lisaj 77
06-03-2009, 04:27 PM
Hi Everyone,
I've posted here before.
I have a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol and kinda slacked off last year with eating (I ALWAYS eat healthy but just wasn't totally strict and hardly exercised--I am thin.) In late Feb. my cholesterol was 283 with very high ldl. My doctor wanted me to go on a statin drug right away and I begged him to let me try to reduce it naturally (strict diet and exercise.) He agreed.
Well, just got my results back and my total cholesterol is now 209!!! I'm elated. (will post complete numbers when I get them--I was so happy to hear the news I didn't write down the numbers and he's mailing them to me.)
This is what I did: totally cut back on saturated fat--so I mainly ate low or no saturated fat soy stuff--like veggie burgers, veggie chili--no cheese (a sacrifice, I admit), sorbert instead of ice cream, no chocolate (it has saturated fat) ate a very high fiber cereal for breakfast with ground flaxsseed in it and unsweetened almond milk and exercised every single day for 30 minutes (some days, over an hour, when i was playing tennis) using an exercise tape.
So it CAN be done. You have to be incredibly strict, but after a while if you're creative with your cooking, things actually taste pretty good and I feel GREAT (cause of the exercise!)
good luck to you all.
I've posted here before.
I have a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol and kinda slacked off last year with eating (I ALWAYS eat healthy but just wasn't totally strict and hardly exercised--I am thin.) In late Feb. my cholesterol was 283 with very high ldl. My doctor wanted me to go on a statin drug right away and I begged him to let me try to reduce it naturally (strict diet and exercise.) He agreed.
Well, just got my results back and my total cholesterol is now 209!!! I'm elated. (will post complete numbers when I get them--I was so happy to hear the news I didn't write down the numbers and he's mailing them to me.)
This is what I did: totally cut back on saturated fat--so I mainly ate low or no saturated fat soy stuff--like veggie burgers, veggie chili--no cheese (a sacrifice, I admit), sorbert instead of ice cream, no chocolate (it has saturated fat) ate a very high fiber cereal for breakfast with ground flaxsseed in it and unsweetened almond milk and exercised every single day for 30 minutes (some days, over an hour, when i was playing tennis) using an exercise tape.
So it CAN be done. You have to be incredibly strict, but after a while if you're creative with your cooking, things actually taste pretty good and I feel GREAT (cause of the exercise!)
good luck to you all.
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AThena53
06-03-2009, 04:52 PM
Thanks for this good news! I had to go off statins because of nightmarish tendinitis flare-ups. That was 2 months ago and I haven't had a blood test since. Have substituted green tea capsules (doc agrees with this) and I try to treat animal fats as something to which I'm allergic. I still eat lean meats and I exercise 45-60 minutes a day. I've always exercised, but I've been a little less careful about animal fats in the past.
It's encouraging to know that you've had such good results through diet only. It gives me hope!
It's encouraging to know that you've had such good results through diet only. It gives me hope!
tjlhb
06-03-2009, 05:59 PM
Of animal fats, those in red meat and dairy products are the most saturated, and generally the least heart healthy. But fat from cold water fish is generally considered heart healthy.
Trans fats from hydrogenated oils are generally considered even worse than saturated fats for heart health.
Trans fats from hydrogenated oils are generally considered even worse than saturated fats for heart health.
lmserff
06-11-2009, 01:02 PM
lisaj 77;
If you are concerned about your cholesterol you would find it very beneficial to read the book by former austronaut and physician, Duane Graveline, M.D. It is called "Statin Drugs. Side Effecrts and the Misguided War on Cholesterol". Like many other leading medical doctors and researchers he supplies the growing evidence that the obsession with reducing cholesterol production with statins is not the solution. Any beneficial effects of statins are due to its effective reduction of inflammation. The blocking of cholesterol is an incidental result and is not the reason for any benefits. Cholesterol is essential for life and the interference of cholesterol synthesis in the brain which occurs due to statins is the reason for the cases of memory loss, aggressive behaviour, suicide, etc which have been recorded.
As inflammation has been shown to be the culprit in cardiovascular disease, there are safer methods of reducing it than by taking statins, as you have demonstrated. Another problem with statins is that as well as blocking the production of cholesterol they interfere with the production of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-KB) which is an important part of the immune system which fights harmful bacteria, viruses, cancer cells, etc.
There is a huge amount of research confirming all of the above, and eventually the message should reach all parties concerned that statins in their present form are not the best solution, and their cholesterol-lowering effects are not the mechanism for any benefits to cardiovascular health. Above all, using statins to lower cholesterol when there is no evidence of cardiovascular pathology is totally uncalled for, and risky.
If you are concerned about your cholesterol you would find it very beneficial to read the book by former austronaut and physician, Duane Graveline, M.D. It is called "Statin Drugs. Side Effecrts and the Misguided War on Cholesterol". Like many other leading medical doctors and researchers he supplies the growing evidence that the obsession with reducing cholesterol production with statins is not the solution. Any beneficial effects of statins are due to its effective reduction of inflammation. The blocking of cholesterol is an incidental result and is not the reason for any benefits. Cholesterol is essential for life and the interference of cholesterol synthesis in the brain which occurs due to statins is the reason for the cases of memory loss, aggressive behaviour, suicide, etc which have been recorded.
As inflammation has been shown to be the culprit in cardiovascular disease, there are safer methods of reducing it than by taking statins, as you have demonstrated. Another problem with statins is that as well as blocking the production of cholesterol they interfere with the production of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-KB) which is an important part of the immune system which fights harmful bacteria, viruses, cancer cells, etc.
There is a huge amount of research confirming all of the above, and eventually the message should reach all parties concerned that statins in their present form are not the best solution, and their cholesterol-lowering effects are not the mechanism for any benefits to cardiovascular health. Above all, using statins to lower cholesterol when there is no evidence of cardiovascular pathology is totally uncalled for, and risky.
Lulubells
06-11-2009, 04:25 PM
You were wise to do it without drugs.. The darn things near disabled me. I have lowered mine by eating healthier and in doing that I have also lost a lot of weight..
I too, do not fully believe in the cholesterol thing either and people laugh at me when I tell them below 220, I feel bad and have no energy.. Get it up to 250 and I feel great and have more energy that I know what to do with.. But that is MY body telling me when it feels good or bad.. I have put it to the test many times.
I too, do not fully believe in the cholesterol thing either and people laugh at me when I tell them below 220, I feel bad and have no energy.. Get it up to 250 and I feel great and have more energy that I know what to do with.. But that is MY body telling me when it feels good or bad.. I have put it to the test many times.