How do I lower my cholesterol?

Aard

Had a test done recently, and my cholesterol is a little high - just over 5 iirc. I had thought that I ate a relatively low-saturated-fat diet, but it seems I was wrong. I don't eat red meat that often, I regularly eat fish, and I drink low-fat milk. My only vice is cheese, but having said that I don't eat it that often - 100g a week at most.

I'm tempted to try those cholesterol-reducing supplements - Benecol and the likes. Do these actually work? Or can I add certain foods to my diet that would be just as beneficial?

It's imperative that I reduce my cholesterol by Christmas, otherwise my psychiatrist will change the medication I'm on - something I really don't want to do. (For the record, I'm on Zyprexa/Olanzapine, which is notorious for weight-gain.)

Stella89

Eat healthy and excercise is the answer . Fish is great , More vegetables and fruit and porridge ( the food of champions ) , nuts which are high in omega 3 . Sprinkle flaxseeds ,sunflower seeds, almonds etc on porridge .



Grill or steam food rather than frying , stay away from sugar ,white bread etc and limit high cholesteral foods like butter and red meat .

corkcomp

same advice as previous post - also be careful of cheese!

EileenG

Cut down on the refined carbs. It seems logical that eating foods high in cholesterol like eggs will increase your cholesterol but in fact, most of the cholesterol in your body is made by your liver, and eating a very low fat diet causes your liver to make more cholesterol.

Refined carbs is far more closely associated with triglycerides and a bad HDL to LDL ratio than the fat in your diet.

What was the breakdown of HDL to LDL? That is much more important than the total number.

Aard

Thanks for the info EileenG about eating high-cholesterol foods. I don't know the ratio of HDL to LDL - I'll have to ask next time I see the doctor. What would be a normal ratio?

corkcomp

refined carbs + lack of exercise can defo increase trygliceride levels .. however, saturated fat does raise cholesterol for a lot of people so to advise ignoring this would be irresponsible IMO ... OP, what did the doctor advise you to do in order to lower levels?

El_Dangeroso

Saturated fat only raises HDL, the 'good' cholesterol and increases the proportion of big fluffy LDL or the good kind of LDL. Sugar raises sdLDL, the small dense LDL and vegetable oil increases the proportion of oxLDL or oxidised LDL, both of which have the most association with heart attacks.

Ask your doctor what your triglyceride levels are. If your trigs are low and your HDL is high, it means that the LDL you do have is the big fluffy protective kind.

Some strategies to increase your HDL and reduce trigs include:

Eliminate wheat and cornstarch and sugar
Lose weight
Add or increase omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil
Niacin supplementation
Increase exercise and physical activity.
Vitamin D supplementation.

EileenG

Aard wrote: »

Thanks for the info EileenG about eating high-cholesterol foods. I don't know the ratio of HDL to LDL - I'll have to ask next time I see the doctor. What would be a normal ratio?

Normal ratio is 0.3 and the ideal is 0.4 or higher. So if your LDL should not be more than three times your HDL and should be lower than that. The last time my cholesterol was checked, the docs first said it was a little high. Then they looked again and blinked: my HDL was the same level as my LDL, which is rare, and makes my risk of heart disease vanishingly small.

corkcomp

im not so sure that saturated fat doesnt raise LDL, my HDL is off the scale but ive been told as long as its above LDL that it is a good thing! however i eat very little saturated fat and any fat i do eat comes from nuts, seeds, fish and some fish oil caps so there are plenty other ways to raise HDL ..

IMO, LDL can be kep low by controlling unnecessary sat fat intake and having a diet high in soluble fibre - i.e. plenty porridge and oat based products ...

El_Dangeroso

Saturated fat does indeed raise the proportion of fluffy protective LDL. You don't *need* to eat a lot of sat fat to have high HDL, but it won't do you any harm to eat it if you like it and it'll raise your good cholesterol to boot.

But to avoid saturated fat with the intention of reducing your risk of a heart attack is pointless, at least that's what every study on the subject has shown.

