Feeling overwhelmed : Hello, I'm new... - Cholesterol Support

Cholesterol Support

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Feeling overwhelmed

9dee9 profile image
20 Replies

Hello, I'm new here, I just recently found out I have high cholesterol. I'm hoping to learn how I can control with diet and lifestyle changes, I really do not want to take meds. Any tips would be appreciated ☺

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9dee9 profile image
9dee9
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20 Replies
sandybrown profile image
sandybrown

I am afraid you need to give details of your blood test numbers for members her to comment!

Life style can help to lower cholesterol.

9dee9 profile image
9dee9 in reply to sandybrown

The only thing my Dr. Said was my cholesterol was high it's at 8, he didn't break it down, and I knew nothing about Ldl or Hdl..I've only started learning now...so when I go back to see him I will ask, and then post.

sandybrown profile image
sandybrown in reply to 9dee9

Thank you, your doctor can give you a print out of your blood test results. You doctor cam also do a risk analysis from your medical information, please do ask for risk analysis and full explanation as this is a starting point for life style change.

If you total cholesterol is 8, the question to ask your doctor is why is your body producing the high cholesterol?

Beetle1973 profile image
Beetle1973

Hi

Im sorry to hear how you are feeling. I'm in the same situation as yourself. I've gone to a low fat,low sugar high fibre diet. So basically it means I'm nearly on a vegetarian diet. I was advised by some of the members here to change to wholemeal pasta and rice. Stay away fromy hydrogenated fats (trans fat) I have increased my daily excerise by joining a gym and bought a fitbit. WowCher are currently doing great deals on them. My problem is im having to go to the gym alone and feel uncomfortable. My one word of advice would be watch out for foods labelled low fat as it's high in Sugar.

I've yet to see if the above works so I am far from being a expert but I've made a start and will adjust things if needed after next blood test.

Please let us know how you are getting on over the coming weeks.

9dee9 profile image
9dee9

Thanks for the reply. It's so scary, and it doesn't help when you have aniexty and panic issues on top of it all...that's how I found out about my cholesterol. I thought I was having a heart attack. I ended up at the emergency, they ran all the tests, everything was fine, followed up with my own dr. And we'll here I am. I'm driving myself crazy, I have been a vegetarian for almost 3 years, not a very good one mind you, as I ate alot of processed foods, but no meat.

I have been reading so much, my poor brain is overloaded lol! But I have started with eliminating processed foods. I'm living off of green tea, oatmeal, lentils, fruit and vegetables. When you say wholemeal, do you mean brown rice? Thanks again. Will keep posting as to how I'm getting along.

sandybrown profile image
sandybrown in reply to 9dee9

Black tea without sugar is better than green tea, this is according to information from a Sri Lanka tea plantation!

Beetle1973 profile image
Beetle1973

Hi

Yes brown rice and brown bread. Yes please keep in touch

Markl60 profile image
Markl60

First of all if you lose weight due to healthy eating your cholesterol levels will almost certainly drop, this is of course assuming you need to lose a little weight. One or two other basic tips, research showed that in some people coffee raises cholesterol by 10% and green tea lowers it by 10%. I personally found this to be true to around + and - 7%. One other thing that will certainly lower your cholesterol is full flush Niacin. If you decide to use it start low and build up while you get used to the flush effect which is harmless. Your doctor will almost certainly want you on Statins. What ever you do refuse this while you explore alternative healthy avenues. I could go on but you are probably feeling overwhelmed as it is

9dee9 profile image
9dee9 in reply to Markl60

Thank you Markl60, I am a little over weight 5'2", 136 lbs, and it's belly fat which I know is not good. I just quit smoking a month ago. Like I said earlier I have not eaten meat for almost 3 years, but very poor diet otherwise, and no exercise other than a 5 min walk to bus stop, so I'm hoping with all the changes I will be making it will make a difference. I will read up on niacin, what do you mean by flush?

Markl60 profile image
Markl60 in reply to 9dee9

That is great news, you admit your diet and exercise is very poor which means you have huge scope for improvement in both health and health markers. Flush means an approximate 30 second facial tingling sensation. It is perfectly harmless but if you dont know about it then it can come as a bit of surprise. You can buy no flush varieties but my advice is get the full flush variety to gain the optimum benefit, some no flush types will not impact on lipid levels..Your situation in some ways is perfect, you have huge natural potential for improvement which means avoiding the devastating side effects of drugs, its up to you know. Healthy diet, moderate daily exercise and perhaps some supplements could be all you need

Markl60 profile image
Markl60

Also most people (around 80%) do not respond to eating cholesterol as there body just self adjusts but alas some do. I know I am one of them I guess as a week on eggs for breakfast and live twice in the week elevated my LDL from 3.0 to 4.0. So perhaps self experiment with this angle too

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington

Hello 9dee9 and welcome to the forum where I hope you will gain some useful advice. I am going to submit a digest of many of the replies I’ve written over the months; doubtless some of it will duplicate what you have already learned. I want you to understand that everything I state can be referenced to independent medical professionals and is NOT my opinion.

I was so sorry to read about your current problem and realise that you have been given a huge dose of the very thing you really don’t need and that’s fear or stress. Big Pharma have done their marketing job well; they have taught the GPs to prescribe fear so that you will take their horrible drugs. Nobody knows what your correct level of cholesterol should be especially your doctor. It is likely that your cholesterol level will rise when a repair job is in hand; damage done by incorrect food.

