Now that I’m officially old, I recently recieved the letter from our GP, inviting me in for an over 40’s heart check-up. No problem, I’m still fit, I can still kick the arse of most of the younger riders in our club, BMI is only 22.5, resting pulse of 54 etc etc.
So it came as a bit of a shock to find my cholesterol is really high – 7.2
I’ve never really thought about what I eat, never been on a diet, but I thought we ate kind of healthy – little processed food, cereal for breakfast, sarnie for lunch, cooked meals every night, occasional biscuits, cakes etc.
The change in diet started immediately – no more cakes or biscuits. No more pastries, no more cream or butter in cooking, and eating more oily fish + having a Benecol drink each day and in 6 months, hopefully the cholesterol level will be much lower.
Has anyone else been through this? How much can you lower your cholesterol through diet alone?
I read today about Bob Mortimer who has just had heart surgery and he (joked that he)lowered his cholesterol from 8.5 to 2.8 by mainly eating seeds. That sounds a bit boring but if it is going to keep you alive????

This Scottish doctor says it as it is:

http://drmalcolmkendrick.org/

cinnamon_girl – Member

This Scottish doctor says it as it is:

http://drmalcolmkendrick.org/

Please summarise to one sentence or two sentences please … my head hurts. 😮

I have had the officially old test. Mine didn’t just cover cholesterol but also triglycerides (I think, I scribbled it down) and although the cholesterol alone was a borderline figure – 5 – the other things tested for were excellent.

The nurse said that it was probably because I was cycling so much (I was training for a 24 hour race so doing a reasonable amount of miles and intervals at least twice a week) and that was helping me metabolise cholesterol.

It meant that I have less than 1% chance of cardiac disease. Yey. Although it also probably means I should do (and train for) a 24 hour race every year…

I would also ask your GP if there’s any chance you could have familial Hypercholesterolemia or similar (i.e. Genetic variation which causes a predisposition to high cholesterol).

I’m no doctor but my mother was in a similar position – healthy , exercised , not overweight yet had high cholesterol (only discovered after she had ‘funny turns’).

Just a thought although I think it’s quite rare. Don’t sue me , I have no clue of what I talk.

That or the lard sarnies

if you Google cholesterol myth there is lots of info about it

My understanding is that cholesterol level is a marker “along with other factors” of level of risk of CVHD. You should have had a discussion with your GP along the lines of your risk, weight, smoking, exercise levels, family history, diabetes risk and so on. Taken all together along with your overall cholesterol levels can point towards a treatment plan.

Taken on their own, they are a bit meaningless. I certainly wouldn’t bother with cholesterol lowering foods.

antimony I’m in the same position. Went to my doctor on an unrelated issue in late November and a blood test was taken. I was called back after a few days to discuss my cholesterol. Im 43 with and my level is 7.2. Doctor said a heart attack waiting to happen. I’m fit (fairly), cycle for 3 to 4 hours every week. The advice I was given sounds similar to yours. I was told to reduce the consumption of biscuits, cakes, crisps, chocolate cheese, red meat, reduce saturated fat. I was told to increase fibre and oily fish. I’ve always eaten porridge for breakfast, but I now alternate with Fruit and Fibre (Other brands are available). I have benecol spread on bread. Rather than eat crisps or biscuits, I now eat a Banana, Apple, Orange etc. Eat sardines on toast for lunch one day a week, have salmon for dinner once a week. I still eat my evening meal as normal, but rather than pile grated cheese onto a baked potato, I sprinkle some on. Anyway in the first 4 weeks, I lost 7lb’s and strangely I also felt that I had more energy on the bike. Don’t get me wrong, life is for the living, so if I want a packet of crisps etc, I’ll eat some, but I don’t eat a packet or chocolate bar every day. I’m due back in April for my next test.

The change in diet started immediately – no more cakes or biscuits. No more pastries, no more cream or butter in cooking, and eating more oily fish + having a Benecol drink each day and in 6 months, hopefully the cholesterol level will be much lower.
Has anyone else been through this? How much can you lower your cholesterol through diet alone?
I read today about Bob Mortimer who has just had heart surgery and he (joked that he)lowered his cholesterol from 8.5 to 2.8 by mainly eating seeds. That sounds a bit boring but if it is going to keep you alive????

If you don’t enjoy your grub, what’s the point?
You don’t have to make massive changes to your diet to eat healthily.
I had a double bypass 6 years ago, and half a dozen stents before that. My cholesterol when the missus packed me off to the doctor (it’s only indigestion) was 9.6 but now it hovers around 4. I did take statins for a couple of years but stopped a few years back with no discernable detriment.