ApeXaviour

Indeed, agree with the others. Cutting out sugar and cut down on starchy things, stop your liver pumping out those triglycerides.

iora_rua

I think most of what has been already suggested will help. My total cholesterol level has been as high as 8.0, but is now at 5.0 for the past year and I'm working to get it lower!

I don't know if I'm allowed to mention brand names, but I'm sure someone will delete them if necessary - but instead of butter, you could try benecol olive flavour (expensive, but I find it's the best tasting of all those yucky non dairy spreads). As a change from porridge in the summer, I've been eating oatibix as they're lower in sugar than some of those other rubbish processed breakfast cereals - try them with hazlenut and almond milk made by dream rice, it's got a lovely vanilla flavour (I get mine in the health food stores) and maybe stir in a dessert spoon of low fat creme fraiche . As a treat, you can eat a little of that dark chocolate that is actually supposed to be good for your cholesterol called choxxi (I know it's in Tescos)

Other than that, definitely more exercise - just brisk walking if nothing else, stick to low fat milk, chicken and fish, less alcohol (a drop of red wine now and then will cheer you up!) and a good dollop of olive oil in your salads and over pasta - and of course as many vegetables as you can eat!

Your doctor's surgery should have a leaflet on cholesterol lowering foods, or even ask your friendly local pharmacist - and there's certainly lots of advice on the internet ...

Best of luck and I hope, like me, you'll enjoy trying out new recipes and ideas!

corkcomp

iora_rua wrote: »

I think most of what has been already suggested will help. My total cholesterol level has been as high as 8.0, but is now at 5.0 for the past year and I'm working to get it lower!

I don't know if I'm allowed to mention brand names, but I'm sure someone will delete them if necessary - but instead of butter, you could try benecol olive flavour (expensive, but I find it's the best tasting of all those yucky non dairy spreads). As a change from porridge in the summer, I've been eating oatibix as they're lower in sugar than some of those other rubbish processed breakfast cereals - try them with hazlenut and almond milk made by dream rice, it's got a lovely vanilla flavour (I get mine in the health food stores) and maybe stir in a dessert spoon of low fat creme fraiche . As a treat, you can eat a little of that dark chocolate that is actually supposed to be good for your cholesterol called choxxi (I know it's in Tescos)

Other than that, definitely more exercise - just brisk walking if nothing else, stick to low fat milk, chicken and fish, less alcohol (a drop of red wine now and then will cheer you up!) and a good dollop of olive oil in your salads and over pasta - and of course as many vegetables as you can eat!

Your doctor's surgery should have a leaflet on cholesterol lowering foods, or even ask your friendly local pharmacist - and there's certainly lots of advice on the internet ...

Best of luck and I hope, like me, you'll enjoy trying out new recipes and ideas!

good advice there ... 5 is okay for total cholesterol though, if your hdl is as high as it should be then it might be difficult to get total much below 5

Aard

Thanks for all the advice guys - much appreciated.


@corkcomp: It was my psychiatrist that told me that I have high cholesterol - I had a routine blood-test because of the medication I take. She told me to reduce my saturated fat intake, and to exercise more. She said that if my cholesterol level is still high by Christmas, that she'd change the medication I'm on to one that doesn't cause as much weight-gain, which I really don't want to do because the Zyprexa has been working really well for me.

corkcomp

Aard wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice guys - much appreciated.


@corkcomp: It was my psychiatrist that told me that I have high cholesterol - I had a routine blood-test because of the medication I take. She told me to reduce my saturated fat intake, and to exercise more. She said that if my cholesterol level is still high by Christmas, that she'd change the medication I'm on to one that doesn't cause as much weight-gain, which I really don't want to do because the Zyprexa has been working really well for me.

high cholesterol and weight gain are not always connected TBH .. i would advise you go to to a GP! for fasting lipid tests to establish ldl vs hdl ...

Aard

I should have been more specific - the weigt-gain isn't caused by the drug per se, rather it makes me hungry all the time (even after a full meal!) and I end up eating a lot of sweet foods. Before going on the drug I could literally eat as much as I wanted to (including sweet foods), but now the drug affects my metabolism, and I gain a lot of weight as a result of keeping my old eating-habits.

