an actual difference.
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Replies
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This is helpful: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/cholesterol/The types of fat in the diet help determine the amount of total, HDL, and LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream. The types and amount of carbohydrate in the diet also play a role. Cholesterol in food matters, too, but not nearly as much....
For most people, the amount of cholesterol eaten has only a modest impact on the amount of cholesterol circulating in the blood. (24) For some people, though, blood cholesterol levels rise and fall very strongly in relation to the amount of cholesterol eaten. For these “responders,” avoiding cholesterol-rich foods can have a substantial effect on blood cholesterol levels. Unfortunately, at this point there is no way other than by trial and error to identify responders from non-responders to dietary cholesterol.
Basically, for most people, dietary cholesterol doesn't matter. It is perhaps worth experimenting to see if it matters for you. Some people also find that the amount of sat fat makes a difference (https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/), some don't find that to be true. My dad lowered his cholesterol by cutting back on red meat and dairy fat and just generally eating a better diet (he wasn't overweight, and he loves whole grains and eats a lot of them).
On the other hand, refined grains and sugar also often worsen cholesterol.
Many people find that just losing weight helps a lot. Losing weight plus a traditionally healthful diet (which would cut back on sat fat, refined grains, and sugar) would seem like a place to start (if you have weight to lose, of course).
I'd say ask to be referred to a dietitian if possible, as the dietitian is more likely to be up to date with helping people fix cholesterol through diet.9 -
I think total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol mean next to nothing.
Low HDL can be an indicator of problems, as can high triglycerides.
Dietary cholesterol tend not to affect those numbers.
Carbs will negatively affect those numbers but not all carbs: refined grains and added sugars tend to be the main problem.
Fats will tend to bring up HDL and lower triglycerides, with monounstaurated fats, and polyunsaturated fats (but not vegetable oils), seem to help a great deal. Saturated fats tend to affect people differently. Most find saturated fats are relatively neutral.
Peter Attia's blog has a great series of on cholesterol and heart health. I also like the books Cholesterol Myth, The Great Cholesterol Con, and Cholesterol Clarity.5 -
I know genetics play a significant role but here is my experience. I came to MFP with a large beer gut that I wanted to lose. I also had my blood work done and was thinking that it was good. My daughter (nursing school) was looking at the results and said dad this isn't all that good. My cholesterol was creeping up along with my blood pressure. I started counting calories and changed my diet, no more burger & fries for lunch or sitting down with a bag of chips & dip. Eggs bacon with buttered toast changed to oatmeal nuts & fruit. Steak with bread and a loaded baked potato became lean fish and veggies. Sedentary became running 30 miles a week. I dropped my cholesterol over 50 points, raised my good cholesterol and lost 50 pounds. I changed so many things I doubt I will ever know what lowered it but its worth a try. Because of all the side effects, my goal is to go as long as I can without taking any medication.6
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This is super helpful. I am working with a nutritionist, but I may have blocked out a few things she said because for the most part she was repeating everything my doctor said, So I may need to talk with her more about this because I may have missed something. I go back to see her next week and I'm looking forward to what she has to say about this. Hard boiled eggs are my comfort food and I want them back in my life.0
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In the real world, there are restrictions when it comes to food and cholesterol: avoiding animal fats, avoiding fried food, eating lots of fiber etc.
In the interner, including MFP, not so much... So it is a matter of what you think is more likely: your dr, who has trained for years in medicine does not know how to deal with a very common medical condition and is not up to date (because for example he is illiterate and cannot read medical journals and peer reviewed studies on the issue to get up to date) so you trust a bunch of strangers who can google, or your dr might actually know something more than the random hairdresser, musician, computer scientist, plumber etc who replies on such topics
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I have high cholesterol. Eggs didn't really effect my number either way. What helped mine other than medicines since mine is hereditary is high fiber, low fat and exercise.
I agree with you. Having a talk with nutritionist is definitely feasible.1 -
OP - the issue with media is that it is by nature hyperbolic. The source studies rarely if ever take a strong point to eliminating certain foods; however this gets conflated into "Why eggs may kill you and your children - story at 11".
As others have stated from the research - dietary cholesterol has little impact on serum cholesterol.
...and please keep eating eggs. One of the potential reasons we are dealing with a population increase in Alzheimer's is people eliminating eggs from their diet in the 1980s and depriving themselves of the needed proteins.3 -
In the real world, there are restrictions when it comes to food and cholesterol: avoiding animal fats, avoiding fried food, eating lots of fiber etc.
