GIBSON6594

So I just got my blood test back, my total numbers are 228, my LDL's are at 106. I need to get these numbers down. I have been taking Omega-3, garlic, multivitamins (Centrum), I run and lift weights about 3 times a week. I try to eat fish as much as possible. i try to eat Cheerios in the morning too.

What do you guys recommend I do?

svtmike

Doesn't sound like your diet is out of whack - I exercise regularly and mine came in this year at 160, and I don't try to keep my cholesterol down particularly. Sounds to me like you have something else besides diet going on, unless you haven't accurately represented your diet.

She-L-S

A lot of cholesterol is dietary, but a lot of it can also be genetic. If you have a history of high cholesterol in your family and you really ARE eating/exercising the way you say you are (for 6 months at least), I'd check with the doc to see if need to get on some cholesterol meds.

csmeance

might sound stupid, but do you drink milk or use it for tea or cereal? If so, use fat free or 2%, that helped my dad cut down his cholesterol. Also, ask you doctor about lipitor today... j/k'ing

johnniewalker

your 24 and your cholesterol is high...you might have a family history, in which case a doctor is definitely the best person to consult with.

The only points I can give you are:

watch what you eat (no junk food, have a diet high in fiber, vitamins, protein without the fat)
(watch the way you cook stuff, if you eat a lot of fish but have it fried for example thats not good...) someone i know who has high cholesterol usually has fish 2-3 times a week (baked with a bit of lemon juice and soy) (low in excessive calories and healthy)

exercise more...(are you pushing yourself in your workouts?) but id definitely talk to your doctor.

Costco

Try eating oatmeal too, its supposed to lower cholesterol.

Dem1K

iTrader: (1)

I second that...or just old-fashioned/steel-cut oats. Keep up on the cheerios, fish oil, and multi's. However, like the others said, check your family history, as this may be the case.

bud760

Don't add like 10 tablespoons of sugar either. Add some slices of fruit for flavor.

Whiskers

Agree with genetics...See a doctor.

GIBSON6594

I appreciate all the tips guys. My father died of a heart attack when he was 43, his cholesterol was over 300. But he also smoked, drank, and ate bacon and mayo sandwich's regularly. So it is tough to say if it genetic or not. I have seen my doctor and i have another appointment in 3 months, so we will see if things are improving.

I guess my diet could be better, but I really do eat pretty healthy.

It's hard being 24 and having to going on a medication for the rest of your life. I don't know. In November 05 my numbers were at 261 and I found out yesterday I was down to 228 so I am just gonna try to fix my diet up a bit more. Try a couple different supplements and maybe it will keep going down.

Wish me luck.

She-L-S

I'd rather be on medication for the rest of my life than have no life at all. 43 is young to die of a heart attack....poor diet or not. Definitely get it checked out.

Chr8808

iTrader: (1)

My cholesterol was slightly above 200 about 2 years ago, the doc said i could change my eating habits or go on medication, but i choose to improve on my diet because i knew it wasnt the best. First thing i did was cut out fried foods, i asked that when the wife cooked at home to throw everything in the oven instead of the usual fried stuff. Then I significantly cut down on red meat and gave up pork, pizza and KFC. Then I started hitting the gym 3 times a week and 6 months later at the docs visit, he told me i was at 121 or so (150 is average i was told). I've added oatmeal to my diet since then and added back red meat. I had my last blood work done last month (9 months since the last blood work-it should be tested every 6 months but i slacked) and he told me i was at 153 - which was still acceptable.

But like mentioned above, high cholesterol can be passed down. Tweak the diet now before its too late, a change in what you eat is not a high price to pay to stay healthy.

phipark

How's your fiber intake?

Schizm

I wish I could remember the name of the product, but there are some fiber products that are made from orange husks. They help regularity and lowering colesterol.

Definetly go see your doctor though. Medication might be a route they want for you too.

eezeekial

i have an uncle that ate oatmeal and garlic for a year and lowered his cholesterol significantly...

GIBSON6594

It's not as good as it could be, I just bought two huge packs of walnuts though. I hear they are extremely healthy and really help lower cholesterol (high in soluble fiber). We will see what happens.

Thanks for the tips everyone

Whiskers

Do me a favor and stay away from nuts and other foods with high fat....Take Metamucil and high fiber cereal instead....

amisconception

My cholesterol about a year ago was 220 and the doctor classified it as "slightly elevated" - So i'm not worried about it. I just watch what I eat, but primarily because I don't want to look like a cow.

johnniewalker

stay away from nuts man, you arent in the position to be taking high fat (even if they are good for you). High fiber cereal and just fiberous vegetables. Celery?

GIBSON6594

I'm not understanding this...why is fat such a terrible thing for me? It's not animal fat so isn't it "good" fat? Plus I am relatively thin and in pretty good shape. Fat I'm not worried about, it's really just the cholesterol. Why should I be staying away from fatty foods if it lowers cholesterol?

johnniewalker

my mistake, nuts are good ( stick with walnuts) as they lower your cholesterol the most (been reading more about the topics in online articles now). However, for some reason i always thought nuts were high in fat, likewise i wrongly felt it would raise your cholesterol as well....btw im no doctor haha

article that might help:

http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz...rt01082002.jsp


http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz...d/choabout.jsp



the 2nd one should help the most. Im sure you'll be fine, just be careful with diet and exercise

johnniewalker

btw:

Cholesterol is in foods from animals. Plants and foods from plant sources don't have cholesterol, though they sometimes have saturated fat. What does that mean to you? Try to cut down on the animal foods you eat, while replacing them with healthy plant-based foods. But don't assume that all plant-based foods are best, since those with saturated fats can raise your cholesterol level. Be choosy.

thats kinda what i was getting at. Be careful how you consume your vegetables..ie cooking method. For some reason i always associate nuts fried up or with a ton of salt raising blood pressure, etc. (i know it has nothing to do with cholesterol)

She-L-S

I wouldn't do walnuts, I'd do almonds. You could also try flax oil or fish oil for fat intake rather than nuts. The omega's would do your cholesterol some good.