El_Dangeroso

I know that it has become dogma that saturated fat causes heart disease but there's simply no science out there to back it up. All the latest science points to sugar and industrially refined vegetable oils.

But the dogma persists, even amongst health professionals.

I really don't want to drag this thread off into debate so if anyone wants more information they can pm me or search for the myriad previous debates on this topic here.

El_Dangeroso

Aard wrote: »

I should have been more specific - the weigt-gain isn't caused by the drug per se, rather it makes me hungry all the time (even after a full meal!) and I end up eating a lot of sweet foods. Before going on the drug I could literally eat as much as I wanted to (including sweet foods), but now the drug affects my metabolism, and I gain a lot of weight as a result of keeping my old eating-habits.

That sucks. I think the best thing you can do is eat the most filling food possible and stay away from the sweets when you can..

corkcomp

Aard wrote: »

I should have been more specific - the weigt-gain isn't caused by the drug per se, rather it makes me hungry all the time (even after a full meal!) and I end up eating a lot of sweet foods. Before going on the drug I could literally eat as much as I wanted to (including sweet foods), but now the drug affects my metabolism, and I gain a lot of weight as a result of keeping my old eating-habits.

hi, (slightly OT to the cholesterol issue) I kinda guessed that to be honest (but I didnt want to say so!), any weight gain caused by drugs is usually insignificant, its eating too many calories that is the ultimate cause ... if you really find that the drug is altering your apetite like that then maybe your doc may be right to try an alternative ... im surprised that the doc is focusing in on the cholesterol more so than weight though??

sparkydub2009

Green Tea reduces it naturally and excess body weight... but don't use it with tap water.
I'm still carrying Xyprexa weight from 2005. This drug was in a top law suit in Canada. Investing in a decent juice extractor (E100) is great for your health! Try carrot, apple and celery together or pineapple and orange.

All the best

sparkydub2009

corkcomp wrote: »

hi, (slightly OT to the cholesterol issue) I kinda guessed that to be honest (but I didnt want to say so!), any weight gain caused by drugs is usually insignificant, its eating too many calories that is the ultimate cause ... if you really find that the drug is altering your apetite like that then maybe your doc may be right to try an alternative ... im surprised that the doc is focusing in on the cholesterol more so than weight though??

What about the major issue of fluid retention and the effects on the body's equilibrium...???

corkcomp

sparkydub2009 wrote: »

What about the major issue of fluid retention and the effects on the body's equilibrium...???

lets stick to helping the OP, yes? Based on what was posted about increased appetite and consumption of junk food and sweet stuff I think this is where the problem lies ...

Stella89

iora_rua wrote: »

. As a treat, you can eat a little of that dark chocolate that is actually supposed to be good for your cholesterol called choxxi (I know it's in Tescos)

Dunnes stores have Lindt 85% and 70% cocoa bars on offer at the moment , 2 for 3 euro , if anyone is interested . This one

boardswalker

Hi, there are a lot of scientists out there who are not convinced about the whole "cholesterol is bad for the heart" theory. Have a look at this website - www.thincs.org.

The conventional treatment to reduce cholesterol is to take statins. However, there is a lot of information coming out now that suggests that statins are not as good for you as the manufacturers would like you to believe.

If you want a flavour of this argument have a look here http://www.mercola.com/article/statins.htm.
Also, look at http://www.naturalnews.com/025566_drugs_statins_health.html

Having said all that, if you do want to reduce your cholesterol and do it naturally then the advice you have been given is sound - diet and exercise.

Also look at these two supplements which can be bought in health food stores. Firstly, a plant sterol Lestrin. Plant sterols are the active ingredient in benecol etc and you can take them in tablet/capsule form. Secondly, taking vitamin B3 or niacin will help. There are two forms of vitamin B3 - one causes you to get red flushes about 30 mins after taking it, the other doesn't - the no-flush variety. The Flush one is much more effective however.
Have a look here. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9489 for more about niacin.
and another article here http://www.healthy-heart-guide.com/niacin-and-cholesterol.html.

I have used diet and exercise together with niacin and lestrin and found them very effective. My doctor was pushing statins on me but I was reluctant to take the statins. I did my own research, decided on those and it worked for me.

