high cholesterol

[krazekt]

Hi

I am new here. I have just discovered that my cholesterol is high. It's 7.37....... I know it's bad. We have a machine that tests it and never thought it was going to be that bad. I spoke to the onsite doctor and was told to get my sorry backside to the gp and get my self sorted. I am ringing first thing Monday morning.

I am quite worried as I know this is not good but my diet is shocking and I love bad food. I am a fussy eater. lol. I have been looking at gym memberships. I think this is the wake up call I need.

Any help or advise would be great.

Thanks

Katie

[Bagrat]

Before you panic. Google NICE guidelines for prescribing cholesterol lowering drugs and patient help in making a choice about statins. There are lots of other risk factors for heart and cerebrovascular disease and a higher cholesterol is only one. Your GP should advise lifestyle changes before prescribing anything. The ratio between good and bad cholesterol is considered to be more important by some medics not just the total cholesterol. Best wishes Wendy B

[sos007 Ambassador]

An IMMEDIATE lifestyle change is in order or you run the risk of open heart surgery at some point, or worse, a life-threatening heart attack.

Begin your lifestyle change by educating yourself on healthy dietary habits and activity.

Sugars - eliminate soft-drinks; reduce alcohol consumption to no more than 1 drink per day.

Eliminate simple carbohydrates - foods that convert to sugar in the body - such as white bread, white rice, potatoes. Replace with whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, sweet potatoes. However, you can only eat these foods in small quantities. 3 slices of whole grain bread per day, the rest only once per week.

LLL - Learn to love legumes. Beans, lentils, chick peas, almonds - eat them daily as your primary source of protein and fibre.

Egg white omelet cooked in olive oil - no more butter - as another primary source of protein. Egg whites have no cholesterol are low in calories and are rich in protein.

Red meat - once per month and it must be extra lean. Chicken and pork (both extra lean), once per week. Fish - like salmon and trout, twice per week.

Spinach salad, bean salad every day if possible. Eat whatever salad you want but dressing must be only olive oil or vinaigrette. No creamy dressings.

Dairy - I converted to goat milk - it tastes the same as cow's milk but is healthier.

Ice cream once every 3 months - it is extremely high in fat. Cheese - feta made of goat and sheep's milk is healthy. However eat in moderation. All other cheeses, eliminate them or eat no more than once per week. Desserts once every 3 months or never.

Vegetables and beans must become your primary food base on a daily basis.

Exercise - start by walking daily. Start with 10 minutes and build up to an hour. You can break it up into 4 - 15 minute walks or two 30 minute walks if you prefer. You must walk daily without exception.

Weight training. Start with push-ups or go to a gym and have them create a program for you for strength training. Do this 4 days per week.

These lifestyle changes should save your life and make you feel better, younger and stronger.

If you don't make these changes you will be condemned to taking statin drugs which have potentially horrible side-effects as well as other medications.

I was a lazy, red-meat loving carnivore, then I had open heart surgery (age 53). It was the worst experience of my life. I then had to take a cocktail of drugs daily after the surgery. The drugs killed my libido and made me feel lethargic among other things. I made the lifestyle changes I described based on my cardiologists advice. Today I'm in the best shape of my life and I am almost completely off of all the medications including statins.

You will get only once chance at redemption - DON'T BLOW IT!

[Anotherview in reply to sos007]

Great summary! Thanks. But add "be happy" in this.

[Penel]

Can you change your shocking diet? Joining a gym could be a good idea, but you can't run away from a bad diet.

Perhaps try changing what you eat gradually. Cut down on the sugary foods and drink for a start.

[Anotherview in reply to Penel]

Very very true! Bad diet will not be nullified by exercise!

[sandybrown]

I take it the machine is at your work place and calibrated daily before any testing is carried out?

Did the machine only give you total cholesterol or other cholesterol numbers as well.

You need to look at the cholesterol ratio, have a look at the post "Translation".

Life style change can help you towards a healthy life. Regular exercise, watching quantity of food intake, looking out for free and hidden sugar in pre prepared food.

NHS, GPs can offer medication to lower cholesterol but I am not sure on life style change as this did not happen on my GP practice.

There is online JBS2 risk calculator, have a look at this, input your numbers and see what result you get. The plan is to vary the numbers to check how lowering cholesterol can help you, not all the GPs are capable of doing this, my GP practice did not do the for me but I did it my self on line. Look at the height to waist ration numbers and work towards a healthy number.

BMI calculation, because this is man made calculator from the early days, not very accurate.