This worked for me:
Cut out ALL processed food.
Replace breakfast serials with porridge, or a smoothie containing oats.
Drink tea instead of coffee (I can tolerate a 1/4 tsp of sugar in tea but need a sweet coffee).
Cut down on cakes, bikkies etc, but treat yourself every so often if you must; I do.
Cut down on red meat. The missus is veggie so once a week is easy.
Use Olive oil, walnut oil or Rapeseed oil for cooking, or butter if the recipe demands it (Like omelettes).
Eat plety of green leafy veg.
Eat nuts, beans, seeds and lentils.
Eat wholemeal bread, brown rice, etc.
Drink red wine and whiskey instead of beer.
Get plenty of exercise.
Don’t worry too much about it!
I would eat fish too, but I’ve never been able to keep it down…
(oh, and avoid the benecol, especially the marge.)

it does seem that the positive effects of statins (what you would get put on to treat high cholesterol) might be bog-all to do with the effect they have on lowering cholesterol, but instead on the effect they have on inflammation pathways.

Cynical Scottish dr. article was a good one. Interesting.

IANAD!

Mines 7.2 as well and I’ve been referred to the doctor. Again. December is always a heavy month, and I’m aware that any reading is taking a 2 month window…. But no matter what I cut out (pizza, pastry, red meats), I cannot seem to shift the needle.

Not sure I want to commit to statins. I don’t smoke. I excercise for about 5 hours per week.

Understandably I’m a little worried!

I thought new research suggested no link of high cholesterol to heart disease and that animal and diary fats are no longer the demon they were touted as….

More to the point I thought you could only adjust cholesterol with your diet by 10%.

^^^ and wasn’t sugar the cause of blocked arteries as it causes the lining to become irritated and causes cholesterol to become attached?. Also wasn’t the link to high cholesterol and heart disease been scattered as the research was found to be flawed.
Or did I dream it all

more info here

Cholesterol & heart disease – there is a relationship, but it’s not what you think

Firstly, while very rare, hypercholesterolemia is a real clinical condition to be taken very seriously and anyone diagnosed should follow the instruction of their GP and any specialists/consultants they are sent to.

For the rest of us, having “high cholesterol” represented with a single figure, doesn’t really help the person being tested. imo.

Therefore, sending that person away with the advice to change diet, increase exercise, is employing the “scatter gun” approach.

Unfortunately, most of us are never going to have our cholesterol profiled to help us understand exactly what levels of HDL and LDL anyone of us may have in our blood at the time we are tested.

To be as brief as I can, Very Low Density Lipoproteins (VLDL) is a sub-category of “LDL” cholesterol (the bad cholesterol). VLDL transports elevated quantities of triglycerides, along with some cholesterol mixed in there too. Elevated triglycerides are the result of the liver processing significant quantities of glucose.
After a while, floating around the body, VLDL eventually becomes “small dense LDL”, which can then adhere to artery walls and oxidize to form arterial plaque which narrows the arteries, etc.

Why might there be significant quantities of glucose in the body, enough to elevate triglycerides? Well, that would be where diet comes in and I’ll leave it there.

Oh joys.

I have my 40+ MOT tomorrow morning.

They may take my blood, but they’ll NEVER TAKE MY SCRAMBLED EGGS and lashings of butter!

Thanks for responding guys. I know there is (and always will be) studies to show research which goes against the current medical thinking (- think tinfoil hat to cure tinnitus), but I am happy to accept current thinking that high cholesterol is not a particularly good thing. I am therefore trying to reduce it.

suburbanreuben – that’s encouraging

Shotsaway – keep us updated in April

Unfortunately, most of us are never going to have our cholesterol profiled to help us understand exactly what levels of HDL and LDL anyone of us may have in our blood at the time we are tested.

To be as brief as I can, Very Low Density Lipoproteins (VLDL) transport elevated quantities of triglycerides, along with some cholesterol mixed in there too. Elevated triglycerides are the result of the liver processing significant quantities of glucose.
After a while, floating around the body, VLDL eventually becomes “small dense LDL”, which can then adhere to artery walls and oxidize to form arterial plaque which narrows the arteries, etc.

Why might there be significant quantities of glucose in the body, enough to elevate triglycerides? Well, that would be where diet comes in and I’ll leave it there

Triglicerides were 1.0 (normal)
HDL 1.4 (normal)
LDL 5.2 (well above normal range)

tested similar numbers last a year or so ago.
initially worried but whilst my overall cholesterol is high the bad is pretty low and the good is high. doctor said just be sensible and dont worry too much about it.

So to sumarise solo you are saying avoid sugar too?

You don’t need sugar, plenty in fruit and almost everything we eat.

