high cholesteral

[ilovemyson23]

So I went to the doctor and she told me that my cholesteral is high. Its about a 218 and she wants it to be below 200. So what are so foods that are high in cholesteral or what can I do to get it down, and what should I keep an eye on when reading labels on foods?

[mocasta]

I am going through the same thing that you are. I went in for a physical in August and it turned out I had really high cholestorol (280), and my good cholestorol wasn't high like it should have been. I knew I was overweight already by 75 lbs. I have been doing different diets ever since I had my son back in 1998. Way too long and due for a change. So when I went in on August. my weight was 183. He gave me a lecture about eating healthy and all, and I decided I was going to really put my mind to lose the weight and lower my cholestorol. I went back in Nov. and my weight dropped! I was at 165 and my cholestorol dropped to 240 or so. What I basically did was eat small portions as I would feed a 3 year old, drank a cup of metamucil every morning, and my mother told me of another small two week diet to lower cholestorol. That which was: squeez half a lime into a cup of hot water and add a tbls of olive oil. Sip it just like tea every morning before breakfast. Just for two weeks though because the lime can thin your blood and lower ur himoglobin. Olive oil is good for the "good" cholestorol. I have a herniated disc which prevented me from working and doing excersises for almost a year. I gain 30 lbs just in 9 months. Yeah sad but true. I am doing physical therapy which i get to do 2 times a week which adds a small workout for me. Due to not being able to work out like I should be, I asked the doctor if he prescribe some diet pills or something and he gave me Phentrime. It supresses my appetite and does not make me feel jittery at all, and when I eat, I get full right away and sometimes have to remind myself I have to eat. If I know I haven't eaten very well, I take a "womens one a day vitamin pill" Its been a month since I went to the doc and now I lost another 7 lbs. Small progress, but better than gaining weight like I was. Now I just hope that I can keep the weight off when I get off those pills. I am sure I will feel alot lighter and more energetic though. Wish you luck!     P.S.--don't buy choc chip cookies or sweets. Wait for a day to treat yourself on an outing or something to reward yourself.  

[Barb135]

Congratulations -- maybe you'd like to share some of your tips with us?  We are all looking for ways to lose weight and stay/get healthy........

What in particular have you done as far as exercise?  Did you follow a specific diet plan or come up with your own?  

[beatingthis]

I too have high cholestrol,  I MEAN high. I was 327. I went and had blood taken 2 weeks ago and I have dropped it to 247 still way to high but not as bad as it was. I did it though excersise and diet. Still have a way to go. ALso I was told that it runs in families as well.
I am 5'7 weight is 155. It has taken me 6 months to get to this point and I have cut meds in 1/2 . I think once you are made awar you can do something to stop it.

Best to all!

Terry

[Barb135]

There is a lot of help to found here on med help.  This particular forum does not have a doctor -- we are all plain everyday people with a common goal ---- losing weight.  It is absolutely recommended that members check with their doctor prior to taking any advice given on this site.  

I am aware that cinnamon lowers blood sugar; however have never heard that it also lowers cholesterol or has a blood thinning agent in it -- I will most certainly research that.  It was recommended by my cardiologist that I try red yeast rice, which has been proven to lower cholesterol) to bring my cholesterol down.  

One thing I might mention is that it might be a good idea to get your thyroid tested, since being hypothyroid can cause cholesterol to skyrocket, as well as weight gain/inability to lose, along with a whole list of other possible symptoms.  There are some labs who will test your levels without a doctor's order, but they are few and far between these days - you could try going to a walk in clinic to get a lab order.  Tests you should have done are TSH, Free T4 and Free T3 -- should cost less than $200 for all of them.  

Of course, we strongly recommend that anyone carrying extra weight, try to lose it via sensible diet and moderate exercise.  You are welcome to stick around.  Hope your cholesterol levels come down.  

[Search4hope]

I was shocked to hear that my cholesterol was 399. I also have a hard time watching what I eat, all my favorite foods are cholesterol loaded. I didnt have high cholesterol when I was younger and 50 lbs lighter. I also think I may have a clot in my leg.
So, since I have no insurance..what I started doing was taking (4) 1,000mg capsules of cinnamon a day..it naturally lowers cholesterol and also has a blood thinning agent in it. A month later when I gave blood, my cholesterol was down to 284. That was a week ago..I think I'll up my cinnamon to 6 a day until I get down to 200 on cholesterol. I'll check back next month to post additional progress.
One thing I always suggest, is to look up advice you've been given..don't just take anyones word on it. Also, different people have different problems or medications that need to be kept in mind when adding any supplements.
So look it up and if it seems like something you want to try and you have other meds, and a doctor..I would ask him..or ask a Dr here. I'm new..just joined...hoping theres alot of help in here!
Good luck!

[Barb135]

Be sure that you don't try to make too many drastic changes too quickly.  That may be why you aren't sticking with anything - if you change things too drastically and try to NEVER eat certain foods, you are surely setting yourself up for failure.  It's like all of a sudden you realize that you can't stick with the plan you've chosen and just say, "Aw to heck with it - if I can't stick with this, I'm not sticking to anything".........

Okay, so you ate 6 chocolate chip cookies??  Maybe not so good, but if you've been depriving yourself, that's why you didn't/couldn't stop with one or two??  If you keep your portions within reason, there's nothing that says you can't eat just about everything -- you just have to satisfied with one slice of cake, instead of the whole cake.  