In the interner, including MFP, not so much... So it is a matter of what you think is more likely: your dr, who has trained for years in medicine does not know how to deal with a very common medical condition and is not up to date (because for example he is illiterate and cannot read medical journals and peer reviewed studies on the issue to get up to date) so you trust a bunch of strangers who can google, or your dr might actually know something more than the random hairdresser, musician, computer scientist, plumber etc who replies on such topics
I hear ya, but I also know (as someone who deals with Dr's in my profession daily) that Doctors are often busy working and sometimes do not read recent studies. At times they might have read them but have personal non-evidence based bias because they are human. I am simply hoping to get some talking points to discuss with him as well as my nutrition to make sure I'm going at this in a way that will yield a difference without sacrificing something my body my need. I feel like it's our personal responsibility to become informed and be joint decision makers with our care providers. I am a huge fan of evidnce-based care and I want to do my best to bring that out of my care provider. I'm already learning a lot. The input here is giving me a jumping point to ask the right questions, jump into my own research, and have a good convo with my care provider to make sure the plan we are making is scientifically based and not out of habit or bias.4 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »This is helpful: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/cholesterol/The types of fat in the diet help determine the amount of total, HDL, and LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream. The types and amount of carbohydrate in the diet also play a role. Cholesterol in food matters, too, but not nearly as much....
For most people, the amount of cholesterol eaten has only a modest impact on the amount of cholesterol circulating in the blood. (24) For some people, though, blood cholesterol levels rise and fall very strongly in relation to the amount of cholesterol eaten. For these “responders,” avoiding cholesterol-rich foods can have a substantial effect on blood cholesterol levels. Unfortunately, at this point there is no way other than by trial and error to identify responders from non-responders to dietary cholesterol.
Basically, for most people, dietary cholesterol doesn't matter. It is perhaps worth experimenting to see if it matters for you. Some people also find that the amount of sat fat makes a difference (https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/), some don't find that to be true. My dad lowered his cholesterol by cutting back on red meat and dairy fat and just generally eating a better diet (he wasn't overweight, and he loves whole grains and eats a lot of them).
On the other hand, refined grains and sugar also often worsen cholesterol.
Many people find that just losing weight helps a lot. Losing weight plus a traditionally healthful diet (which would cut back on sat fat, refined grains, and sugar) would seem like a place to start (if you have weight to lose, of course).
I'd say ask to be referred to a dietitian if possible, as the dietitian is more likely to be up to date with helping people fix cholesterol through diet.
I agree with everything here. I had high cholesterol, doc was reaching for pills, but i really wanted to challenge myself to see what i could do without that. But everyone is different, so what worked for me (cutting out all animal products, even though my diet was very good before) may not work for you, but what didn't work for me (losing weight, increasing cardio to be fairly intensive) just might. You won't know until you decide on what you're going to try first and then committing yourself to just doing it the very best you can.
The "good" thing about cholesterol is that you can see improvements quite quickly with some changes. 4 weeks was all it took for me.
Oh and i agree with ignoring the media. I'd look for the actual studies themselves and the Harvard link is as good a place to start as any.3 -
Following - I have the same questions1
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In the real world, there are restrictions when it comes to food and cholesterol: avoiding animal fats, avoiding fried food, eating lots of fiber etc.
In the interner, including MFP, not so much... So it is a matter of what you think is more likely: your dr, who has trained for years in medicine does not know how to deal with a very common medical condition and is not up to date (because for example he is illiterate and cannot read medical journals and peer reviewed studies on the issue to get up to date) so you trust a bunch of strangers who can google, or your dr might actually know something more than the random hairdresser, musician, computer scientist, plumber etc who replies on such topics
I hear ya, but I also know (as someone who deals with Dr's in my profession daily) that Doctors are often busy working and sometimes do not read recent studies. At times they might have read them but have personal non-evidence based bias because they are human. I am simply hoping to get some talking points to discuss with him as well as my nutrition to make sure I'm going at this in a way that will yield a difference without sacrificing something my body my need. I feel like it's our personal responsibility to become informed and be joint decision makers with our care providers. I am a huge fan of evidnce-based care and I want to do my best to bring that out of my care provider. I'm already learning a lot. The input here is giving me a jumping point to ask the right questions, jump into my own research, and have a good convo with my care provider to make sure the plan we are making is scientifically based and not out of habit or bias.
