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cholesterol high, help!!

A

asscherisme

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Mar 6, 2006
Messages
2,950
OK, so I just went for a physical and had routine blood work done. I fond out that my cholesterol is slightly high and HDL (good) is too low and LDL (bad) is too high.

My doctor told me I have 6 months to make lifestyle changes to try and lower it and we will retest then and if they numbers are too high, will start medication.

So... other than lose weight and workout more, what suggestions can you all give to get my cholesterol where it should be?

This was kind of shockingbecause its always been low. But this past year I have been under a TREMENDOUS amount of stress and have eaten very unhealthy and kind of let msyelf go. I need to pull it together.

Help!
 
Sounds like you need to (1) adopt dietary changes that you can learn about on the internet; and (2) exercise. After that, I hope you see some changes so you don''t have to take medication. Good luck!
 
1. Exercise, even if just a little a day: this will help to raise your HDL

2. Pay attention to fiber intake and work to increase it. Do this slowly, or else you may have some stomach discomfort and gas. Eat more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Just make sure you're not loading them down with butter or other high fat toppings. Kashi cereals, oatmeal or 100% whole wheat bread, fruit, and egg whites are good options for breakfast and a great place to start.

3. Limit your high cholesterol foods like certain meats and eggs. You can google cholesterol content in foods- that may help serve as a guide.

If you do have to start on a medication, don't panic. You may need it to help prevent heart attacks and strokes, if you cholesterol remains high. Sometimes cholesterol cannot be controlled by diet alone. If your cholesterol is genetic (comes from your family history), you may need medication to control it. It's great that you're taking the steps to try to modify your lifestyle, though. That's always the healthier choice and the preferred choice, since most all medications can have unwanted side effects.
 
(((hugs))) One year when I had the most stressful job of my life, my cholesterol topped 200. I was 28 at the time and underweight, so this was a huge shock to me and my doctor. Well, I left that job because it took such a toll on my health. Since then, my cholesterol has always been around 135-140 with plenty of the "good" cholesterol. I think besides lifestyle, reducing stress is huge in helping to lower cholesterol. I turned to yoga, meditation and cut out things that stressed me out the most - in my case, it was my job! I hope that helps. In some cases, it might be genetic - do your parents have high cholesterol? It does not have to be a huge red flag - many people have high cholesterol and live long and healthy lives. The key is to just do the best you can with diet, exercise and lifestyle. For me, lifestyle was key because I was a healthy eater and active person. A small handful of nuts (dry roasted or raw, NOT fried in oil) will help boost your good cholesterol! Hope that helps! Focus on doing things that "boost" your good feelings and happiness, too. :wavey: It all helps!
 
There have actually been studies done that show that eggs barely raise your cholesterol and they raise both LDL and HDL equally. Limit red meats and high fat dairy. High quality fish oil, good fiber (not the added fiber to white bread type) and flaxseeds with oatmeal are wonderful. I consider flaxseeds to be a "superfood" as they have healthy omega's, lots of fiber and can help with hormonal fluxuations.
 
Fruit, vegetable, canola oil, fish, nuts, oat bran, psyllium and exercise! ;)
 
Ditto what everyone else has said but I want to add:

handful of nuts (walnuts, almonds), seeds (sunflower,pumpkin seeds- I add these to salads), and flaxseed meal (I add it to yogurt or cereal).

Almost forgot, that avocadoes are great in helping lower cholestrol
 
Did your doc mention anything about fish oil supplements? My husband's good cholesterol was low, so he was told to take a fish oil supplement everyday. I would ask your MD first though.
 
Fish oil supplements did the trick for both me and my hubby!
 
I eat fish - canola oil - nuts everyday yet my good cholesterol is still too low.
But I did manage to lower my bad cholesterol, it's fine now.
 
My dad lowered his cholesterol by eating oatmeal every morning for breakfast.