It's a good thing to enlist the help and support of your family, but asking your husband to "smack your hand" or tell you not to eat something, sounds like you are trying to put the responsibility on him to make you not eat.  Ultimately, you are the one putting the food in your mouth, so you have to be the one to ask yourself "do I really want/need this?".........  

Have you tried the food diary here on Med Help?  If you make a point to record every single morsel of food, or drop of drink that goes into your mouth (that includes the couple bites of veggies from one of the kids' plate or the swallow of milk they didn't want finish), it will help keep you accountable.  Also, keeping a journal of how you feel before, during and after you eat will help identify things that trigger emotional eating....and possibly help you come up with ways to cope with the emotions, other than eating.    

You might also try eating several smaller meals throughout the day to see if that will keep your blood sugar levels more stable and help reduce the cravings.

[ilovemyson23]

I know you would think that it would be easy to stick to something but for me I just dont. Its been snowing so its hard to get out of bed and go to the gym so I have been doing like squats, lunges, pushups, crunches , leg lifts and stuff liek that to keep my excersice going and then vaccum and clean even when its not needed. My thing is to get my eating under control. I went and bought healthy choice dinners and i havent been putting cheese or mayo on my wheat sandwhiches. I got activia yougut and add some cereal and also some cheerios to help my cholesteral. Im not eating after 5pm and if I do its light like a yougurt or a special k bar. Yesterday I ate like 6 choclate chip cookies. Is that sad or what . What was I thinking??? Anyways today is my kick *** start day and I have done good soo far, I can do it I can do it. I have to. Thanks for your support, I need someone to be on me, my husband tries but he feels bad cause I told him I want him to smack my hand when he sees me over eating or eating something im not suppost to, not literaly smack but tell me hey are you sure you want to eat that. My mom was good at that but she moved. Thanks again Michelle

[Barb135]

Keeping the best foods at eye level is a good way to do it, but for anyone who can't resist them, it might be necessary to completely get rid of them.  

We all have to figure out what's going to work for us.  

[GinaGi]

I totally agree. I just went food shopping yesterday to make sure i have a lot of good things in the fridge  and put the good stuff on eye level so that's what you grab.

Good luck !

[Barb135]

I'm happy to hear that your thyroid med dose is "perfect" -- I wish I could get mine to that point.  I've been told that when the thyroid levels are right, weight loss can occur -- well, I'm still waiting and working on it..........

As for the cheese -- opt for the low fat/fat free versions - they shouldn't add much cholesterol, but do keep in mind that not all the cholesterol in your body comes from the food you eat.  Your body naturally produces a lot of it, depending on somewhat on your genetics, so while it might be easy for some to lower their cholesterol by eating less saturated fat, losing weight, etc, that might not work for others.  

As to the rest -- eating well one day, but not the next; exercising, then not exercising, etc --- well, some of the hard work just has to come from within yourself.  We can make suggestions on what to do, but ultimately, you are the one who has to do it and that will depend on your determination and desire to lose the weight.  That's a lesson that I'm having a hard time getting across to myself as well.  It would be so nice if the weight would just fall off, with no effort on my part, but that's not going to happen, so I'm trying to figure out what's going to motivate me to get moving!!  

Best of luck - let's work on this together.  

[ilovemyson23]

Thanks ladies I am a huge cheese eater and well I guess Ill start there and get some cheerios. YES I coud stand to loss some weight. I would like to loss 30ibs but the doc wants me to loss 50lbs. I tske synthroid daily for and underactive thyroid and it was just checked again the other day and my dose is perfect. I dont know I jsut cant seem to stick to eating well. I have no self control I dont know what to do. I go to the gym everyother day or every 2 days. I dont know I know what I need to do to loss weight cause Ive done it before but I cant seem to get myself to do it .One day Im good and the next I just dont care. AHHHHHH

[Barb135]

Yes, your cholesterol is a bit high, but it's not so horribly out of line.  

The foods with the most saturated and/or hydrogenated fats are the worst for raising cholesterol - Gina gave you a pretty good list above, since all are/can be high in saturated fats; I would add red meat to that as well, although you can eat lean cuts in moderation.  

One thing I would look into is whether or not you might  have some thyroid issues, since underactive or hypothyroid tends to cause high cholesterol.  

In addition to limiting foods that are high in cholesterol, exercise/weight loss can also help lower it.  I'm not sure if you have extra weight to lose, but that might be a place to start if you do.  

My doctor has recommended that I try the Miami Mediterranean diet.  I've looked into it, but because of the nature of my job, I can't always stick to a certain diet.  

[GinaGi]

Hi. That ***** ...  I was in the same boat.

here are some high cholestrol foods:
Whole-milk dairy products
Butter
Cream
Ice cream
Cream cheese
Certain shellfish, such as shrimp
Other organ meats, such as kidney and brain
Duck and goose (which have more cholesterol than chicken or turkey; the skin on these animals is high in cholesterol).
Egg yolks has a lot.


I ate eggwhites or substitue alot and noooo cheese drink a lot of water. Excersize.

Cheerios ( i am sure you have scene the commericals), oatmeal , and certain fish can help lower it.  avacados are a god source of fat.
  
I hope that helps good luck !