quote:

Originally posted by esdunbar:
I can't recommend reading the book "The Obesity Code" by Jason Fung enough.

I recommend not reading it, but getting the audio book.
Especially for the other, the Diabetes Code. I may not have finished the Obesity Code and I KNOW I never would have made it through the latter. But I've listened to both countless times.

Besides eating lots more raw vegetables, way less bacon and steaks..I take Niacin along with my other daily vitamins. It can give you "hot flashes", but it has lowered my numbers. Walking a mile or two every day helps as well too.

I don't take any prescribed meds to lower it...yet.

The link below talks about it.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/sup...ent-guide-niacin#1-2

Good point. I didn't "read" the book. I hardly ever read anymore. I'm an audio book guy 100%. driving to work, mowing the lawn...I love listening to books.

I could see how some of the information presented could be heavy to have to read through...easier listening.

My wife had a scare with an irregular heartbeat about a year ago. We were referred to a great cardiologist, who sat and talked with both of us. The subject of cholesterol came up and he said he doesn’t even look at total cholesterol anymore; only the ratio of HDL to LDL. My PCP seems to be singing from the same hymnal. My total cholesterol has always been moderately high, 216-240, over the years. I also eat oatmeal, or more commonly, Shredded Wheat (0 sugar) 3 times/week to increase fiber. My last blood test showed that my total cholesterol was still pretty high, but my ratio was very favorable. My doc called the results, “perfect.” All that to say, I’m hoping that you’re in better health than you may think.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I eat real oatmeal- steel-cut pinhead oats. I haven't had rolled oats or instant since I don't know when.

Those are good. You can still enjoy meat if you eat the lean stuff. Grilled chicken breast burgers, pork tenderloin, and once in a while a sirloin steak can all be enjoyed.

quote:

Originally posted by esdunbar:
I will never understand why people will continue to shovel shit that is killing them into their faces and pump in chemicals trying to offset the damage when there is ample evidence they could read showing them how easy it is to fix it. If someone can't control themselves and not simply cram pie in their face.

Why do people smoke, have unprotected sex, jump out of perfectly good airplanes, cliff dive, ride motorcycles, get drunk, get high, speed when driving, or not wear seatbelts? Because people are people and choose how to live. I’ve never known anyone who did everything that was safest in every aspect of their life.

Not sure if this is 100% correlation to cholesterol, but I tried taking 2 tsp of Metamucil 3 times a day, and have seen my BP drop significantly. the diastolic number has dropped below 80 where it was above 86 before I tried my experiment with it.

edit - adding the reason I took it was the claim that it "may" reduce cholesterol according to one of their commercials.

Good luck and best wishes for your health.

Sounds to me like you already have a plan and are working on it. Maybe just stick to it as is for a few more weeks and get re-tested?

Adjust as/if needed.

Having said all that, what has worked for me with major life changes is 50% goals. Meaning do something bad 50% less, or something good 50% more. When that gets easy (could be any amount of time, don't care about speed) repeat until satisfied.

Simple: We very rarely eat bacon cheeseburgers and have spare ribs maybe two or three times a year

We have meat or seafood with nearly every meal, but we balance that with a starch and vegetables, and it's nearly all fresh, rather than out of a can, box, or bag. Rarely much added fats, salt, or sugar. Food that calls for shredded cheese gets honest-to-God shredded cheese, not some powdery concoction sprinkled from a plastic container.

We stick to reasonable portions.

When we eat out or grab carry-out it's usually at/from a real restaurant, rather than a fast-food place.

The only sweets either of us consumes regularly is chocolate, and it's chocolate, not that chocolate-colored, overly-sweetened, more-or-less-chocolate-flavored garbage you see on supermarket and convenience store shelves that's labeled "chocolate."

We occasionally have cakes or pies, but 99-44/100% of them are home-made, from scratch, with real ingredients you can actually pronounce. When whipped cream is called-for, my wife makes honest-to-God whipped cream, from cream. We don't use some mixture, out of a tub, made of questionable ingredients--few of which bear any resemblance to dairy products.

We sometimes go for weeks or months w/o a bag of chips or other bagged snack foods in the house. I snack more on mixed nuts or peanuts--but I try to keep that moderated, as well.

We drink so little soda pop I don't think we've had any in the house for a couple years. The last case of Coke lasted us three or four years.

We both get exercise of some kind or another on a nearly daily basis. It may be working out, golf or golf practice (for me), yard work (both of us), or something else.

In short: Real food, made from real ingredients, limited snacking--particularly of sweets, and regular exercise.

My cholesterol is marginally high. I don't worry about it. Every heart and artery echo I've ever had has shown everything is clear.

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
Low carbs, paleo diet more or less. I eat mostly meat, fruit, some vegetables. Only 10% carbs, and my cholesterol is super low. I eat lots of meat, every day.

Same here. Some (most) days, ALL meat. Maybe its genetic, but my cholesterol is within limits.

I use ONLY real butter. and my preferred cuts of meat are ribeye, tbone, or NY strip.

I also shop around the edges of the grocery store.
very little boxed or canned or packaged stuff.
Buy real food and cook it.

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
Low carbs, paleo diet more or less. I eat mostly meat, fruit, some vegetables. Only 10% carbs, and my cholesterol is super low. I eat lots of meat, every day.

