Ononeorange, ultimately the best thing to do is eat clean food and a balanced diet; while there is lots of compelling evidence out there for higher fat/low carb diets and certainly from a metabolic/hormonal prospective clear pathways as to how high sugar (carbs are sugars, simple or complex simply describes the chain of molecules) diets impact on various diseases, lots of other factors are at play (sedentary lives, poor sleep etc) for it is be a panacea for all ills.

It’s a good starting point though.

Agreed margarine tastes awful. But I thought compared to butter it was much better?

Not wishing to have a go, but I think you need to do some serious research ASAP about which foods are actually healthy. Don’t just go by what the adverts on TV tell you. Margarine & vegetable/sunflower oils are literally poison IMO. My basic rule of thumb is so stay away from the more processed stuff. Margarine is refined & processed on an industrial scale from the cheapest, lowest quality materials possible. Stick to good butter (local free range if possible otherwise Anchor or Kerrygold is good) and natural fats like lard & tallow.

Kerrygold is great butter because the cows are 100% grass fed. In fact that’s a major selling point for it being a premium product in the US because the majority of their dairy industry is grain fed. It means that there’s very different fats in there.

And compared to pro-inflamatory veg oil based margerine there’s only one winner!

Mmmm, Kerrygold.

Also, if you’re looking for grass fed, rathern than grain fed, steaks then the premium Aldi ones are awesome.

No I accept your advice as intended and don’t think you’re having a go. I do appreciate it thanks, and clearly my knowledge here is woeful.

Cheers

Margarine is refined & processed on an industrial scale from the cheapest, lowest quality materials possible.

So is butter, though. Whether one or the other is safer is a different matter, and I doubt that a bit of either spread on a couple of slices of toast per day is going to make much difference.

Cooking with either is a different matter, and if you’re consuming a lot you’re either frying (perhaps change to olive oil and cut down on the fried foods) or making cakes/biscuits (which you should probably cut down on too…)

No, don’t do any frying / cooking with margarine etc – that’s all olive oil. Marg only comes out on bread.

You may find this useful:

http://www.drmyhill.co.uk/

Butter is made from something very healthy though, milk, and contains lots of nutrients – particularly organic or grass fed butter.

Re grass fed dairy or beef – it was posted on here that organic stuff has to be mostly fed on grass. Organic beef is expensive, but organic milk and butter isn’t much of a hike for your monthly shopping bill.

There’s an argument to say that most vegetable oils are in fact bad for you and saturated animal fat is not. So on that basis, feel free to fry in lard. Nom nom 🙂

Artificially saturated fats (veg oils that have been hydrogenated to make solid margarine) are worse for your health than naturally saturated ones like butter. Olive oil and rapeseed oil are pretty good for you.

Whole foods fried in healthy fats are not intrinsically unhealthy.

As an example of this, I currently purchase my meds from outside of the U.K. I am fighting for the NHS to pay for these but it will cost a minimum of 3 times as much. So … who’s taking the pi$$ ?

And that drug is?

Pretty much all research done on modern western lifestyle illnesses is either funded directly or indirectly through grants offered by the drug companies who have only one desire and that is to make you pay for something to alleviate the symptoms – if that something turns out to be a drug that you come to rely on for the rest of your life then all the better, why should they offer a dietary cure for the underlying problems causing the symptoms – it is not in their commercial/shareholding interests to offer cures.

You know, except for the ones that aren’t like the ones done by sports institutions etc, public health institutes with a vested interest in keeping health up and costs down, masters students, phd students,,,,institutions like cochrane that just have an all out interest in the truth…there are so many groups publishing studies around the world….not just big pharma.

Often, I will strongly advise patients to keep a very strict food diary – along the lines of “every crumb that passes your lips should be written down”.

This, don’t just write the name of the food down or take photos. Calculate the calories, often people will be amazed by how much crap they eat in terms of kcal.

Also Myhill is one step away from being a quack. Amongst other laughable ideas I’ve noted on areas I have some academic experience with (eg rising birth defects in Iraq in relation to depleted uranium)….heres this piece of gold.

I think the evidence that the MMR vaccine causing autism is strong

The GMC should have had the balls to get the banhammer out

Only around 10% of the measured cholesterol in your blood is actually attributable to your diet – the rest is manufactured in your liver. Therefore, you may not be able to lower it without drugs. Statins are safe and hugely effective – they are the only cholesterol lowering agent that has been proven to save lives by preventing heart attacks and strokes.

