High cholesterol

[beautifulsoul]

Hello everyone, my hubby just had some blood work done and he has high cholesterol, 221. On the info they gave him it said to avoid coconut, I thought coconut was good for you. It doesn't say anything about HFCS, should he avoid it? Thanks guys, I'm jsut feeling a little confused. Any other advice would be appreciated.

 

[pink_fortitude]

Hi Adina My DH was diagnosed with high cholesterol when he was 24, and eating oatmeal for breakfast dropped his numbers by 20 all by itself. I am not really sure how coconut oil works since I don't use it and haven't researched it, I would look into it myself if I were you, though. I know someone who is a doctor who has very high cholesterol and takes medication for it yet eats red meat like it's going out of style with absolutely no fruit and a little bit veggies and he says this is a perfectly fine diet as long as he is taking his medication. Most doctors honestly don't know as much about diet and nutrition they should or as we think they do, so it is always a good idea to look into it for yourself as well.

ETA YES, avoid HFCS, everyone should stay away from that stuff, it has been implicated in some studies to elevate cholesterol because of how it inhibits the function of some blood cells, but it isn't as serious to cholesterol as most of the other things on the list you probably got

Melissa

 

[LaughingWater]

Maybe this will help: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002

 

[cindy_975]

I have, and have always had since my teens, high cholesterol. I think I might be around 220-240 now. and it does vary day to day around 10% in people and in testing. My family tends to have higher numbers (most over 300); in my case I have high endogenous cholesterol (ie, my body makes it, I don't ingest it). I don't worry about it. My ratio is good (exercise increases the hdl, 'good' cholesterol). The whole cholesterol-heart disease link isn't more than a well accepted theory backed up by some well manipulated analysis (drug companies are good at that). A few years back they were talking about c reactive protein being a better indicator of inflammation and heart disease. So you just have to read up on it. There is a group of people out there who believe there is no direct link between cholesterol and heart disease, and while I don't believe everything they say, they do have some interesting points to make.

I watch the whole picture since I don't want to end up on tons of un-necessary medications. No statins for me But then, I also have low blood pressure. Now when that goes up, I'll start to worry!

My mom tried red yeast rice to lower her cholesterol when she hit menopause, but I think that has the same active ingredient of a statin.


Cindy

 

[bundschuh]

Did your husband get his ratio? If the triglyceride number is high, then he must cut down on manufactured carbohydrates like high fructose corn syrups, sugars, pastas etc and probably up the green vegetable count (not potato count)

If his good HDL is high and the ratio between his HDL and LDL is good, no worries. My HDL (good) is high, the LDL (bad) is in a good ratio to the HDL (I think the LDL number is only extrapolated from the HDL number), my doctors are pleased (my older sister and younger brother have high LDL numbers)

If the HDL is low, he needs to start taking supplements, I take fish oil supplements (they work well with my body), my husband takes flaxseed which works well for him.

 

[steppin out]

I have been battling high cholesterol since I was in my early 20s (I'm 40 now). I cannot answer the question about coconut, but can tell you what has worked for me. The things that really helped are exercise, oatmeal (I love one of the recipes from the Eat Clean Diet book) and a change in diet (such as limiting butter and just eating less greasy type foods).

When I was 23, just using a rowing machine a little bit dropped my total cholesterol number by almost 20 points. That was when I was sure I could not stop eating real butter.

Good luck to your husband! It's nice to see you're trying to take care of him.

Sherry

 

[beautifulsoul]

Thanks everyone!

"The whole cholesterol-heart disease link isn't more than a well accepted theory backed up by some well manipulated analysis (drug companies are good at that)." -- Very interesting.

My DH is quadraplegic, I am hoping to get him to go to the Y with me to get some exercie in the pool. He has been trying to eat better, I'm so proud of his effort.

Triglycerides - 94
HDL - 38.3
LDL - 163.9

total score - 221

 

[cindy_975]

my soapbox

I work in biotech, and have worked for a drug company in the past (research) . Some time you just scratch your head when you see what goes on in the clinical area!
Trust me when I say that a lot of studies' conclusions are very questionable when you really look at them. There was a big one (it made it to the mainstream press) on statins a few years back where the conclusion was everyone would benefit from taking them (I'm stretching here, but you get the idea). They had cherry picked their subjects based on high levels of c reactive protein (inflammation marker implicated in heart disease), but then drew conclusions to everyone. Obviously, a drug company wants as many people as possible to buy their products so they aren't exactly impartial.

My big thing is that when you take a drug for a chronic condition (ie. you will take it until you die), be very careful and do your own research. If that means reading journals and such, then so be it. Of course, the internet can be dangerous for that as well, so watch your sources. Also, what passes as safety in a 90 day to 1 yr study is not the same as 20yrs! We have to be gatekeepers of our own health, with the help of good doctors.