Cholestrol WAYYYY down!!!!!

[kinnika]

This has been a terrible year for me but it looks like it will turn into a great end to the year. I broke my shoulder on Dec.05 2009 and things went down hill from there. I was diagnozed with high Cholstrol and put immediately on Cresstor. I had to get off of it as the leg cramps were terrible. Anyway I went on a self imposed low fat diet. I learned yesterday that I took my cholestrol from very high to lower then normal just by changing my diet. My doctor was shocked as he has never seen anyone do that without medication. So anyone with high cholestrol change your diet and learn a few tricks because if I can do it so can you.
I am actually looking very forward to Xmas this year instead of dreading it.

 

[curbhopper]

Congratulations ! Any suggestions you can share ? I am really proud of you! Curbie

 

[Spider_Lily]

That's great new's kinnika.My sister had high cholestrol too her doc.put her on a low fat diet with no fried food's her's has came down also.Would rather change my diet than take meds.....congrat's...

 

[Jules]

Way to go!!! I too got diagnosed the same - add high bloodsugars and high Blood pressure to mine....unfortunately it was not diet for me and Lipitor is working for me, thankfully. It is encouraging to hear success stories like yours and to know that someone has successfully turned their life around - it is possible!!!

 

[GardenBear1]

Jules, I'm the same as you but after I stopped working in April I dropped 50lb and my bloodsugar went down my bp is all most normal and I'm no longer on blood thinners, my cholesterol (215) is still a bit high but I'm happy its way down

 

[Randy]

I go to a diabetes support group meeting each month and one month the nurse/counselor talked to us about fish oil. That was only one topic of the evening, but I keyed in on that one. I told the doctor what I heard and he said it would be good if I included those fish oil capsules in my meds. I am already on a cholestrol med (Pravastatin) but when I went on the fish oil capsules my cholestrol dropped to 67 on my last test. That's the LDL, the bad one. Triglycerides dropped too.

 

[Jules]

Jules, I'm the same as you but after I stopped working in April I dropped 50lb and my bloodsugar went down my bp is all most normal and I'm no longer on blood thinners, my cholesterol (215) is still a bit high but I'm happy its way down

Once I got the scare that I was a stroke waiting to happen.....last December, three days after I rolled my van into the ditch (and was literally upside down) - I changed my eating habits, put on meds for diabetes, cholesteral and was inaugerated into the Diabetic clinic for support. I too dropped 33 lbs....and it took a year for my cholesteral levels to reach the norm. I believe the best combo is awareness diet and meds if the disease is heriditary. So many people are put on meds, stay in denial and continue the bad eating habits. It sure is life altering .... but we are lucky to have these tests and support to get us on the right road, as opposed to past generations where they weren't on top of these diseases. One might argue that today's society has too many bad foods readily available that contribute to high C, diabetes, etc....so we need to find the fight within us to keep ourselves healthy.

 

[Jules]

I go to a diabetes support group meeting each month and one month the nurse/counselor talked to us about fish oil. That was only one topic of the evening, but I keyed in on that one. I told the doctor what I heard and he said it would be good if I included those fish oil capsules in my meds. I am already on a cholestrol med (Pravastatin) but when I went on the fish oil capsules my cholestrol dropped to 67 on my last test. That's the LDL, the bad one. Triglycerides dropped too.

Interesting Randy - what dosage was recommended? I went to the release clinic last week for Diabetes....but they say the door is always open. I would love a montly support meeting, but none around here, unfortunately.

 

[Crabbergirl]

My choleserol was super supre high and I went on a very low carb diet as I don't eat much meat or fat anyway. I can't wait to find out what mine has dropped to . I had my blood done on Tuesday and I go to the Dr nex Wed. Keep your fingers crossed. it was 250 so I am excited to see what I am down to.

 

[kinnika]

YIPEEE and Congrats to all of you. Yes Fish Oil is one of the main things I have added to my diet. Mine is a Omega-3 High Potency EPA 400 DHA 200 and I take 2 a day. This does a dual purpose for me as I have arthritis in my knees and the Oil keeps it in check. I use the Enteric Coated ones so I am not burping fish YUCK!!!.. I also have changed to Fat Free products as much as I can. Mayonnaise and cheese are my 2 biggest ones. I don't use any butter or margarine at all and for cooking use a spray that is Fat Free. Fat free Italian Dressing is now a staple in my house. I use it to coat my chicken instead of eggs as well as add it to a lot of other things. I had to learn about spices as removing the fat makes food bland so I had to learn about the spices to add. Now I don't cook any other way. I also use a lot of unsweetend Applesauce in my baking. This takes the place of margarine or butter. You never know the differenc.