It's your health. Make your own informed decisions.

Wishing you well

EileenG

Oh yeah, avoid statins like the plague. Every second day, they find new side-effects and new groups of people who should not take them.

journey

Recent studies have shown that taking a regular folic acid supplement can help to lower cholesterol levels.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/274/13/1049

Talk to your doctor to see what amounts you would need to take. My mother did and it worked for her.

Diarmuid

Jut got the results of my first blood test (apart from from when I was young and in hospital). I'm 33, 64kgs , 170cm. Do quite a bit of exercise and I eat relatively well(IMHO). However my cholesterol is outside the recommended range.

Type|g/l|mmol/l
total|2.19|5.65
HDL|0.59|1.52
LDL|1.48|3.83
triclycerides|0.76|0.86

I take it that these are not crazy but actionable? A lot of what I eat is cooked in a pan with olive oil, chicken curry, some fishes, any steaks etc. I guess this is out from now on?

furiousox

5.65?

Pah!

My record high is 8.1!! :eek:

Seriously, eat lo-fat everything you can get, avoid red meat, exercise is important and benecol does work.

Diarmuid

furiousox wrote: »

Seriously, eat lo-fat everything you can get, avoid red meat, exercise is important and benecol does work.

Thanks. I think it's all diet for me. I currently do tons of cycling (competitively) so I can only improve on the diet side. However I do eat a Mediterranean(ish) diet so cheese and red meat gets eaten quite a bit. That has to go

El_Dangeroso

furiousox wrote: »

Seriously, eat lo-fat everything you can get, avoid red meat

Why?

Diarmuid

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Why?

Red meat has lots of saturated fat.
As for low-fat, well I guess if it's low in fat then the implication is that it's low in saturated fat too.

El_Dangeroso

Diarmuid wrote: »

Red meat has lots of saturated fat.
As for low-fat, well I guess if it's low in fat then the implication is that it's low in saturated fat too.

You'd be surprised, saturated fat does a lot of good things to your cholesterol profile. Raising HDL and increasing big fluffy protective LDL while reducing oxidised and small dense LDL, which are highly associated with having a cardiac event as well as overall mortality. This is without changing any other factor in the diet.

Diarmuid

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

You'd be surprised, saturated fat does a lot of good things to your cholesterol profile. .

Ok. I don't profess to be an expert. Far from it. I just understood that conventional wisdom was that saturated fats were bad for cholesterol

Khannie

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Why?

I thought people who ate lots of red meat tended to have a higher incidence of bowel cancer (for one).

El_Dangeroso

Diarmuid wrote: »

Ok. I don't profess to be an expert. Far from it. I just understood that conventional wisdom was that saturated fats were bad for cholesterol

It is conventional wisdom unfortunately, but it's based on really shoddy science from around 50 years ago. Ever since then there have been a load of studies showing the exact opposite, but the dogma persists.

There have been 12 major intervention trials on saturated fat and heart disease.

• Two trials found that replacing saturated animal fat with polyunsaturated vegetable fat decreased total mortality.
• Two trials found that replacing saturated animal fat with polyunsaturated vegetable fat increased total mortality.
• Eight trials found that reducing saturated fat had no effect on total mortality.

Of the two trials that found a benefit of saturated fat reduction, neither was properly controlled

corkcomp

Diarmuid wrote: »

Jut got the results of my first blood test (apart from from when I was young and in hospital). I'm 33, 64kgs , 170cm. Do quite a bit of exercise and I eat relatively well(IMHO). However my cholesterol is outside the recommended range.

Type|g/l|mmol/l
total|2.19|5.65
HDL|0.59|1.52
LDL|1.48|3.83
triclycerides|0.76|0.86

I take it that these are not crazy but actionable? A lot of what I eat is cooked in a pan with olive oil, chicken curry, some fishes, any steaks etc. I guess this is out from now on?

those stats are not too bad, but HDL could do with being higher - lots of exercise and good fats will help ... keep cheese and red meat in moderation and same with other saturated fats, that should bring LDL down, ldl should be under three ideally ... trigliceride levels are ok ... you will need to do some research and form your own conclusion on saturated fat intake, but in my experience I significantly altered cholesterol (increased hdl and lowered ldl) but doing plenty exercise, eating porridge and lots of fruit and vegetables, and keeping saturated fat intake to a minimum

El_Dangeroso

Khannie wrote: »

I thought people who ate lots of red meat tended to have a higher incidence of bowel cancer (for one).