GIBSON6594

I already do fish oil (see first post for what I take).

Could you explain why I should do almonds over walnuts please? thanks

She-L-S

Oops, sorry...I thought you were just eating more fish.

Almonds have higher protein and lower saturated fat than walnuts do. But...either one is better than animal or trans fats.

GIBSON6594

Thanks, I will probably pick up some almonds tomorrow and alternate them with the walnuts

GIBSON6594

You know what really bothers me about all this...The guy who sits next to me is easily about 260 pounds of pure blubber fat. He never exercises and eat shitty, fatty, bad food all day long. He got his cholesterol back and it was fine.

Me? I eat healthy, I'm about 160 pounds, lift weights and run pretty often, take all kinds of vitamins and health pills, I get my cholesterol numbers back and they are really high.

What is that about?

Schizm

this is one of those times when you do get to blame your parents

sucks dude, my dad's cholesterol is a little high but he doesn't eat right. Hopefully it's his diet

GIBSON6594

I was doing a little almond reserach and came across this:
Healthiest Nuts

My nuts are better than your nuts

I'm just messing with you, I really do appreciate the advice.

She-L-S

Hmmm...I guess I stand corrected. Since you're a healthy weight, walnuts would be fine then. If you were overweight, I'd say stick with the almonds though....and I'm standing by that one

About that other guy...just remember this: Just because his cholesterol is fine does NOT mean that everything else is. There's a direct correlation between obesity and heart/liver diseases. It'll catch up with him eventually. You, on the other hand, are taking steps toward improving your health. You've definitely got one-up on him.

GIBSON6594

Thanks, I appreciate the encouragement.

etxxz

nothing like drinking plenty of water. cooking at home with NO/less salt, oils etc, eating plenty of proteinic foods (i dont believe in none of that protein only diet your body needs a little of everything) eat plenty of green stuff ftw. fruits, oatmeals, cereal breakfasts ftw and idk anything about nuts but i'm geting some good tips here

my mom steams veggies with muchsrooms, corn some wierd green stuff and a crazy combo of spices, soy and tai sauces. tastes very good to me. i'm lvl 147

weight lifting not a good way to lower cholesterol. get in shape, not buff. get on a bike and see how far you can go. jump on a pool and swim in long sets. joggin, maybe since lightweight its only usefull if you can do a few miles at a time. Eating is probably as important as your AEROBIC practices. my week contains atleast two days of mt.biking 13-14mi. 9/10 saturday is usually followed by a three hour round trip of cayaking across the intracostal vs current to open sea, beach break and back, i play intramural soccer at FAU, kitesurf equip etc etc. not trying to show off just some tips that sweating is not everything you have to do prolongued excersize. get that hear rate up and keep it up!! if finding an activity is a problem, find a spinning class (gym bike) with a crazy instructor... it'll change your life!

hope to hear good results from you soon...btw these things take time so be patience but push yourself.
mentality is #1

She-L-S

Even if weight lifting had ZERO impact on cholesterol, it's still good for your general health....won't hurt to do it.

etxxz

o yeah completely true. sure beats sittin on my ass on a saturday night -_- i've never been on this section of the forum...just debating wether i should post a question about one of my testicles being MUCH bigger than the other. I saw on the other thread that you lift competitevely dont take that comment against you. i couln't deadlift half of what you can!

GIBSON6594

Everything I've read said losing weight is a good way to lower cholesterol. Weight lifting helps get rid off fat, so it does have some benefits when trying to lowering cholesterol I assume.

She-L-S

oh yeah, but you said that you're not overweight. For someone who is, I'd recommend lifting as part of a weight loss program for sure!

She-L-S

No offense taken. Just sharing opinions



Edit: Oh...and has it ALWAYS been much bigger? If so, that's very normal. If it's a recent change, I'd get it checked out by a doc.

gavriil

I lowered my bad cholesterol 40 points in 9 months without even trying. My doc could not believe it. All I did was LEARNED what is bad and what is good with respect to cholesterol and when I ate, I chose. Before, I had no idea what was good or bad. The funny thing is that I like most of the "good" food cholesterol-wise. I eat a ton of cereal, yogurt, nuts, 2% milk, mostly turkey, fish or chicken, very little beef, lots of fruit, vegetables both canned and fresh. Also, I eat 8 to 9 times a day but small portions. I am still about 15 pounds overweight at 215 but my HDL cholesterol came from 192 to 152 and it's still high by at least 2 points. Total is 210 and it's high by 10. So for me, with this nutrition and going to the gym 6 times a week, it's an inheritance issue, but I can do more. Next year, it will be down another 20 points, watch.

gavriil

By the way, my doc cannot believe how good my blood pressure is. I got 100/57 this year. I am 35 years old. He said that usually is great for 25 year olds. People would kill for 125/73 in my age he said. So it sounds pretty good. I do NO cardio at the gym, all my cardio comes from my two open gym vball sessions a week. And vball is not exactly the most cardio intense sport in the world obviously.

Eoanou

I'm glad I read this thread, it's going to help me lower my cholesterol, I'm only 20 and I already have heart murmurs.