stupid thread for a good reason
 

ok first my colesterol is very high, so drastic changes have been considered and some i am actually following through on, no butter on top of my butter, I am using the smart balance,

not bad stuff either, and of course eggbeaters, which i am working on fat free this and fat free that joy joy all in all tasteless stuff. OK here in lies the problem, half and half, this is really not cool I gots to have my half and half.

whats the best non diary powder(oh god that hurt typing that lol) or should i try the coffee mate stuff is it any good? I have always had it black or with half and half

i am leaning towards the justification that I am giving up so much other stuff half and half stays, but i am also thinking i've gone this far why not do it correctly, I might add doing it correctly is tasteless bland and just not right

no powder crap. it's full of palm oils. bad bad.

land o lakes and others make a really good fat free cream. try that. you will be surpised how good it is. i cook with it. makes awesome cream sauces.

i really like the smart balance products. they make peanut butter too.

have you added oatmeal or cheerios to your diet?

for a good treat that is low fat:
brownies. yup. brownies.

use a box mix.

use egg beaters or eggwhites ( egg whites i double the amount of eggs)
applesause instead of oil.

add dry oatmeal to the mix. i like to pan toast first for a kinds nutty flavor. about 1/2, depending on the size you make. i use the family size. :D

these don't store well, but heck..who has left over brownies.

they are not just like regular brownies, i'm not trying to fool you, but they are good and rich..and satisifies the sweet tooth without the cholesterol and fats.

so what is "very high"?
 

Dietary interventions don't work well.

This is because your liver will pick up the slack and make MORE when you eat LESS.

Most people have higher cholesterol as they age.
In fact this is important. If you search statin on PN and Medications I have links that will amaze you!

Statin treatment does not really reduce heart disease, and lowering it can lead to some types of stroke.
http://www.newsmax.com/health/drugs_.../13/56703.html

Egg yolks are very high in choline which your brain needs to make acetylcholine.

In fact the Brits are ahead of us on this subject:
http://www.pharmj.com/Editorial/2008...144statin.html

This is a sample:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8SSCNaaDcE

This link has more, including
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ghlight=statin

If you have elevated triglycerides, however, these are far more dangerous than cholesterol. You can lower these with fish oil and some dietary changes. Eating less high glycemic carbs and following a diabetic diet like the ZONE will help.
CoffeeMate is very bad for triglycerides.

We are just beginning to see the real truth behind the manufactured Cholesterol Myths. The drug industry created this to sell megabuck drugs and taylored their studies to convince doctors. However, many doctors now see the truth, and are becoming vocal about it. In fact the FDA just denied 3 approvals for new drugs to lower cholesterol.

Please read the links I have gathered and you will understand it better.

Soluble fiber will help lower cholesterol a bit, but no dietary intervention works in a big way.

If your thyroid is hypo....it will create an elevated cholesterol situation. So checking thyroid is important. Doctors never did this with males in the past since females had the majority of thyroid issues. But certain pollutants in our environment, now are affecting males. (fire retardants). So men are now showing up hypo in numbers never before seen.

Some drugs increase cholesterol, and lipids. Beta Blockers are one example.

thank you will check out those links later when i have more time deb and i need to go soon

my reg count was 300 the bad one was 180 pt over acceptable and the good one was barely in the ok range 42 so i do have some work to do and have also heard cutting eggs out isnt a good thing too, and most oleos are just as bad, infact am waiting on prayed knees for a study to say butter is best for us lol love butter

alternatives to butter...
 

Olivio and Smart Balance are designed to improve health, and help with lipids...they taste great. My husband prefers the Olivio. They both taste very good to me. I won't use anything else.

Most margarines have removed transfats now...but the two above have ADDED Omega-3s.

If you take fish oil, your HDL's will increase and your triglycerides will decrease.

:Wave-Hello: hi mrsd

what do you think about milk thistle as a liver cleanse?

I also have high cholesterol. Here's what my doc had me do before he made me make drastic dietary changes.

He had me keep a food diary for 2 months to see what I was eating. He said I needed to lower my cholesterol intake to 300mg per day. After checking my food diary, we discovered that I don't take in 600 mg per week.

So my cholesterol problem is hereditary not dietary.

I had also just been dx'd with MS and had been started on some of those nasty MS drugs, and lots of IVSM and had put on a lot of weight - A LOT!

So here's what I did. I went on a very closely monitored Atkins Diet. I needed to lose the weight. To give you an idea, I am 5'4" and I weighed 190lbs. In 6 months, on the diet, supervised by my PCP and neuro, I lost 50 lbs and my cholesterol went from 265 to 192. Woohoo!!!

Double whammy! The first time in 3 years, my cholesterol had ever been below 200! (never had it checked before that!)

What I also learned is that my risk ratio was never high so the doc was not concerned about my high cholesterol. He still isn't.

Is your HDL 60 or above? That's your good cholesterol. Doc says as long as my HDL stays above 60, I am good.

My weight is now just fine and my total cholesterol hovers around 220/230.

