I am 33 yrs old , don't smoke, don't drink, but I exercise and eat healthy and have hereditary high cholesterol. My numbers are Total- 307, HDL-70, LDL-217. My Dr. is pressuring me to take meds. He told me that I have to make a decision A.S.A.P. I feel such anxiety over this. I do not want to go on these meds. But he makes me feel like I am a walking time bomb. I told my Dr. that I am still considering having another child. He told me I also have to make THAT decision immediately. Please , is there someone out there going through the same thing? I need your advice.

Also, I weigh 108 lbs. and he told me I still need to be on the low fat /low chol. diet. I keep losing weight and I dont want to!

Hi Deb - I have the exact same prob as you. Without watching what I eat, my levels can go into the mid to high 300's. During pregnancy, my levels skyrocketed to 550 TC. I'm 36 now and my father had high cholesterol and died at age 39 from a heart attack.

There are actually lots of things you can do. The most successful diets for people with hereditary high cholesterol is the high carb/low fat/protein approach. I know there are a lot of high protein fanatics around that will tell you differently, but I've never seen a documented case lowering genetically high cholesterol under this type of diet.

A few specialists you can check out are Dr. Ornish, Dr. McDougall, and Dr. Graham. The latter two have message boards on vegsource (you can do a search as we are not permitted to post links on here). They have all written books (Dr. Ornish's available at any book site and the other two have their own websites) and they all follow their own programs successfully.

One thing to remember is that all animal products contain high levels of cholesterol, and there are some plant foods that are higher in fat. Oils, nuts, olives which are very concentrated fats, even if they are monosaturated, they raise levels in people like you and I, so should be eaten very minimally if at all. I've been a vegetarian successfully for over 2 years, but still have occassional dairy, which is a little more difficult for me to abstain from. And dairy is just as high, if not higher in cholesterol and saturated fat. I try to eat a lot of raw plant food. I've actually gotten it down to 230 without drugs but I was overeating on the raw fats (had a lot of avocadoes and olives). I'm now on meds + diet and it's gone under 200 this way, but it has been proven through testimonies from the above programs under the doctors mentioned that people with seriously high cholesterol has gotten their levels under 200 following those just their dietary guidelines (no meds) as well as other lifestyle changes.

I have a similar situation as you in that I am not overweight. I'm 6'0 and weigh about 145 (I don't have a scale - but usually weigh that on my check-ups).

Since you need to avoid fat and cholesterol, the best thing to do is eat a lot of healthy carbs, either whole grains or fresh fruit, and don't skimp on it. Avoid processed foods as much as possible. Eat fruit until you are completely satisfied, don't be afraid to make a meal out of fruit, say 5-6 bananas.

Also doing weight bearing excercises will help to increase your muscle mass. Eating a high fruit and vegetable diet is certainly healthier, but it can leave you underweight if you do not eat enough, so do make sure you do eat LOTS.

It is certainly a shame that we cannot share our email addresses, as it would be good for those of us with genetic/hereditary high levels to form some kind of support group. I've tried doing that through yahoo groups but I got too many viruses through it, and there were only 3-4 of us, it was very inactive.

Sorry for the long post...I felt a connection with you. Hope something I wrote to you helped!

Curly Chef,
Thank you so much for your reply! You were so helpful. I know you understand how frustrating having high cholesterol can be. Everyone is advising me to go on a High Protein/No carb diet. But I agree with you, I think the high Carb/Low fat diet is the way to go for me. I am not a vegetarian but I do not care for meat. I eat lots of fruits, veggies, salads etc. I thought eating nuts was good for me...guess I was wrong about that.
Do you think I need to go on those meds? I worry about Drs. that push medicine. Sometimes I think the medicine world is a scam.
I am definitely going to check out those specialists. I have been trying to find my own cholesterol specialist (my cousin has one in Ohio) but I haven't had much luck. I appreciate all your information!! You are very kind.
Thanks again!
Debbi

Debi,

I don't know if you should go on meds because I feel the same way, I hate them but feel I should be on them for the sake of my family and health. I fought going on meds for a long time, and kept thinking about my father and other relatives dying young, they didn't have access to the kinds of meds we have, but they also didn't watch their diets. My father died in the 70's when processed foods was at it's peak, and he loved it, and ate a lot of junk, egg mc muffins, pancakes, sweets etc.

I think if you have a history in your family of heart attacks like I did, you may want to seriously consider it, to at least lower the cholesterol count while you work out your diet. The drugs and diet go hand in hand. If you have genetic high cholesterol, drugs alone won't do it. On the other hand, you never know if you are at risk unless there is arterial blockage - some people live long lives with high cholesterol.

Anyway, I'm on the drugs until I can really get solid on my diet again. I went high raw for a while, then back slid a bit, but I feel I'm moving forward as I am still a vegetarian. I need to work out the dairy and bread issues that I have. Bread is a hard one, I mean all cooked grain products, because I feel they are truly addicting. Something happens to grains after they've been cooked, otherwise why would I have these kinds of cravings. I've gone off grains for months at a time, then I'd have a piece of bread and feel horrible at first, and BAM my addiction starts again. But when I'm off the bread I feel great. I think that is the key in these high protein/low carb diets. It's not the so much the high protein, but the abstinence from the bad cooked & processed carbs which helps many health problems and high cholesterol.

If you do check out Doug Graham's raw & sports message board on vegsource, I post under Sharon. Maybe I'll see you on there.

It is nice to meet others with similar situations. Do others in your family have high cholesterol? Either of your parents?

Sharon

Debbi,

Everybody on this board has gone through the same thing...you are not alone.
NOBODY wants to take these meds: they are extremely expensive and come with a risk of serious side effects.
On the other hand, many have tried all the dietary, supplemental and excercise modifications to no avail.
In my case it came down to two choices: Live with the risk of dangerous levels of lipids or take a statin.

Since the diagnosis of heart disease in men is quite often made by SUDDEN DEATH and since I watched my mother die a slow death from heart failure over a decade with high cholesterol in spite of little more than skim milk and steamed chicken breasts my choice was easy: Lipitor.

Good luck with your choice.