Diet - totally confused. 😩

[Shazo29]

Completely confused, how can a high fat low carb diet possibly help lower cholesterol ? Isn't cholesterol fat? Just had results bad cholesterol 7.2 good cholesterol 1.5 😢 Not sure what to eat, what not to eat 😩 Help please

[Penel]

Research shows that sugar and refined carbs can affect cholesterol levels badly.

scientificamerican.com/arti...

authoritynutrition.com/low-...

[Andyman]

The problem cones from the high fat part. They don't mean you can eat mountains of any fat. They mean you can eat an increased amount of good fats. It's easy to think they mean deep fried lard. Good fats are things like Olive oil or nuts etc. I am not an expert, I eat a balanced diet mainly vegetable, fish, nuts, eggs and minimal carbs and some meat. Nothing processed. I don't like fatty fats like butter so I don't eat that. But I don't substitute it with alternatives either. Works for me.

[eraruc44]

There is no such thing as good or bad cholestoral, it's just hype so you'll take statins, which are really BAD. I eat fish three times a week, grilled with garlic powder and a LITTLE salt. The rest of the time I eat  chicken grilledor in a stew (gulash). I eat veg with these meals, peas, beetroot (A must for people with blood cholestoral problems.) green beans and salad. I eat bread or potatoes or rice or noodles, and ... MOST IMPORTANT ... I drink a mouthful of Olive oil and a mouthful of Rapeseed oil folowed by a glass of red wine. I do this EVERY evening before our main meal. Apart from cheese and tinned tomatoes: 'If you can't wash it, peel it, or don't have to cook it (ready-meals) then DO NOT EAT IT.

Watch your sugar and salt intake. Sports like cycling (even at home) and intensive swimming or jogging (not sprinting) burns cholestoral and helps to keep your blood pressure low and also after a while reduces your pulse rate.

I take 100mgs of coated (for your stomach lining)  ASPIRIN daily, this thins the blood, recommended if you are over fifty.

If you are woman I recommend camille tea once or twice a day, do this and you will live longer than you would without it this phenomenal effect. Unfortunately for me this does not work for men. 

I wish you well.

[sandybrown in reply to eraruc44]

Medical terminology!  Good and Bad cholesterol, human body produces cholesterol on demand to support the body.

Have you tired to make a mix of this in a glass " I drink a mouthful of Olive oil and a mouthful of Rapeseed oil folowed by a glass of red wine"?

One has to be very careful with this "I take 100mgs of coated (for your stomach lining) ASPIRIN daily, this thins the blood, recommended if you are over fifty."!!

[eraruc44 in reply to sandybrown]

I don't mix the oils in a glass; I HAVE TO MEASURE IT. I drink from the bottle until my mouth is full then I swallow. The wine I drink from a glass, naturally. I also take a cold shower, the colder the better, every morning, 52/7. As for aspirin, I live in Germany and there are aspirin tablets made especially as blood thinners. AND BEWARE OF THE BLOOD THINNER CHLOPRIDOGREL. DO NOT EXERT YOURSELF, WATCH YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE AS THIS MEDICINE WEAKENS THE ARTERIAL WALLS. 

[rocheen in reply to eraruc44]

Why is the tea good for women

[eraruc44 in reply to rocheen]

I suggest you Google - Camille Tea, life extension for women. And find out for yourself.

[allofatremor]

My tuppence worth lol, excercise 30mins a day or even every other day to start, walking is brilliant easy enjoyable and free. Eat  fruit veg chicken fish, even frozen and tinned, frozen veg is very quick and tastes good when no time to prepare, add a little proper butter to your veg not loads just a little. Try to avoid bread,pasta,rice,potatoes, if you fancy a lower carb eat fresh cauliflower mash it! If you fancy a little pasta or rice use brown not white, and just gave a couple of tablespoons instead of a load. Stress is very bad for cholesterol TRY and be less stressed out about things, very hard I know, but then life can be very hard can't it. Don't worry mine was 8.2 and it's now 5, a d I'm fitter and happier, good luck 

[DakCB-UK]

Ask to be referred to a dietician with experience in FH (if you have it). Either your lipid clinic or your GP should be able to do that these days.

