New Member/Cholesterol Issues: Hi. I’m a new... - Healthy Eating

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New Member/Cholesterol Issues

holeinthewall19 profile image
32 Replies

Hi. I’m a new member here. I’m looking for tips to lower my cholesterol through diet.

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holeinthewall19 profile image
holeinthewall19
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cheritorrox profile image
cheritorroxLCHF

PLEASE take time to have a look at this:

healthunlocked.com/lchf-die...

There is now loads of scientific evidence that the supposed "healthy" levels of cholesterol are rubbish. Both the video and the comments and replies after it should be a "MUST READ"!

JAS9 profile image
JAS9

I always try the easy, safe, more natural solutions first. Amla is the fruit of a plant found in India that has a very good effect on cholesterol. Powdered amla is cheap and it worked for me! Here's a very short video: youtu.be/hNj6V7kIqGY

Also, green leafy veggies (with little oil) are great at reducing cholesterol.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs

I'd be very wary of so called new evidence that cholesterol is not an issue for you. The science is not simple but the overwhelming evidence is that you are right to be concerned. Cholesterol is important to the body but it makes all it needs. When you eat or drink any animal product then you are taking in further cholesterol, commonly called dietary cholesterol. When you eat fruit veg legumes beans etc no cholesterol is eaten. So any dietary changes you can make that increase your plant food and at the same time reduce your meat, dairy, fish intake will help in bringing down your cholesterol. If you go all the way to a vegan diet then most people can bring their cholesterol down to normal in a few weeks. A small group of people, and I am in that group for arthritis reasons, also have to pay attention to the oils, which can also include nuts, to help really get that cholesterol down.

suramo profile image
suramoStar in reply toandyswarbs

>> If you go all the way to a vegan diet then most people can bring their cholesterol down to normal in a few weeks.

Do you have any reference to what you are saying or any scientific explanation?

JAS9 profile image
JAS9 in reply tosuramo

Dr Greger quotes several scientific sources in this short video. youtu.be/lakaozfALho

suramo profile image
suramoStar in reply toJAS9

Apparent relationships sometimes reported between less pronounced low LDL-C levels and disease states such as cancer, depression, infectious disease and others can generally be explained as secondary phenomena.

To accept the facts with a pinch of salt. Not correct imho. Discussed very often here. Ldl has many important functions in our body. High cholesterol suggests high inflammatory wear and tear in our body. So need to control that rather than cholesterol with medications.

JAS9 profile image
JAS9 in reply tosuramo

If you eat no cholesterol, your body will make just enough for its needs. So, if you eat no cholesterol and you still have high cholesterol, then, yes, I agree that you need to deal with any inflammation. I also agree that taking drugs to lower cholesterol is normally a bad choice (unless you're in a crisis situation). It's much better to deal with any inflammation and not add cholesterol from your diet.

suramo profile image
suramoStar in reply toJAS9

Nope.95% of the cholesterol in the blood comes from denovo produced in our body and recirculation. Only 5% come from diet. Bad lipid profile reflects high degree of wear and tear.Cholesterol is a fireman. More the inflammatory damage higher is the cholesterol. So we need to address the basic cause. Anti cholesterol medications are not only a bad choice, but also harmful.

JAS9 profile image
JAS9 in reply tosuramo

"Nope"? Nothing you said disagrees with anything I said. Cholesterol is a lot more than a "fireman". It's used in many ways, including in cell walls, but you knew that. It's a sticky, waxy substance that does do a good job of paving over boo-boos in our arteries, but if that goes on too much, watch out. So, again, I agree; best to deal with the underlying inflammation. Plants have fantastic antioxidants to help with that.

Is 5% the average for all humans, the US, or some lost tribe in Africa? Mine is 0%. Carnivore dieters and big egg eaters are definitely much higher.

suramo profile image
suramoStar in reply toJAS9

>> not add cholesterol from your diet.

Nope to the above statement.

It's 5-10%. Some articles quoted this to 30%. Rest is produced in our body.

>>

NUTRITION

11 High-Cholesterol Foods — Which to Eat, Which to Avoid

Written by Jillian Kubala, MS, RD on September 10, 2018

About Cholesterol

Foods to Eat

Foods to Avoid

Lowering Cholesterol

Bottom Line

Cholesterol is arguably one of the most misunderstood substances.

For decades, people avoided healthy yet cholesterol-rich foods like eggs due to the fear that these foods would increase their risk of heart disease.