Flax seed is also a great way to get in extra fiber and omega fatty acids. And I echo those who said cut out/reduce intake of red meat and shellfish.

Best of luck!
 
I don't have any scientific evidence but I make my family eat what I eat since I have the best HDL levels my doctors have ever seen for the past 5 years. I'm probably repeating what others may be saying though.

Less: red meat, egg yolk, butter, fatty fried foods, baked goods

More: AVOCADOS, raw vegetables, omega 3 fish oil, raw nuts, fruits

It's really hard to go cold turkey so I make my husband substitute less of the "bad" items and replace them with the "good" items in his diet. Doing that at every single meal makes a difference and doesn't make you have crazy cravings.
 
My bad cholesterol (LDL and Triglycerides) and good cholesterol (LDL) are high. Don't know the exact numbers but they have been like that for several years. I have a pretty balanced diet and the only time my bad cholesterol normalized was when I was walking for a least 30 mins everyday. I didn't have a car back then and it was easy for me to take the bus and walk to work.

Now that I switched jobs and have a car, my bad cholesterol is up again :( what a difference walking makes! Just 30 minute walks everyday really works wonders... I want to switch jobs again just to get the walking back into my routine.
 
The only advice I can give you is the same age old advice, but it has certainly done wonders for my dad: Choose healthier fats and avoid trans fats at all costs.
 
Make sure that your diet is made up of mostly whole grains, fruits and vegs. That and drinking alcohol in moderation will help you a lot in keeping your cholesterol under control.
 
I have oats with chia seeds rather than flax seeds. I've read that they are good for cholesterol. On last testing mine was ok but my mum has high cholesterol.
She's on statins but I've been reading about them and I've read that they can cause more problems than they treat so I'd like her to try coming off them and make more dietary changes.
 
I always have a large bowl of 'jumbo' porridge for breakfast (like at least a good cup to cup-and-a-half of oats, and the chunky stuff rather than that milled-to-dust stuff that kids like :lol:) - oats help lower cholesterol, plus they are a low-GI carbohydrate so keep you feeling fuller for longer, reducing the desire to snack mid-morning :)
 
I have “inherited” high cholesterol so diet and exercise makes next to no difference.
I take medication, statins, and to be honest I haven’t had a single side effect other than my cholesterol dropping back into normal range, reducing my risk of both heart attack and stroke.
So definitely try and manage it with diet and exercise but don’t freak out or despair if you need to take statins, they are safe for just about everyone. There is a small % who can have an adverse effect but the doctors watch out for that.
 
There are lots of natural solutions. Try draxe.com
 
High cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease and heart attacks. Medications can help improve your cholesterol. But if you'd rather first make lifestyle changes to improve your cholesterol, try these four healthy changes.

1. Eat heart-healthy foods

  • Reduce saturated fats.
  • Eliminate trans fats.
  • Eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
  • Increase soluble fiber.
  • Add whey protein.

2. Exercise on most days of the week and increase your physical activity

Exercise can improve cholesterol. Moderate physical activity can help raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol. With your doctor's OK, work up to at least 30 minutes of exercise five times a week or vigorous aerobic activity for 20 minutes three times a week.

  • Taking a brisk daily walk during your lunch hour.
  • Riding your bike to work.
  • Playing a favorite sport.

3. Quit smoking

Quitting smoking improves your high cholesterol level. The benefits occur quickly:

  • Within 20 minutes of quitting, your blood pressure and heart rate recover from the cigarette-induced spike.
  • Within three months of quitting, your blood circulation and lung function begin to improve.
  • Within a year of quitting, your risk of heart disease is half that of a smoker.

4. Lose weight

Carrying even a few extra pounds contributes to high cholesterol. Small changes add up. If you drink sugary beverages, switch to tap water. Snack on air-popped popcorn or pretzels — but keep track of the calories. If you crave something sweet, try sherbet or candies with little or no fat, such as jelly beans. Look for ways to incorporate more activity into your daily routine, such as using the stairs instead of taking the elevator or parking farther from your office. Take walks during breaks at work. Try to increase standing activities, such as cooking or doing yard work.
 
