My LDL is 144 - lowest has been 125 in recent years. Total cholesterol is 240 and Hdl is 75. I am post menopausal. I had a repair of my mitral valve 1 1/2 years ago. I do not have heart disease and my angiogram showed no blockage. I was told I could try a statin. Instead I am increasing exercise since gym is closed during pandemic and I am discontinuing cheese and yogurt. I will also begin omega 3 . Any other ideas?
LDL
- Thread starter Sunbeam
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Pretty much what I did to lower my cholesterol. Reduced saturated and trans fat intake, increased exercise and started eating a daily serving of nuts. What I did was I looked at what I was eating daily and found alternative foods with reduced saturated/trans fat. For example I switched over to fat free cheese (Kraft Foods) for lunches (I usually have a ham and cheese sandwhich), started drinking 1% milk, just things like that. For me I did not start taking Omega 3, but that is good too. Only thing I would suggest is a daily serving of nuts (about 28 grams is what I eat and I've found that I like cashews) Nuts Help Lower Bad Cholesterol
Hi @Sunbeam - I have no heart disease, and I'm not overweight, slightly underweight actually, but as I was diagnosed with diabetes 12 years ago, my cholesterol levels are measured six monthly. I average every time: total cholesterol over 300, LDL 160, HDL 125 and triglycerides 36. I've now had three CT angiograms and my coronary arteries are always clear, calcium score 0. I adopted an extremely low carb diet to treat the diabetes and that is why I was able to get my HDL so high and my triglcerides so low.
The diabetes is now in remission/resolved but I continue with low carb as I feel it is by far the healthiest way to eat: no junk food, no processed food, just real food: meat (organic, pasture reared), fish, especially oily fish, eggs, nuts, especially almonds, lots of green veggies, and good fats which are naturally saturated, and olive oil. I have some milk in tea and coffee and occasionally some cheese, and a glass of wine with supper !
For some thought provoking read 'The Great Cholesterol Con' by Dr Malcolm Kendrick, and 'Fat and Cholesterol Don't Cause Heart Attacks and Statins are not the Solution' by Paul Rosch, Zoe Harcombe et all.
The diabetes is now in remission/resolved but I continue with low carb as I feel it is by far the healthiest way to eat: no junk food, no processed food, just real food: meat (organic, pasture reared), fish, especially oily fish, eggs, nuts, especially almonds, lots of green veggies, and good fats which are naturally saturated, and olive oil. I have some milk in tea and coffee and occasionally some cheese, and a glass of wine with supper !
For some thought provoking read 'The Great Cholesterol Con' by Dr Malcolm Kendrick, and 'Fat and Cholesterol Don't Cause Heart Attacks and Statins are not the Solution' by Paul Rosch, Zoe Harcombe et all.
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rich01
Well-known member
Niacin, I use Endur-acin. Instead of taking a full dose of a statin, look into a low dose of Crestor. I only take 5 mg every other day. It reduces inflammation and lowers LDL. Inflammation is usually the cause of heart attacks, and low dose Crestor has been proven to reduce inflammation.
For me personally, I had to change to a whole foods, plant based diet to get my LDL below 100. With niacin and low dose crestor, I got it down to 60 and think that is the bottom of a good range. I wouldn't want to go any lower unless there was some genetic reason for it.
For me personally, I had to change to a whole foods, plant based diet to get my LDL below 100. With niacin and low dose crestor, I got it down to 60 and think that is the bottom of a good range. I wouldn't want to go any lower unless there was some genetic reason for it.
rich01
Well-known member
Using total cholesterol to HDL ratio
240/75 = 3.2 (total cholesterol divided by HDL)
3.2 is considered very good.
Determining non HDL cholesterol (idea is HDL good, non HDL bad)
Non HDL cholesterol = Total cholesterol - HDL - 240-75 = 165
Less than 130 is optimal, so 165 is high.
Either LDL or Triglycerides or both are high.
My guess is you have to much small dense ldl (sdLDL). You might check with doctor to see if he will do an advanced cholesterol panel such as VAP or NMR.
