Confused

[Keepfitter]

Having been advised to go on a lowering chloresterol diet by my GP. I read the leaflet he sent me. However when I looked at the recommended spreads to replace butter they have palm oil in which is a no. So am I better off just buying a spreadable butter which is part butter part rape seed oil slightly salted?

[SpiritoftheFloyd]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Palm oil is high in saturated fat which boosts "bad" LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, It's also not good for the wildlife as tropical and sub tropical forests are being cleared to plant palm oil crops.

You haven't said in your profile whether you have a heart condition or does your concern only relate to cholesterol, if it's the latter there is another forum for cholesterol support which you may find helpful, link below:-

healthunlocked.com/choleste...

Here's a link to the BHF pages on cholesterol which have a number of suggestions on diet and cholesterol:-

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

[Keepfitter in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Thank you this is very helpful

[Scot2020 in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Hi. All those spreads and chol lowering wee plastic bottles are all hype and marketing. I use extra virgin olive oil on my seed based bread.

[Keepfitter in reply to Scot2020]

Thanks Scot I have already decided to stick with goats milk butter very sparingly. I use barely enough to cover 2 slices of healthy bread a day and cook with healthy oil again sparingly. Best wishes

[Scot2020]

I am with you in the palm oil. All these spreads are NOT food. If you saw then unprocessed you would be horrified. I use olive oil if I need something. But with Type 2 I don't each much bread. Days of dropping toast are sadly gone !! Sob

[Keepfitter in reply to Scot2020]

Thank you it all seems a bit confusing at first on the data. The rest of the advice is straightforward .

[Hidden]

Go onto YouTube and check out Ivor Cummins. Ignore his corona stuff and look what he has to say about cholesterol and heart disease. It is all evidence based. Then make an informed decision on what diet is best for your health. It's not what many will blindly tell you.

[Keepfitter]

Thanks I will do so.

[Pollypuss]

Have not used margarine or butter and the thought of palm oil and the effect on the environment horrifies me. However because I cannot take statins I use Benacol which works together with a good diet. There again I notice that Benacol uses some “responsibly resourced palm oil” So I am writing to them to ask what they mean by this and why they need to add it at all. I do use olive oil etc .

[Keepfitter in reply to Pollypuss]

Thanks I have decided to stick with minimum amounts of spreadable butter as at least it is a natural product and the ingredients are just butter rape seed oil and a little salt. The. Spreads all seem to use a lot of strange ingredients. So I will be very sparing indeed. I have already started spreading a savoury sandwich with hummus instead. Obviously cooking with good oil and sparingly. It is a mine field though.