walkswithblackflies
Trail Wise!
Resident terrorist-supporting eco-freak bootlicker
Posts: 6,926
|
Post by walkswithblackflies on Jul 29, 2019 12:52:46 GMT -8
UPDATE: After consulting with my doctor, I don't have to start taking medication! In summary: Although my total cholesterol was higher than typical (for me) and my HDL number was lower than typical, my total/HDL ratio is a respectable 4.1. In addition, my VLDL and triglycerides are low. Although my BMI shows that I'm "obese", my actual bodyfat % is very good. And I'm in "superb" cardio shape.
All that said, she'd like me to tidy-up my diet to see how we can improve numbers. I've been noticing that I don't tolerate dairy as well as I used to, and she said that should be the first thing to cut (due to likely inflammation).
|
|
rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,666
|
Post by rebeccad on Sept 3, 2019 18:51:30 GMT -8
To my astonishment, I’m joining this thread. My most recent blood test showed me with borderline high cholesterol—a substantial jump over my last test (which turns out to be 5 years ago, much longer than I thought). I wonder how much of that is because they seem to have changed the way of calculating it, as well as lowering the cut-off for the normal range. In any case, while I wonder what caused the change, I shall use it as a wake-up call and make some changes of my own. Our sons have been after us to drop red meat from the diet, which I will do *mostly*. But the research does suggest that the key is weight loss from my tum, which is where my genetic propensities dump the excess.
There are no easy short-cuts to weight loss for me. I don’t drink soda, very little alcohol, and I exercise like a mad thing. Desserts are my only weakness, really, and that’s what I’ll have to focus on. Need to retrain my brain to consider a piece of fruit after dinner to be an adequate desert. Since some studies also show that French Press coffee may be complicit—and that’s something that I just started doing in the last year—I’ll go back to filtering the coffee. Can’t hurt, might help.
Smaller portions all around is the other thing—I do notice that the standard portions I’ve been eating for years are suddenly too big. Too much oatmeal, too much taco... time for smaller bowls again.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2019 0:33:52 GMT -8
Over the years, to play the annual check-up-game and passing, I found that, for me, eating oatmeal for breakfast, 3 months before the wellness exam, works great for me. When I learned that trick, I've made oatmeal and shredded wheat, a regular part of my diet. I use local honey or local made jam/jelly as a sweetener.
Switching out lamb for beef is also a help. Beef is marbled with fat, making it near impossible to cut away the fat. Lamb is not fat marbled and any non desired fat can be cut away.
|
|
rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,666
|
Post by rebeccad on Sept 4, 2019 7:15:57 GMT -8
@idahowalker, I’ve been eating oatmeal for breakfast for most of my life. That’s what’s so weird: this isn’t the effect of a lifetime of bad eating. Nor have there been any big changes in the diet, though our travels may have reduced the veggie intake over the months leading up to the blood draw (though the weeks before it saw me back in the land of fruits and veggies). One thing I’ve found that might have an impact: A year ago I switched from filtered coffee to a French Press. Research suggests that unfiltered coffee can raise cholesterol—but the quantities they talk about are well over the max I drink—5-8 cups a day (I use a big mug and may fill it twice, but that’s not 5 cups). Still, I’ve gone back to filtering, which is easier to clean up after anyway.
|
|
zeke
Trail Wise!
Peekaboo slot 2023
Posts: 9,876
|
Post by zeke on Sept 4, 2019 8:03:17 GMT -8
Smaller plates helped me with portion control. We went fro a dinner plate about 11" in diameter, to a salad plate about 8.5". Makes it look like a full meal, even when I want seconds. That's something else I've changed, almost no seconds. Dessert is a once a month thing. That's really hard to overcome.
|
|
cweston
Trail Wise!
Posts: 4,278
Member is Online
|
Post by cweston on Sept 4, 2019 11:29:29 GMT -8
I agree with RumiDude: what the medical establishment doesn't always do a very good job of telling us is that these lipid profile issues are mostly hereditary. Mine has always been exactly what my Dad's was: good total cholesterol, but low HDL (not good) and high-ish triglycerides. Diet (+ fish oil supplements) and exercise improve the numbers a little at the margins, but not by all that much.
|
|
|
Post by sammys on Mar 23, 2020 2:47:06 GMT -8
The treatments for high cholesterol are heart-healthy lifestyle changes and medicines. The lifestyle changes include healthy eating, weight management, and regular physical activity. Drugs like CBD can reduce cholesterol. But you have to change your style of life
|
|
Roger
Trail Wise!
Posts: 200
|
Post by Roger on Mar 28, 2020 13:50:15 GMT -8
It has now been over a year since I got serious about bringing my very high cholesterol and triglycerides down. By diet changes and exercises I dropped my weight by 14 lbs and have maintained the weight loss. I still take the lowest dose statin available. So far my cholesterol and triglycerides have stayed well within the normal range. As other have said diet, exercise and getting one’s weight down is important. Getting rid of that belly fat and trying to get a flat belly is important.
|
|
bushmaster
Trail Wise!
The mountains are calling, and I must go.
Posts: 50
|
Post by bushmaster on Nov 16, 2021 14:18:05 GMT -8
The meds the Dr were giving me for high cholesterol were showing problems to my liver so he took me off them and said that I need to start taking fish oil a couple times a day. I have also cut fried foods from my diet for the most part.
|
|
|
Post by swmtnbackpacker on Nov 26, 2021 16:01:52 GMT -8
Looking at identical twins undergoing the same exercise regimes (they train to take on adventures as a sibling team), Kings college of London’s Twin Research program put one in a vegan diet, the other stayed on a meat centric one. The twin with the vegan diet had cholesterol levels plunge .. www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0b5x2z7/is-a-vegan-diet-healthier-than-eating-meat-and-dairy-Though it also points out gut bacteria are important and not influenced by genetics, so eating “clean” and on the rainbow (greens, reds, purples, etc..)
|
|