High cholesterol, what can I change?

random10

I am 28, 5' 5'' and 9st 2lbs. I am not overweight and consider that I have a fairly healthy diet. However I got blood tests back and my cholesterol is 6.87, LDL- 4.7 and triglyceride 2.07

A typical day is

Breakfast: 2 weetabix in slimline milk and 2 slices of wholegrain toast

Snack: Apple or banana or orange

Lunch: Sandwich on 2 slices of wholegrain bread with ham and salad

Dinner: Meat, potatoes and lots of vegetables with skimmed milk

Snack: If hungry maybe 2 creamcrackers

Occasionally: I might have a biscuit every second day with a cup of tea
once a fortnight/once in three weeks I might have a chinese take away instead of dinner at the weekend. Once a week I might have a bar of chocolate or a slice of cake!

My dad is on tablets for cholesterol is it possible it's hereditary? I don't think my diet is that bad or is it?

Orla K

random10 wrote: »

I am 28, 5' 5'' and 9st 2lbs. I am not overweight and consider that I have a fairly healthy diet. However I got blood tests back and my cholesterol is 6.87, LDL- 4.7 and triglyceride 2.07

A typical day is

Breakfast: 2 weetabix in slimline milk and 2 slices of wholegrain toast

Snack: Apple or banana or orange

Lunch: Sandwich on 2 slices of wholegrain bread with ham and salad

Dinner: Meat, potatoes and lots of vegetables with skimmed milk

Snack: If hungry maybe 2 creamcrackers

Occasionally: I might have a biscuit every second day with a cup of tea
once a fortnight/once in three weeks I might have a chinese take away instead of dinner at the weekend. Once a week I might have a bar of chocolate or a slice of cake!

My dad is on tablets for cholesterol is it possible it's hereditary? I don't think my diet is that bad or is it?

Have a read of the stickies at the top of the page, nutrition 101.

As for you diet
Breakfast: 2 weetabix - Just carbs and not much else
in slimline milk - Carbs and protein no fat and the good things that come with natural fats
and 2 slices of wholegrain toast - more carbs and lets hope you don't put on chemical spread(fake butter)

Snack: Apple or banana or orange - carbs but ones with vitamins

Lunch: Sandwich on 2 slices of wholegrain bread - carbs (more chemical spread?)
with ham - little protein but is it the processes kind that has 95% water?
and salad - carbs but ones with healthy stuff

Dinner: Meat - protein
potatoes - carbs again
and lots of vegetables - more carbs but with other good things
with skimmed milk - Carbs and protein no fat

Snack: If hungry maybe 2 creamcrackers - more carbs

I wonder can you see a pattern?
lots of carbs, a little protein and no fat
Change this around, you need to up the protein and fat in your diet.

Read the stickies.
and most importantly,
Read the stickies!

confusedgirl

Hi

I'm not a diet expert at all however I have a family member with high cholesterol and high blood pressure so might be able to help!

My family member was told to avoid pork/bacon-rashers, ham, sausages, black and white pudding, ice cream, cream, butter, salt. Therefore, I would ditch the ham you're having for your lunch and put some chicken/tuna/some other form of lean protein with it.

You're very young to have high cholesterol, its usually only in overweight people over 40 so I'm wondering are you stressed about anything? Stress can have an impact too. I would recommend you learn some form of relaxation such as deep breathing, mindfulness, meditation, yoga etc as well as regular exercise.

I'm guessing that you're snacking all the time possibly because you're not drinking enough of water. Maybe you're thinking you're hungry when really you're thirsty? Carry a 1litre bottle of water around with you during the day and aim to drink 2-3 litres of water. It is a lot at first to take so I would initially aim for 1.5 litres, then 2 litres, then 2.5litres, then 3 litres. Herbal tea is also good as it contains no caffeine and will count towards your water intake also.

I would ditch the weetabix and wholegrain toast for breakfast and have porridge with the skim milk and a piece of low GI (glycemic index) fruit eg apple, berries. This will keep you fuller for longer so you'll be less likely to snack. I would also say eat slowly as sometimes we can eat really fast and it takes 20 minutes for our bodies to register fullness. Eat in the kitchen only, not beside the tv, with no distractions (no phone/paper/working whilst eating) and chew your food thoroughly.

It is good that you eat wholegrain bread however I would cut the bread down to 2 slices per day. You could have an open sandwich for lunch using one slice of bread and include a bigger portion of protein and veg.