I presume you mean this study. That study used self-reporting questionnaires, which you can imagine are notoriously inaccurate. Also the group that ate the most red meat ate the most refined carbs in the form of snack food and sweets and the most alcohol. They just reported the red meat aspect for some reason. Also cohort studies like this can suggest links between A and B but by definition cannot prove causality.

We've been eating red meat for over two million years now. I doubt we would have evolved to eat something that is harmful to our bodies. Natural selection would have taken care of that long ago. I'd be more inclined to blame more recent introductions into our food chain.

corkcomp

I though this thread was to help OP lower cholesterol? Maybe a master thread should be started where people could debate all day on saturated fat, red meat and some other topics that seem to get dragged into EVERY thread lol

El_Dangeroso

corkcomp wrote: »

I though this thread was to help OP lower cholesterol? Maybe a master thread should be started where people could debate all day on saturated fat, red meat and some other topics that seem to get dragged into EVERY thread lol

It is. I posted some excellent scientifically proven strategies a few posts ago.

Telling the OP to reduce sat fat isn't going to do diddly for avoiding the risk of a heart attack, despite what anecdotes people may have.

Khannie

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Natural selection would have taken care of that long ago. I'd be more inclined to blame more recent introductions into our food chain.

Natural selection is only relevant during your child bearing years and cancer usually happens after them. People generally didn't live far beyond them in the olden days too.

I wasn't sure which study it was, I had just heard that. I'm sure I read it in holfords book which I was reading recently too.

But yeah, I take your point on recent additions to the food chain. Things higher up tend to have accumulated more crap though too (heavy metals etc.).

For what it's worth, I eat a lot of red meat myself. I mean a *lot* and I'm not terribly worried about bowel cancer right now. I might move more towards getting protein from non-red-meat sources as I get older though.

El_Dangeroso

Khannie wrote: »

For what it's worth, I eat a lot of red meat myself. I mean a *lot* and I'm not terribly worried about bowel cancer right now. I might move more towards getting protein from non-red-meat sources as I get older though.

Just look at any non-western population that eats a lot of red meat, their bowel cancer levels are non existant, even into old age.

When I see a good intervention trial that takes two groups of people and advises one to eat no red meat and the other to eat red meat and the red meat group gets statistically more cancer, I'll take the theory seriously.

In the meantime, I'm avoiding too much omega 6 and sugar, which are far more implicated in a variety of cancers than red meat.

Diarmuid

corkcomp wrote: »

those stats are not too bad, but HDL could do with being higher - lots of exercise and good fats will help ... keep cheese and red meat in moderation and same with other saturated fats, that should bring LDL down, ldl should be under three ideally ... trigliceride levels are ok ...

I had a quick look on Wikipedia and this in particular interested me

Most testing methods for LDL do not actually measure LDL in their blood, much less particle size. For cost reasons, LDL values have long been estimated using the Friedewald formula (or a variant): [total cholesterol] − [total HDL] − 20% of the triglyceride value = estimated LDL. The basis of this is that Total cholesterol is defined as the sum of HDL, LDL, and VLDL. Usually, just the total, HDL, and triglycerides are actually measured.

when I apply that formula to my figures the LDL figure matches, which leads me to believe that the LDL were not measured. Does this make sense?

