:bouncing:
I've been getting a lipid profile done every 8 weeks since I was diagnosed with high cholesterol back in June. I refused to go on statins before trying diet and exercise first. My numbers have been steadily falling since June, but the results I've seen over the last 8 weeks is amazing. What did I do differently? In addition to a low fat diet and exercising 30-45 minutes a day, this go around I started taking the following: 10mg of policosanol/day, 25g of soy protein/day, and drinking 2-3 glasses of green tea. See tests results
below. I'm not sure why my HDL has dropped but I'm not complaining.

June: Tot 294, LDL 206, HDL 63
August: Tot 252, LDL, 157, HDL 61
October: Tot: 216, LDL, 136, HDL 54

Great news on the lower LDL! The lower HDL is not so good...

One guess to explain the lower HDL: by going low-fat you have maybe also excluded the good fats too much?
I would personally never go on a low fat diet, the only thing I do is limit saturated fats, but I eat a lot of nuts, use a lot of olive oil, etc.

A glass of orange juice every day will probably raise your HDL.

:bouncing: WOOHOO! That's great news! :bouncing:

Even though your HDL went down, your TC/HDL ratio improved from 4.13 to 4.0, so you are going in the right direction there, too.

Good progress. A low fat diet will hurt that HDL! You need to eat more *GOOD FATS*...eat Omega 3 eggs (1 daily..hard boiled ok)...eat Omega 3 *butter* daily. Eat anything with MONOSATURATED FAT...almonds are good.

:bouncing:
I've been getting a lipid profile done every 8 weeks since I was diagnosed with high cholesterol back in June. I refused to go on statins before trying diet and exercise first. My numbers have been steadily falling since June, but the results I've seen over the last 8 weeks is amazing. What did I do differently? In addition to a low fat diet and exercising 30-45 minutes a day, this go around I started taking the following: 10mg of policosanol/day, 25g of soy protein/day, and drinking 2-3 glasses of green tea. See tests results
below. I'm not sure why my HDL has dropped but I'm not complaining.

June: Tot 294, LDL 206, HDL 63
August: Tot 252, LDL, 157, HDL 61
October: Tot: 216, LDL, 136, HDL 54

Great on the numbers, but it is hard to tell exactly what did it, as U did 3 different things at once. 5 months ago I started drinking about a quart of green tea, made as iced tea, a day, and also took 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon each day. Everything else was the same, no change in diet at al, or exercise, in fact I did less due to such a hot and sticky summer, but my TC went from 239 to 198 and my LDL from 161 to 126. My HDL also went down about 3 pts. and my Trigs went up a few??? Have no idea if it was a fluke or what, but those were the lowest numbers I have ever had.

All I do is eat oatmeal each morning and my 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon, take a multi and 500 C in the a.m., drink alot of green tea thru out the day and evening, as I love iced tea, summer or winter. After supper I take 600 mgs. calcium, a garlic pill and another 500 C. My numbers have been borderline high for years, but I will not take any statins, tried them once, and suffered for way too long even after getting off them, they do NOT agree with me at all. Whatever your doing, keep it up, looks pretty darn good to me. Also make sure ya buy some mixed nuts, as they give U the good oils, just don't eat too many, they do have calories......... :D

Best wishes for continued success........... :wave:

Thanks for the advice. I'll try eating more nuts and maybe add some olive or fish oil to my diet. I think the soy had something to do with bringing my cholesterol down. Just a hunch. Do you prefer 500c supplement over orange juice?

Thanks for the advice. I'll try eating more nuts and maybe add some olive or fish oil to my diet. I think the soy had something to do with bringing my cholesterol down. Just a hunch. Do you prefer 500c supplement over orange juice?

I've heard good and bad about the soy, some say it is no good for cholesterol, others say it is good. I don't use it, so no opinon here. I take the supplements, as I have heard that regular orange juice has alot of sugar in it.

After reading and hearing so much, half the time U don't know what the heck to believe. I've also heard grape juice is not only good for cholesterol, but now they say it is good for not letting the flu bug get to you.... :confused: Someone had posted a few months ago that their dr. told them to drink a small glass of grape juice with a bit of vinegar in it before bed, suppose to help clean out the liver. Do try the cinnamon, just the reg. stuff from your spice rack. They sell them in capsules also, but the ground stuff is cheap, just make sure it is fresh. Take a 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. a day, as it also is suppose to keep your blood glucose stable.

Good luck, and keep up the good work... :wave:


Like I said, one day U hear one thing, next day something else, it boggles the mind after awhile, but I like grape juice anyway, so a glass a day is fine by me. Take care..... :)

I think the soy had something to do with bringing my cholesterol down. Just a hunch. A Reuters news item by Andrew Stern, "Eating uncooked soy lowers cholesterol -study" just came out today. He presented an analysis of 57 previous studies on the effects of soy on blood cholesterol at a conference this week. The conclusion was that two servings of soy milk or tofu daily brought down LDL cholesterol by 8 to 9%. One serving was considered to be 12 ounces of soy milk or two ounces of tofu. But the soy had to be raw. Cooking it eliminated the desirable impact. Also, the two servings needed to be hours apart to provide the effect.

Studies have shown that 25-50g of soy protein /day can lower cholesterol. "Gen Soy" makes 25g soy protein in powder form. I take one scoop of powder mixed with water every morning.