I agree on being informed but I am pretty sure that if there is some valid information out there that "everyone" knows, the dr knows it too, as he/she also reads at least the news. On the other hand "everybody" probably just sees some news headlines, where the news are already distorted, has no scientific background to interpret the news, and often jumps to some arbitrary conclusion that is convenient
For the cholesterol example, I see a lot things like "eat as many eggs and bacon as you like" on the internet. When asking our pediatrician (my youngest child has cholesterol issues, genetic), she explained that the current research proved that up to an egg per day is safe, that the 5 egg omelettes I have been reading about are not medically recommended and that food high in animal fat is off limits. So, yes to a 2 egg omelette every other day, loaded with vegetables, no to the daily 2 egg with sausages breakfast. With this info, doing my own research on the original Harvard study from where all the "dietary cholesterol is not important" started from, I also verified that what was initially written and recommended and what many sites on the internet communicated are two very different things.
Now, if a dr cannot explain, or is not willing to discuss things with you, then personally I would be looking for a new dr. There are bad professionals in every job, and a dr can be bored, rude, or just ignorant, like everyone else. If I cannot trust my dr to give up to date advice on something as trivial as cholesterol issues, I would not trust him/her for anythign more complicated either.3 -
In the real world, there are restrictions when it comes to food and cholesterol: avoiding animal fats, avoiding fried food, eating lots of fiber etc.
In the interner, including MFP, not so much... So it is a matter of what you think is more likely: your dr, who has trained for years in medicine does not know how to deal with a very common medical condition and is not up to date (because for example he is illiterate and cannot read medical journals and peer reviewed studies on the issue to get up to date) so you trust a bunch of strangers who can google, or your dr might actually know something more than the random hairdresser, musician, computer scientist, plumber etc who replies on such topics
I hear ya, but I also know (as someone who deals with Dr's in my profession daily) that Doctors are often busy working and sometimes do not read recent studies. At times they might have read them but have personal non-evidence based bias because they are human. I am simply hoping to get some talking points to discuss with him as well as my nutrition to make sure I'm going at this in a way that will yield a difference without sacrificing something my body my need. I feel like it's our personal responsibility to become informed and be joint decision makers with our care providers. I am a huge fan of evidnce-based care and I want to do my best to bring that out of my care provider. I'm already learning a lot. The input here is giving me a jumping point to ask the right questions, jump into my own research, and have a good convo with my care provider to make sure the plan we are making is scientifically based and not out of habit or bias.
I agree on being informed but I am pretty sure that if there is some valid information out there that "everyone" knows, the dr knows it too, as he/she also reads at least the news. On the other hand "everybody" probably just sees some news headlines, where the news are already distorted, has no scientific background to interpret the news, and often jumps to some arbitrary conclusion that is convenient
For the cholesterol example, I see a lot things like "eat as many eggs and bacon as you like" on the internet. When asking our pediatrician (my youngest child has cholesterol issues, genetic), she explained that the current research proved that up to an egg per day is safe, that the 5 egg omelettes I have been reading about are not medically recommended and that food high in animal fat is off limits. So, yes to a 2 egg omelette every other day, loaded with vegetables, no to the daily 2 egg with sausages breakfast. With this info, doing my own research on the original Harvard study from where all the "dietary cholesterol is not important" started from, I also verified that what was initially written and recommended and what many sites on the internet communicated are two very different things.
Now, if a dr cannot explain, or is not willing to discuss things with you, then personally I would be looking for a new dr. There are bad professionals in every job, and a dr can be bored, rude, or just ignorant, like everyone else. If I cannot trust my dr to give up to date advice on something as trivial as cholesterol issues, I would not trust him/her for anythign more complicated either.
Oh! I agree! As far as talking to my dr, He'll gladly discuss this info with me when I ask more about it. I simply didn't ask at my last visits because I didn't know to ask. The cholesterol info I'm reading is new to me. I'm not big on animal fats. Since I effed up my digestive system (untreated celiac for years), I can't tolerate a lot of animal fat. I can tolerate very little. But ❤I love hard boiled eggs❤ with a big love. It's easy for me to want to eat at least one or two a day. I quit doing it daily because it was using up my daily budget of cholesterol, but now I'm curious if it's that big of a deal.
Someone posted in the forums (I wish I remember who) about something they read about cholesterol levels increasing because of stress (related to the fight or flight response). My cholesterol levels skyrocketed when I was going through divorce, and I am hoping to look more into that too and talk to my dr about it. Does anyone have any experience with that?
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In the real world, there are restrictions when it comes to food and cholesterol: avoiding animal fats, avoiding fried food, eating lots of fiber etc.
