Viewing 39 posts - 1 through 39 (of 39 total)
  • High Cholesterol
  • damo2576
    Free Member

    So I have high cholesterol, in the quite to very high bracket.

    Done a bit of research and find it quite odd, I eat, I’d imagine very well compared to the general population and get about 15-20 hours cardio a week. The only bad thing I can think of is a pastry most days for breakfast and probably too much alcohol. The latter doesn’t seem to be a factor in cholesterol and I can’t believe one pastry a day would put me into such a high bracket.

    So any experiences here?

    damo2576
    Free Member

    15-20 hours of cardio a month not week!

    nemtbroutes
    Free Member

    Read ‘Why we get fat’. Explains a lot about cholesterol and its impact on your health. In summary carbs not fat increase your risk to arterial clogging (or plaque formation). Sugar is far worse than saturated fat in this respect. Only £4.50 off Amazon. An essential read.

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    Orange-Crush
    Free Member

    Or you could just have your parents to thank, like me.

    zerocool
    Full Member

    See your GP, get prescribed some form of Statin, give up the pastry and any fried food.

    rudebwoy
    Free Member

    aye, its not something you want to ignore,you’ve had an early warning, my dad never got one– well a heart attack

    legolam
    Free Member

    How high? If it’s >7, you’ve probably got familial hypercholesterolaemia. Needs medical treatment.

    If lower than that, you should be aware that you can only lower your cholesterol by MAX 10% by altering your diet. That’s because the majority of cholesterol is manufactured in your liver.

    Statins are great drugs! (I may be biased…)

    damo2576
    Free Member

    7.2 with LDL of 4.5 so pretty high.
    Do find it quite odd as I say for a fairly healthy diet, decent amount of exercise, not too old (36) and not overweight.
    Trust the result though as is 2nd one at similar level and from my Doctor.

    hmanchester
    Free Member

    Diet alteration first. This book above is a great starting point. Your doctor is likely to take you down the high carb low fat route which is a massive error in my opinion, do some research on this….

    Statins if diet alone doesn’t rein things in.

    Good luck!

    damo2576
    Free Member

    Thanks for that link, interesting, 1% chance for me apparently and statins would have no impact (still 1% chance).

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Your doctor is likely to take you down the high carb low fat route which is a massive error in my opinion, do some research on this….

    My doctor just told me to stop eating pies and cakes and to use Benecol spread.

    First re-test showed a drop of 1 point. GP said that was on course. Am due a second re-test actually.

    ransos
    Free Member

    I believe that dietary fat hasvery little to do with your cholesterol level…

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    @damo – it’s hereditary

    I have high cholesterol, was first tested in my early 20’s through work, nothing to do with my diet or lifestyle.

    I eat reasonably sensibly and do a bit of excersize.

    Woody
    Free Member

    I can’t believe one pastry a day would put me into such a high bracket.

    When I did a gym assessment a few years ago, my one or two pies/pastries a month (if that) jumped the calculation into the ‘needs to alter diet’ zone. A pastry a day would have probably blown it off the scale!

    I thought it was so ridiculous in a supposedly ‘scientifically based approach’ that it was a factor in me not using or going back to that gym as it completely skewed all the other factors.

    GrahamS
    Full Member

    Drink much coffee?

    (People tend to forget coffee, because they associate high cholesterol with fatty foods)

    trickydisco
    Free Member

    Tim Noakes: heart disease theory ‘has failed

    The theory that blood cholesterol and a high-fat diet are the causes of heart disease will be one of the greatest errors in the history of medicine, Prof Tim Noakes said

    Macavity
    Free Member
    ononeorange
    Full Member

    High here (around 9 or 10 I think). I tried really hard to up exercise and have a healthy diet after that – I got it down to about 7.5 I think. As above it’s hereditary, so nothing else I can do really. I refuse to use statins as I don’t like drugs in any form and I’ve read what they can do and don’t want to spend the rest of my life terminally depressed.

