Cholesterol 6.3

paulgalway

Have been told by the doc that my Cholesterol is at 6.3. This was measured in early Jan before I gave up cigarettes.

Would this bring it down much. Any other tips to get it down more?

Sin a bhfuil

It would bring it down a bit (depending on your age, how much you smoke etc). Probably wouldn't notice for a while anyway.

The way to reduce your cholesterol is to reduce your fat intake. Grill / George Foreman instead of fry, use low fat spreads, milk.

Avoid fatty foods like sausages, red meat, cream, processed foods etc, cakes, buns, chips etc.

Good foods would be skinless chicken, fish (plenty of good cholesterol which you also need), Fruit, veg etc. Eat porridge etc.

You don't have to give up all those foods, just reduce your intake of them. A good tip for instance would be to put a rasher on some kitchen paper to absorb any excess fat off it. And instead of pouring oil onto pan/food for frying, get a spray cooking oil which reduces the amount of oil used.

--Kaiser--

Did you get a proper cholesterol test, i.e. levels of HDL, LDL , triglycerides etc...?

As far as I know your cholesterol sub-particle levels are much more important than your total cholesterol levels.

EileenG

Get a breakdown of your HLD and LDL, and get your trigliceride levels as well. On paper, I have high cholestorol, but the reason is that my HDL is actually higher than my LDL, which is protective against heart disease.

siochain

EileenG wrote: »

Get a breakdown of your HLD and LDL, and get your trigliceride levels as well. On paper, I have high cholestorol, but the reason is that my HDL is actually higher than my LDL, which is protective against heart disease.

WOW thats class, never heard of anyone having a ratio in favor for HDL, fair play.

Can you share your diet?

siochain

Hey Paul

Various studies done on the following

Niacin
Plant Sterols
fiber (I find oat bran very good)


Take a holistic view to reducing cardio vascular disease by having a good diet, exercise, reduce stress levels, take time out to relax and ensure your getting a good night’s rest.

Invest time in learning about nutrition and how to understand the ingredients on processed food labels. Avoid like the plague any process foods that contain hydrogenated fats or trans-fatty acids.

Google’ metabolic syndrome’

Cheers

eastbono

My cholestrol was high but I also had and underlying underactive thyroid problem. Have been on cholestrol meds and thyroid meds for last 2 years and my levels have come down..i.e. cholestrol and good ones are great per gp... thyroid probs can created cholestrol probs... still on the same meds for 2 years never had to up the cholestrol meds and do not follow a diet. Plus high cholestrol can be inherited... my mother in law who is very thin and eats what I would consider rabbit food... has a very high colestrol level.

Plus I also still smoke but only about 10 a day.

paulgalway

Break down is as follows:

Total cholesterol = 6.3 (3.0 - 5.0)
LDL = 4.7 (0.0 - 3.0)
HDL = 0.9 (1.0 - 2.0)

EileenG

siochain wrote: »

WOW thats class, never heard of anyone having a ratio in favor for HDL, fair play.

Can you share your diet?

Eggs, fish, meat, real butter, lots of veg, olive oil, no low fat products at all. At least 90% of everything I eat is cooked from scratch from fresh whole foods.

siochain

EileenG wrote: »

Eggs, fish, meat, real butter, lots of veg, olive oil, no low fat products at all. At least 90% of everything I eat is cooked from scratch from fresh whole foods.

good stuff, I reckon good genetics must be playing a part here too.

Sin a bhfuil

EileenG wrote: »

Get a breakdown of your HLD and LDL, and get your trigliceride levels as well. On paper, I have high cholestorol, but the reason is that my HDL is actually higher than my LDL, which is protective against heart disease.

I thought there was a healthy range to be in for both?

Total cholesterol = (3.0 - 5.0)
LDL = 0.0-3.0 (bad cholesterol)
HDL = 1.0-2.0 (good cholesterol)

Eggs, fish, meat, real butter, lots of veg, olive oil, no low fat products at all. At least 90% of everything I eat is cooked from scratch from fresh whole foods.

I've always eaten real butter, lots of veg, avoided processed foods etc. and have never had a cholesterol problem - however, to loose weight (result of having a thyroid problem) I started using low-low and reduced the amount of red meat etc. that I was eating and my cholesterol levels came down from 5.0 to 4.0. I can't remember the exact figure now but I know my Good cholesterol is excellent and I put that down cutting down on red meat, eating fish about 3 times a week instead, using skim milk and generally sticking to a low fat diet.

I also take Cod Liver Oil (Omega-3) which boosts your good cholesterol.

EileenG

Sin a bhfuil wrote: »

I thought there was a healthy range to be in for both?

Total cholesterol = (3.0 - 5.0)
LDL = 0.0-3.0 (bad cholesterol)
HDL = 1.0-2.0 (good cholesterol)

There's a normal range for both, but you will always get people who are out of the range. It's like saying that the normal range for a pulse is between 60 and 80 beats a minute. That doesn't mean that having a pulse of 40 or 50 is unhealthy. It's usually a sign of unusual fitness, but it's not considered part of the normal range because it's so unusual.

Squeaksoutloud

Hi,

My cholestrol was 5.9 before Christmas and at a young age (only just in the 30's) had to get 2 stents in as I had a 70-80% blocked artery. Despite being relatively active but not a perfect diet I couldnt believe I had a problem but had been struggling while playing sport and knew something was up with me. Its mostly a family genetic thing for me because I was not overweight or always eating fatty foods.