In the interner, including MFP, not so much... So it is a matter of what you think is more likely: your dr, who has trained for years in medicine does not know how to deal with a very common medical condition and is not up to date (because for example he is illiterate and cannot read medical journals and peer reviewed studies on the issue to get up to date) so you trust a bunch of strangers who can google, or your dr might actually know something more than the random hairdresser, musician, computer scientist, plumber etc who replies on such topics
I hear ya, but I also know (as someone who deals with Dr's in my profession daily) that Doctors are often busy working and sometimes do not read recent studies. At times they might have read them but have personal non-evidence based bias because they are human. I am simply hoping to get some talking points to discuss with him as well as my nutrition to make sure I'm going at this in a way that will yield a difference without sacrificing something my body my need. I feel like it's our personal responsibility to become informed and be joint decision makers with our care providers. I am a huge fan of evidnce-based care and I want to do my best to bring that out of my care provider. I'm already learning a lot. The input here is giving me a jumping point to ask the right questions, jump into my own research, and have a good convo with my care provider to make sure the plan we are making is scientifically based and not out of habit or bias.
I agree on being informed but I am pretty sure that if there is some valid information out there that "everyone" knows, the dr knows it too, as he/she also reads at least the news. On the other hand "everybody" probably just sees some news headlines, where the news are already distorted, has no scientific background to interpret the news, and often jumps to some arbitrary conclusion that is convenient
For the cholesterol example, I see a lot things like "eat as many eggs and bacon as you like" on the internet. When asking our pediatrician (my youngest child has cholesterol issues, genetic), she explained that the current research proved that up to an egg per day is safe, that the 5 egg omelettes I have been reading about are not medically recommended and that food high in animal fat is off limits. So, yes to a 2 egg omelette every other day, loaded with vegetables, no to the daily 2 egg with sausages breakfast. With this info, doing my own research on the original Harvard study from where all the "dietary cholesterol is not important" started from, I also verified that what was initially written and recommended and what many sites on the internet communicated are two very different things.
Now, if a dr cannot explain, or is not willing to discuss things with you, then personally I would be looking for a new dr. There are bad professionals in every job, and a dr can be bored, rude, or just ignorant, like everyone else. If I cannot trust my dr to give up to date advice on something as trivial as cholesterol issues, I would not trust him/her for anythign more complicated either.
Oh! I agree! As far as talking to my dr, He'll gladly discuss this info with me when I ask more about it. I simply didn't ask at my last visits because I didn't know to ask. The cholesterol info I'm reading is new to me. I'm not big on animal fats. Since I effed up my digestive system (untreated celiac for years), I can't tolerate a lot of animal fat. I can tolerate very little. But ❤I love hard boiled eggs❤ with a big love. It's easy for me to want to eat at least one or two a day. I quit doing it daily because it was using up my daily budget of cholesterol, but now I'm curious if it's that big of a deal.
Someone posted in the forums (I wish I remember who) about something they read about cholesterol levels increasing because of stress (related to the fight or flight response). My cholesterol levels skyrocketed when I was going through divorce, and I am hoping to look more into that too and talk to my dr about it. Does anyone have any experience with that?
I have a friend with some serious gastrointestinal issues (not sure of the diagnosis) but she has been mainly eating fish, vegetables and rice the last few years or she gets in serious pain. She can eat eggs, but little to no meat, no dairy and very little bread, pasta etc. As a side-effect, her cholesterol which was a big problem for her, despite being at a low weight and very active, has also improved greatly. Her usual breakfast is an egg, and for the rest of the day she lives on sushi, boiled salads and some fruit.1 -
This is super helpful. I am working with a nutritionist, but I may have blocked out a few things she said because for the most part she was repeating everything my doctor said, So I may need to talk with her more about this because I may have missed something. I go back to see her next week and I'm looking forward to what she has to say about this. Hard boiled eggs are my comfort food and I want them back in my life.
Are you working with a nutritionist or an actual Registered Dietician? RD's are required to have much more education and take Continuing Education courses to maintain their license so they will be up on the latest. Nutritionists just need a bachelor's degree in something like microbiology. (If you are just calling an RD a nutritionist, you may ignore this)0 -
In the real world, there are restrictions when it comes to food and cholesterol: avoiding animal fats, avoiding fried food, eating lots of fiber etc.
In the interner, including MFP, not so much... So it is a matter of what you think is more likely: your dr, who has trained for years in medicine does not know how to deal with a very common medical condition and is not up to date (because for example he is illiterate and cannot read medical journals and peer reviewed studies on the issue to get up to date) so you trust a bunch of strangers who can google, or your dr might actually know something more than the random hairdresser, musician, computer scientist, plumber etc who replies on such topics
I hear ya, but I also know (as someone who deals with Dr's in my profession daily) that Doctors are often busy working and sometimes do not read recent studies. At times they might have read them but have personal non-evidence based bias because they are human. I am simply hoping to get some talking points to discuss with him as well as my nutrition to make sure I'm going at this in a way that will yield a difference without sacrificing something my body my need. I feel like it's our personal responsibility to become informed and be joint decision makers with our care providers. I am a huge fan of evidnce-based care and I want to do my best to bring that out of my care provider. I'm already learning a lot. The input here is giving me a jumping point to ask the right questions, jump into my own research, and have a good convo with my care provider to make sure the plan we are making is scientifically based and not out of habit or bias.