    kimbers
    Full Member

    the overwhelming bulk of scientific evidence indicates that a high sat fat diet increases the risk of heart disease in most people

    (not to mention increased risk of many cancers)

    however exercise,age, other dietry bad boys, genetics etc also play a very big part

    and in the case of statins, like any drug efficacy will depend on a persons genes (statins can also protect against some cancers)but again the majority of studies statins increase life expectancy

    nemtbroutes
    Free Member

    @kimbers

    “the overwhelming bulk of scientific evidence indicates that a high sat fat diet increases the risk of heart disease in most people”

    This is simply not true, even the World Heath Organisation has come out and said the research does not back up the claims made for the last 20 years. There is a sea change coming and what we’ve been told is all about to be turned on it’s head. For example, eating a full fat yogurt will make you loose weight faster than eating a low fat yoghurt. Read the book.

    damo2576
    Free Member

    @nemtbroutes – just ordered the book, ta, but how do I know that is right?!

    damo2576
    Free Member

    the World Heath Organisation has come out and said the research does not back up the claims made for the last 20 years

    Reference? Can’t find anything on WHO site other than stuff that is pretty supportive of the idea that high cholerstoral = heart attack

    FieldMarshall
    Full Member

    High cholesterol does lead to heart disease. But dietary fat does not cause high cholesterol of the unhealthy kind.

    kimbers
    Full Member

    nemtbroutes

    just go on pubmed and search for cholesterol and heart disease etc

    filter for meta-analyses or reviews

    and i can find no reference to the WHO saying that deep fried mars bars are good for you

    nemtbroutes
    Free Member

    The latest research I’ve read now suggests a couple of things:-

    1) Eating a high fat/protein diet promotes high levels of HDL cholesterol (the good stuff).
    2) Eating saturated fat does indeed create LDL cholesterol which does get into your blood stream.
    3) Eating a high carb diet also creates high levels of LDL cholesterol
    4) The LDL cholesterol created by fat and carbs is different. LDL particles created by fat are larger in size and have been found not to stick the side of arterial walls (it’s just too big to do so) but LDL created by eating carbs is smaller in size and stick to the side of arterial walls, once it sticks the plaques form and your arteries narrow.
    5) Triglycerides are the highest risk factor in terms of having a heart attack (more so than high cholesterol), what causes high triglycerides numbers, carbs not fat.

    Other observations:-
    1) Since low fat diets and restricted calories diets were advocated in the 70’s by our governments several things have happened, cases of obesity, diabetes and heart attacks have all increased. If the advice was working you’d have expected a reduction?
    2) Communities that have low carb diets (think tribal areas) have all consistently shown better cholesterol levels and blood pressure readings than Western communities. Inuit tribes who live almost entirely live of Seal fat apparently have some of the lowest levels of cholesterol recorded.

    I’m not here to preach just to suggest a different perspective. If you’re of a scientific mind then go read ‘Good calories, Bad Calories’ but if not check out ‘Why we get fat’ and make your own mind up. Since I started eating a ‘high’ fat diet my body fat has reduced to 6.5%! I’ll get my cholesterol tested in 6 months time (had it done at the start of the year so know my readings) to see how things have changed. I’ll soon know then what affect my new diet is having.

    Watch this for more info:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eREuZEdMAVo

    WHO abstract ‘In September 2009 the WHO published a reassessment of the data on dietary fat and heart disease. This is what they said ” The available evidence from [observational studies] and randomised controlled trials,” the report stated “is unsatisfactory and unreliable to make a judgement about and substantiate the effects of dietary fat on risk of CHD (CORONARY HEART DISEASE].”

    FieldMarshall
    Full Member

    This bit says it all to me

    Since low fat diets and restricted calories diets were advocated in the 70’s by our governments several things have happened, cases of obesity, diabetes and heart attacks have all increased. If the advice was working you’d have expected a reduction?

    Forget all the studies on population samples and different ethnic groups, the evidence from Western populations as a whole is overwhelming, low fat has not led to a reduction in heart disease and has led to an increase in obesity, diabetes and cancer.