Don't just follow random internet diets.

[Daveyboy77]

If you stick to  the traffic light system you cant go wrong. Stay away from the red and stick to the green and now and then yellow. You will find that most food  will have some yellow in it but if the greens out number the yellow then you should be ok. Regarding meat chicken is ok and turkey has little fat. Instead of cooking oil i use 1 cal it,s a spray on oil . Stick to brown bread and brown rice and pasta. As white pasta once eaten turns to sugar. If you have a sweet tooth try tice bicults. There a lot lower in sugar then normal bic,s. 

[Shazo29]

Thank you so much for lots of wonderful responses. I have an appointment Wednesday with a diet and lifestyle consultant so hopefully I'll be fully enlightened or even more confused!! Lol 😊

[sandybrown]

Please write down all the questions you was to ask and the answers given to you. Remember that NHS food in take guide is so different to the one that has been talked about here. NHS diet consultants will only go with their guide lines.

Have an open mind and enjoy the discussion. Looking forward to your update.

[linlow]

Saturated fat in your diet is digested, packed into chylomicrons (HDL, the largest type of lipid particle) and enters the bloodstream directly through the thoracic duct. Carbohydrates, on the other hand, are first converted into simple sugars, with the excess not required for energy ending up in the liver where some becomes cholesterol and the remainder formed into triglycerides.

LDL isn't a cholesterol it is a 'container' like the HDL chylomicron that is used to move a mixture of cholesterol and triglycerides out of the liver and around the body.  It is vital to health, it helps keep cell function running smoothly and without it you would die.The problem comes at the end of its life when it sends a signal to HDL to come and break it down.  Sometimes this process goes wrong and leaves a free floating denseLDL.  These can burrow into blood vessel walls causing the body's defence mechanism to step into overdrive.  This is the bit that causes clogging of the arteries.

With the full story on cholesterol quite a bit more complicated than we think, research is now coming up with more and more proof that high cholesterol levels actually protect the heart.  What is more important than how high your levels are is to have the correct ratio of LDL to HDL.  The optimal ratio currently suggested is anything less than 3.5-to-1.

The LCHF diet works by balancing nutrient intake to provide optimal health.  For instance, the removal of cereal products reduces the amount of simple sugars that enter the liver and thus the amount of LDL that can be produced.  Then again high levels of triglycerides can be associated with over consumption of omega 6.  Many processed foods are high in omega 6 and totally devoid of omega 3.  The standard modern diet results in ratios of 16:1 or higher (6 to 3).  What you want to be aiming for is nothing higher than 4:1.  The LCHF diet addresses this.

High carb foods not being removed from medically advised diets thus perpetuates the problem, albeit at a lower level and through a great deal of struggle.

Although some new starters on LCHF see results much sooner, it may take as long as a month to notice the benefits that the change in diet has produced but, in truth, what is the cost of a month when weighed against a lifetime of health.  LCHF is versatile enough to be ketogenic, weight loss or maintenance diet according to need.

[linlow in reply to linlow]

jn.nutrition.org/content/13...

[Hidden]

Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

Alternatively, look at heartuk.org.uk/cholesterol-...

Also, if your cholesterol is rather high, get your GP to refer you to the local Lipid Clinic or specialist.  It could be that you have genetic form of high cholesterol.

[wazzockbeak]

The Diet Myth by Professor Tim Spector

itun.es/gb/MCLC4.l

I know how you feel, I have the same difficulty. This is helping me.

[sandybrown]

Do we need to read a book to tell us what to eat! It is simple, eat fresh in small quantity.

Avoid free and hidden sugar.

Go for regular exercise to get the blood flowing as fast as possible during exercise.