So if the reason for high cholesterol is not due to diet then surely it would be wise to actually find out why the liver is overproducing cholesterol rather than taking a drug that interferes with liver function and thus has the potential to cause undesirable side effects. Cholesterol has many essential functions in the body and is not the evil substance that it is reported to be.

To me this is the problem with modern medicine, its all about symptom management rather than understanding the cause of illness.

In addition whilst it is accepted that statins protect against CVD it is not due to the fact that it lowers cholesterol. But due to its anti blood clotting properties. And there are better less harmful drugs that can do that.

Im a big believer in the theory that high cholesterol is the body’s response to oxidative stress. Thus a diet that is high in anti-oxidants will help. The most effective of which is Vit C.

My own cholesterol levels are much improved after following a low GI, higher fat diet.

So, have any of you bar room experts actually achieved what the OP desires, To substantially decrease your Cholesterol level?
There’s plenty of “expert” advice here but not much in the way of success stories…
Here’s what I do!
Avoid ALL processed/packaged food, biscuits, cakes, bread and supermarket meat. Bread, even supposedly “healthy” stuff is packed with additives. Make your own (ditto cakes). It doesn’t take long and you get strong wrists. If you must have something sweet, dark choccy is the one.
Use organic milk, butter and cheese. Goat’s is even better.
Use Rape seed oil or walnut oil instead of olive oil. Eat oily fish.
Eat plenty of fresh fruit and veg, particularly leafy greens.
Drink tea instead of coffee, wine and whiskey instead of beer.
I also take omega 3 fish oil supplements (Avoid omega 6 and 9 like the plague. They restrict the uptake of omega3).
None of it is rocket science!
I can’t guarantee you will get the same results as me, but four years ago my level was 9.6, very high in LDLs; now it is 3.5, low in LDLs!
It took a couple of kicks up the arse to get me eating more healthily (I always thought I was a healthy eater, but wasn’t really; 6’1″ and 11 1/2 stone was a red herring). Three angioplastys and a double bypass made me re-evaluate stuff; not just diet, but making time to exercise, and just as important, relax.
If you can’t find the time to ride midweek, you need to!
Good luck!

So, have any of you bar room experts actually achieved what the OP desires, To substantially decrease your Cholesterol level?There’s plenty of “expert” advice here but not much in the way of success stories…

By eating well I’ve managed not to ever have a problem. I think success story might be overplaying it.

And that drug is?

I’m not prepared to say but one manufacturer of this is unable to supply NHS patients til the end of June. Some problem with an ingredient apparently. This of course means that a lot of people will become very ill without it as it has a short life in the body.

Suburbanreuben – my “expert advice” has been working well for me for the past 44 years.
I have never had high LDL cholesterol, or high blood pressure or high triglycerides, etc, and my HDLs are quite high from all the exercise I’ve done all my life.

Cinnamon girl, hope you are okay and you don’t get or are very ill. I just got a bit worried by that statement and then your link to myhill. If there’s one thing I despise more than awful illnesses it’s folk being sold either bad drugs from poor pharmaceutical studies or alternative therapies that haven’t been shown to work. Big pharma have their problems but there are an awful amount of quacks out there willing to con the desperate in the name of choice.

Hope things work out for you, sorry if I sounded terse.

To me this is the problem with modern medicine, its all about symptom management rather than understanding the cause of illness.

You’ve clearly never actually studied modern medicine in any great detail have you. It’s like listening to military walts….

There are a number of environmental and genetic risk factors that all have good supporting evidence for those links. As Hypercholesterolemia is a multifactoral disease, there will never be a magic bullet “cause” that is identified.

Before you start talking about the field and making sweeping statements like that why don’t you actually take the time to understand how the field works and why people get into it in the first place. Scientists all over the world argue about shit like “How important is diet in relation to cholesterol levels” because finding out something new and doing one over your colleagues is a matter of pride – every scientist dreams of getting a nobel for turning the world on it’s head.

Margarine & vegetable/sunflower oils are literally poison IMO.

Ace….

