Creeping LDL. Pls help

[Anonymous]

I do not know why it’s happening, but I do know that taking statins is not on my wish list.
Earlier this year, my LDL cholesterol was finally getting better (110) and TG has been fairly stable in the normal range.
I’ve been walking a min. of 2 miles every day, sweating on the elliptical for 20-30 min, lightly dancing at home for 15 min, chasing squirrels from the bird feeders, lifting 10 lbs (total) weights with both arms. I ditched table sugar, salt, processed foods, deli meats, red meat, pink meat (pork), most of cheese, gluten, dairy, and seed oils.
I only lay down to go to bed at night.
My weight is 5 pounds down from last winter.

[Anonymous]

Does high cholesterol run in your family? Sometimes it’s genetic.

[Anonymous]

OP, look at the Portfolio Diet. Incorporating more of the Portfolio foods on a daily basis has dropped my LDL by more than 50 points. I eat more fish, lentils, barley, apples, berries, nuts, seeds, olive oil, almond flour, buckwheat flour, barley flour and vegetables and less red meat, butter and full fat dairy.

I am terrible at exercising regularly, but when I do even daily walking, it also really helps.

Plus, cutting sugar seems to help, although I’m not sure whether it’s the sugar itself or the fact that it is often in baked goods that come with bad fats.

It’s not easy. I wouldn’t rule out taking a statin or even a GLP-1 if I needed to get weight off.

[Anonymous]

Why not take statins?

[Anonymous]

Take the supplement red yeast rice
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6822657/

[Anonymous]

Add fiber.

[Anonymous]

Sounds genetic. That's just part of getting older. A statin is one of the least concerning rxs to take. However I would still take a hard honest look at your diet and lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

What is your age and gender? Loss of estrogen from menopause is associated with increasing cholesterol. I also have genetically high cholesterol and after running some more tests decided to go on a statin at 53. I’d rather do that than have a heart attack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take the supplement red yeast rice
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6822657/

That’s literally just a naturally-occurring statin.

[Anonymous]

I lowered my LDL from 135 to 90. I drastically reduced foods high in saturated fat, eliminated dairy, cut red meat, reduced sugar. I was already exercising. Even my doctor was shocked. I have a blood test every 6 months to monitor my levels. I use walkinlabs.com and pay around $30.

[Anonymous]

OP, you are doing everything right! If you want to avoid statins, think about Wegovy. It’s prescribed for lowering cholesterol. It’s very effective.

[Anonymous]

There is nothing wrong with a statin. Do the research. I bet 5 mg of Crestor would do the trick.

[Anonymous]

It may just be genetic. I take 10 mg Lipitor and it's fine. I would rather take that than Wegovy.

[Anonymous]

OP we need to know your age and sex to give helpful comments.

[Anonymous]

The key to lowering cholesterol is to eat at least 5 grams of soluable fiber, and optimally 10 grams or more, a day. Because soluable fiber is not absorbed in the intestine, it can bind cholesterol in the intestine and remove it from the body.

While labels and charts of fiber content are widely available, listings of just soluable fiber are harder to come by. Weirdly, all the charts I have seen are Canadian.

Here is one: https://www.northottawawellnessfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/NOWF-Fiber-Content-of-Foods.pdf

An easy way to increase soluable fiber is to sprinkle psyllium (easily available on Amazon) on your food. Warning: If the food is hot, the psyllium forms a gel and is kind of disgusting. I sprinkle it on cottage cheese in the morning and on salads and you can barely notice it. Also, be sure to eat an apple a day!