Can anyone advise me about diet supplements. I'm thinking of adding fish oil omega 3 capsules to my main meal.

I want to use the capsules as part of a natural way to lower my cholestral. My daily meals include 2 days of fish and my calories are always less than 1900 - and I never feel hungry. I walk between 5 and 7 miles a day. Can't run or jog because I have congenital lymphoedema in both legs.

[Penel]

If you are eating oily fish on a regular basis, perhaps you do not need to take omega 3 capsules. If you are avoiding processed carbohydrates and sugar, and eating high fibre foods, you stand a good chance of having a reasonable cholesterol level. Cholesterol levels are also influenced by your genes, age and sex.

This is an interesting article on the subject

scientificamerican.com/arti...

[Hidden]

Thank you 'Concerned' and 'Penel'. Especially helpful are your suggestions on natural unprocessed protein and fat foods. As for cholesterol it was found to be high a couple of years back and I was prescribed Simvastatin - with dire effects - aching muscles, dizziness and lethargy so it was stopped. Then a new doctor came along and prescribed Crestor [rosuvastatin] and I had the same side effects so it's no statins for me and I'm trying to control my cholesterol by diet. I'm aware that it's genetic but as my mother and father had it and my mother died at 92 and my father at 94 I'm not unduly bothered. Thank you both for your feedback. Your suggestions for making up the balance of my meals, Concerned' are very very helpful.

[satwar]

I tried diet, exercise and statins to no effect. A very pleasant side effect of taking coconut oil as a food supplement is that my cholesterol (both HDL and LDL) jumped right off the charts, all in the right direction. Not sure how much you need to take (I was taking 2 TBS at each meal for a month for other purposes), but try 1 TBS at each meal for a month and then get your blood tested again. Some people have problems digesting coconut oil,so start at 1 tsp per day and increase gradually. Please note that as far as I know this is a life time commitment, not a one shot fix.

[Hidden in reply to satwar]

Coconut Oil! Sounds good to me and I think I know where to get it here. Statins caused the most appalling side effects for me. I get exercise every day as my weight loss plan mainly about 5 - 6 miles a day around Sherwood Forest as I live nearby and I' watching my food to lose weight as well as cholesterol but I'll add coconut oil to my main evening meal. Thank you!

[sanne]

Have you tried green coffee beans already? Dr. Oz recommended it.. you can read his review here: uzvuu.com/greenbeans

[Hidden in reply to sanne]

Hi Sanne I've read the article and am impressed so I've placed an order. Thank you.

[sanne in reply to Hidden]

Your welcome hope you like it !

[Penel in reply to Hidden]

Be careful, as they can lower blood pressure.

[Hidden in reply to Penel]

Which? Penel. The green coffee beans or the Omega 3? I've used Omega 3 in the past without any problems. The main thing I battle against at present is tiredness and muscle pain when I do my six mile walks. But that is due to having only recently stopped taking Statins. Thanks for responding :}

[Penel in reply to Hidden]

The beans! Hope you recover soon.

[Hidden in reply to Penel]

OK I looked at a lot of people's experience online and there were many that experienced no especial benefit.

I think I'll recover from being on statins in 3 to 4 weeks. From what I've read it takes around 3 to 6 weeks to get over the deleterious effects.

[Hidden]

Thank you 'Concerned' I am on a low cholesterol diet as statins had a disastrous effect on my muscles and mood. I'm getting plenty of additive free, unprocessed protein that cover the range you mention - except double cream which is a no-no for me.

[Hidden]

Hi eulipious,

My take on this is that whilst food supplements such as vitamin and mineral supplements have a (small) place to play in certain (limited) circumstances - in the main just ensuring you have a diet that provides the full range of nutrition is a much better approach.

(There's also a complex argument about the forms of vitamins you are likely to get from tablets/capsules and whether they are as good for you as the versions you get through obtaining the same nutrients in your food).

My approach is lots of fruit and veg (especially the green veg) in your diet and work the fish into your meal choices. And if you can do the latter in no better way than getting it in batter from the chip shop then just have the fish and chuck the batter (which will have most of the fat in it)!

Good luck with your weight loss efforts.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi Doikosp

After reading a lot of advice on line I've come to the same conclusion as you. The supplements seem superfluous. I have two days where I include fish but I avoid the chip shop and go for oily fish on one of those days. As well as being on a low calorie diet to lose weight I'm choosing foods that control my cholesterol as I have too much trouble from statins.

Thanks for reinforcing my own take on supplements.