I’m an otherwise healthy 53 year old who had a PSA blood test, and while that was thankfully clear, I was told I had high cholesterol (above 7.5). I’ve been put on a statin and have started a healthy eating and increased exercise regime. I consider my diet was pretty healthy anyway but have cut out red meat and anything with high saturated fat and have greatly increased fruit and veg. I don’t drink much and have never smoked.
I was thrown by the diagnosis and am now a bit paranoid about diet. I'd love to hear from anyone who has been in a similar situation for a longer period about how you manage diet over time. For example do you ever eat cake, biscuits, crisps, sausages etc, or are they foods you have to completely eliminate? Is a very infrequent food treat ok?
Also over the last year I've noticed of an evening that I get an almost tingly numbness in the sole of one foot and a few toes. Looking online it seems this could be caused by high cholesterol. Does anyone else have this, and does it go away if you get cholesterol levels down?
Any tips or advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
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TopChester
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sympathy! It was a great shock to find my chol levels were too high, though I had been on blood pressure meds for about twenty years and thought my diet was good ….
The best source of information in my view is the specialist charity Blood Pressure UK.
Personally, I eliminate most “manufactured” food. If you look closely at labels you’ll see things that you would never find in a domestic kitchen, so try to ditch these.
I do eat crisps, but they are no-salt - just potato and oil. Cakes, occasionally if they are home made. Biscuits - yes but not sweet ones, I have oatcakes. I eat four squares of dark chocolate most days. I do eat sausages, but they are made in the butchers shop in front of me and don’t contain any nasties. I have bacon about once a month. I do eat red meat.
I also cut down but didn’t eliminate salt, and I drink plenty of water. Ten units of red wine per week.
The occasional treat won’t hurt at all, but your diet overall should be a healthy one - and don’t forget exercise!
I would try not to worry too much about it. I have been living with high cholesterol most of my adult life, mainly due to bad genes and less so from bad diet.
Good thing is you know where you are and you are turning your lifestyle around in a good way to tackle the issue.
You are part of a plan to reduce the risk factors of a stroke or heart attack based upon your age. You do have high cholesterol but that can be normalised with diet change.
I was diagnosed with the same, but I refused the statins and researched alternatives. I did agree to move onto metformin, however as soon as my levels have normalised I will stop taking those.
Look up plant sterols as an alternative for statins, and breakfast start the day with a shot of organic beetroot juice, two carrots and a red apple, this does wonders for lowering cholesterol.
I also had a heart mot privately booked, they do a number of tests to check condition of heart and if veins are narrowing with plaque, my results showed a healthy heart and zero plaque, and hence I prefer to take alternatives to statins because the risk factor is age based, and the cost of statins is much lower than the cost of a hospital bed for a stroke or heart attack.
Do your own research diligently, statins do help manage high cholesterol, but only if you are at a high risk of a stroke or heart attack !!
Tingling and numbness is a factor of type 2 diabetes, if nerves are damaged it's about managing the pain, go find some active hemp creme which will lesson the sensation.
Be sensible, one life means just that physically, do not take pills if you do not need to take pills. I was originally on statins, and stopped taking them when I gained the all clear on my heart and artery to be 100% clear by a heart consultant, I provided the evidence to my GP, but minimising risk as you get older is a sensible plan of action.
Best of luck, am here to help and support anyone, as this site has helped me.
"I was diagnosed with the same, but I refused the statins and researched alternatives." I bet the graveyards have quite a few folks in them that took this route! Trust me, you will never reduce your levels, particularly at yours, by dieting. With high LDL cholesterol you are at increased risk of cardiovascular events and I would caution strongly about this advice.
I've just been put on a cholesterol lowering tablet as can't take statins but mine is 5.7,but I'm 67 and think sometimes life is just too short and unpredictable,I still eat chocolate but limit it,I like a rum at night and I like ice cream so I have everything I like but in moderation
A similar test result at age 52 started me on my "journey" with coronary artery disease. Have you a family history of CAD or high cholesterol?
Regarding diet, I'm of the opinion that stains will get you 80% of the way there to lowering cholesterol, while diet is about 20% (unless you're starting at a very high level and eating lots of "bad" foods). I am about 80% vegetarian, but still eat chicken/fish 2x a week. No red meat or dairy fats. But...I do allow myself cheat "bites" here and there. I am already planning for a cheeseburger in July at a family get together.
I tried going full on vegetarian/near-vegan/ultra low fat. Couldn't do it. Too much prep work, too much obsessing about food.
I was similarly diagnosed when I was your age. That was 20 years ago and, until very recently, I have taken stains sometimes at the very highest dose. When I was first prescribed a statin, my then very practical GP suggested that if I had a particularly heavy night out, say, I might simply double my dose that night! At the beginning of this year I decided to stop taking statins except from time to time as a kind of "morning after pill". My diet has not changed materially over the years and I have had no relevant health issues. I also take blood pressure tablets but at the lowest possible dosage. Personally, I would try not to worry too much. Also, please think carefully about PSA tests. They are not very reliable. If you had a worrying test result would you undergo further invasive procedures? In my late(ish) 40s I had some urinary problems and saw an eminent Professor of Urology in Oxford who cautioned against a PSA test. He said it would likely to be out of range, in which case, it would be a difficult decision as to how to proceed. He suggested to just "wait and see". I am still waiting but have had no repetition of the problem I had then.