Hippocrates (460 – 370 B.C.) gave us the very best advice when he said that food should be our medicine and medicine should be our food. I would recommend you to read a couple of articles which are soundly based and will increase your understanding of the mechanism of cholesterol in the body; in particular a heart surgeon confesses: healthscams.org.uk/heart-su... There is also a very useful summary of advice about statins at: healthscams.org.uk/are-stat... From what I have learned I wouldn’t go near them.

There has been a lot of false information published about saturated fats; there is nothing wrong with them, you need them for good health and some say for brain maintenance; an article appeared in the BMJ last year reinforcing that: bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/15/...

I would advise you to be sure not to deprive your body of the tools of life given to you by a whole range of whole foods to include dairy (whole unpasteurised and certainly not homogenised milk if you can get it), a moderate amount of meat and fish, plenty of fruit and vegetables, especially green leaf (we often have at least four vegetables with our meal).

Avoid seed oils like the plague, that’s rape seed, sunflower oil, etc; read about them and how they are produced at: healthscams.org.uk/the-trut...

The other evil is refined sugar not sugar in fruit but that used in cooking. A consultant surgeon being interviewed on the BBC Radio in 1982 said that refined sugar is poison and when pressed by the interviewer suggesting that it was a strong word to use the surgeon replied that if there was a stronger one he would have used it. If stewed fruit is a bit sharp we add a mashed banana to the already cooked fruit. Honey would have been eaten by ancient man as a treat after he had raided the hive; we should treat it similarly. Do just try to reduce the use of refined sugar; we use about 1kg per year.

We are only 83 and 87 so we do take a cod liver oil capsule each once a day. I hope my two pennyworths have helped you a bit more.

Good luck, ask any questions and if I can reference an answer I will gladly give it to you.

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington

Hello 9dee9. Having read my digest I realise that I forgot to mention the importance of REAL wholemeal bread, not the rubbush sold in supermarkets. I make all the bread in the house from a recipe you can find at :healthscams.org.uk/bake-you... I can make two 850g loaves in just over an hour; one goes in the freezer for later .

Good luck, Tibbly

9dee9 profile image
9dee9 in reply to Tibblington

Thank you Tibblington. I will most definitely read the links you posted. Knowledge is power is that not what they say! Your words have given me hope☺

sos007 profile image
sos007Ambassador

Don't feel overwhelmed, nor scared about your cholesterol levels.

You need to make some dietary modifications, make sure you walk at least 30 minutes per day at a brisk pace, and take some important supplements.

In general, a whole foods, plant based diet, limiting animal proteins to 3 oz per day. Fish twice per week (grilled or baked, not fried), red meat only once every 2 weeks.

Stay away from packaged foods. Make your meals from fresh food daily. Lots of greens - broccoli, spinach, arugula, kale, green beans; increase you fiber intake - lots of legumes (beans, chick peas, lentils), and avoid simple carbs such as white flour products - white bread, pasta, pizza; white rice and white potatoes. Choose some whole grain foods like whole grain bread, and use quinoa which is technically a seed.

Have a tomato and apple every day they have vital health benefits.

Plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt is an excellent source of protein. Blueberries should also be eaten daily.

Finally, supplement with 3,000 mg of vitamin C daily, in divided doses of 1,000 mg with each meal.

Also supplement with vitamin E, D, and the B-complex vitamins (B3, B6, B9, B12). Omega 3 fish oil, tumeric supplements and coQ10.

Good luck.

You can read about my journey here:

healthunlocked.com/user/sos007

9dee9 profile image
9dee9 in reply to sos007

I have made most of these changes already..I quit smoking 3 weeks ago yay me!..I have started taking higher doses of Vitimin c.. just wondering about the lysene, my only concern is I'm already on enalpril for high blood pressure, not sure how these two will mix. I'm eating oatmeal everyday lots of fruit, no sugar..having trouble eating enough vegetables. ..but I've started my journey, and will be visiting dr. End of March. Staying positive well for the most part. Take care and thanks for your words of encouragement! 😊

sos007 profile image
sos007Ambassador in reply to 9dee9

Lysine is an amino acid and also occurs naturally in some foods. It will not interact with any medicine. Read my latest post.

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington in reply to 9dee9

Dr. Batmanghelidj suggest that vastly increasing water intake will control blood pressure, my wife has proved it. She is 87 and takes no medical support for blood pressure. Have a look at: healthscams.org.uk/the-impo... Note that it's plain water not other fluids and for every cup of tea an additional glass of water should be drunk!

Try it for yourself; it doesn't happen over night.

sos007 profile image
sos007Ambassador

Take a look at this: selfhacked.com/blog/lysine-...

and this:

practicingmedicinewithoutal...

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington

The book The Great Cholesterol Con is worth reading, we have it; he talks a lot of good sense without being influenced by Big Pharma. I see that his book is mentioned as a reference at the end of an article on statins at:healthscams.org.uk/are-stat...

The advice about eating given by the NHS and PHE (Public Health England) is very poor and in some cases plain incorrect. This is not surprising when you realise that PHE have 23 advisers of whom 17 have vested interests in either food or the phrmaceutical industries. You can see the list with their interests at: healthscams.org.uk/sacn-mem...

The CEO of PHE gets £200,000 a year; the hospitals could spend that better!

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