However, recent research shows that — for most people — consuming healthy foods that are high in cholesterol won’t harm your health.

What’s more, some cholesterol-rich foods are loaded with important nutrients that are lacking in many people’s diets.

This article explains why cholesterol in foods should not be feared and lists healthy high-cholesterol foods and some that should be avoided.

Is Dietary Cholesterol Harmful?

Research has shown that dietary cholesterol does not significantly impact cholesterol levels in your body, and data from population studies does not support an association between dietary cholesterol and heart disease in the general population (5, 6, 7).

Though dietary cholesterol can slightly impact cholesterol levels, this isn’t an issue for most people.

In fact, two-thirds of the world’s population experience little or no increase in cholesterol levels after eating cholesterol-rich foods — even in large amounts (8).

A small number of people are considered cholesterol non-compensators or hyper-responders and appear to be more vulnerable to high-cholesterol foods.

However, hyper-responders are thought to recycle extra cholesterol back to the liver for excretion (9).

Dietary cholesterol has also been shown to beneficially affect the LDL-to-HDL ratio, which is considered the best indicator of heart disease risk (10).

While research shows that it’s unnecessary for most people to avoid dietary cholesterol, keep in mind that not all cholesterol-containing foods are healthy.

healthline.com/nutrition/hi...

In fact, cholesterol production is so important that your liver and intestines make about 80% of the cholesterol you need to stay healthy. Only about 20% comes from the foods you eat. ... These tiny particles, called lipoproteins (lipid plus protein), move cholesterol and other fats throughout the body.

Also read this.

healthline.com/nutrition/13...

healthline.com/nutrition/ho...

JAS9 profile image
JAS9 in reply tosuramo

OK, well we'll just have to disagree on cholesterol. Thanks for the chat.

Activity2004 profile image
Activity2004Administrator in reply toJAS9

Everyone has a right to their own opinion.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs in reply toActivity2004

All scientific research to date, without exception accords with the Hegsted equation. If (as a vegan) you eat no meat, dairy, fish and then eat some your cholesterol it will rise dramatically. As you continue to eat more dairy, meat, fish the cholesterol will continue to rise but that rise will plateau off.

So if you already consume significant amounts of meat, dairy, fish then adding some more eggs, say, will increase your cholesterol only a little. This is why much of dairy funded research is hiding the truth. Adding two eggs to a diet that is already cholesterol heavy is meaningless.

Not only that if someone who is a meat/dairy/fish eater and adds two eggs to their diet, what to they leave out? I mean no-one just starts eating two extra eggs each and every day without changing something else in their diet. Say they are used to an English Breakfast, so they have four eggs for breakfast instead of two. Perhaps what they also do is eat one rasher of bacon instead of two, and one sausage instead of two.

Just because someone already has a particular cholesterol level and adds a couple of eggs and cholesterol only goes up a little does not mean their initial cholesterol was at a safe level for that person.

The ONLY sensible comparison is the cholesterol level of someone who eats no dairy, meat, fish with the same person when they do eat these three foods. That is it it the RELATIVE level compared with a baseline cholesterol as a vegan that is important.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs in reply tosuramo

The reason many people do not see an increase in cholesterol is because they already have high cholesterol. This is not unlike if someone who smokes 20 a day and increases it to 22 a day: their risk of cancer due to smoking does not increase significantly because they are already at high risk. No-one these days argues that smoking 20 a day is a safe thing to do and no-one bothers arguing that smoking 22 a day is less safe.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs in reply tosuramo

suramo says, "Research has shown that dietary cholesterol does not significantly impact cholesterol levels in your body, and data from population studies does not support an association between dietary cholesterol and heart disease in the general population (5, 6, 7)."

That is wrong. ALL research shows dietary cholesterol and the human body fits with the Hegsted equation. If you already consume a lot of eggs, say, then adding a one or two more is not going to increase your cholesterol very much. That does not mean that an inherently high cholesterol level for your body is safe. It does mean that your body is becoming saturated in cholesterol.

On the other hand someone who eats no cholesterol contain foods has an inherently low cholesterol level. Add a couple of eggs to that diet and their cholesterol goes up dramatically. This does not mean, de facto, that their new cholesterol level is very bad. It is not good, but it is a marginal increase in risk. Especially if that egg regime is stopped.