I have high cholesterol genetically as well as high risk of heart attack on both sides of my family. I am on a statin for the rest of my life to prevent heart attack or stroke.

Diet & exercise are best options. Switching the small things in your diet - healthy fats, healthy oils, nuts, avocados etc.

A big change pre-Covid for me was changing my desk at work to a standing desk. Taking walks on my breaks - even just the 10 mins made a difference overall.
 
High Cholesterol if untreated could lead to heart attack or stroke. Initially, it causes no symptoms. But, the good thing is that as early as now, you can combat having stoke by reducing your cholesterol intake at 300 mg per day. Don't worry, there are apps in the market which you can download to track down your intake.
 
I have been just over the high end of normal for cholesterol for a while now and my doctor has been closely watching it. When I was running 3 days a week my HDL was high enough (in a good way) that my doctor felt it offset my also high (in a bad way) LDL.

My overall cholesterol went down last summer when I did Jenny Craig religiously (meaning I followed the Jenny Craig menu for almost every meal) and lost 25 pounds. I stopped following their menu and eating their food in October. The good news is I haven't put the weight back on but my cholesterol has gone up which goes to show that diet really does matter so clearly I'm not eating as well - nutrition wise - as I did when I was on Jenny Craig.

My doctor has asked me to get a Ct Calcium scan to evaluate the level of calcium in my arteries. This will help her understand whether I am at a higher risk for heart disease and should start on a statin or not. I also had a few friends do a particle size test as apparently there are different sized LDL (the bad cholesterol) particles and depending upon your specific makeup of particle size you might not be at a high risk even if your LDL is high.

So you might want to talk to your doctor about performing either of these tests. At least for me the calcium scan is not covered by insurance so I will be paying $125 out of pocket. I am fortunate to be able to pay that and willing to pay that if the insight gained helps my doctor decide to keep me off a statin.
 
Writing back to say that my Cardiac calcium test showed that I was basically at 0 risk for heart disease even though my cholesterol was high. As a result my doctor chose not to prescribe a statin for me. My daughter, 21, also had very high cholesterol (much higher than mine) even though she eats well and exercises ~5 days per week. Her primary care doctor recommended that she see a cardiologist. They asked her to have the same calcium test done and the results also showed her as being at 0 risk for heart disease. Again we paid $125 out of pocket for her but we could afford that and it gave us peace of mind as to what our true level of risk was.

So to the extent it's possible/affordable, I would suggest that anyone who is on the verge of being prescribed a statin to manage their high cholesterol have the test done to get a better understanding of their true level of risk.
 
I'm just a nerd who has watches a whole bunch of stuff on a whole bunch of different things including health related stuff.

Here are some of my favourites.

<iframe width="966" height="543" src="
" title="Cardiovascular disease &amp; why we should change the way we assess risk | The Peter Attia Drive Podcast" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

+1 for exercise - The benefits of exercise may be largely due to heat shock proteins. You may be able to derive tremendous benefit from heat therapy if you are physically unable to exercise. Exercise, in nature, is from what I understand, the gold standard.
<iframe width="966" height="543" src="
" title="Sauna Benefits Deep Dive and Optimal Use with Dr. Rhonda Patrick &amp; MedCram" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

+1 for eating less processed foods. From what I understand the degree to which a "bad" diet is deleterious to health depends to a great extent on genetic polymorphisms which regulate the inflammatory response. A diet which is healthy for one person may not be healthy for someone else. "APO" in the first video is an example of one of the most important genetic polymorphisms.

+1 for sleeping better
<iframe width="966" height="543" src="
" title="Dr. Matthew Walker on Sleep for Enhancing Learning, Creativity, Immunity, and Glymphatic System" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The videos are quite long but most have chapters if you want to hear about a specific topics.
 
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