If I am getting heart disease at such a young age without being overweight and relatively active I decided I had better do something about it otherwise I will have trouble for the rest of my life.

So after doing a bit of research I discover this diet/lifestyle which actually can prevent the development of heart disease and even reverse it...its amazing really and I can't understand why I havent heard much about it before. Only reason I heard about it is because Bill Clinton started on it last year.

Its basically a vegan diet with no added fats/oils and eating only wholefood plant based all the time. Here are 2 interesting videos on it and there is even a movie coming out too:

CNN Interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoHt9cSWJVI

Movie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7ijukNzlUg

As someone who was fond of their meat I am surprised how easy I am finding it to switch over. Anyway to get to the point my cholestrol has plummeted from 5.9 to 1.9 since December (taking statin tablets also but have stopped now as cholestrol is so low now and going back to Doctor next week).

I might start a thread on this to see if anyone else is on this or interested in it! Its quite amazing what the results of the diet are.

The book I got is called Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease:

http://www.amazon.com/Prevent-Reverse-Disease-Caldwell-Esselstyn/dp/1583332723

Anyway wish me luck with this..its a huge change to my lifestyle but its very inspiring for people who have heart disease or diabetes or want to reduce their cholestrol.

Ice.

Squeaksoutloud wrote: »

Hi,

My cholestrol was 5.9 before Christmas and at a young age (only just in the 30's) had to get 2 stents in as I had a 70-80% blocked artery. Despite being relatively active but not a perfect diet I couldnt believe I had a problem but had been struggling while playing sport and knew something was up with me. Its mostly a family genetic thing for me because I was not overweight or always eating fatty foods.

If I am getting heart disease at such a young age without being overweight and relatively active I decided I had better do something about it otherwise I will have trouble for the rest of my life.

So after doing a bit of research I discover this diet/lifestyle which actually can prevent the development of heart disease and even reverse it...its amazing really and I can't understand why I havent heard much about it before. Only reason I heard about it is because Bill Clinton started on it last year.

Its basically a vegan diet with no added fats/oils and eating only wholefood plant based all the time. Here are 2 interesting videos on it and there is even a movie coming out too:

CNN Interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoHt9cSWJVI

Movie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7ijukNzlUg

As someone who was fond of their meat I am surprised how easy I am finding it to switch over. Anyway to get to the point my cholestrol has plummeted from 5.9 to 1.9 since December (taking statin tablets also but have stopped now as cholestrol is so low now and going back to Doctor next week).

I might start a thread on this to see if anyone else is on this or interested in it! Its quite amazing what the results of the diet are.

The book I got is called Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease:

http://www.amazon.com/Prevent-Reverse-Disease-Caldwell-Esselstyn/dp/1583332723

Anyway wish me luck with this..its a huge change to my lifestyle but its very inspiring for people who have heart disease or diabetes or want to reduce their cholestrol.

Good luck with your diet change. Dr Esselstyn's book is superb. Well worth reading. The look on Wolf Blitzer's face is comical when Clinton is telling him what he eats. It's like he can't believe it

With regards to cholesterol, instead of statins etc to lower it, the best thing to do is to remove the cause. Otherwise it's just a bandaid. The body makes all the cholesterol it needs so there is no need for it in the diet.

rocky

I see the diet-heart hypothesis is still alive and well?

Debunk some myths, start here:

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/07/diet-heart-hypothesis-oxidized-ldl-part.html

Ice.

rocky wrote: »

I see the diet-heart hypothesis is still alive and well?

Debunk some myths, start here:

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/07/diet-heart-hypothesis-oxidized-ldl-part.html

Many factors increase the risk for heart disease including cholesterol and saturated fat intake but also high intake of (possibly rancid) polyunsaturated oils, refined sugar/grain, sedentarism, and perhaps most significantly animal protein, which is more hypercholesterolemic than saturated fat and may also be highly atherogenic.

rocky

Animal protein in general, from casein in milk to meat to eggs? Do post references for that. No, I don't accept The China Study as a valid reference.

Ice.

rocky wrote: »

No, I don't accept The China Study as a valid reference.

Why? Don't like the message? You prefer to hear good things about your bad dietary habits? Anyway, the China Study makes it clear that animal products in and of themselves are NOT singular causes of cancer, but for various reasons diets high in animal products promote the growth of cancer and therefore increase cancer risk significantly.

rocky

Ice. wrote: »

Why? Don't like the message?

No, I don't like crap science.

Ice.

rocky wrote: »

No, I don't like crap science.

This should be good! As the adjudicator of what is and what isn't "crap science" would you care to explain?

metamorphosis

In the likeleyhood that this thread becomes one of discussing what is and what is not good or bad science rather than cholestrol, the off topic thread awaits (or a new thread)! Cheers

Squeaksoutloud

Are the studies of Ornish, Esselstyn, McDougall etc. not enough evidence! Let alone the China Study which I admit I have yet to read but have purchased.

Changing my diet has certainly made an impact on both my blood pressure and a massive impact on my cholestrol values. Its not something I ever thought I would see myself doing but from my own limited experience and from what I have read the evidence is compelling...I am sure it is possible to pick holes in it which some people will always try and do.

Anyway, OP, its one way of getting your cholestrol down which worked for me anyway. Might be a bit extreme for your needs but for people with heart disease it's an option which means you can get on with your life and enjoy eating all the food you can create from fresh ingredients.