Penel profile image
Penel in reply toandyswarbs

The Hegsted equation is an old one. Even the BHF have changed their advice on eggs, they really don’t contain much cholesterol.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs in reply toPenel

100g egg contains 370mg of cholesterol. That's a lot in my book. So you are saying that if I,, for example, ate eggs that my cholesterol would not go up very much? Is that right.

Penel profile image
Penel in reply toandyswarbs

Your reaction will depend a lot on your gut bacteria. The British Heart Foundation states that eggs are not a problem for most people.

bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-...

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs in reply toPenel

And yet for example, diabetes is becoming more prevalent in younger people. Perhaps the BHF isn't the only resource worth looking at. If we limit ourselves to just one aspect of health then that could be blinkering us to the larger picture. Yes heart disease is very important, but it can take many years to develop.

suramo profile image
suramoStar in reply toandyswarbs

>> That is wrong. ALL research shows dietary cholesterol and the human body fits with the Hegsted equation.

You will be harming yourself if you believe this.You are wiser enough. Just go through more articles, learn it scientifically. High cholesterol is bad. No doubt but it's like cement. It's values are more related to the degree of wear n tear rather than otherwise. Reduction in cholesterol levels would bode reduction in inflammation. We got to reduce cholesterol but not with drugs but with diet, exercise etc which will alleviate inflammation.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs in reply tosuramo

Show me some research where hedsted does NOT fit!

No-one is saying that eating JUST and egg is going to do significant harm. But how many people have two eggs and yet no meat, no fish, no other animal fats? Most people eat eggs along with sausages and bacon as part of breakfast. For evening they may have a cheese and ham omelette. Not to mention the rest of the fats they will be eating.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs in reply tosuramo

Exercise is not a sure-fired protection against cholesterol issues. There is absolutely NO research showing exercise is a guaranteed protection against heart disease. Whereas there are quite a number of public cases of otherwise seemingly healthy people who were high-profile meat eaters and yet dying after coming out of the gym, running marathons.

Whereas there is research showing that a whole-food plant-based diet can reverse heart disease.

suramo profile image
suramoStar in reply toandyswarbs

Sugar, wheat and all the grains are cholesterol free. How about eating them only? Will that bring cholesterol down?

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs in reply tosuramo

Are you asking whether some foods are good at lowering cholesterol?

JAS9 profile image
JAS9 in reply toandyswarbs

I believe that he's trying to "prove" to you that just eating food with no cholesterol isn't enough. By eating more refined sugar, you could increase the inflammation in your body, thereby increasing the amount of cholesterol your body produces to deal with it.

Of course, this is probably true, but it's not what anyone's claiming. Nobody is suggesting that anyone eat more refined sugar to deal with high cholesterol.

It is important to reduce inflammation, and many unprocessed plant foods have lots of antioxidants to help with that, so eat more plants (fruit, veggies, beans, etc).

Reducing or eliminating dietary cholesterol is also a good way to reduce needlessly high cholesterol, so eat more plants!

Zest profile image
Zest

Hi holeinthewall19

Welcome to the Healthy eating forum. I hope you'll enjoy participating here. Have a look around and see what you are interested in - from our many Pinned posts and Topics. There is also a community on Healthunlocked called 'Cholesterol Support' which might also be of interest to you.

In the NHS pages there is some information on Cholesterol, and I am going to put a link here, so you can access it easily - but you may already have that information:

nhs.uk/conditions/high-chol...

I hope you have a good weekend.

Zest :-)

Penel profile image
Penel

Modern research has shown that eating sugary and highly processed foods can raise cholesterol levels. Swapping to high fibre foods, like porridge, cutting out biscuits, cake, ready meals etc, and increasing vegetable intake can help reduce levels. Exercise is also very important.

If you have a family history of heart problems or a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol you may need to opt for a vegetarian/vegan option, but the body is usually good at regulating cholesterol levels if you eat foods containing cholesterol.

Bear in mind that having a very low or a very high cholesterol level both carry a health risk.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs in reply toPenel

Are you arguing that someone with a low-cholesterol problem should increase it by eating foods high in cholesterol? Surely it would be better to ask why their body is not regulating their cholesterol levels properly and resolve that issue.

Penel profile image
Penel in reply toandyswarbs

No, I’m not. Eating cholesterol containing foods has only a marginal effect on body levels.

suramo profile image
suramoStar

Are you diabetic?

olivina profile image
olivina in reply tosuramo

no

suramo profile image
suramoStar in reply tosuramo

Can you share your lipid profile here?

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