This works for me except very little fruit(sugar) I did find out meat,cheese,butter and fat were my friends. Carbs of any type sugar or flour & Corn Were my enemy’s. And what caused addictive cravings and weight gain. I am firmly convinced Dr Atkins was a man ahead of his time. Keep your good carbs @ 20 grams a day to loose weight.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
For some time now, I've been using Boca Burger as a meat substitute, specifically, the All American. These aren't bad, actually. I see they've discontinued the mushroom-flavored patties. This is a good thing, unless one likes food which smell like the inside of an old gym shoe. I ain't kiddin'.

I got out of the habit for a while, but, things being as they are, I eat these probably twice a week now, in lieu of meat.

I've tried both the "Beyond Meat" and "Impossible Meat" burger substitutes. The "Impossible Meat" product is uncanny in its resemblance, taste and texture to a true burger.

A high fiber is helpful – it breaks the bile cycle. Your liver makes bile from cholesterol. The bile is transported to your gall bladder, which converts it to bile acid, a more potent form of bile. When you eat, the bile acid is released to help digest fatty foods.

Unused bile acid is readsorbed, and your liver converts it to cholesterol, recycling it in effect. But fiber combines with bile acid and LDL (bad) cholesterols, which are then excreted, rather than absorbed. Consequently, your liver has to use existing cholesterol to make bile, thus reducing your body’s store of cholesterol.

You might like my thread about rolled rye flakes:

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...0601935/m/8980031374

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by ersatzknarf:
On the flipside, after a number of years, found the statin to not be helpful to cognitive condition

How did you determine the medication as being the cause?

Do recall reading somewhere about this side effect, but how i determined it for me was that i just stopped taking it, after having taken it for a number of years.

Within a week, my mind became more clear and it felt as if a fog had been lifted. Certainly, not recommending this, but it came down to feeling compelled to do something to improve quality of life.

Right or wrong, it is what it is for me.



ETA: just did a quick duckduckgo search and this was the first result: https://veryhealthy.life/9-sta...-stop-taking-them/4/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ersatzknarf,

I had a physical last week and my doctor was telling me about an imaging procedure they can do now that identifies plaque building up. She said it was very inexpensive without insurance, like $100 or so. I don’t know if it’s just a local thing to me, or but I think She was describing it as widely available. She recommended it in the next few years.

Frankly, I don’t put a whole lot of stock in the cholesterol dance. You can find a study to say whatever you want it to say.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
I had a physical last week and my doctor was telling me about an imaging procedure they can do now that identifies plaque building up. She said it was very inexpensive without insurance, like $100 or so. I don’t know if it’s just a local thing to me, or but I think She was describing it as widely available. She recommended it in the next few years.

Frankly, I don’t put a whole lot of stock in the cholesterol dance. You can find a study to say whatever you want it to say.

Intercardia is one brand,

basically a full body CT or MRI that is tuned (?) to look at vessels and buildups


had on a few years ago, easy peasy, and had the results in a couple days

quote:

imaging procedure they can do now that identifies plaque building up.

MRI of Atherosclerosis?

Atherosclerosis is a prevalent disease affecting millions of Americans. Despite our advances in diagnosis and treatment, atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in America. High resolution MRI has overcome the limitations of current angiographic techniques and has emerged as a leading noninvasive imaging modality of atherosclerotic disease. Atherosclerosis of the arterial wall of human carotid, aortic, peripheral, and coronary arteries have all been successfully evaluated. In addition, the power of MRI to differentiate the major components of atherosclerotic plaque has been validated. The ability to image the vessel wall and risk stratify atherosclerotic plaque will create management decisions not previously faced and has the potential to change the way atherosclerosis is treated.

quote:

I had a physical last week and my doctor was telling me about an imaging procedure they can do now that identifies plaque building up. She said it was very inexpensive without insurance, like $100 or so. I don’t know if it’s just a local thing to me, or but I think She was describing it as widely available. She recommended it in the next few years.

^^^^^^^^^
Diagnostic testing makes sense when there is a reason for it. What was her particular concern? There are many factors that contribute to heart disease besides cholesterol. Genetics plays a big role as does lifestyle.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:

quote:

Originally posted by esdunbar:
I will never understand why people will continue to shovel shit that is killing them into their faces

Why do people smoke, have unprotected sex, jump out of perfectly good airplanes, cliff dive, ride motorcycles, get drunk, get high, speed when driving, or not wear seatbelts? Because people are people and choose how to live.

And don't forget shooting those EVIL guns!

2.5 years ago, I weighed 243 lbs and my total Cholesterol was 206. I have a family history of heart disease and Doc wanted me to lower my weight and cholesterol.

I began exercising and changed my diet. I do eat oat meal every day, usually with berries of some sort. I eat almonds, carrots and celery for a snack, where I use to eat a couple of snickers bars.

I still eat red meat, burgers and steak, but not quite as often. I do eat more fish, chicken and pork.

I still drink beer and bourbon/whiskey, but only on the weekends,

Oh yeah, my Doc out me on 10 mg. of Atorvastatin (sp), which I take religiously every evening before bed.

My weight is now 210 and my total cholesterol is 134, with my HDL at 50 and LDL at 73. triglycerides at 57.

As I mentioned, I fought it at first (I don't want to be taking meds for the rest of my life) and then decided my Doc may know better than me.

I am going to be 59 in November and I feel pretty good about where I am on the whole health scale.

I used to dread going to the Doc, but no more. My Doc just tells me to keep doing what I am doing. Yeah, he would prefer to see me at 200 lbs, but is very happy with my progress.

Most of my exercise is aerobic in nature, walking, elipitical, biking, rowing machine.

I know, I should incorporate more weight bearing exercises, but I don't. Well at least not yet.

I am convinced the statin has helped tremendously and understand I will take it along with an 81 mg baby aspirin for the rest of my life.