Another thing to remember, is that despite ‘modern medicines’ (I.e doctor’s) best efforts to offer a wholistic approach to lifestyle, mood, and a general approach to remaining healthy, an awfully large number of the population simply don’t care, and want the easiest option on offer….it’s easier to swallow a pill than to drastically alter your approach to life. So often I encounter people who are massively unhappy in life, and the simple solution should be “quit your job, downgrade your house, and live a simpler but happy life” – how many do you think do this…?
Generally, most physicians do try their hardest, but don’t forget we are also providers of healthcare to Everyone, not just the one person in their room at that time (I.e. YOU! – this means that we have to limit what we can provide to you (in terms of time and provisions) in order to serve the population as a whole…

DrP

OOO,
I am in the same situation as yourself, 2 years ago got blood tests done and noted high cholesterol so I changed some things in my diet and figured it would go away. Roll on 2 years and hey presto bloods done again and my cholesterol levels have gone up along with my weight, que annoyance and confusion on my part.

I am now seeing a dietitian about it and things seem to be moving in the right direction. Have not had cholesterol re done yet but my weight is coming down which will help things.

The first thing I did was get an app called my fitness pal this is free and I use it to keep a food diary. You can set goal of weight loss but most importantly track how much you currently eat. I was surprised at how easy it can be to over eat. Secondly look into eating more low GI foods as suggested above also cut out as much fat as possible that you can see at room temp. If you like oily fish like mackerel, trout and salmon these are all good for you.

If you want more info on what I am doing my email is in my profile. I can’t guarantee this will be spot on for you but does seem to be working for me.

DrP makes me wish I was a doctor 🙂

“So, have any of you bar room experts actually achieved what the OP desires, To substantially decrease your Cholesterol level?”

Its only the drug companies that believe that there are high cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol is produced by the body to top-up the levels in the body.
Humans need cholesterol, and vitamin D, and whiteblood cells etc .

So, have any of you bar room experts actually achieved what the OP desires, To substantially decrease your Cholesterol level?
There’s plenty of “expert” advice here but not much in the way of success stories…

I’m afraid not. Ooh hang on, I’ve never had high cholesterol but that’s because I’ve always practised what I preach. Exercise well, don’t eat too much processed crap and don’t be afraid of fat in any form.

I’m a complete failure.

Ooh hang on, I’ve never had high cholesterol but that’s because I’ve always practised what I preach.

Lol.. or MAYBE it’s because you don’t have any predisposition for it…?

I’ve never had bad period pain, so my diet must be ideal for that.

This Dr Myhill?
http://www.gmc-uk.org/Myhill_Sarah_02102012_14092012_49872334.pdf

So, have any of you bar room experts actually achieved what the OP desires, To substantially decrease your Cholesterol level?

My cholesterol level was not that high to start with, but by making the exact same dietary changes that you suggest, my cholesterol levels have “improved”.

As has been said, it’s not rocket science but then most people arent interested in making those kind of changes. They just want a quick fix.

You’ve clearly never actually studied modern medicine in any great detail have you. It’s like listening to military walts….

Oh dear, i seem to have touched a nerve.

There are a number of environmental and genetic risk factors that all have good supporting evidence for those links. As Hypercholesterolemia is a multifactoral disease, there will never be a magic bullet “cause” that is identified.

I didn’t say there was a magic bullet. In fact completely the opposite. Why just target lowering cholesterol (the symptom) when it is likely that high cholesterol is just the bodies response to other underlying issues. What you need to do understand is why the body is reacting in that way. And as you say it will most likely be a number of different factors.

Again this is where the conventional health system fails us. It fails to look at the body holistically.

Rusty – thanks, have emailed you.

DrP – is your “Ace” sarcastic or meant?

Cheers

I have very high cholesterol, but that is because I have a kidney disease so I take 40mg of Atorvastatin every day.

I’ve never had bad period pain, so my diet must be ideal for that.

Ace! have you ever died?

Ace?

If ever there was a clue as to the age of a chap, using ‘Ace’ is a big ‘un!

I didn’t say there was a magic bullet. In fact completely the opposite. Why just target lowering cholesterol (the symptom) when it is likely that high cholesterol is just the bodies response to other underlying issues. What you need to do understand is why the body is reacting in that way. And as you say it will most likely be a number of different factors.

Again this is where the conventional health system fails us. It fails to look at the body holistically.

Well, we can’t do anything about age or genetic factors….yet…..but do you mean all those other risk factors like smoking, alcohol, obesity, diabetes etc that the medical community are continually trying to tell the public to either stop or lower?