To summarise? If you expect to live a full life then a low fat diet with exercise is key to longevity. High cholesterol, high blood pressure and being overweight are good indications that your life style isn’t very healthy and will have consequences.

There are no guarantees but the general health advice is pretty consistent. Small changes to your diet will have long term benefits. Were not talking about the odd slice of carrot cake. Its your day to day week in week out diet that needs to be healthy.

Easy steps, try cutting out all processed food, pizza, cake, biscuits, sugar in tea coffee etc. Save you money to. Its taken as read that you drink in moderation. Try porridge oats, muesli with skimmed milk. Fish, salad, potatoes, pasta, fruit. Note the lack of processed food.

Sugar is the enemy, not fat.

antimony – Member

Triglicerides were 1.0 (normal)
HDL 1.4 (normal)
LDL 5.2 (well above normal range)

OP, glad you have a break down. Better than the test I had. I got one figure for the result of my last test.

High LDL, indicates there’s sufficient resource in the body for the liver to produce significant quantities of triglycerides, which are transported within an LDL particle.

anagallis_arvensis – Member
So to sumarise solo you are saying avoid sugar too?

Elevated triglycerides can occur when the liver has excessive blood glucose to re-process. So the message might be, if the diet has elevated intake of refined, easily digestible carbohydrates. Then those carbs needs to be used as fuel for exercise. If not, then expect to see elevated triglycerides and LDL.

I imagine a VLDL as looking something like an airship. The carriage underneath the balloon is the protein to which the cholesterol and triglycerides are attached. The balloon is full of triglycerides and the skin/membrane of the balloon contains cholesterol.
The more triglycerides the liver produces the more LDL particles may result and/or there is an increase in VLDL, which is an airship with a very large balloon.

So, excessive consumption of refined and easily digestible carbohydrates, doesn’t just effect the waist line (a crude measure of physical health/condition) but also has a negative effect on processes such as LDL production, which day to day aren’t visible to the eye as a large waist line may be, but none the less is occurring anyway.

Right, back to work!
🙂

What RRR said.

OP, you are doing the right thing to cut out fats and processed sugars where you feel you can. This will help to assess whether or not you have familial Hypercholesterolemia.

My mum had gall stones and really cut down on fats after that, i.e. low fat spreads, yoghurts, cutting fat off meat etc. Then she found she had familial Hypercholesterolemia (total ~8.6 mmol/L). So as well as taking statins she has decided to cut out virtually all saturated fats and cut down on all fats. No cheese, butter or cream, no eggs, no pastry, skimmed milk, porridge made with water, only nuts and seeds with low saturates (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts), very little red meat and always trimmed of fat (no bacon, sausages or pork), lots of fish, fruit and salad/veg and sauces made with zero-fat creme fraiche or similar. She was a medical practitioner for over 40 years and I trust her judgement – she enjoys life and will give up a few nice foods for a longer and healthier life.

Good luck with keeping at it and hopefully in a few months you will see a difference. Is it possible to remove tempting items from the house completely?

Thanks all: one question – does glucose derive from any sugars in the diet, or just from refined sugar?

If you’re talking about blood glucose, then yes, any sugars – plus the other carbohydrates you eat.

slowoldgit – Member
Thanks all: one question – does glucose derive from any sugars in the diet, or just from refined sugar?

All absorped carbohydrates are processed to become glucose. The only exception appears to be the sugar in fruit and veg, Fructose, which seems to be metabolized in a slightly unique manner.

We all need some carbohydrate in our diet, but there’s much more available to us than we typically need and for those who do no or little exercise, then even moderate carbohydrate intake will be excessive to requirement.

They may take my blood, but they’ll NEVER TAKE MY SCRAMBLED EGGS and lashings of butter!

Just don’t eat them on the morning of the test.

I had my usual boiled eggs, got called back, your cholesterol is high blah blah (iasked which cholesterol and they didn’t have an answer). It came out in discussion I should have been fasted for the test, which would have been helpful to know before the test.

Retest two weeks later and this time no brekkie, all fine.

All absorped carbohydrates are processed to become glucose. The only exception appears to be the sugar in fruit and veg, Fructose, which seems to be metabolized in a slightly unique manner.

I don’t really understand the ins and outs, but my impression was this is where a lot of wholegrain/wholemeal foods help – they are harder to absorb to glucose, so tend to give energy over a sustained period and reduce spikes in insulin. They seem to act as a bit of a sponge to higher GI foods eaten in the same meal and help regulate them too.

Though most of my knowledge comes from this site so it mgiht be a bit skewed!