The Chinese food would be high in saturated fat and salt. Granted you're not having it that often however it might be good to look at picking a healthier option when you're in the Chinese-some of the soups aren't as bad. Your treats eg the biscuit, chocolate, piece of cake aren't too bad as long as you're exercising regularly. A good option is to eat 1-2 squares of 70% dark chocolate. The chocolate is richer so you need less to satisfy you. Fruit as a snack is fine however the cream crackers aren't great so I would replace the cream crackers would another piece of fruit. If you have some nuts and/or seeds with the fruit, eg 1tsp seeds or 5 nuts then you would feel more satisfied.

Oh I would avoid Flora/Benecol/any food product specifically aimed at "lowering cholesterol" as its just a marketing gimmick really, you have to look at your entire lifestyle really.

Nonoperational

What's your HDL? Do you exercise?

To be honest that doesn't look like a diet that would be a cause for high cholesterol, there may well be a hereditary component to it.

I wouldn't be too worried either.There is a whole lot more to consider than just your cholesterol number when you are looking a cardiovascular disease. Your not overweight, how's your blood pressure? Do you smoke? For a young healthy man that's has no other risk factors you'd need fairly high cholesterol that is very stubborn to respond to exercise and diet before you'd think about meds really.
In an ideal world you'd never eat take-aways or chocolate etc but in practice it's important to have a treat now and again too. If looking forward to a take away on a Friday night and being able to sit down, relax, not cook and enjoy it is something that helps you relax it may have it's place too!

On the above post, plant stanols in Benecol and the like have been proven to lower cholesterol. They're expensive though.

zoobizoo

gpf101 wrote: »

On the above post, plant stanols in Benecol and the like have been proven to lower cholesterol. They're expensive though.

You can get them in capsule form from health food shops. Saves you having to waste money and saves on recycling too.

Frogdog

A massive +1 to Orla K's post. OP please read it, and the stickies.

gerrykeegan

I get it from my mother, she has to take the damn drugs, I have brought mine down from 6.2 to 4.7 with exercise, bought a bike, still get to enjoy all the good stuff, pints wine and chocolate but in moderation.

yoyo

My Mum has high colestrol (family thing/not diet related) and she uses the Flora and yogurts with Plant Sterols? I think it is which are scientifically proven to help. I think cheese, milk that kind of stuff is high in colestrol, she also has crackerbread over normal bread most of the time

Nick

gud4u

Read the book, The Great Cholesterol Con, and as it's hereditary you will have to work harder but as a person whos entire female side of the family has had heart disease I can't take the drugs so have to cop myself on and take exercise and eat healthy.

Sugar in excess is stored as excess fat which goes towards high cholesterol that's why carbs can contribute.

I use lecithin granules and a product called A.Vodel Cynara/Globe Artichoke, it helps keep it under 6, but if I take my eye off teh ball at all it goes up to 8-9. I'm 34, so can't be messing with my heart health.

Stress has a huge impact also as it effects a hormone that makes you produce more cholesterol. It's all in the book I mentioned but I work in pharmacy and have read more than that book. Working in the pharmacuetical industry puts me right off drugs!:)

Transform

+1 on that book recommendation.

So much complete bs out there on cholesterol and much of it coming from big pharma or companies looking to make money off scaremongering

Hanley

Transform wrote: »

+1 on that book recommendation.

So much complete bs out there on cholesterol and much of it coming from big pharma or companies looking to make money off scaremongering

There's 2 version on bookdepository.com... is this it?

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Great-Cholesterol-Con-Malcolm-Kendrick/9781844546107?b=-3&t=-20#Fulldescription-20

or

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Great-Cholesterol-Con-Anthony-Colpo/9781430309338

Roger Marbles

The second one by Anthony Colpo.

Orla K

I would have said this one it's the one that I've always seen around and the one on transforms webpage.

I should add that I haven't read it(no funds to be buying books)

Roger Marbles

I've read both and preferred Colpo's to McKendricks. More in-depth look at the whole area.

Hanley

Roger Marbles wrote: »

I've read both and preferred Colpo's to McKendricks. More in-depth look at the whole area.

Maybe I'm being thick here but how are there two books by two authors called the same thing?

rocky

Hanley wrote: »

Maybe I'm being thick here but how are there two books by two authors called the same thing?

The con was too big for one book.

Roger Marbles

Hanley wrote: »

Maybe I'm being thick here but how are there two books by two authors called the same thing?

Yeah, something that has struck me as well. No idea but two good books tbf.

Transform

Uffe has been writing about this for years. His recent comments to the British medical journal are worth reading also.

Ditch the lipid hypothesis, throw away your flora and get yourself educated

http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm

Nonoperational

Transform wrote: »

Uffe has been writing about this for years. His recent comments to the British medical journal are worth reading also.

