Borderline High Cholesterol: Suggestions OTHER than medications

[LynneSin]

Nothing major, I'm just at 202 which is just a tad over what is consider 'safe'. Doctor knows that I'm seeing a Nutritionist/Personal Trainer and have already taken steps to eat a healthier diet & get more excercize.

Ok, but outside of the eating better/exercize - what recommendations have other DUers done that have helped. I really don't want to be on medication, but if I don't drop about 5 pts in 3 months, the doctor may go that route.

I'm basically looking for food & suppliment suggestions!

THanks!

[Hugin]

1. Oats!

Eat them oats!

[Hugin]

2. And, oh yeah.. Silk milk!

[Hugin]

3. The best if you can find it anymore...

Is red rice yeast!

Fantastic stuff... Mysteriously disappeared from the
market with the advent of all the pharma junk though.

[LynneSin]

4. I eat oatbran for bread and drink 8 Continent Lt. Choc Soy Milk

well, at least I'm on the right path.

I do know that excercize and diet will be the biggest part of all of this. But everything helps!

[Hugin]

9. Exercise not only lowers your "bad"...

Moderate exercise also increases your level of "good".

I learned that from my Doc.

[Left_Winger]

5. I've heard that garlic and red wine

are good natural combatants against the bad cholesterol.

[madrchsod]

6. niacin helps

in fact that is what i`m taking because my liver doesn`t want to manufacture the stuff to keep my level with in range. diet is the best place to look at for reduction of the bad stuff.

[blondeatlast]

24. I think it's probably the gender difference, but I had to stop the niacin.

I ws fainting at certain times of the month.

It did the job well up until then!

[ChickMagic]

7. A coworker

dropped about 15 points by eating oatmeal 4 or 5 times a day.

[Left Is Write]

8. All I can do is be redundant.

Oatmeal.

And walk - that's really the best exercise for helping lower cholesterol. Good old fashioned walking!

[jobycom]

I dropped mine from 236 to 159 in three months

No medication. I quit all saturated fats and trans fats (I was already a vegetarian), gave up flours, I ate more nuts, olive oils, and at least nine helpings of vegetables a day (not as hard as it sounds, just drink fruit juice instead of sodas and that's four or five right there), I ate oatmeal or oat bran muffins every day, I found a fiber mix based on citrus which has a lot of insoluble fiber (that's the kind that pulls the cholesterol from the blood). I started jogging for an hour a night, and I took 1000 mg of niacin a day.

That may be extreme for some, and I haven't maintained it perfectly, either. But basically, saturated fats and trans fats are worse than dietary cholesterol. Cut way back. Vegetables, nuts, beans, and oatmeal all help reduce cholesterol. I'd bet if you just ate half a cup of oatbran a day and limited your saturated fats, you'd fall below 180 without much trouble, as long as you keep excercising.

There are a lot of books. There's one about an eight week cholesterol reduction diet (the title is something like that) with a lot of good advice.

[jobycom]

11. One more thing

You get burned out on the same stuff every day, just make sure you are eating something that will help every day, and avoiding everything that will hurt. Cheese, btw, is worse than a steak. That's how a vegetarian like me wound up with high cholesterol, I think.

[Hugin]

12. If you eat out at all...

They *insist* on throwing cheese on everything.

It's not even good cheese.

That and mayo... Hold them both!

[solinvictus]

22. What they said plus daily exercise. n/t

[blondeatlast]

26. True about the dietary cholesterol. Better to eat the omega fats and not

worry about the cholesterol already in food, according to my dietician, and she seems to be right.

[jobycom]

29. Yeah, I think so, too. It's fats that are the problem.

I'm not sure this is right, but the way I visualize it is that cholesterol isn't bad. Cholesterol is there to heal wounds that are caused by bad diet. But when a diet gets so bad that cholesterol is overproduced, it gums up the bloodstream and becomes fatal. So the secret isn't just getting cholesterol out of the blood, the secret is to not screw up your body so much that it overproduces cholesterol.

Whether that's accurate or not, it works.

[BiggJawn]

10. Ditch the animal fat and Eggs.

I used to NOT have high cholesterol. I miss-took that as license to eat lots of yummy eggs.
WRONG!!!

I'll tell you one reason you don't want to go on Statins...

I gave myself a Roman name:
Flatus Maximus!

Oh, they give you the runny shitz, too.

I have cut out almost ALL animal fat. (still eat cheese, but I've cut down)

[grace0418]

13. Flaxseed oil is great. This website has GREAT

ideas for nutritional and supplemental ways to reduce cholesterol naturally:

http://www.wholehealthmd.com/hc/resourceareas_view/1,1438,476,00.html

I actually love this website because it gives so much information on what you can do to improve your health through nutrition and other natural means instead of drugs.

[stellanoir]

14. agree with poster #5

red wine and megadoses of garlic. The highest concentration of allycin you can procure. Best ones are about 30 bucks a bottle but well worth it.

[BiggJawn]

17. Are those the ones that make your sweat smell like a cheap pizza?

I've known people who were doing garlic pills. their breath stank, or their bodies stank..

[stellanoir]

18. the pricier stuff is thankfully odorless

[BiggJawn]

19. Ya gets what Ya pays fer, I guess...

Thanks!

[stellanoir]

21. besides it keeps the vampires away

[BiggJawn]

30. LOL! n/t

[musiclawyer]

15. Flaxseed oil, extra virgin coconut oil

Those are the best oils to supplement olive oil. Also cactus from your locval Latino market. And yes, stay away from grains as much as possible except for oatmeal. Once you get better numbers, ease your way into more grains, but stay away from animal fat and transfats.

[dajoki]

16. fiber

diet & exercise. fiber also

[BlueIris]

20. I'm no doctor, and I hate giving out advice like this because of that,

but I would suggest what others have--oatmeal, and perhaps green tea. My grandfather started eating a bowl of oatmeal a day after his heart attack, and managed to keep his cholesterol manageable (without meat or eggs, of course) without meds for it for two more decades.

[Shakespeare]

23. Look for an herbal supplement called Gum guggul

It's an ayurvedic herb, and has excellent success in lowering cholesterol. I take it every day--last time it was checked, my cholesterol was around 130 (which is an all-time low for me).

[blondeatlast]

25. Exercise like walking not only lowers your bad, it also helps raise

the good cholesterol.

Did they mention about your good cholesterol? My cardio is more concerned that I keep the good cho UP than he is about keeping the bad cho down, although of course that is a concern.

Also, avocados work wonders and are yummy besides. I make a healthy guacamole and nibble on it through the week.

Just one ripe avo, some good green chile sauce, salt, a bit of lemon juice, and garlic.

Wine and walnuts are also good--they have the fats that lower your bad cho while increasing the good.

I've tried healthy alternatives like these and while I still take meds, they do help. Just be sure you check with the doc if you do anything non-foodish or exercise (such as supplements).

[blondeatlast]

27. "Cholesterol Cures" is a great book.

Very easy, common sense ways to cut the bad and raise the good.

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=1-1579544819-0

[LeftyMom]

28. replace your butter or margarine

with Earth Balance (it tastes fine, I promise) and your mayo (if you eat it) with grapeseed oil Veganaise (ditto.) You can find them both at the natural foods store.

IF you are willing to do something dramatic diet-wise, read one of Dr McDougall's diet books.