You've been given some good dietary advice, but I just wanted to add my experience with what I went through. Good luck. I have real butter on everything and use CoffeeMate liquid creamer in my coffee. I watch for transfats and the amount of cholesterol in everything. I try to keep my total cholesterol intake per day down to 15-20 gm per day and eat a lot of protein. It does help with my energy. But most of all, I drink a lot of water. And I love Cheerios!! ;)

Water, cheerios, oatmeal and orange juice. I haven't been able to get mine down without meds but the combo has worked.

I don't know much about liver cleanses. I use SAMe and don't even think about it...SAMe is a liver support nutrient.

Milk thistle has shown benefit tho for many.

With the state of herbs today, make sure you choose a good company--one that tests them etc.

Also some brands are better than others....
http://www.consumerlab.com/reviews/M...s/MilkThistle/
a membership is needed to find out who failed.

I have not seen any horror stories or negative things about milk thistle...some studies are very positive. But one needs to select a good brand.

I will be following this thread with great interest (probably also great confusion). Just got my routine bloodwork report last week, and my cholesterol is high for the first time EVER!. It was, like, 160 even when I was as big as a barn. Now it's 239. :eek:

I have gained weight (duh), I don't get much beneficial exercise, and when I looked at my current diet...holy fat grams, batman! It all kinda snuck up on me.

I see my PCP next week, and I'm going to try losing weight (about time) and cutting back on some of my worst offenders (eggs, butter, ice cream, bacon, snack crackers, etc.) and see what happens. I don't want to do any more meds if I can possibly help it.

We have bantam chickens, and our eggs are about half the size of regular eggs. I've been eating four for breakfast. It's a wonder I haven't dropped dead. I just started trying one yolk with four whites, crying as I watch the yolks go down the sink drain...

If you watch the YouTube I put up...
 

There is medical evidence that there is no correlation between
cholesterol levels and heart disease!

The people in this country have been brainwashed along with doctors in this regard by the drug companies.

If it makes you feel better to cut back on saturated fat (which is high in calories) then do so, but don't expect much to happen with cholesterol.

Also as you age, levels go up, and don't come down like they might when you were younger. In fact, elderly people with higher cholesterol have better longevity rates, than those with lower readings or who take drugs to lower them. Overall mortality in the elderly is higher as cholesterol goes down.

One factor in this is that cholesterol is the precursor for sex hormone manufacture, and with age we make less and use less.

Certain very high readings -- over 300, are a different matter.
This is hereditary, and what was the target for the first statin, Mevacor. However, as time has passed, the drug companies engineered studies (with fancy tricks) to make it appear that statins were necessary for just about everyone.

Until about 15 yrs ago all medical texts, gave target cholesterols as : your age + 220.

There are only two patents left...Lipitor and Crestor. When these go generic...you won't see this cholesterol hysteria anymore. In fact it has already begun to wane, as more prominent doctors discover that lowering it does very little if anything.

Here is what one doctor...Dr. Graveline from NASA has to say:
http://www.spacedoc.net/
Dr. Graveline couldn't find his own home, 4 weeks after starting Lipitor. He has become very vocal against this
Cholesterol Myth.

thank you everyone problem with it being heritery i was tested b4 at 190 i also had my thyroid tested very recently it is probably both heritery and diet,

and yeah mrs i knew the info about correlation actually the non correlation, deb was surprised the other day when my doc informed her the two were not related, thanks just bummed more crappola to deal with

thank you will take my time to read through all these links like i said i am taking a few steps in right direction drinking more juice and water smart balance cheerios

oatmeal i detest we ate it every morning as kids and i mean every morning i do like malt o meal and a few other types farina ..... so am doing a lot to correct my bad eating habits, as much as i am sure some of its heritery that big of a jump was due to my eating,

like i said thyroid was just checked about 3 months ago and again last month in hospital


it will give me something else to think of instead of the ms

Hi Frank! :) Dieting sucks! :D Been there and done that many times. The best, by far, IMHO is the South Beach diet. Get the book and the cook book. It will get you off of the bad carbs, and bad fats. It really works and it is liveable :). Fat Free Land O Lakes (not the store brands) half and half is fantastic. I realize how tough it is for a newbie to this diet thing :(. If this doesn't work for you, keep on trying until you find something that will. It is much easier for me if I have a structured plan for eating rather than trying to wing it. If left to my own accord I'd probably live on cold pizza :wink:

i HAVE TO AGREE, i WENT FROM BEING BIG AS A BARN, BAD LABS oops, insulin, and went low carb, high fat, protein, now have aic of non diabetic, no bp meds, 20 lbs over normal wt, and normal labs!

Cholesterol is not all about weight. I weigh 106 lbs and mine is 260.

:eek:

Like Flygirl though, I looked at what I was eating. There was very little cholesterol, but some trans fats.

Never one to say diet, instead of cutting too much more out I simply added more good stuff in. Fish oil helps keep my HDL higher than the LDL, and veggies help keep the LDL down.


I despise oatmeal too... I'd rather drop over dead than have to eat it. Lived on the stuff in my po' days and it always reminds me of that.

I'll eat green peppers and carrots instead.