I don’t want to throw negativity onto the cholesterol subject but since I had my heart attack in January , out of the blue, I’m 67 led a very active life poor diet , however no meat and very little dairy, had two admissions to hospital in my life once in 64 next in 84 then 2024, I have done a lot of individual research into this subject and it appears at the mear mention of cholesterol the answer is to get you on statins as a preventative measure. I looked back on my notes and every blood check that was taken over the years was over 7.2 and nothing was ever addressed. So I know that I could live with that. Please don’t get to stressed out about cholesterol levels but I would do your own research into statins I have since, and it’s not for everyone come off my medication, as it was a case of every repeat a new medication was added to convey one of the medication I had been given, so I found a supplement that gives all the natural things pharmaceutical medication can do. I changed my diet to exclude suger, as best I could, and pastry and chocolate etc since March my levels total has been lower end desirable which I’m happy with praise the Lord,
I also have a shot of cayenne pepper and tumeric every morning and evening.
I also have a natural high cholesterol level (over 9). In my case I have been taking statins for over 25 years which initially reduced it to 5 to 5.5, then when on max dose statin to 4.5 to 5 and within the last 12 months an addition of ezetimibe which has got it down to below 4 which I am happy with. I have a balanced diet and a relaxed attitude to sticking to the 'rules' since I tend to eat everything in moderation including all forms of meat (and that includes sausages!). I also drink red wine. The only things I tend to avoid are sweet sugary foods and high calorie 'snacks' like crisps which I cut out or cut down on when I lost 13 kg two years ago, and I really dont miss them. Anyway if you look up the BHF recommendations about a heart healthy lifestyle it includes lots on diet, exercise and body weight management as well as smoking and alcohol and I am sure you will find tips in there which will add to what you are already doing. My personal recommendations are keep up exercising ( it doesn't need to be a regular gym visit, walking is fine) , lose weight if you need to, enjoy a varied diet and don't get too hung up on naughty foods from time to time or if taken in moderation, but above all enjoy life and dont worry about high cholesterol since you are now on the road to getting it under control with the help of medication and lifestyle improvements.
I discovered before I was 40 , quite by chance, that I have high cholesterol. I was very thrown by the finding and felt like I had a death sentence. I tried every trick in the book-very careful eating, loads of exercise, lots of walking when not at gym and took Benecol. I reduced my cholesterol slightly-but not sufficiently.
Over 20 years later I am on a statin. I have not had any problems with taking it. It has worked wonders on my cholesterol. I had to discontinue for 6 months whilst I was on an unconnected but incompatible medication, and my cholesterol shot back up despite eating well.
I have stopped beating myself up and thinking it’s my fault. I accept that my body makes too much cholesterol. I eat well, try to minimise saturated fats and eat a lot of vegetables, fruit and whole grain and not much, if any pre packaged food. I exercise regularly.
Statins are non addictive-so if you try one for eg 6 months and for whatever reason find you have any issues then you can discuss this with a medical professional and discontinue or change. You will have blood tests along the way to check your liver is ok.
It is a personal choice but make it a properly informed choice. Ask your Dr about your lipid levels and what they mean, ask to see a dietitian, talk about the alternatives.
There are folk on the internet who have strong anti views about statins. Not all these negative opinions are well founded but undoubtedly there are people who get side effects from virtually anything. .For example, I’ve always been allergic to fabric plasters and think they are made by the devil!
Top Chester, I think you have had some outstandingly bad advice by a few responders here other than lowerfield, and would urge you to talk to your GP. Cholesterol is produced by your liver the less you ingest the more it will make. Stick with the meds along with plenty of exercise and good diet.
Thanks. I have no intention of dropping the statins unless I suffer some adverse reaction which hasn’t been the case so far. I’m hoping that a combination of the medication, increasing exercise levels and improving an already not bad diet will do the trick. I tend to go all in and am being very regimented about food but realistically doubt it is sustainable long term. I suppose my question is more about once the cholesterol levels hopefully drop to a ‘normal’ level, is it ok to have the infrequent food treat….such as fish and chips or full English once in a blue moon.
I went on a strict 100% plant based diet for 3 months and told my GP I was doing it, he advised against it but said he would be interested to see the results and agreed to do blood tests before and after for me. To be honest it was very hard work. Results were that my cholesterol levels particularly LDL went back to previous levels, overall cholesterol was 4.9 exactly the same as before. Within almost days of being back on 80mg Atorvastatin I was down to 3.1 again with a big difference in LDL.
Of course it's fine to have things like Fish and Chips once in a while, however once you get into alternative diets you may find you don't want things like a full English, I used to love them but wouldn't touch one now as I much prefer veggy based alternatives anyway.
Hello Top Chester, there’s definitely fors and againsts for taking statins. However, if you research suitable diets for high cholesterol you will find the advice is that only saturated fat is the enemy not fat per se, so good quality cold pressed olive oil and rapeseed is fine and beneficial to cholesterol, as are fruits and vegetables and of course exercise. One of the postings on here says that the poster has high cholesterol and zero heart disease or arterial plaques. Therein lies the conundrum. Why do some people with high cholesterol have no evidence of disease and why do some people with low cholesterol have heart attacks? To date I’m not sure that has been medically explained, apart from the fact that heart disease is caused by many things, including genetics which we can’t do much about. Unfortunately we don’t routinely test for arterial blockages unless you exhibit symptoms and need stents. There’s still a lot of conflicting evidence. You could try plant sterols which are available in tablet form. They appear to help.
hi there - I would suggest a Mediterranean diet - I have been on statins since I was 42 although mine is thought to be heriditary (can’t remember the name for it) - relax but be sensible - I am 70 in a couple of months but also have heriditary heart conditions -,only recently diagnosed - had pacemaker fitted 8 weeks ago - and fingers crossed still going strong?
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