I agree on being informed but I am pretty sure that if there is some valid information out there that "everyone" knows, the dr knows it too, as he/she also reads at least the news. On the other hand "everybody" probably just sees some news headlines, where the news are already distorted, has no scientific background to interpret the news, and often jumps to some arbitrary conclusion that is convenient
For the cholesterol example, I see a lot things like "eat as many eggs and bacon as you like" on the internet. When asking our pediatrician (my youngest child has cholesterol issues, genetic), she explained that the current research proved that up to an egg per day is safe, that the 5 egg omelettes I have been reading about are not medically recommended and that food high in animal fat is off limits. So, yes to a 2 egg omelette every other day, loaded with vegetables, no to the daily 2 egg with sausages breakfast. With this info, doing my own research on the original Harvard study from where all the "dietary cholesterol is not important" started from, I also verified that what was initially written and recommended and what many sites on the internet communicated are two very different things.
Now, if a dr cannot explain, or is not willing to discuss things with you, then personally I would be looking for a new dr. There are bad professionals in every job, and a dr can be bored, rude, or just ignorant, like everyone else. If I cannot trust my dr to give up to date advice on something as trivial as cholesterol issues, I would not trust him/her for anythign more complicated either.
Oh! I agree! As far as talking to my dr, He'll gladly discuss this info with me when I ask more about it. I simply didn't ask at my last visits because I didn't know to ask. The cholesterol info I'm reading is new to me. I'm not big on animal fats. Since I effed up my digestive system (untreated celiac for years), I can't tolerate a lot of animal fat. I can tolerate very little. But ❤I love hard boiled eggs❤ with a big love. It's easy for me to want to eat at least one or two a day. I quit doing it daily because it was using up my daily budget of cholesterol, but now I'm curious if it's that big of a deal.
Someone posted in the forums (I wish I remember who) about something they read about cholesterol levels increasing because of stress (related to the fight or flight response). My cholesterol levels skyrocketed when I was going through divorce, and I am hoping to look more into that too and talk to my dr about it. Does anyone have any experience with that?
I'm another celiac who was undiagnosed for a few decades. It's amazing what you can get used to as "normal".
Anyways, After a year or two of GF eating, you intestines may heal enough to handle more foods. I got cheese and low lactose dairy products back a few years ago once my intestines healed.
I still have issues with fibre though. I can eat meat but veggies, especially raw veggies, can cause me a fair bit of pain still. I guess I am the opposite of you. I find meat to be more digestable than plant matter.
And eggs should be perfectly fine unless you are one of the rare few with familial hypercholesterolemia.
Stress definitely can wreak havoc with cholesterol levels... That may be harder to fix than if it was adiet issue though.
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This is super helpful. I am working with a nutritionist, but I may have blocked out a few things she said because for the most part she was repeating everything my doctor said, So I may need to talk with her more about this because I may have missed something. I go back to see her next week and I'm looking forward to what she has to say about this. Hard boiled eggs are my comfort food and I want them back in my life.
Are you working with a nutritionist or an actual Registered Dietician? RD's are required to have much more education and take Continuing Education courses to maintain their license so they will be up on the latest. Nutritionists just need a bachelor's degree in something like microbiology. (If you are just calling an RD a nutritionist, you may ignore this)
Yes, definitely. She is a RD, but the office calls her a nutritionist... so that's what I called her.0 -
In the real world, there are restrictions when it comes to food and cholesterol: avoiding animal fats, avoiding fried food, eating lots of fiber etc.
In the interner, including MFP, not so much... So it is a matter of what you think is more likely: your dr, who has trained for years in medicine does not know how to deal with a very common medical condition and is not up to date (because for example he is illiterate and cannot read medical journals and peer reviewed studies on the issue to get up to date) so you trust a bunch of strangers who can google, or your dr might actually know something more than the random hairdresser, musician, computer scientist, plumber etc who replies on such topics
I hear ya, but I also know (as someone who deals with Dr's in my profession daily) that Doctors are often busy working and sometimes do not read recent studies. At times they might have read them but have personal non-evidence based bias because they are human. I am simply hoping to get some talking points to discuss with him as well as my nutrition to make sure I'm going at this in a way that will yield a difference without sacrificing something my body my need. I feel like it's our personal responsibility to become informed and be joint decision makers with our care providers. I am a huge fan of evidnce-based care and I want to do my best to bring that out of my care provider. I'm already learning a lot. The input here is giving me a jumping point to ask the right questions, jump into my own research, and have a good convo with my care provider to make sure the plan we are making is scientifically based and not out of habit or bias.
