High cholesterol or FH

[Emmaline1988]

Hi , if someone can point me in the right direction that would be great :). Had my first cholesterol test at 25 at the time I was 5'2 150 ish pounds so overweight it was 7.6 had a few since then highest being 8.9 and current one being 7.4 LDL 5.1 . My dr had yet to prescribe statins as I am 29 years old he has given me until December to get it down. He says it is genetic as my dad has high cholesterol . However, my dads cholesterol was only borderline and he was in his mid 40's when diagnosed. There is no history of early heart disease or issues anywhere in the family . Should I be concerned I have FH? is my dr not being proactive enough letting me walk around with levels of totally cholesterol 7-8.9 for the last 6 years ? I'm so confused and scared as I am young and have 2 young children but there is no sign of FH in my family . Coukd it just be from bad diet I will admit my diet has been very poor and I am overweight / struggled with food for a long time. Any insight appreciated. Thanks

[Mascha1900]

I’ve written this before, but here goes: it always makes me a bit sad when I see another post - especially from a young person such as yourself - from someone who is so worried about their cholesterol. High cholesterol in itself is not dangerous! But statins are, entailing the risk of: muscle issues which may be permanent, diabetes and breast cancer in women, dementia, kidney failure, liver failure, heart failure.... the list goes on and on. The reason for that is that statins interfere with an essential process in the body called the ‘mevalonate pathway’. This involves the production by the liver of nutrients that are essential to the human body, such as the CoQ10 enzyme. Also, the body needs cholesterol, it is essential for every function. Evidence shows that the only group that has ever benefited from statins are men in their forties and fifties (but under 65) who have had a heart attack. There is no evidence that any woman has ever benefited. So my advice would be to not worry about your cholesterol, and try to follow a diet with as little sugar and processed foods as possible but with plenty of good fats such as butter, olive oil and coconut oil. Good luck!

[lynsreid]

I would suggest you get genetically tested to see if you are FH. If not definitely do everything you can to avoid statins. If you are FH that's a different story. You need to know before you can decide on a path. Good luck!

[Markl60]

I echo the other poster but on the subject of cholesterol levels if your weight comes down I would bet my house that your cholesterol levels will also drop. So that seems to be your starting point. Now I am going to advise you on how to get to your natural weight. I went from 14st to 11st 5lbs in three months eating as much as a wanted. The key word here is 'wanted'. First of all forget all the plans out there that involve calorie counting and increasing exercise, not that exercise isn't good for you. The key is WHAT you eat. When you eat the right natural foods your desire to eat more is curtailed and hence the weight loss. There are at least two ways to go on this. One is the low carb high fat approach. The other which is my approach is low simple carb whole food plant based with some fish. The key for me was cutting out all simple carbs and high GI carbs. This meant no bread, pasta, pizza in fact only food that was produced by nature and not a pastry chef. I eat some fats eg advocadas, Omega 3 from fish and the like. If you drink cut down to the odd glass of wine. Here is a typical day for me

Breakfast One Pink grapefuit, Porridge with Kiwi and blueberries, Hibiscus Tea

Lunch A soup and a salad

Dinner Grilled salmon, sweet potato and salad followed by fruit salad or just some fruit

During the day Green Tea

I am pretty sure a similar approach will see weight drop. I found that in line with research coffee put my cholesterol up 7% and Green tea dropped it 7%. You could also use full flush Niacin (Vit B3) which will also drop your LDL by 10 to 15% from a modest 50mg

Good luck

[Floozie in reply to Markl60]

I am sure your diet is healthy & enabled you to lose weight, but what about eating food which is enjoyable? I would get no pleasure from eating if I followed your diet. Who on earth wants to drink green tea or hibiscus tea?

[sos007 Ambassador in reply to Floozie]

That's a psychological prejudice that you've created for yourself. If you learn how to cook well, all foods can taste good. Overindulging in self-gratification by eating foods high in flavour but low in nutrition generally leads to poor health. There is a trade-off. If you're not willing to make it then you'll have to accept the health consequences.

[Floozie in reply to sos007]

We all have different taste buds - that's why we like different things. I have detested all nuts & anything similar like coconut & marzipan since I was a child. I also cannot eat anything hot or spicy, such as curries or chilli, as they just burn my mouth. Surely the point of eating (apart from not starving to death) is to enjoy the taste of what we eat so it is a pleasurable experience & if it fits into the "healthy" category that is fine, but I am not prepared to force just anything down my throat if I hate the taste.

[sos007 Ambassador in reply to Floozie]

Then you must accept the health implications of your choices. C'est la vie.