I agree, cut out sugar and your numbers will improve. Shoot for low carb, real food. I've found the Diet Doctor site to be quite helpful.
bizinsider
Well-known member
My cholesterol seemed in control with statins. The small LDL, however, had always been somewhat of a problem. The crazy thing is that I ate REALLY well - in general, avoided the bad stuff. Exercised. Etc, etc. When I did my pre-surgery stress test I ace'd it, but it's only about 80% correct. THEN I got the angiogram and they found an 80% blockage in the optimal marginal 1 artery (apparently one that would have given me angina and/or a heart attack) and 30% (not enough to worry about) in the LAD. It was a puzzler, especially considering my health and diet. My doc's view was that if I had a bad diet and didn't exercise maybe 1) I would have had more clogged arteries and/or 2) have already had a heart attack. Bottom line for me is that it's genetic.
The one thing that really made a HUGE change was cutting out a daily glass of red wine - and cutting it down to 1 glass on the weekends. My triglycerides, which had skyrocketed, plunged. I won the lottery with that genetic makeup! My wife, who drinks 1 glass every night, is genetically predisposed to low triglycerides and cholesterol. Such is life!
The one thing that really made a HUGE change was cutting out a daily glass of red wine - and cutting it down to 1 glass on the weekends. My triglycerides, which had skyrocketed, plunged. I won the lottery with that genetic makeup! My wife, who drinks 1 glass every night, is genetically predisposed to low triglycerides and cholesterol. Such is life!
Go low fat vegan, don't worry about carbs---exercise and take statins--this will cause LDL to drop along with number of benefits:
FAQ | Dr. Esselstyn's Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease Program
FAQ | Dr. Esselstyn's Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease Program
AZ Don
Well-known member
Here are some good tips for lowering cholesterol naturally:
Lowering Cholesterol Naturally - 6 Tips | Pritikin Longevity Center
Lowering Cholesterol Naturally - 6 Tips | Pritikin Longevity Center
ScribeWithALancet
Well-known member
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The question is why would you wish to do this unless you know of an explicit reason why lower cholesterol is good for you. Reading the statin studies in detail, one finds out that while death from heart attacks goes down, total deaths do not. In other words, reducing ones choleterol increases ones chances of dying from causes other then heart attacks. Cholesterol is used by the body for, among other things, repair of the nerve sheaths. For persons over age 60, low cholesterol is associated with shorter healthy life spans and higher cholesterol with longer healthy life spans. It is associated with less dementia (recall the use for repair of the nerves above).
It should also be noted that a low A1c (long term blood sugar level) is also associated with less dementia as is lifetime use of total anesthesia.
As some have remarked on this web site - the devil is in the details. Medical research is in the hands of researchers who want to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, this gives them lots of motivation to say that their research was useful. Similarly, when researchers are funded by a company that has a strong profit motive, they are doubly motivated - make the world a better place and please their sponsor. If you read "Studying a study, Testing a test", a medical textbook, and "Why Most Published Research Findings Are False" found at-
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124You can follow lots of links that demonstrate that peer reviewed medical research literature is still written by humans subject to all the normal human failings that afflict everyone. Peer Review sometimes means the math is right_!?!?
Walk in His Peace, and Six Feet Away ; - )
Scribe With a Lancet.
AZ Don
Well-known member
1. The OP's question implied they were looking for an alternative to statins, which are used to lower cholesterol.
2. Lower cholesterol is shown, as discussed in the article I referenced, to lower the risk of heart disease, America's #1 killer.
3. As you point out, there are a number of flawed studies, so one should not pay attention so much to a single study but the scientific consensus. I am only a casual reader on this subject but it appears to me that most scientific guidance suggests that lower LDL cholesterol is generally healthier.
I had not heard the argument that lower cholesterol is associated with shorter lifespan. That contradicts much of what I have read on the subject. For example, the 1st 4 of 6 tips in the article that I linked appear to overlap with lessons learned from the Blue Zones. I don't know if there are explicit cholesterol measurements for people living in the Blue Zones, but as their lifestyle overlaps with cholesterol lowering guidance, I expect they generally have lower cholesterol, and yet they live longer than average.
9 lessons from the world's Blue Zones on living a long, healthy life
Note: Blue Zones are several regions in the world where people tend to live longer, healthier lives. One is in the US in Loma Linda California where there is a large population of 7th Day Adventists who tend to live an active, vegetarian lifestyle. There are countless articles, websites, books, etc. on this subject, I just linked the first article to come up.
There still seems to be a lot of benefits to statins..I will continue to take them along with aspririn, B12, losartan and a low fat vegan diet
LDL recommendations for heart patients, FYI is 45-55. My last test came in at 53--I attribute this to no alcohol, plant-based diet and daily exercise.