Lots of great advices and recipes and such...

my own $1.50 would be that everyone is built differently although we can be logged into groups...

For me, balance is always the key. Too much of anything is not a good thing even if it says, "All natural".

And a lot of it is learning one's own body by tractors and trailers (or just trials and errors) and then maybe a combination of this and that and trying each different things to see which might work the best.
In the mean time while one can learn one's body in how one responds to what...

I will also add another 50 cents to say that if you cut out everything bad, it won't do you any good because you'll go back to the bad sooner or later...

butter once every two or three days isn't too bad of a thing vs butter 5 times a day

I hope you get everything under control, Frank. Good luck and good health..

(now, don't get started on "Erectile Dysfunction" LMAO..........)

Children on statins????
 

Well, Big Pharma is looking for more $$... finding a new market...just like they did with antidepressants and atypical antipsychotics. It just so happens that cholesterol is essential for normal brain development!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25556140/

I can't help but laugh at that picture who moi!
Are those Big Pharma execs planning this new move? LOLOL

And here is another point of view!
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/31/he...pagewanted=all

land o lakes makes a fat free half and half - it's really good.

Just to give you some idea of what diet can do. I went from 226 to 175 with diet changes only. I work very hard to keep my saturated fat intake low and my transfat intake non-existant. Even more importantly my HDL is over 60 (very good) and my LDL and VLDL are very low. The ratio of those is really more important than the cholesterol number. Things to increase your HDL (good cholesterol) include: quitting smoking, exercise, increase in Omega 3s (walnuts, flax, fish and fish oil), and decreasing bad fats like saturated fats.

heh..I think they are on the RUN...or have the RUNS...not sure which...

but I do have a serious question, Mrs. D...(sorry Frank, to borrow your thread)

I've heard the flaxseed is good for you when taken naturally and not pressed.

have a friend who told me recently that his doctor told him to NOT take flaxseed in the OIL form for it can cause cancer.

My own research isn't coming up with much except for speculations and of course always the opposing sides...

my question is that is there a difference between cold pressed flaxseed and regular pressed flaxseed oil and would that make a difference?

I usually buy them in in the CHIPS form and cereals form but have been thinking about taking them in the oil form...but then my friend warned me...so am not sure at this point...

thanks in advance!

most quality flaxseed is cold pressed.
 

Some brands are very high in quality... like Barleans' which also have high lignan content (cancer fighters).
These are typically sold in the frig at the stores.
http://www.barleans.com/

Males do not convert the ALA in flax and other foods as well as females. The reports I read say males convert about 4% to long chain EPA and DHA (the beneficial omega-3s for the heart and brain). Females convert just over 20% ideally.
This is because females have babies, who have huge requirements for brain development.

If you want the benefits of EPA and DHA, using fish oil, and being male would be more successful for you.

I store all my flaxseed oils in the frig after purchase. Many companies package these under nitrogen to prevent oxidation.
Flax oil is very fragile, and can become rancid quickly. Often it contains some small amount of Vit E (tocopherols) to keep it fresher.

In fact there is a cancer treatment involving flaxseed oil mixed with a high sulfur containing protein like cottage cheese. People have had very good success with this. Pansy here has a thread about it on Vitamin forum. She reversed a breast cancer metastasis with it.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...967#post238967

It has been my experience that doctors remain poorly informed on this subject. I wouldn't lend any credence to that comment by your friend, sorry.

ahhh...I knew I could count on you...but that leads to another question (if you have the time, that is)

when I take fish oil, it makes me more....twitchy...

I buy the Wal-mart brand (Spring Valley) and I've heard the prescription oils are the way to go but my insurance won't cover it and they are quite expensive...

my father died of heart failure and we have diabetes on both sides. Mine are pretty good cause I work out, I think...but my blood pressure has always been high...

anyways, getting way off topic here...

what do you think about those omega mixes 3-6-9 chains that they sell? Would those be of more benefit than just taking fish oil or flaxseed oil alone?

Appreciate this!

What do you mean by twitchy?
 

You know in order for the oils to be metabolized properly you
need adequate magnesium. If you are low in mag, you get muscle twitches and sometimes cramps!

The 9-oils are like olive. If you cook with olive, you don't need a supplement.

The 6's we get in abundant amounts in our food. So taking extra 6's is not necessary. If your label says, contains GLA, for the 6 part, this one is good, and helps convert the Omega-3.

The RX fish oil is very strong...far stronger than the OTC one.

Check out my magnesium thread, and see what you can do there. Much of high blood pressure can be helped with adequate intake of magnesium. I have links there for RDA and food sources. 3oz of unsalted almonds have 270mg in them.

When you use a 3-6-9 type oil, you are getting less /capsule of all them. So you need to take at least 3 of those a day, keep in the frig, and take with food.

aaahhhh...

thanks! :hug:

real quick we tried the store brand fat free half and half, and when i shook it it sounded like water, so we tasted it :yikes: then we went back bought the land o lakes brand and when i shook it it had a heavier cream feel to it, and after working in the dairy dept at grocery store i can tell. it tasted great really did taste good thank you on the advice