Cholesterol

Soups123

Hi Guys

Received a call from my GP and I'm a little bit confused. I had some bloods done and he said my Cholestrol was 6.1% and I needed to get it down below 5%. He just said look at my diet cut out fatty foods and eat fruit and veg.

I asked him did he have anything I could read and he said just look online and you'll find all the info you need, and come back to him in 6 months to have it checked again.

I found a Flora Pro activ sight that gave me bits of info but does anyone here have a link to something maybe not linked to a product with some form of chart of foods to avoid and foods to pick up on etc. Im early 30s so he said its not a big deal for now but I want to get on top of it.

Any advise would be great.

homemadecider

Just google it, e.g.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002

Soups123

I had came across that site earlier but it seemed to only have a small bit of info, maybe thats it and what it says there is all I need to know.

Was hoping for someone maybe with direct experience to give me some pointers

tunguska

Soups123 wrote: »

Hi Guys

Received a call from my GP and I'm a little bit confused. I had some bloods done and he said my Cholestrol was 6.1% and I needed to get it down below 5%. He just said look at my diet cut out fatty foods and eat fruit and veg.

I asked him did he have anything I could read and he said just look online and you'll find all the info you need, and come back to him in 6 months to have it checked again.

I found a Flora Pro activ sight that gave me bits of info but does anyone here have a link to something maybe not linked to a product with some form of chart of foods to avoid and foods to pick up on etc. Im early 30s so he said its not a big deal for now but I want to get on top of it.

Any advise would be great.

First of all I'd get a second test done with a different GP and a different lab. I had the same experience last year, doctor called and said my cholesterol was 5.0 which came as a shock because I really look after myself and my diet. Went to another GP, got another blood test done with a different lab and my result came back as 3.5. Got a 3rd test just to be sure to be sure and it was 3.5 again.
If a second test does come back as being high then theres lots you can do other than take flora pro active. I mean theres obvious ones like cutting out alcohol, refined carbs, saturated fat and junk food. Take a look at your diet and write down what you're eating over the course of a week. A lot of the time we sleep eat and consume more junk than we think we do, so write it all down, that way theres no arguing with something written down in black & white.

Heres a few foods that have cholesterol lowering properties:

Kale, spinach, watercress, red cabbage, avacados, coconut oil, udos oil, chlorella, green tea(matcha is the best) cacao powder, Garlic(can take capsules if you dont like the smell), beetroot juice, tomatoes.

I take a smoothie everyday that includes most of the stuff listed above. Taking it in smoothie form is a vaery easy and conveniant way of getting a lot of good stuff into you in one pop. But the main thing to do is to cut out processed foods. Read labels and anything that has a long list of ingredients(especially of it contains sugar and hydrogenerated fat)put it down. Stick to foods that are as close to nature as possible.

siochain

cut out all processed foods, eliminate wheat and sugar and you will see a hugh difference.

eat plenty of meat, fish, eggs, veg, nuts, fruit, good fats (olive oil, coconut, butter). Its not what will be recommended by doc's and most web sites but it works.

Trial it for 4 weeks and then get your bloods done if you don't see an improvement take a different approach for 4 weeks and check bloods again.

Any way Cholesterol is generally not the issue on its own it’s when it’s combined with inflammation caused by lifestyle choices that we run into trouble.

--Kaiser--

Total cholesterol level is meaningless. You need to know your cholesterol sub-particle levels (LDL, HDL etc).
If you're doctor does not know this then you need a new doctor

tunguska

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

Total cholesterol level is meaningless. You need to know your cholesterol sub-particle levels (LDL, HDL etc).
If you're doctor does not know this then you need a new doctor

I wouldnt say its meanginless but you're right about the sub particle levels with the most important being the ratio between HDL and Total cholesterol.
Actually more relevant than cholesterol is a homocystine test. People with high cholesterol but low Homocystine values are less likely to have heart disease than somebody with low cholesterol and high homocystine.

Squiggle

This article has some good information about heart disease risks. You don't hear much about many of these risk factors because statin drugs don't help ! Statin drugs are big business though so the link between total cholesterol and heart disease is economic more than anything else imo.

clynam

Exercising 4 times per week for at least 30 minutes and reducing foods containing saturated fats especially crisps, cakes and biscuits is the best way to reduce cholesterol. Don't forget that some foods lower cholesterol including olive oil, sunflower seeds and omega 3 supplements and oily fish. Flora and Benecol contain plant sterols that also reduce cholesterol