I agree on being informed but I am pretty sure that if there is some valid information out there that "everyone" knows, the dr knows it too, as he/she also reads at least the news. On the other hand "everybody" probably just sees some news headlines, where the news are already distorted, has no scientific background to interpret the news, and often jumps to some arbitrary conclusion that is convenient
For the cholesterol example, I see a lot things like "eat as many eggs and bacon as you like" on the internet. When asking our pediatrician (my youngest child has cholesterol issues, genetic), she explained that the current research proved that up to an egg per day is safe, that the 5 egg omelettes I have been reading about are not medically recommended and that food high in animal fat is off limits. So, yes to a 2 egg omelette every other day, loaded with vegetables, no to the daily 2 egg with sausages breakfast. With this info, doing my own research on the original Harvard study from where all the "dietary cholesterol is not important" started from, I also verified that what was initially written and recommended and what many sites on the internet communicated are two very different things.
Now, if a dr cannot explain, or is not willing to discuss things with you, then personally I would be looking for a new dr. There are bad professionals in every job, and a dr can be bored, rude, or just ignorant, like everyone else. If I cannot trust my dr to give up to date advice on something as trivial as cholesterol issues, I would not trust him/her for anythign more complicated either.
Oh! I agree! As far as talking to my dr, He'll gladly discuss this info with me when I ask more about it. I simply didn't ask at my last visits because I didn't know to ask. The cholesterol info I'm reading is new to me. I'm not big on animal fats. Since I effed up my digestive system (untreated celiac for years), I can't tolerate a lot of animal fat. I can tolerate very little. But ❤I love hard boiled eggs❤ with a big love. It's easy for me to want to eat at least one or two a day. I quit doing it daily because it was using up my daily budget of cholesterol, but now I'm curious if it's that big of a deal.
Someone posted in the forums (I wish I remember who) about something they read about cholesterol levels increasing because of stress (related to the fight or flight response). My cholesterol levels skyrocketed when I was going through divorce, and I am hoping to look more into that too and talk to my dr about it. Does anyone have any experience with that?
I'm another celiac who was undiagnosed for a few decades. It's amazing what you can get used to as "normal".
Anyways, After a year or two of GF eating, you intestines may heal enough to handle more foods. I got cheese and low lactose dairy products back a few years ago once my intestines healed.
I still have issues with fibre though. I can eat meat but veggies, especially raw veggies, can cause me a fair bit of pain still. I guess I am the opposite of you. I find meat to be more digestable than plant matter.
And eggs should be perfectly fine unless you are one of the rare few with familial hypercholesterolemia.
Stress definitely can wreak havoc with cholesterol levels... That may be harder to fix than if it was adiet issue though.
All of this creeped up on me, because I wasn't dealing with very much pain associated with digestion. But all of the sudden I got an extreme case of intestinal bleeding that seemed like it took forever to go away. My gastro was amazed that I wasn't feeling pain. I felt slight discomfort and bloat, but that's the most I could say I felt. I did have a SUPER long list of other things that became a problem though. I actually do ok with meat. I just cut off as much fat as I can before cooking. It makes up 50% of my diet. I can't handle any grains including rice or quinoa. No dairy (although I sneak in some hard cheese occasionally and it seems to settle ok). And most veggies are fine. It's not a very diverse diet. As far as stress related cholesterol, I started therapy last month to start handling my divorce baggage. It's step one in dealing with stress. I have no idea how long it takes for your body to recover from that sort of thing. I read in one study that stress can have an affect on your body for up to 3 years. Ugh. That's no bueno. All I can do now is try to reduce it and learn to cope better/healthier.0 -
The only foods that have cholesterol are animal products. If you don't eat animals or their byproducts (dairy & eggs), you can effectively manage your cholesterol. I have genetically high cholesterol - the bad kind - but it has subsided since I began a plant based diet.
Drugs work too. That is a method many people use.