    Furthermore, I have been following a nominally low processed carb and increased protein/fat diet for over two years. In that time my test results show that my overall total/HDL cholesterol ratio has improved significantly and my risk of diabetes has dropped significantly.

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Since low fat diets and restricted calories diets were advocated in the 70’s by our governments several things have happened, cases of obesity, diabetes and heart attacks have all increased.

    Have overall calorie consumption and fat consumption risen or fallen since the 1970s? I remember the ’70s a bit. We didn’t have nearly as much food as we have now, and it was mostly healthier.

    Western populations as a whole is overwhelming, low fat has not led to a reduction in heart disease and has led to an increase in obesity, diabetes and cancer.

    Again, you seem to assume everyone is takign the healthy eating advice. I wonder if that might be a mistake?

    Solo
    Free Member

    Cholesterol levels are maintained by the body. Fiddle with them and the body will work to re-balance what it believes is the required level of cholesterol in the blood.

    Pre-determined cholesterol levels are a function of your genetics, hence some folk having naturally high levels.

    HDL levels have been observed to increase with exercise. But there will be a level beyond which additional exercise will not elevate HDL much further. So don’t go crazy on the exercise thing.

    LDL will be ok, unless it is oxidized, which is when arterial plaque is formed as you see in atherosclerosis. LDL levels can be influenced by diet.

    I’ve read the Taubes book and would recommend others do too. After which, you get to decide whether the case me makes and the arguments / reasoning he writes in his book, are sound.

    I’m off now.
    😉

    michael12
    Free Member

    Pastry also increases cholesterol with other oily foods. Have a look on this link.

    May be this will be helpful for you.

    GrahamS
    Full Member

    Since low fat diets and restricted calories diets were advocated in the 70’s by our governments several things have happened, cases of obesity, diabetes and heart attacks have all increased. If the advice was working you’d have expected a reduction?

    No, that expectation assumes people listen to what governments advocate. In my experience they very rarely do.

    For what it’s worth, I restricted the calories in my diet, lost significant weight and am no longer obese. The missus is diabetic and restricts the calories in her diet to keep her blood sugar low.

    Anecdotal perhaps, but seems to work for us!

    Flaperon
    Full Member

    pastry most days for breakfast

    There’s your answer. How you seen how much butter goes into a croissant?

    Solo
    Free Member

    No, that expectation assumes people listen to what governments advocate. In my experience they very rarely do.

    Which is why western governments put pressure on food manufacturers to reduce fat content… Which duely happened. It was replaced with… Sugar cos sugar makes everything taste nice, once the fat has been reduced / removed.
    😉

    For what it’s worth, I restricted the calories in my diet, lost significant weight and am no longer obese.
    Have you checked your arterial plaque deposits lately ?. I’ve tried to check mine, but my scales and mirrors only seem to tell me what I weigh and how wide my waist looks.

    Anecdotal perhaps
    Very.

    klumpy
    Free Member

    These threads always make me shiver… I ate a double decker AND a viennese whirl today. 😥

    I’m thin, but there’s a phenomenon called TOFI, Thin Outside, Fat Inside… ie: weighs not a lot but has organs of pate, retired pancreas, and micro bore arteries. Might describe me!!

    kimbers
    Full Member

    theres a lot of bobbins being spouted on here

    FieldMarshall – Member
    , low fat has not led to a reduction in heart disease and has led to an increase in obesity, diabetes and cancer.

    for example, a high fat, high protein diet is most definately assosciated with an increased cancer incidence

    (that is not to say that a high carb diet wont do the same)

    legspin
    Free Member

    If the medical profession can not decide what causes it. I’m pretty sure the IT managers on here haven’t a clue.

    futonrivercrossing
    Free Member

    Should I stop eating fruit and porridge for brekky then 😎

    damo2576
    Free Member

    I just realised I was, on occasion eating 8 chocolate digestives a day. I don’t suppose the dark ones are ok?

Viewing 39 posts - 1 through 39 (of 39 total)

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