High Cholesterol

Unfortunately it's difficult to naturally lower cholesterol. Research has found that dietary cholesterol has very little to do with blood cholesterol levels. Try adding exercise, drinking water, and decrease the amount of fatty foods you eat. I'm praying for you, best of luck!

Also do your research on the drugs your doctor proposes to give you.

Statins, the most widely prescribed family of cholesterol drugs, have not been proven to help everyone, just a small subset. Don't just blindly take what's being prescribed.

My Dr. had me add fiber to my diet via Metamucil before each meal. Worked for me! Google "fiber + lower cholesterol" to learn more. Bonus~ it"s filling before sitting down to a meal.

Did he mention what your triglyceride # was or your blood sugar #.

I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM i'VE BEEN BATTLEING (I ADMIT, HALF-HEARTEDLY) SINCE I'VE BEEN YOUR AGE. I AM NOW NEARLY 50 AND LOOKING AT EARLY STAGES OF DIABETES! YOU MORE THAN LIKELY HAVE A FAMILY TRAIT PREDISPOSING YOU TO THIS SINCE IT'S SO HIGH WITH A FAIRLY HEALTHY LIFESTYLE (THIS IS MY CASE), SO TAKE THE INFORMATION AND GET THIS UNDERCONTROL ASAP. TAKE CARE :flowerforyou:

I've been reading studies that suggest there may be a connection between sugar intake and high cholesterol.

eta: Not the apple - the apple is good for you! :-)

I have high cholesterol related to thyroid disease (who knew?) Anyhow, after years of being borderline, my doctor suggested medication. I tried the statins and had severe muscle aches and weakness. He switched me to Zetia which works differently and I have no side effects and it is working to lower my numbers. I also take 4 grams of fish oil supplements daily. Get the best quality you can find. Omega oils seem to help.

You will need to reduce the amount of fat in your diet and exercise more...the kinds that makes you sweat. Losing weight will help as well.

Even though you are young, do what is necessary to lower your risk of heart disease and stroke.

I am 39 years old female. I have major heart disease in my family. I have to watch my numbers very carefully.

On August 11 (before starting my diet ) my numbers were
Total:269
HDL (Good) :56
Triglycerides: 242
LDL (bad) :164

I was put on pravachol 20 mgs that day and was told to take them for 2 months. I started my new diet Oct 17 and had my new reading done on 10-26
Total: 196
HDL (Good) 45 <---doctor says I need to exercise to get this number back up to normal. Genetics is why it went down..my dad has the same problem when he lowered his other numbers
Triglycerides : 223
LDL (bad): 107

My doctor was highly impressed and couldn't believe the dramatic drop!! I had never seen him smile like that before. He high fived me and said I was doing a really good job. I can't remember the last time I walked out of a doctors office feeling good like that LOL

I don't go back for another 6 months now and he wants me on the RX until then but I've since lost 15 pounds and continue to try and exercise more.

So yes statins DO work (not sure why people are so against them. My cholesterol problems are hereditary. I have major heart disease in my family and don't understand why people think exercise and diet alone can help). I am trying like hell not to be gutted open like a fish in 25 years like my parents just were back in 2007 in their mid 60's. Yes...BOTH my parents had bypasses. My mother after her MAJOR heart attack and debilitating stroke. My father had the widow maker and they caught it in time.

The major role in lowering cholesterol is exercise (the hardest part for me). The next is quitting smoking (which I did over 6 years ago). Third is to watch your intake of trans fat. Even if things say it doesn't have trans fat PER SERVING...if the package has anything that says it contains hydrogenated oil (like peanut butter)...that's the bad stuff and should be avoided!! A lot of margarines have this as well, even though per serving the amount is less than 1 gram the law states they can say its 0 gms per serving.

A new study released recently shows that 75% of all heart attach victims had average to low cholesterol. All but 2% of those victims had very low HDL. Personally I'd rather be in the 25% that had higher cholesterol and higher HDL, basically it looks like a 3 times better chance of survival from a heart attack with higher overall cholesterol levels. What's important in my opinion is the ratio of HDL/LDL and triglyceride levels as far as I'm concerned and not necessarily low overall cholesterol, for starters.

Here's the study:

Lipid levels in patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease: an analysis of 136,905 hospitalizations in Get With The Guidelines.
Sachdeva A, Cannon CP, Deedwania PC, Labresh KA, Smith SC Jr, Dai D, Hernandez A, Fonarow GC.
Source

Department of Medicine, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA90095-1679, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:

Lipid levels among contemporary patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease (CAD) have not been well studied. This study aimed to analyze admission lipid levels in a broad contemporary population of patients hospitalized with CAD.
METHODS:

The Get With The Guidelines database was analyzed for CAD hospitalizations from 2000 to 2006 with documented lipid levels in the first 24 hours of admission. Patients were divided into low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), and triglyceride categories. Factors associated with LDL and HDL levels were assessed along with temporal trends.
RESULTS:

Of 231,986 hospitalizations from 541 hospitals, admission lipid levels were documented in 136,905 (59.0%). Mean lipid levels were LDL 104.9 +/- 39.8, HDL 39.7 +/- 13.2, and triglyceride 161 +/- 128 mg/dL. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol <70 mg/dL was observed in 17.6% and ideal levels (LDL <70 with HDL > or =60 mg/dL) in only 1.4%. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol was <40 mg/dL in 54.6% of patients. Before admission, only 28,944 (21.1%) patients were receiving lipid-lowering medications. Predictors for higher LDL included female gender, no diabetes, history of hyperlipidemia, no prior lipid-lowering medications, and presenting with acute coronary syndrome. Both LDL and HDL levels declined over time (P < .0001).
CONCLUSIONS:

In a large cohort of patients hospitalized with CAD, almost half have admission LDL levels <100 mg/dL. More than half the patients have admission HDL levels <40 mg/dL, whereas <10% have HDL > or =60 mg/dL. These findings may provide further support for recent guideline revisions with even lower LDL goals and for developing effective treatments to raise HDL.

Hi have you checked with your Doc to find out if it is gentic. If not he will probably put you on a low carb diet. I have lowered my blood pressure by eating better like veggies, fresh fruit, small amounts of meat, good grain bread, etc. Excercise is amazing how it lowers your blood pressure. I have bad knees so I use an oliptic trainer ( don't know if I spelt that right). I do it for 1/2 hour at a pretty good rate of speed and it works for me. Your Doctor can reallly help you if you are serious. Good luck, you can do it a day at a time !!