Good luck!0 -
My Dad had cholesterol issues into his 70's in spite of not being overweight and eating what, at the time, would have been considered a healthy diet. Some red meat, more poultry, some packaged foods, more traditional Canadian vegetables like carrots and corn, the odd fast food meal etc. He ended up on medication for the cholesterol which interacted with another medication, putting him into a constant state of pain, to the point where he couldn't take it anymore and just stopped taking both of them cold turkey. Spurred on by The Healthy Heart Miracle from Dr. Gabe Mirkin, overnight he switched to a diet of lots of vegetables with a huge variety, fresh fruits, real whole grains (not breads or cereals made with whole grains but the grains themselves aka, whole oats, barley, etc.)fresh and canned fish. Basically foods as fresh and unprepared and unprocessed as he could possibly get them. What he cut out was white flour, processed sugars and foods with them, all processed/packaged type meals or prepared food dishes, most poultry/red meat/pork. In 3 months his cholesterol normalized and a number of other smaller issues that he had(chronic itching, intermittent constipation, general feeling of malaise etc.) disappeared and he's never looked back. He's 87 now, at his high school weight and in the best shape of any octagenarian that I know. He takes no medications at all, only a couple of supplements like Glucosamine and Co-Q 10. Just as important, his mind and his memory are sharp as a tack. And I don't mean relative to his age, I mean relative to anyone. For example, he never touched nor wanted anything to do with computers until he decided about 4 years ago he wanted to take up flight simulation. 4 years later he's got a custom pc, custom built cockpit and probably knows more about computers than I do at this point.
Watching the change in him which, looking back, seemed to be overnight but was actually 3 or 4 months, is what spurred me into eating better, losing weight and working out. It's taken me longer than 4 months
to get a handle on things but his transformation was nothing short of a miracle to me. 1 -
My hdl:ldl ratios improved greatly when I lost 80lbs. I included a decent amount of fish oil, ate a serving of walnuts, and tons of egg yolks. Dietary cholesterol doesn't affect serum cholesterol for most people as I understand it.
ETA: Basically I included a decent amount of better fats in my diet1 -
Hi, my cholesterol was always high due to genetics....juice 20 lemons, add 12 cloves of garlic (pieces) and mix in a food processor....pour in a jar to keep in the fridge and add 1 tbsp to a glass of water every night and drink + keeping fat intake low, you'll soon see a drop in your cholesterol....i went down from 8 to 4.5.0
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In the real world, there are restrictions when it comes to food and cholesterol: avoiding animal fats, avoiding fried food, eating lots of fiber etc.
In the interner, including MFP, not so much... So it is a matter of what you think is more likely: your dr, who has trained for years in medicine does not know how to deal with a very common medical condition and is not up to date (because for example he is illiterate and cannot read medical journals and peer reviewed studies on the issue to get up to date) so you trust a bunch of strangers who can google, or your dr might actually know something more than the random hairdresser, musician, computer scientist, plumber etc who replies on such topics
I hear ya, but I also know (as someone who deals with Dr's in my profession daily) that Doctors are often busy working and sometimes do not read recent studies. At times they might have read them but have personal non-evidence based bias because they are human. I am simply hoping to get some talking points to discuss with him as well as my nutrition to make sure I'm going at this in a way that will yield a difference without sacrificing something my body my need. I feel like it's our personal responsibility to become informed and be joint decision makers with our care providers. I am a huge fan of evidnce-based care and I want to do my best to bring that out of my care provider. I'm already learning a lot. The input here is giving me a jumping point to ask the right questions, jump into my own research, and have a good convo with my care provider to make sure the plan we are making is scientifically based and not out of habit or bias.
I agree on being informed but I am pretty sure that if there is some valid information out there that "everyone" knows, the dr knows it too, as he/she also reads at least the news. On the other hand "everybody" probably just sees some news headlines, where the news are already distorted, has no scientific background to interpret the news, and often jumps to some arbitrary conclusion that is convenient
For the cholesterol example, I see a lot things like "eat as many eggs and bacon as you like" on the internet. When asking our pediatrician (my youngest child has cholesterol issues, genetic), she explained that the current research proved that up to an egg per day is safe, that the 5 egg omelettes I have been reading about are not medically recommended and that food high in animal fat is off limits. So, yes to a 2 egg omelette every other day, loaded with vegetables, no to the daily 2 egg with sausages breakfast. With this info, doing my own research on the original Harvard study from where all the "dietary cholesterol is not important" started from, I also verified that what was initially written and recommended and what many sites on the internet communicated are two very different things.
Now, if a dr cannot explain, or is not willing to discuss things with you, then personally I would be looking for a new dr. There are bad professionals in every job, and a dr can be bored, rude, or just ignorant, like everyone else. If I cannot trust my dr to give up to date advice on something as trivial as cholesterol issues, I would not trust him/her for anythign more complicated either.