 

[Randy]

The dietician told us to use the 1200 milligram gelcaps. I went through my first bottle and couldn't find the 1200 mg so I bought 1000 mg. I take one in the morning and one in the evening. I also have included fish in my diet. It's hard to prepare fish for the Sanders part of the family, so I am using those small tins of sardines or kippered herring for lunches a couple of times a week. I have since seen the 1200 mg caps again and I know where to look for them. You are right about processed foods though. They are killers, literally.

 

[Randy]

Speaking of the support group though, we had our monthly meeting on Tuesday and the topic was laughter. I knew laughter was good for you, but I didn't really realize the extent. Laughter actually bolsters the immune system.

 

[curbhopper]

Jules, you can always run over to Oregon. MTM gave me a coupon book for McDonald's 3 years ago..oh, they expired 2 years ago...It takes me 3 days to eat a Big Mac. We don't eat out much so I cook b/c then I know what is in the food. We maybe eat out once a month. The only thing we delivery order in is pizza, once a month. I can live on a salad and spinach and I truly don't know a darn thing about what causes high cholesterol. MTM likes fried food and I do not know how to fry a daggone thing ~ I can't fry an egg. But I do use butter in cooking ~wrong, right? Applesauce is my best friend as well as pumpkin and sweet potatoes. I love listening about this b/c we learn from each other. Thanks all ~ Curbie

 

[Randy]

Butter is a saturated fat, but it is still better for you than a hydrogenated fat. The worst kind of fat for your blood vessels is a trans-fat. The labeling laws were instituted to try and help the consumer to decide what was best or worst for them. But you have to know dome of the jargon they use to really understand what the label says. There are two important sections of the label; the nutrition facts and the ingredient list. The nutrition list may say there is no saturated fat in a product yet when you go through the ingredient list you will find some listed. That is because there is a maximum that must be reached before you have to include it in the data.

 

[Jules]

The backbone to my diet is peanut butter....unsweetened .... I have toast and peanut butter before going to bed to sustain my system through the night - can't go longer than 6 hours witout eating. And when golfing, I eat quarters of a peanut butter sandwich to keep me going!!! I so love salads....eat them most dinnertime meals. Good that you don't fry Curbie - that is not good for our health.

 

[curbhopper]

I love peanut butter ~ I use it on bananas. I also like tuna fish(canned in water) and I am a TRUE salad person. MTM came home from the PO last night and said " there's good news and bad news from the post office." oh boy ~ Mamma didn't raise no knucklehead so I said,"great....you're having a party..." HOW'D YOU KNOW???GUESS when it IS???? I thought I'd faint. No, it's Christmas Eve.(My daughter and hubby are coming here for Christmas Eve...oh, roar) Guess what you're going to make? My mind was in the basement~pots and pans and trays and ....oh, what am I making? Deviled eggs, sloppy joes, tossed salad, baked beans, and stuffed celery, maybe crab fluff....can you make cookies? oh oh no... This is for 150 folks. oh you have to get sterno and those racks down and..My brain went right out the door. And I'm thinking about cholestrol. Randy, we should go grocery shopping together! You read and I'll buy Curbie

 

[Randy]

What sensible person would ever schedule a party on Christmas Eve unless it was a family party? I have peanut better and crackers before bedtime and a slice of bread with PB smeared on half of it then folded for my 4:00 snack. A slice of bread has 15 grams of carbs and each saltine cracker has 2 grams of carbs.

 

[curbhopper]

People at the post office do Well, it's AT the post office and moi doesn't get to go (I don't work for the post office ~ hm) so I'm the elf behind the scenes. I will be cooking for them and then cooking for my daughter and son-in-law. We're going to the grocery store tomorrow and my brain is constantly updating how and when and what I need. I can just see a chicken wandering in here ~ sit down and lay an egg, kiddo. Another please.... So bread is better than a cracker? What about Ritz crackers? Curbie

 

[Randy]

Ritz crackers are tastier, have the same number of carbs as a saltine, and much more fat. That accounts for the better taste. Bread is not necessarily better. It is more convenient to smear peanut butter on a single slice of bread though than eight saltine crackers.

 

[curbhopper]

oh....some of us aren't in quite a rush ~ LOL! I find it amazing and I am learning a LOT! Thanks, folks ~ Curbie