Being young and fairly healthy, ive never taken the time to read up on stuff like this to know if its out of the ordinary but-
I'm 20 year old, 5'5 and 110lbs
My doctor told me that my cholesterol is high. Not DEADLY high...but higher than it should be (i dont remember the exact number)
Maybe im just being stereotypical, but i always thought high cholesterol is for overweight people(?) Do i need to change my diet and eat/not eat certain foods?
Thanks
High cholesterol has nothing to do with being overweight. I don't think high cholesterol is even found significantly more often in overweight people (could be wrong there, I just have never heard it mentioned). But there are PLENTY of VERY skinny people with cholesterol problems.
The first line of attack would be to eliminate unhealthy fats and refined carbohydrates as much as possible.
Hello, No, high cholesterol is not just for overweight people. I know from personal experience. I'm 115 lbs. and 5'2" and have to control my cholesterol through diet. An overweight person is just at a higher risk for high cholesterol, but that doesn't mean they will definately get high cholesterol. It can also be genetic. You might also want to concider if you did a 12 hour fast before the test or not and what did you eat the night before? It's very important to do a 12 hour fast first. Try having the test redone with a 12 hour fast and ask for copies of the results from the last one and the new one.
I felt I was healthy too when I had my first bout with high cholesterol. I didn't over eat...I exercised vigorously for 45-50 min. everyday...I even thought I wasn't eating a lot of fat, since I ate a lot of salads. I was so shocked when I found out that my cholesterol was 239, which is 1 point away from meds. The doc. gave me the opt. of trying to control it through a low-fat diet. I went home and made a diary of what I was eating and found out that I was eating over 60 grams of total fat per day and most of it was coming from the salad dressing and cheese! I quickly changed my eating habits to 1400 cal. and 16-39 grams of total fat per day. (I average 27 g. of total fat.) The dressing was switched to fat-free and the mayo was switched to light. The cheese was switched to low-fat string cheese and low-fat cream cheese. Now, my cholesterol is down to 176. I don't worry about carbs., because I'm counting cal. besides fat and I need the carbs for my exercise routines. You may need more cal. and total fat than me, since you are taller.
Yes, as auntjudy suggested, cleaning up your diet you can have an impact on your cholesterol.
Trigylcerides respond to sugar and alcohol, by restricting them you can lower that number considerably.
You can also raise your HDL (yes, I said raise ) by doing cardio, eating more fatty fish and taking vitamin E. Oh and if you smoke, quit. A higher HDL has been shown to be protective of CVD.
In the grand scheme of things total cholesterol is not as important as what it is made of. Higher than normal Cholesterol because HDL is higher than normal is actually a good thing. Higher than normal LDL levels and triglycerides are more worriesome.
As for weight having anything to do with it; I've been obese (53% BF) and I've been super lean (14% BF) and my cholesterol never changed, only cutting down on sugar has ever impacted my lipid profile by further lowering my already low triglycerides.
Nat
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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
Last edited by Gopherhead; 09-15-2004 at 11:48 AM.
yeah..im on the gluten free diet and, eat alot of meat as you already know .. should i start worrying about cholestorol..i eat moslty chicken and, veal with fish on fridays..everything is pretty lean...i drink milk alot and, eat a cookie for break at 3:00pm...i eat pretty much like the phyramid...my carbs are--bread, cereals, rice, rice-corn pasta, muffins, cookie...thats it..
what do you say Gopher..lol
Hello, I don't mean any disrepect to the previous poster, but what is it with the cookies? This morning's local news had a dietician on it telling parents how to back a "nutritous" meal for their children. She used the food pyramid and included cookies in with the grains group! Why aren't cookies included in the sweets group on the top level? Could there be some confusion, even for dieticians what a grain product really is? The meal she packed was so loaded down with sugar, that I didn't even bother to pay attention to what she had the kid drinking. She was trying to suggest one item from each of the levels. (1 sandwich, cheese, cookies, 1 veggie, 1 fruit, and add an occational slice of cake for dessert) I like the lunches my mom packed for me much better, because they weren't as sweet. (1 ham and lettuce sandwich or chicken noodle soup, a few chips thrown in a baggie, 1 fruit, and Ovalteen.) Sorry, but cookies are a sweet in my book...There's just too much sugar in them.
Hello, I don't mean any disrepect to the previous poster, but what is it with the cookies?
Losec is trying to gain weight, so a few cookies are OK Losec is a celiac and the list of foods that cannot be eaten is well, pretty big. Seeing as gluten is the biggest one to avoid I doubt he's getting many refined carbs as it is - at least from what I've seen him post as a daily menu. But mainly he's trying to gain weight after being sick. I realize that you had no way of knowing that - most people are trying to lose not gain, it's like bizarro0-land
Losec, I would guess that your doctor would be monitoring your progress? If you're concerned with your cholesterol why not have it tested? Honestly, though, you eat pretty well - it's the junk food (refined carbs and saturated & trans fats in combination) that is the main culprit. Keep in mind as well that having high cholesterol does not mean you're going to develop CVD, it's only a risk factor and in and of itself it is not something you should freak out over!
Nat
__________________
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
Thanks for clearing that up guys~
On my way to change eating habits.....I dont like it when something is considered "too high" or "too low" at only 20 years old, so i rather attack it now~ =) Thanks again!
) by doing cardio, eating more fatty fish and taking vitamin E. Oh and if you smoke, quit. A higher HDL has been shown to be protective of CVD.
.. should i start worrying about cholestorol..i eat moslty chicken and, veal with fish on fridays..everything is pretty lean...i drink milk alot and, eat a cookie for break at 3:00pm...i eat pretty much like the phyramid...my carbs are--bread, cereals, rice, rice-corn pasta, muffins, cookie...thats it..
