time to watch the body

AMH

I had my checkup, the cholesterol was 205. That is above the recommended. Not as bad as some in my family but the higher numbers are genetic. So I am on the path to lose 10 lbs, eat healthy after those holidays and get hte number down.Already day one i am trying to get everything for work into the car, get the stuff for the rec center, and make sure I bring a lunch because yesterday I ate crap. No wonder this is hard!

federica

Losing weight doesn't mean you'll better your cholesterol.
My daughter is a heavyweight, but her cholesterol is perfectly normal.
My colleague is what has been described as some as 'stick-thin' - but has has a high cholesterol count.

Sure, cholesterol is dietary - but it's a mistake to associate it with weight gain or loss.

AMH

Oh I called my mom who has this issue and same with my aunts, she said they told her to lose weight among other things. My one aunt is superr thin, my mom and the other aunt well within normal range, and they all have cholesterol issues.

I was still planning on getting fit again in the new year so either way it is okay.

patbb

Oh I called my mom who has this issue and same with my aunts, she said they told her to lose weight among other things. My one aunt is superr thin, my mom and the other aunt well within normal range, and they all have cholesterol issues.

any butter or milk in their diet?

might want to cut those off no matter what.

Jeffrey

I have read that oatmeal helps. And exercise. No smoking.

Dakini

Taking lecithin (soy oil) or fish oil daily will bring cholesterol down, as will eating oily vegetables, like artichokes and avacados. But in order to get optimal results from that, you need to exercise, do some weight lifting (you can buy handweights cheaply at any sporting goods stores), so the "good cholesterol" can circulate.

The other thing to look at is the ratio of good to bad cholesterol. I always had very high numbers, but my good cholesterol was high, too, which meant my ratio was well within normal range. Some docs subscribe to the ratio theory of what's healthy, others look at overall numbers. In the end, the high LDL turned out to be a thyroid issue, so when I finally solved my thyroid problem, everything dropped into place. But I don't believe my cholesterol ever was unhealthy, even when levels were high, because I took in a lot of fish and vegetable oil.

Right, Jeffrey--oatmeal, and fiber in general. Brown rice, whole grains, cruciferous vegetables.

person

I recently found out I had really high cholesterol despite no family history and a reasonably healthy diet and I'm only maybe like 20 lbs too heavy. So far I haven't tolerated the medication so I have to be careful.

Unsaturated fat and trans fat add to bad cholesterol (LDL), monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats add to good cholesterol (HDL). Trans fat also reduces the amount of good cholesterol. Good cholesterol acts to remove the fatty plaques that form and can build up from bad cholesterol.

Soluble fiber like that found in oatmeal other whole grains and some vegetables also help reduce bad cholesterol.

Avacado, nuts, olive oil, canola oil all have the good kind of fats though they should still not be overused since a low cholesterol diet should be fairly low fat in general. If you do eat meat choose lean cuts, turkey or white meat chicken.

Like Dakini said fish oil is helpful in bringing down cholesterol as well as adding to the health of the blood vessels. Flax oil can be taken instead for a vegetarian option and, as far as I know, works just as well.

Dakini

There's a Tibetan herbal remedy that roto-roots the cardiovascular system, flushing out plaque buildup. It's been studied in labs in Europe. Here's a science article on it. In Europe it's marketed as Padma 28, in the US it's called "Padma Basic", because the FDA disapproved one of the herbal ingredients, so it's not 100% the same as the European and the original Tibetan product, but is about 95% the same thing. It works gradually, over time. It has some cancer-prevention properties as well.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1232859/

Dakini

I recently found out I had really high cholesterol despite no family history and a reasonably healthy diet and I'm only maybe like 20 lbs too heavy. So far I haven't tolerated the medication so I have to be careful.

I just read somewhere that statins aren't good for you, there's some sort of side-effect that's risky, so if it was statins that were giving you trouble, person, it's probably just as well. There are other, healthier, ways to address the problem.

person

I just read somewhere that statins aren't good for you, there's some sort of side-effect that's risky, so if it was statins that were giving you trouble, person, it's probably just as well. There are other, healthier, ways to address the problem.

Yeah, I took one for about 2 months. It gave me some insomnia and one day I broke out in a rash that partly went onto my face. I stopped taking it then and my doctor agreed. I'd rather address it through diet, while I ate fairly well I didn't really worry about cholesterol (cheese, mayo, eggs, ice cream). So the statin was nice for the holidays but hopefully I can bring it down without it.

Jeffrey

@Bothi, some of your statements have some truth to them. However saying that health care professionals recommend 0 cholesterol is totally false. The range of healthy cholesterol is defined as determined by research. Medical science is based on research of how cholesterol is as a risk for heart disease, diabetes, strokes and so forth. Don't buy the propoganda from either side, please.

Here is something to explain my ideas. Body weight starts from 0. Does that imply that health care professionals are recommending people have 0 body weight? Nope. There is actual research on body mass index which quantifies how much of a risk factor deviations from a given range of BMIs.

Of course if you know how research works it is just aggregate data from a range of people. If I have 300 cholesterol it doesn't mean this is dangerous for MY body. Yet the aggregate data shows something. I have schizoafective disorder. Just because drug X works for 80% of people doesn't mean that will happen for me. And just because there is only a 1% chance of some side effect doesn't mean it *wont* happen to me.

AMH

I am picking oatmeal,m avacadoes and exercise out of the overwhelming amount of information. I know those things will work out and I can do them. According to my sis I am not that high, and I know that people with depression tend to need some fat (helps the brain?) so I have never gone very low fat but I eat only a little meat and mostly vegies.

Jeffrey

EVERYBODY should be taking fish oil in my opinion.. It's so good for heart health. Well I guess not vegetarians??

So you might want to add that one.

DaltheJigsaw

My cholo is 186 and I am only 26 to be 27 in a few months.

compassionate_warrior

@LeonBasin Is 186 bad? Sounds fine to me. Depends on what the LDL is. Weren't you eating a lot of fast food for awhile? If you don't have time for a real lunch, try some of the protein bars at the health food store. Some of 'em really pack a punch and fill you up. Or fix a sandwich at home the night before, and bring a bag lunch to work, with fruit.

AMH

186 is in a normal range IMHO, I am at 205 and normal range is up to 199. There are other factors of health I would be concerned about, just your ability to do everything and exercise in a day, somewhat weight but that is not the whole story at all, any chronic illness you are dealing with or not (which is very good). I am spoiled, my body pretty much is very healthy and does what i want it to, so I want to keep that up if all I need is minor diet changes.