Lowering cholesterol and blood pressure

[Anonymous]

Same issue for me. Doctor said - 150 cardio minutes of exercise each week (which I was not doing before and must be more intense than I was doing) and also 5-9 fruits and veggies every day.

[Anonymous]

I had borderline high LDL a year ago. I was already exercising a lot and was not overweight.

I focused on minimizing saturated fat intake. I read every food label and when I go to a restaurant I order the entrees with the lowest saturated fat. When I go to a party or social function, quite often this means not eating anything. I almost always avoid ice cream, butter, cheese, meat, etc. It was a bit of an adjustment at first, but I have gotten used to it and my efforts have paid off. My LDL went from 158 to 105 in a year. There is definitely a genetic component and it just means some of us have to work harder at this than others. I am very grateful that I do not need medication.

[Anonymous]

My good friend had high cholesterol. It was genetic. The only thing that has kept her off cholesterol lowering meds is a strict vegan diet.

[Anonymous]

Strength training 3-4 x a week

cardio 1-2 times a week (one day low intensity and one day high intensity)

lower sugar intake, processed food intake

increase your protein intake

mediation and wim hof breathing exercises and I can guarantee you will lower all of that...

[Anonymous]

I would lower caffeine intake, lower salt and exercise more. Even just going for a walk on the other days of the week. If I exercise most days my blood pressure does get better.

Do you have sleep apnoea? That can increase BP. Look into the DASH diet to see what foods are good for BP. Also reduce stress or do nightly meditations.

I also drink hibiscus tea, I enjoy the flavour but it is suppose to reduce BP. Sometimes it is simply hereditary.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have the same problem. My HBP and higher than ideal LDL are largely genetic. I have been a vegetarian all my life and do not eat saturated fats except for the occasional slice of toast with tiny bit of butter. Not overweight, exercise regularly.

Plant sterols and stanols are supposed to help lower cholesterol, but I have not found products that contain these, so the search continues. Maybe someone on this board knows?

https://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/sterols-stanols-what-know

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have the same problem. My HBP and higher than ideal LDL are largely genetic. I have been a vegetarian all my life and do not eat saturated fats except for the occasional slice of toast with tiny bit of butter. Not overweight, exercise regularly.

Plant sterols and stanols are supposed to help lower cholesterol, but I have not found products that contain these, so the search continues. Maybe someone on this board knows?

https://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/sterols-stanols-what-know

I was the 14:24 poster. Yes, you can try a product called Benecol, which is a butter substitute with plant stanols. They also have chocolates although I haven't tried them.

From what I read, in order for the plant sterols and stanols to have a noticeable effect, they need to be consumed regularly which I do not do. I just use the Benecol occasionally when I'm eating a bagel or something, because it's lower in saturated fat than butter. My LDL dropped a ton in the past year, but I'm sure it has more to do with diet than my occasional Benecol use, but it's good to know it's not making things worse.

By the way, Benecol is available at Wegman's and Harris Teeter.

[Anonymous]

My bp and cholesterol are way down after adding oatmeal and blueberries for breakfast. I add 1-2 tbsp of flax seeds and almond milk to the oatmeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My bp and cholesterol are way down after adding oatmeal and blueberries for breakfast. I add 1-2 tbsp of flax seeds and almond milk to the oatmeal.

Oatmeal can really help. I have high BP and tried a few things, but had to go on meds in the end. My doc recommended taking magnesium, too. Also reducing sugar intake helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Strength training 3-4 x a week

cardio 1-2 times a week (one day low intensity and one day high intensity)

lower sugar intake, processed food intake

increase your protein intake

mediation and wim hof breathing exercises and I can guarantee you will lower all of that...

Anyone else here following Wim Hof? How’s it going?

[Anonymous]

I lowered my BP by cutting out alcohol, reducing caffeine by about 80% and losing 25 lbs in weight.

I lowered my cholesterol (313) by taking statins, which I have to say, have been life changing.

[Anonymous]

Remove all sugar from your diet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remove all sugar from your diet.

This. It works fast for me too.

[Anonymous]

I have genetic high LDL. although no bp problems.

I recently went much lower carb (50-70 grams a day, mostly from veg and fruit and a little whole grain), and increased good fat: salmon avocado olive oil. biggest change was cutting out almost all sugar and most refined grains. Finally got my total cholesterol under 200. I also added in more walking in addition to regular cardio.

[Anonymous]

Fish oil was once thought to lower cholesterol, but more rigorous studies found it does not:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/fish-oil-for-cholesterol#:~:text=Fish%20oil%20supplements%20do%20not,help%20with%20high%20LDL%20cholesterol.