[Floozie in reply to sos007]

At the age of 72 yrs. having eaten whatever I fancied throughout my life, never being overweight, nor suffering because of my diet, I think I will continue enjoying food rather than suffering only "healthy" options, which on the whole would not be my choice. Nowadays we are instructed everywhere to eat healthily, but are we ever told to eat pleasurably? In my opinion too many people deny themselves what they would really like to eat (for no apparent reason) because of all this emphasis on what is considered "healthy" with the result they are afraid to eat a bit of chocolate or a potato or a piece of cake. How sad.

[sos007 Ambassador in reply to Floozie]

Enjoy your hedonistic diet. By the way, I eat dark chocolate every day.

[Ronzol in reply to sos007]

Yeah for dark chocolate. Im anI every dayer also. It finishes my dinner every night. Btw i really don't like plain chocolate. Gotta be dark or nuttin.

[sandybrown in reply to Floozie]

I am getting closer to your age. After being on a life style change for 5 years, have seen benefit, but or eating or drinking what I want and what I like.

Have decided to enjoy one life. Only time will tell.

Agree with you "How Sad!"

[sos007 Ambassador in reply to sandybrown]

Then why are you and Floozie on this forum?

[sandybrown in reply to sos007]

The question of why?, when? where? are very interesting.

Education and learning and having a good understanding are better than none.

What happens to the earth after full moon and dark moon, why am I on this earth planet?

[Markl60 in reply to Floozie]

Many of the foods that we deem enjoyable are enjoyable simply because they are addictive. Who loves a digestive biscuit with a cup of tea, but who can only eat just one. Once you give them up the craving for these foods disappears. When people make the point you have made I simply reply, I have given one set of delicious food up that are bad for me and replaced it with other delicious food that is good for me.

[Floozie in reply to Markl60]

I can eat just one biscuit as I have never been a "snacker" and biscuits are not really my thing anyway. My point about the healthy options is that they mostly do not taste as good. How can a salad be enjoyed without a dressing or a meat dish without a sauce? I would hate to think I had to give up white bread, butter, potatoes, chocolate to name but a few.

[Markl60 in reply to Floozie]

I am not talking about your biscuit habits but the general publics habits. By all means keep eating the white bread if thats what you want to do

[Ronzol in reply to Markl60]

Mark160 I like your last paragraph. Tells it all.

[sos007 Ambassador in reply to Markl60]

Well done Markl60 - your diet looks great!

[sos007 Ambassador]

FH is an over-diagnosed condition. How can a doctor diagnose a person who is significantly overweight with FH? First, you need to change your diet and lifestyle in order to shed your excess body weight. If you arrive at your optimal body weight, are exercising daily and still have high cholesterol, THEN there might be some truth to the FH diagnosis. UNTIL THEN, it is unlikely you have FH.

You have a poor diet and lifestyle and THAT is what you need to fix.

Read my post here and learn how to lose weight without being hungry:

healthunlocked.com/choleste...

As a mother, you owe it to your family to put yourself in the best possible physical condition, otherwise your health won't allow you to take care of your family.

Watch this video and start making your dietary and lifestyle changes immediately.

youtu.be/aIc6iF5k9v4(Not working as expected?)

I speak from experience - if you need any more guidance you can message me privately.

Good luck!

[sos007 Ambassador]

In the short-term as you transition your diet and lifestyle, assuming you have normal kidney function and ferritin levels (get a blood test), you can take 3,000 mg of Vitamin C per day spread out over 3 dosages of 1,000 mg per dose before each meal.

Vitamin C at this dosage level should reduce your LDL cholesterol by about 18% without negative side-effects. In fact, you'll probably feel more energized and will strengthen your immune system to protect you from viruses and bacterial infections as well.

Good luck.

[Emmaline1988]

Thanks . I actually went t get bloods drawn today it has been 6 months since my last check. I will be taking all of this advice to heart and see what I can do to bring it down naturally first. My only concern is just being that I have had high cholesterol that I knew of since early 29’s potentially long before. I worry about any damage that has been done walking around all these years with levels this high and no knowing ( dr didn’t even mention my blood were high all those years he just shrugged it off ) I don’t want to end up having a heartattack sometime soon

[Emmaline1988]

An update : got my bloods back basically the same ldl raised a little bit was 5.1 last time this time was 5.7. However , HDL was .97 before and now Its shot up to 1.3 and my risk ratio dropped from 7.6 to 5.4 triglycerides Aldo dropped waaaay down . What should I make of all this ?

[sos007 Ambassador]

You have much work to do.

Read my post on how to lose weight:

healthunlocked.com/choleste...

Good luck.