Cholesterol Support

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Cholesterol and Triglycerides

Hi All, I am new here and have recently had a health check at the doctors surgery and it looks as though my cholesterol and triglyceride readings are high. My total cholesterol was 6.51, my HDL was 1.44, my non-HDL was 5.07, my Chol/HDL was 4.5 and my triglycerides were 4.80 mmol/L. I am a 42 year old male.

The nurse didn't mention seeing the doctor so apart from cleaning up my diet and exercising more should I look at going back to discuss medication? I would prefer not to take medication if this can be addressed through lifestyle choices alone.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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17 Replies

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sos007Ambassador

Welcome to the 'cholesterol' community! There are many informed members here who can help provide you with feedback from their own experiences and research. Although none of us are doctors, you don't have to be a doctor to develop strong knowledge on a health topic.

From the information you provided it appears as though you are consuming far too many simple carbohydrates, potentially including sugar and equivalents. This is evidenced by your Triglyceride values. If you modify your diet to dramatically reduce and ideally 'eliminate' sugar and simple carbohydrates from your diet, your non-HDL will likely decline into the normal range.

Check your blood test to see if you also have values for the following:

- hbA1C

- ALT (liver enzyme)

- uric acid

If you have these, please provide them.

Can you also provide some vitals such as height and weight?

Do you exercise daily?

I encourage you to watch this video:

- 13 minutes

You should try and get your triglyceride level to below 1.0 mmol/l.

With dietary and lifestyle modification you can likely achieve your health objectives without the use of pharmaceuticals.

Good luck.

sandybrown

in reply to sos007

As an Ambassador will you be attending=g Heart UK conference.

Heart UK gave birth to Cholesterol Support!

sos007Ambassador

in reply to sandybrown

Unfortunately that won't be possible as I live in Canada. This new designation is not a paid position.

sandybrown

OK, you had NHS health check?

You need to look at all three blood test values, blood pressure, blood glucose and blood cholesterol lipids.

You GP can give you a print out of your blood results. Also you GP can do risk analysis and fully explain on life style change. Watching out for hidden sugar and free sugar with regular exercise can help towards a healthy life.

Make an appointment to see the doctor. If you give all the blood test numbers, you may get better answers.

Billyboybad

Hi robo I joined here a couple years ago and my cholesterol was high at 7 and my tryglycerides too, there’s been great advice on here and I’m not a doctor but I started exercising more even walking my dog longer too. I cut out crisps in the week as well as cut down alcohol . Less fry ups . I don’t smoke but am a stone overweight.one benecol a day and my cholesterol is at lowest at 3.55 . I’m so pleased . My doc advised statins for me but try not to do that good luck

Autumn822

in reply to Billyboybad

Hi what is benecol? I dont want to take statins.

sandybrown

in reply to Autumn822

Here is a link for Benecol:

milkandmore.co.uk/Dairy/Ben...

Unit of measurements, 100g ,has 5g of carbohydrate and 4.7 g of sugar!!

sos007Ambassador

in reply to Autumn822

Neither statins nor Benecol should be necessary to improve your current condition.

Benecol is a processed food company that adds plant stanol ester (https://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/features/low-cholesterol-diet-plant-sterols-stanols#1) to their processed foods.

Plant stanol ester is found naturally in vegetables, legumes and fruit among other whole foods. You are better off eating the natural food than buying processed food that adds plant stanol ester. This is because the processed foods have other undesirable ingredients such as sugar, omega 6 oils and lack the fiber that is found naturally in whole vegetables, fruits and legumes.

A whole-foods, plant-based diet (you can still have animal protein but in reduced quantity) along with daily exercise, is best for returning your body to equilibrium.

Cholesterol is one of the body's repair mechanisms and elevated amounts indicate an inflammatory condition has been triggered in the body through an unbalanced diet and potentially insufficient exercise. The focus should be on addressing the 'source' of the inflammation and not the result of the inflammation. Targeting the result of the inflammation (cholesterol) is the equivalent of shooting the messenger.

Once you have addressed the source of the inflammation your cholesterol levels should return to normal.

The most important thing you can do to return your body to health is to eliminate sugar, simple carbohydrates and processed food from your diet.

Billyboybad

Which country are you in autumn ? Benecol is a drink or yoghurt even a spread that can help reduce cholesterol . It contains stanols etc . You can buy it in your local supermarket . Only one pot a day it is not a medication

sandybrown

Please Google Dr Laura Corr, this doctor has written a lot of information on many health items.

sandybrown

The link below gives cholesterol lowering food.

sos007Ambassador

in reply to sandybrown

Thank you for posting that video it contains valuable information for those learning about how to deal with elevated cholesterol by natural means.

sandybrown

in reply to sos007

Thanks, when I log on to Healthunlocked at the moment there is a pop up window from British Heart Foundation offering a course on lowering cholesterol.

I signed up for it and we are in third week. One of the video clip in the course takes to other video clips and the above post is one of the clips, there are many video clips there to learn.