Reducing cholesterol levels with diet

[Anonymous]

Fish oil. It really works.

No more alcohol.

Move more/lose weight if you're fat.

[Anonymous]

^^ alcohol? Haven't heard that before- any citations or additional info?

[Anonymous]

I thought you were supposed to have red wine.

[Anonymous]

Cut out grains and sugar. Keep dairy to an absolute minimum and only eat high quality, full fat products.

[Anonymous]

+1

Exercise

"Good" to "Bad" cholesterol is a better indication of a problem, not total. Red Rice Yeast is effective in lowering cholesterol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1

Exercise

"Good" to "Bad" cholesterol is a better indication of a problem, not total. Red Rice Yeast is effective in lowering cholesterol.

+1

[Anonymous]

I increased the amount of plants/veggies in my diet. I like salmon, but am staying away from it temporarily due to radiation concerns. I don't exercise all that much and am sure my numbers would be even better if I could make myself exercise a few times a week.

[Anonymous]

I have the opposite problem. My cholesterol is so low I failed a life insurance exam. Then found out I was basically following a cholesterol lowering diet: mostly vegetarian, lots of oatmeal, flax seed, beans, apples, fiber, salmon, and lots of walking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just had a check up and was able to drop my levels with diet and exercise. The biggest change was cutting out flour, rice and potatoes.

When I was first diagnosed with high cholesterol, I switched to a low fat, high carb diet and my cholesterol (especially bad cholesterol) dramatically increased. I do much better avoiding any type of processed (i.e., white looking) starch.

[Anonymous]

At my check up this summer I had high good cholesterol, but also high bad cholesterol, putting me borderline at risk. Doc told me to cut out meat and eggs and dairy, but frankly I think she's behind on the research, especially on pastured meats and dairy. I asked if I exercised whether that would do it, and she said yes, that is even better but most people simply won't do it. So I dumped all processed grains and sugars (expect for the weekly family pizza night) and started running 4 times a week. I've dropped 25 pounds, resting heart rate dropped, blood pressure dropped, heart burn is gone, and I am assuming lipids are better, too, but I won't find out till December.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At my check up this summer I had high good cholesterol, but also high bad cholesterol, putting me borderline at risk. Doc told me to cut out meat and eggs and dairy, but frankly I think she's behind on the research, especially on pastured meats and dairy. I asked if I exercised whether that would do it, and she said yes, that is even better but most people simply won't do it. So I dumped all processed grains and sugars (expect for the weekly family pizza night) and started running 4 times a week. I've dropped 25 pounds, resting heart rate dropped, blood pressure dropped, heart burn is gone, and I am assuming lipids are better, too, but I won't find out till December.

Go, you! Awesome!

[Anonymous]

I lowered my LDL cholesterol through weight loss (I lost with Weight Watchers and still use it to maintain ). OP, are you overweight? If so, I wouldn't worry about all the categories of foods you should eat and avoid but just focus on eating lots of fruits and vegetables and portion control and lose the weight. While I was losing the weight, the only exercise I did was go for walks. It was all about the food.

[Anonymous]

There are lots of diet ways to reduce your bad cholesterol (LDL) and they generally work, particularly if you add in exercise. Losing weight often helps quite a bit. But diet is generally much less effective at improving levels for what is known as good cholesterol (HDL), so whether diet is effective for you will depend on your own levels. For me the primary problem was low HDL levels and diet and exercise did little to change that.

[Anonymous]

Peanut butter raises HDL levels.