Oh! I agree! As far as talking to my dr, He'll gladly discuss this info with me when I ask more about it. I simply didn't ask at my last visits because I didn't know to ask. The cholesterol info I'm reading is new to me. I'm not big on animal fats. Since I effed up my digestive system (untreated celiac for years), I can't tolerate a lot of animal fat. I can tolerate very little. But ❤I love hard boiled eggs❤ with a big love. It's easy for me to want to eat at least one or two a day. I quit doing it daily because it was using up my daily budget of cholesterol, but now I'm curious if it's that big of a deal.
Someone posted in the forums (I wish I remember who) about something they read about cholesterol levels increasing because of stress (related to the fight or flight response). My cholesterol levels skyrocketed when I was going through divorce, and I am hoping to look more into that too and talk to my dr about it. Does anyone have any experience with that?
I'm another celiac who was undiagnosed for a few decades. It's amazing what you can get used to as "normal".
Anyways, After a year or two of GF eating, you intestines may heal enough to handle more foods. I got cheese and low lactose dairy products back a few years ago once my intestines healed.
I still have issues with fibre though. I can eat meat but veggies, especially raw veggies, can cause me a fair bit of pain still. I guess I am the opposite of you. I find meat to be more digestable than plant matter.
And eggs should be perfectly fine unless you are one of the rare few with familial hypercholesterolemia.
Stress definitely can wreak havoc with cholesterol levels... That may be harder to fix than if it was adiet issue though.
All of this creeped up on me, because I wasn't dealing with very much pain associated with digestion. But all of the sudden I got an extreme case of intestinal bleeding that seemed like it took forever to go away. My gastro was amazed that I wasn't feeling pain. I felt slight discomfort and bloat, but that's the most I could say I felt. I did have a SUPER long list of other things that became a problem though. I actually do ok with meat. I just cut off as much fat as I can before cooking. It makes up 50% of my diet. I can't handle any grains including rice or quinoa. No dairy (although I sneak in some hard cheese occasionally and it seems to settle ok). And most veggies are fine. It's not a very diverse diet. As far as stress related cholesterol, I started therapy last month to start handling my divorce baggage. It's step one in dealing with stress. I have no idea how long it takes for your body to recover from that sort of thing. I read in one study that stress can have an affect on your body for up to 3 years. Ugh. That's no bueno. All I can do now is try to reduce it and learn to cope better/healthier.
Yikes. I hope it is a LOT less than that for you. I hope things improve for you soon.0 -
cholesterol issues are no joke, believe me i know, but there are things that you may not have even heard of that could could really benefit you
something like this for instance https://tinyurl.com/mq9hmhe .is something that was recommended to me as somewhere to start looking at different options, or even something to pair with other plans and ideas to start getting the help you need, this specific one may not be what your looking for, but like i said, it could be a good place to start.0 -
I have genetic driven high cholesterol,fats and cholesterol for me do have an affect on my cholesterol levels as my liver cannot process it the way it should. I had to go on a high fiber,low fat/cholesterol diet with meds because without meds it still was high. I was thin when first diagnosed with high cholesterol. so for some losing weight wont help.I know fats and cholesterol have an effect on me as before I knew I had the genetic high cholesterol(called familial hypercholesterolemia) I tried keto for a month or 2 and it raised my cholesterol(triglycerides,LDL-C and LDL-P) even higher than it was. since I started the diet and meds I now have a normal cholesterol level,never had one in the 15+ years I have had it.0
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Hi, my cholesterol was always high due to genetics....juice 20 lemons, add 12 cloves of garlic (pieces) and mix in a food processor....pour in a jar to keep in the fridge and add 1 tbsp to a glass of water every night and drink + keeping fat intake low, you'll soon see a drop in your cholesterol....i went down from 8 to 4.5.
the fat intake being low is what caused it to go down.0 -
I think total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol mean next to nothing.
Low HDL can be an indicator of problems, as can high triglycerides.
Dietary cholesterol tend not to affect those numbers.
Carbs will negatively affect those numbers but not all carbs: refined grains and added sugars tend to be the main problem.
Fats will tend to bring up HDL and lower triglycerides, with monounstaurated fats, and polyunsaturated fats (but not vegetable oils), seem to help a great deal. Saturated fats tend to affect people differently. Most find saturated fats are relatively neutral.
Peter Attia's blog has a great series of on cholesterol and heart health. I also like the books Cholesterol Myth, The Great Cholesterol Con, and Cholesterol Clarity.
Same here. My total/LDL cholesterol numbers are like 300/200 with Triglycerides @75 and HDL @86. CAC score just came in @9.3 and good flow to all four limbs at Age 66.0
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