I guess either way I have to reduce the LDL figure and increase the HDL (less so) to get to where I need to be

dearg lady

Hi, I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it seemed pointless starting another??
I'm trying to understand this and get some general advice, but I really don't have a clue!
Am I right in saying the total cholesterol level is made up of the two parts, HDL and LDL, but just one is bad? or what way does it work? And triclycerides, are they a type of cholesterol or totally separate?
Sorry for probably stupid questions, my mams on tablets for this and it worries me she's taking tablets long term, if there was a way to just adjust diet I'd feel better, as would she! thanks

corkcomp

dearg lady wrote: »

Hi, I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it seemed pointless starting another??
I'm trying to understand this and get some general advice, but I really don't have a clue!
Am I right in saying the total cholesterol level is made up of the two parts, HDL and LDL, but just one is bad? or what way does it work? And triclycerides, are they a type of cholesterol or totally separate?
Sorry for probably stupid questions, my mams on tablets for this and it worries me she's taking tablets long term, if there was a way to just adjust diet I'd feel better, as would she! thanks

firstly, your mum should NOT stop taking the tabs (statins) wihout medical advice ... there is a good chance she needs to be on them... hdl and ldl makes total, the higher the hdl the better and the ldl should be low if possible ... a really healthy lipid profile would have ldl and hdl of similar values ... also, im sure your mums doc would have tried giving dietary advice before prescribing the tabs but there is only so much doctors can do, as often the patients are not willing to make the necessary changes ...

dearg lady

corkcomp wrote: »

firstly, your mum should NOT stop taking the tabs (statins) wihout medical advice ... there is a good chance she needs to be on them... hdl and ldl makes total, the higher the hdl the better and the ldl should be low if possible ... a really healthy lipid profile would have ldl and hdl of similar values ... also, im sure your mums doc would have tried giving dietary advice before prescribing the tabs but there is only so much doctors can do, as often the patients are not willing to make the necessary changes ...

Hi, thanks, no, they are prescribed by the doc, but the doc is an idiot, she won't change gps. He offered absolutely NO alternatives, well one or two suggestions on food(which she keeps to), but essentially he thinks tablets are the only thing. I used go to the same GP, I was gettin run down constantly and asked him for suggestions in what could be wrong in my diet and he actually laughed in my face, seems he wants to treat the symptoms but not the cause. I've since improved my diet and don't get sick half as often.

She's taking Lipitor but she really hates taking it(never mind the expense!!) I'l ask what her cholesterol different levels are. And I suggested maybe she go to a dietician, would this be in any way useful?

EDit: Sorry corkcomp, just realised I read your message wrong!! No I agree she shouldn't just stop taking em, more so I was hoping if she got good diet advice that over time they could lower the dosage.

El_Dangeroso

Diarmuid wrote: »

I had a quick look on Wikipedia and this in particular interested me

Most testing methods for LDL do not actually measure LDL in their blood, much less particle size. For cost reasons, LDL values have long been estimated using the Friedewald formula (or a variant): [total cholesterol] − [total HDL] − 20% of the triglyceride value = estimated LDL. The basis of this is that Total cholesterol is defined as the sum of HDL, LDL, and VLDL. Usually, just the total, HDL, and triglycerides are actually measured.

when I apply that formula to my figures the LDL figure matches, which leads me to believe that the LDL were not measured. Does this make sense?

I guess either way I have to reduce the LDL figure and increase the HDL (less so) to get to where I need to be

Hi Diarmuid, that's right, LDL is almost always calculated using the Friedewald formula, as directly measuring LDL is a very expensive test that isn't widely available. The Friedewald equation becomes inaccurate if the trigs are less than 100 mg/dL which in your case is true.

Your HDL is also fairly high so the LDL that you do have is going to be big and fluffy and heart-protective.

mega man

You cant go wrong with raw home made vegetable and fruit juices. they are the key to optimal health. forget benecol.

El_Dangeroso

mega man wrote: »

You cant go wrong with raw home made vegetable and fruit juices. they are the key to optimal health. forget benecol.

Not so sure about fruit juices, fructose goes straight to the liver and gets converted to triglycerides directly, so too much would be a bad idea.

Agreed about the benecol though, no evidence at all that they reduce CHD.

mega man

apologies. fruit smoothies would be better than juices.

El_Dangeroso

mega man wrote: »

apologies. fruit smoothies would be better than juices.

The whole fruit would be even better

Diarmuid

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Your HDL is also fairly high so the LDL that you do have is going to be big and fluffy and heart-protective.

I don't quite follow you. Is that good or bad?