Health - Oswego,IL

In a recent Bottom Line Personal subscription they had an article on this...Macadamia nuts are a great food to help lower cholesterol. They are higher in fat, but good for you...eat 5 ounces of any kind of nuts weekly. Rhubarb is also good for you, Rice Bran, as is Oatmeal and Oat Bran. Eat Quaker Rice Bran Ceeral and Kemmei Rice Bran. Red yeast rice. One study found that people who took red yeast rie supplements and did nothing else had drops of LDL of 23%. Combined with other lifestyle changes dropped by 42%..Green tea can lower LDL cholesterol. 3 to 5 cups daily.
Vitamin C and E Take 400 units of E daily and 1000mg of C daily.
Cholesterol lowering margarines. Benecol is best (expensive) Promise buttery spread is almost as good and cheaper. Fish...people who eat fish2-3 times a week will have significant drops in both LDL and triglycerides. Hope this helps.

Hi A. ;-)

Does high cholesterol run in your family? Are you exercising daily?

Here is information from the Mayo Clinic which is a good place to start. If you scan the article and look below there are lots of additional links to help you obtain a more rounded education on this subject matter. There is plenty of good information on the left side bar as well!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002

Do you know what your total Cholesterol level is, your HDL and your LDL levels?

hugs,
A. R.N., Energy Medicine Practitioner

You may wish to seek the assistance of a nutritionist to help assess and analyze your diet. LDLs are typically raised through the consumption of animal meats, milk, and eggs as these food products contain saturated fats. You should limit or restrict these types of foods. Conversely, HDLs are typically raised through the consumption of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and can be found in olive oil, nuts, cold water fish products, etc.

But, as others have mentioned, if this is a genetic or hereditary issue you may find that all the good eating in the world doesn't help much. But...good for you for trying as incorporating foods that help lower LDL and raise HDL are typically foods that are good for you anyway and will have additional health benefits for you to enjoy.

I have a friend who is a life-long athlete, tennis pro, and so on. His cholesterol was way over 300 points, due largely to genetic factors. His mother's whole family had high cholesterol. You probably have something like that in your family - but people may not know it because a generation ago, they didn't test for it.

My friend ate right, was thin and fit, and so on, for his whole life. He was really afraid of the drugs because of the side effects, and he had done a variety of nutritional supplements over the years, to no avail. He found one that worked, and in 5 months lowered his cholesterol 100 points.

You may not be able to do it with diet alone - and be careful with the drugs.

My husband's another one who is a triathlete and vegetarian, and has high cholesterol- totally genetics for him. He did do a diet evaluation and found that he should eat less cheese and more garlic. It helped shave a few points off, but not too much. I think when it's genetic diet only helps so much.

Certainly try any diet changes, as long as they aren't radical. Then speak to your doc or several docs and find out what the 'magic' number is that they would like you on the drugs. You don't want to take them longer than you have to.

But I will say my husband is in the medical field and sees first hand the results of people who should have done something (meds) and didn't. The alternative is MUCH worse- so don't feel bad if you need the medication, that's what it's there for. Just make sure you're having conversations with your doc.

FYI once you start taking a cholesterol lowering drug you will never get off of it. It stops a process in your body which (to simplify the explanation) your body forgets how to make again. So id try to fix it naturally and if you have no success then resort to the drugs

hi there
check out drmercola.com << he writes about such matters and has sounds advice.. as does dr oz on his site..
and yes, omegas are good for the heart.. according to dr mercola, he advises krill oil over things like salmon... (for varied reasons)
additionally, have you tried yoga? my husband does it and swears by it..
he too used to have high cholesterol but says the yoga brought the levels down... and this w/o a big difference in diet as we already ate/eat pretty well..

best to you

If it's genetic there is very little you can do "externally". My father has very high cholesterol and is a fit athlete who eats well and exercises daily, but takes Lipitor every day to keep his cholesterol low. Having said that, he was able to lower it slightly by limiting further his "fatty food" intake and increasing his raw fruits and veggies. Really, though, the change was minimal and not enough to take him out of the "danger zone".

I am in the same boat. I am a size 4 or 6 (depending on the designer) yet I am threshold high. The only reason I am threshold high is my good cholesterol is so good. It's all about the whole grains. Oatmeal, whole wheat bread. Make sure the first ingredient says whole wheat. Not whole wheat flour or anything else otherwise it doesn't count. Also look into using smart balance instead of butter or a spread called benecal. Obviously cut back on fried foods and reduce your animal fat intake. Lastly keep your dairy in check. Use low fat cheese, milk yogurt etc. Best wishes.

My husband is very fit and still has to monitor his cholesterol because high cholesterol runs in his family too. We have been taking a great supplement that's been helping us with health issues, and it is known to help lower cholesterol levels. Let me know if you'd like more info about it.

"Melaleuca" the wellness company has various natural supplements. Out of which "Phytomega" and "ProvexCV" help reduce cholesterol and LDL. They are made of potent, natural ingredients, so no harmful side effects. Let me know if you are interested and I will be happy to provide you more information. -S.

Make sure you are getting lots of whole grains, lean proteins, fish oil, and exercising.

A.,
I had the same problem. I am a size 4 and I had high cholesterol. I was shocked. My doc gave me a prescription for medicine. I was not very happy about it and on the way to the pharamacy, I called my sister. She insisted I try RED YEAST RICE before starting on the medicine so instead of filling the prescription, I bought red yeast rice from Walgreens. I have been taking two pills daily since then (total of 1200 mg a day). The next time my cholestrol was checked, it was below 200. All is still good now (2 years later) with my numbers and I take the red yeast rice. Good luck.