Ditch the lipid hypothesis, throw away your flora and get yourself educated

http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm

Your presenting it like his opinions are fact which they are not. He disputes some of the widely accepted opinions but there is also compelling evidence against some of the points he makes. He argues that statins may have other methods of reducing cardiovascular mortality on top (or instead of) lipid lowering. That may be true. But the fact of the matter is that if you have high cholesterol in Ireland resistant to diet and exercise, then your going to be prescribed a statin. As a result of this your less likely to die of a cardiovascular incident.

El_Dangeroso

OP, what did your doc say? That would be my first port of call.

gpf101 wrote: »

Your presenting it like his opinions are fact which they are not. He disputes some of the widely accepted opinions but there is also compelling evidence against some of the points he makes. He argues that statins may have other methods of reducing cardiovascular mortality on top (or instead of) lipid lowering. That may be true. But the fact of the matter is that if you have high cholesterol in Ireland resistant to diet and exercise, then your going to be prescribed a statin. As a result of this your less likely to die of a cardiovascular incident.

Hi gpf101, I presume from your username you're a GP? Welcome to the N&D forums! We don't get too many medics round these parts, at least anyone who will admit it.

I'd take a point of disagreement with you that if you don't want to eat right that a statin will help prevent that first heart attack. From what I've read as an amateur science buff, if you are male with a proven history of heart disease then yes, but statins have a less proven role in primary prevention as the latest cochrane review in the area outlines. Also, side-effects for statins can be substantial, I think that's where the guy who wrote the article was coming from, he had experienced severe memory loss and muscle weakness as a result of taking statins, so as always the benefits must be carefully weighed against the downsides.

Better off with daily aspirin, not medical advice, just an unqualified opinion based on my very rudimentary understanding of the science.:) Especially since the evidence is accumulating for its role in preventing cancer also.

People forget that high cholesterol is not a disease, it is a risk-factor. A very unreliable one when it come at that. Probably the most validated aspect of cholesterol as a predictor is the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol. High total cholesterol is only usefully predictive when crazily high, in which case the total:HDL ratio will probably be bad anyway.

Also, plant sterols do reduce cholesterol but have never been shown to reduce the incidence of heart disease and may have some untoward side-effects yet to be further studied. Actually a lot of drugs that have been developed to lower cholesterol have the tendency to have horrendous side effects and never make it to market.

I really can't advise the OP as I suspect at 28 he either has a condition or has nothing to worry about. You can test for familial hypercholestremia OP, head to the doc and he'll put your mind at ease.

Nonoperational

I'm not a GP, not yet anyway, coincidence there! I actually agree with you on the majority of what your saying. Diet and lifestyle should always be the first port of call for cholesterol, blood pressure etc. 100% agree there. I was never advocating that you eat what you like and take a statin and everything will be ok. Statins don't suit everyone but they're pretty impressive drugs all the same, but I agree whether this is solely from reducing cholesterol appears to be less than clear. The ratio that you are talking about is improved by statins pretty effectively too.

Your point on high cholesterol being a risk factor is very true and in fairness I tried to make it clear in my first post.

All drugs have side effects. Aspirin seems to be flavour of the month again now but not so long ago there were people questioning it's risk/benefit because of haemorrhage. Sometimes I find there are so many studies out there you can back up both sides of an argument with some study or other!

Transform

gpf101 wrote: »

Your presenting it like his opinions are fact which they are not. He disputes some of the widely accepted opinions but there is also compelling evidence against some of the points he makes. He argues that statins may have other methods of reducing cardiovascular mortality on top (or instead of) lipid lowering. That may be true. But the fact of the matter is that if you have high cholesterol in Ireland resistant to diet and exercise, then your going to be prescribed a statin. As a result of this your less likely to die of a cardiovascular incident.

There is way too much acceptance of how things are in that comment.

random10

My GP told me not to stress that cholesterol is 90% genes and it's likely not down to my diet

El_Dangeroso

random10 wrote: »

My GP told me not to stress that cholesterol is 90% genes and it's likely not down to my diet

Not really. We have lots of studies showing you can cause substantial manipulation of cholesterol levels with diet.

Barring of course a gene that causes a defect in the LDL receptor in the liver, but that would affect a minority of people.

Transform

totally agree and think the genes card is overplayed in both obesity and cholesterol when optimal nutrition (paleo/primal approach), proper exercise (weight training, mobility and some metcons) and moderate supplementation (fish oils, vit c, digestive enzymes etc) could have a massive total body effect.

I accept that many do not actually want an answer (they might actually have to bloody act on it) to their cholesterol lowing or fat loss questions - they are just asking!

However, this should not be and excuse to NOT put forth methods that are working and have been working for hundreds of years to keep people disease free and healthy.