Why is my HDL SO LOW for a premenapasal woman--How to raise it significantly?? - High Cholesterol Message Board

Tenacious · 08-03-2004, 07:44 PM

I am a 37 year old woman, have 5 kids, am pretty active - always running after them, am thin and in decent heath. My eating habits could be better- this is true. But I thought the only way to raise HDL was exercise--- I only weigh 115 lbs now, if I exercise too much, I might shrivel up and blow away. I finally got my cholesteral tested after many years of worrying and the results bothered me a great deal. My # was 182, HDL was only 43, LDL was 112 and Tri's were 133 (I think), the last 2 could be opposite as these were read to me over the phone & not sure I got them correct. MY ratio was 4.2
The Nurse said this was a "Normal range"--as 4.4 would have been getting HIGH. Is this correct information ?? I just want to get this HDL up higher - at least over 50 ! and I will be a Happy camper. HOW hard is it to raise HDL significantly ?? Help !!

NineLives · 08-04-2004, 06:44 AM

[QUOTE=OverRunWithSons]HOW hard is it to raise HDL significantly ?? QUOTE]

Raising HDL can be difficult. What I have found is that it takes vigorous exercise to bring it up and then it is a slow process. I've tried olive oil, flax seed, almonds, red wine, blueberries all really with no noticable differences in HDL. I would cut out transfats from your diet. You have to become a good label reader to figure which foods have them in it. Also if you are a smoker that can cause your HDL to be lower.

zip2play · 08-05-2004, 09:01 AM

I got a GREAT HDL boost just by adding fish oil (1 tsp cod liver oil) and lecithin (1Tbsp.) to my daily regimen.

Tenacious · 08-05-2004, 06:18 PM

I am not a smoker and already very thin. WHere do you buy the fish oil (1 tsp cod liver oil) and lecithin (1Tbsp.) like that? I see these things in vitamin capsules, how are you taking them, and is that too much? Is that heatlhy to have this amount daily? Thanks for the replys.

arkie6 · 08-07-2004, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OverRunWithSons

HOW hard is it to raise HDL significantly ??

It's not that hard. You just have to throw out almost everything you've been told about fats and cholesterol for the past 20 or so years.

At last check, my HDL was 77, which is pretty high for a guy. How did I get this? Not from exercise in particular, but diet. Five years ago, my HDL was around 50. What is my diet like? High in fats, but they are natural fats like those found in meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and nuts. I limit my intake of carbohydrates, refined carbohydrates in particular, but I do eat lots of fresh and frozen vegetables and limited amounts of fruit. I avoid highly processed fats like partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (this is a must to get that HDL up) and most liquid vegetable oils (extra virgin olive oil being an exception). It is hard to avoid soybean oil because it is in virtually everything like salad dressings and such. I also take a tablespoon of Carlson's Cod Liver oil every day for its high quality Omega 3 essential fatty acids EPA and DHA (and it is high in Vitamin A and D also).

Still not conviced that increasing your fat intake can raise your HDL? Read this:

STUDY REVEALS NO BENEFIT TO SELECTED CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS IN LOW-FAT DIET

For decades, low-fat diets have been advocated for weight reduction and to lower the risks associated with heart disease. However, clinical trials have not confirmed that low-fat diets actually accomplish this. In a study recently published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Kulwara Meksawan, PhD, et al., studied the effects of dietary fat on selected cardiovascular risk factors of healthy, yet sedentary, men and women. Over a three-week period, researchers gathered data on 11 volunteers who followed a three-phase nutritional approach. The first phase allowed subjects to consume only 19 percent of their calories from fat, and the second phase, which was used as a control, allowed 30 percent of daily calories from fat. The final phase of the study increased calories from fat to 50 percent. Researchers found no adverse effects on body weight, body fat, blood pressure, resting heart rate or cholesterol levels in their study subjects. In fact, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or "good" cholesterol levels improved on the diet that derived 50 percent of calories-from-fat.

In conclusion, researchers note that their data suggests a diet severely restricting dietary fat is not necessarily beneficial to the nutritional status and plasma lipoproteins of healthy sedentary people. Regardless of weight loss, very low-fat and high-carbohydrate diets did not show improved serum cholesterol, and since long-term compliance with such diets is poor,they do not result in long-term loss of weight or body fat.

Meksawan, K., Pendergast, D.R., Leddy, J.J., et al., "Effect of Low and High Fat Diets on Nutrient Intakes and Selected Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Sedentary Men and Women," Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 23(2),2004, pages 131-140.