high cholesterol

[jossy35]

Hi - my unfasting cholesterol is 8...... too high. 12 stone and 5ft 4in. Not keen on starting statins. Does anybody have a good diet to reduce cholesterol and lose weight please? I have a lot of bad ldls........ thank you friends x

[jossy35]

Thanks bigleg for this - very interesting article. I don't pretend to understand all of it, but I did read it. Basically, just eat real food, (i.e. not processed etc). I have 2 months until I have another blood test to be my own experiment - will let you know

[jossy35]

But is that the highest Total cholesterol, or the highest HDL or the highest LDL?

[Penel]

Good idea to cut out refined carbohydrates, like sugar, breakfast cereals and products made with white flour.

Try to cook from scratch as much as possible and eat a wide range of natural foods.

scientificamerican.com/arti...

[jossy35 in reply to Penel]

Hi Penel - thanks - its a tricky science isn't it! I'm currently making a soup with stuff from the garden at the moment - potatoes will go in which should be fine. I haven't read the link yet, but thanks - will do later

[Penel in reply to jossy35]

Perhaps have a look at the Heart /cholesterol site on HU if you need more information.

[Penel in reply to jossy35]

I've remembered that there was an interesting BBC program recently on this subject.

bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-336...

[Zest Healthy BMI]

Hi Jossy35,

I just wrote you a reply, but then removed it, as I feared I might have breached the copyright of a book I had mentioned, so I wanted to put that right.

To paraphrase what the original message said, I basically said that I was assuming that you'd sought advice from your GP (i.e. a medically qualified person who knows your own medical history) with regard to your decision to lower your cholesterol.

With regard to your specific question about recipes to help lower cholesterol, just google it, and hopefully some good books will be suggested. I know there is one by a nutrition expert (Ian Marber) and Cardiologist (Dr Laura Corr) that is specifically written to help people to reduce their cholesterol via recipes.

I've read that oats are very helpful for lowering cholesterol, and therefore a breakfast option of a lovely bowl of porridge might be a good way to start the day. I also mentioned that there was a 'Food Unwrapped' programme which said that jumbo oats kept people feeling fuller for longer than the smaller oat varieties - although nutritionally they were the same content. Therefore maybe a good choice for those of us wanting to lose weight.

I think a healthy balanced diet - ensuring it is varied and includes all nutrient groups (protein, complex carbs (i.e. not the refined ones), good fats like olive oil) and Penel's advice to cook from scratch is really good, as it means you're using natural healthy foods and you know exactly what's in the foods you're preparing.

Hope you are having a good week.

Lowcal

[jossy35 in reply to Zest]

Thanks Lowcal - today I have had porridge, made with semi skimmed, banana and peaches, a slice of wholemeal seedy bread with a SMALL dollop of jam (I know the words SMALL and dollop don't seem compatible but.....

confused over weightwatchers/slimming world but as I'm also awaiting results of glucose test, going to see if there's an obvious solution. Having the NHS health check this week so hopefully all will be helpful. I keep starting the 12 week diet, and hopefully this week will be better. Thanks for your support.

[gsr1970 in reply to jossy35]

I wonder how can u loss weight with high carb dite ?

[jossy35 in reply to gsr1970]

I think the key is balance - so neither high or low anything

[gsr1970 in reply to jossy35]

May be you right. But i lost more than four pounds in three weaks with LCHF.

[Zest Healthy BMI in reply to jossy35]

Hi Jossy,

Your breakfast sounds tasty!

Hope you get your results back soon, and hope the NHS health check goes well this week. Like you say, hopefully all will be helpful.

Have a great week.

Lowcal

[baronblaze]

Statins are the golden pill but i agree with you get your body fit and healthy and avoid them if you can. Unfortunately some people eat everything wrong and have a healthy cholestrol level while others follow a strict low fat diet but still have a high cholestrol level. My medical practice advised me to go on statins a few years ago as my cholestrol was about 7.6. I took up running, cut down on the considerable amount of alcohol i was drinking and my cholestrol came down rapidly. My last reading was 5.2 i am not concerned about it now. I don't do diets but there is a lot of information on the net with good fat / bad fat.

[jossy35 in reply to baronblaze]

Thanks for that - are you still on the statins? I thought you had to be on them for the rest of your life if you started them? I only drink about half a bottle of wine a week, but I think thats going to have to go.

[baronblaze in reply to jossy35]

Sorry jossy my response was not clear. Like yourself i was advised to go on statins, it seems to be the normal medical response for someone who has a high cholestrol level as the medication is cheap and proven. But like yourself i was reluctant to take them and never did. After 3 months of exercise and no alcohol i was tested again and the reading was down to 6.2. As i was going in the right direction the nurse said that there was now no need to go on statins. I am now drinking again but not to the same quantities and still exercise. My last reading was 12 months ago which was 5.2. I certainly think the reduction of alcohol and exercise has helped. I haven't really changed my food diet as i don't think it is overly fatty anyway.

Hope you manage to reduce your cholestrol levels naturally.

[Zest Healthy BMI]

Hi Jossy35,

Further to my last message, you might also like to take a look in another community of Healthunlocked called "Heart UK - Cholesterol" - there's a post that was made about 11 days ago by someone called SusieQT entitled 'Statins vs Diet' - there are about 10 responses within that thread, and some of those responses talk about 'diet' as a way to reduce cholesterol.

There may be other posts relating to diet and cholesterol on that forum, so it might be worth looking at those as well.

Hope you are doing ok so far this week.

Lowcal

[jossy35 in reply to Zest]

Thanks - will take a look at it. I've been in bed this week with the lurgy. Eating my home made soup which is quite low in calories except for the potatoes but should be okay. I shall weigh again on Monday and see how I'm doing. Not much exercise going on though

[Zest Healthy BMI in reply to jossy35]

Hi Jossy,

Sorry to hear you're in bed with the lurgy - I can imagine that feels lowsy. Homemade soup is a great staple though, and should help you pull through.

Just rest and recuperate, you can do exercise again when you're better. Good luck with the Monday weigh-in.

Lowcal

[Hidden]

Hi jossy35, I didn't get my cholesterol checked but when I started this weight loss journey I had high blood pressure and stomach ulcers and other yet to be diagnosed aches and pains, all of which improved since gaining fitness and losing weight. You don't reveal your age but I was 33 when I was first advised to cut out alcohol, was 35 when I started running, and now at 36 am someone who can drink and has a healthy blood pressure and is healthy weight /runs 3x/week. Not sure how relevant that seems? I think my experience isn't necessarily age-specific though, as I'm now confident that these things can be reversed for most people through diet/exercise. By the way, initially I cut all alcohol for a year. I've since cut dairy and wheat but for different reasons to you, I was actually advised to do this by a doctor (a gynaecologist). In my experience, I've found it worthwhile to ask the doc what I can do to help myself e.g. through diet. Not everyone asks this, they often have good advice that they don't give out to everyone, so maybe specifically ask your doc what they would advise re diet. Good luck

[jossy35]

Thanks for that - I've also today been provisionally diagnosed with diabetes - have to have another blood test next week - so everything might be connected?