So there’s something odd about fructose? I just wonder…

In a seasonal climate, might the God of Evolution have smiled upon this? An animal that eats a lot of fructose in late summer and autumn turns it into stored fat, which is always used up by the following spring anyway. Not just hibernating animals, bears and hedgehogs being examples of this, but our cave-dwelling ancestors?

Only now we don’t shiver and half-starve in bad spells during the winter.

Feel free to shoot me down.

Brassneck – I believe the soluble fibre also helps on its way through you by absorbing bad stuff.

anagallis_arvensis – Member
So to sumarise solo you are saying avoid sugar too?

Elevated triglycerides can occur when the liver has excessive blood glucose to re-process. So the message might be, if the diet has elevated intake of refined, easily digestible carbohydrates. Then those carbs needs to be used as fuel for exercise. If not, then expect to see elevated triglycerides and LDL.
I imagine a VLDL as looking something like an airship. The carriage underneath the balloon is the protein to which the cholesterol and triglycerides are attached. The balloon is full of triglycerides and the skin/membrane of the balloon contains cholesterol.
The more triglycerides the liver produces the more LDL particles may result and/or there is an increase in VLDL, which is an airship with a very large balloon.
So, excessive consumption of refined and easily digestible carbohydrates, doesn’t just effect the waist line (a crude measure of physical health/condition) but also has a negative effect on processes such as LDL production, which day to day aren’t visible to the eye as a large waist line may be, but none the less is occurring anyway.

So, yes?

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/22/debunking-the-science-behind-lowering-cholesterol-levels.aspx

brassneck – Member
They seem to act as a bit of a sponge to higher GI foods eaten in the same meal and help regulate them too.

I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest that’s the case.

slowoldgit – Member
So there’s something odd about fructose? I just wonder…

In a seasonal climate, might the God of Evolution have smiled upon this? An animal that eats a lot of fructose in late summer and autumn turns it into stored fat, which is always used up by the following spring anyway. Not just hibernating animals, bears and hedgehogs being examples of this, but our cave-dwelling ancestors?

Only now we don’t shiver and half-starve in bad spells during the winter.

I think it’s a fair and robust view, especially as we can observe this happening in wildlife today. Fattening on ripe fruit and veg at the end of summer, in preparation for autumn / winter would seem to be commensurate with the way nature/evolution appears to operate.

On a related matter, it may not harm the environment as much if we consumed fruit on a seasonal basis, rather than jetting plane loads of fruit around the globe just so as we can have strawberrys on supermarket shelves, all year round.

anagallis_arvensis – Member
So, yes?

Yes, but I loathe to say “too much sugar” or “refined carbs are bad” on here because I don’t want to argue and it’s been my experience most folk don’t want to hear it. Sugar and sugary things are nice to eat and so therefore popular with folk.

Always late to the party: I later thought – and don’t we store some vitamins in body fat? I wonder if they would have been significant.

Without Cholesterol Your Body Can’t Make Testosterone

always good to quote or link articles on the web as authoritative just because they are on the web ….

adjective: authoritative

able to be trusted as being accurate or true; reliable.

Well I have a 1:50 chance of keeling over in the next 10 yrs…just like the rest of the 40yr old males in the country 🙄
Bang on the mean of the distribution. From the data collected, it would appear to be a balance of being generally active, not being a porker, but being an ex-smoker of 14yrs smoke-free, and having a BP of 140/90 and my bro and mum having high BP.

I asked about the cholesterol blood test and what numbers would be reported. I was told that it would only produce an HDL figure as I hadnt fasted for 12hrs (had a small breakie) so I asked if I could pop back in at a later date having missed breakfast and now have another appointment in a few weeks, at which they’ll take another BP. After that she can give me additional breakdown which must surely be of more use than a single HDL figure.

The risk analysis software automatically “guessed” an HDL figure of 4.5 for “me” which I think is a bit rude of it. We had only just met.

Sister was quite sanguine about my honest admission of my alcohol intake and said “it’s not the end of the world, but try and take a day off from beer at least once a week to give your liver chance to do it’s thing”. Frankly it’s got so used to 3 pints of bitter every night, I’m worried my liver might go into shock without it 😀

Oh, and it appears I scrubbed my ringpiece in vain this morning. Is disappoint. But shiny.

I’ve had several cholesterol tests over the past 15 years which always gave values around 4 (lowest 3.8, highest 4.3). RHR 45, BP 120/70.
Yet, after chest pain I had a contrast CT scan that revealed atherosclerosis. There’s (much) more to this than cholesterol levels…

yup cholesterol is just a guide to one condition I think we understand that.

3 pints every night and not a porker? 140/90 is right on the high blood pressure mark. Time for a life style change?