So I have slightly elevated cholesterol levels..........................

[cheylink]

  I had to have a physical, including blood panel for a surgical clearance and was told I'm clear for surgery but have slightly elevated cholesterol levels. Hmmmmmmmmm, I was kinda shocked. 

   Anyone have any diet tips for this?

   I stopped eating red meat 3-4 months ago, eat a lot of fish, veggies, fruit. Rarely eat bread, no sugar drinks ever! I can't exercise as much as I would like to till after my surgery, but do try to run as much as I can, like tonight I got a 3 mile run in the rain , felt great but did feel my 'issue' after wards.

 

[Winchester]

Rick's cholesterol is just a wee bit over 200 and his doctor is having fits. He tried putting Rick on meds, but dear Richard is not going there. That's when he started walking with me again at night. His doctor asked him if he was still walking with me, and when Rick said no, said doctor hit the roof. He really yelled at him about that.

I think it depends, not just on your total cholesterol, but on your good cholesterol versus your bad cholesterol and your triglycerides level, too.

A few years back, I was having trouble with my good cholesterol being too low and my bad cholesterol being too high; my total cholesterol, though, was well within range. All I did was cut back on the level of red meat (and we really don't eat a lot of red meat overall; we tend to stick with pork and chicken breasts with fish once a week), and increased my consumption of dark green or orange vegetables. More broccoli, more spinach and kale, more sweet potatoes, more squashes, more fiber (bulgur....I love bulgur....and other grains). More red beets. Things like that. My GYN doctor is a real bear about those dark green leafy veggies and orange veggies. I started substituting other protein for meat once or twice a week.

And a good walk every day. (Honestly, so much can happen with just a good daily walk.)

In six months, everything reversed. My good cholesterol shot up, my bad cholesterol dropped like a stone. And it's been that way ever since. For me, anyway. For Rick, well, he can walk until he's blue in the face, but that sweet tooth of his gets him in trouble every time.

You'll probably get a lot of different advice, though, so your best bet would be to talk with your doctor about it. If it's not real high, and again, I think it depends on what those other numbers are, too, you should be able to reduce your level simply by changing your diet a little bit.

 

[mani]

Low fat, exercise, and I have a good dose of psyllium daily.

I've also recently found an artichoke capsule that is supposed to help cholesterol levels.

 

[swampwitch]

You could possibly have low thyroid, since high [font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]cholesterol is a major symptom of hypothyroidism. If you are already taking thyroid supplements, it might not be enough. Also, the type of thyroid is very important since there are different thyroid hormones and supplements often have only one.[/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Before thyroid tests were available, doctors would diagnose low thyroid based on high cholesterol test results. Eating whole foods is always a great idea (and helps with thyroid problems too), but if your cholesterol level is caused by low thyroid, diet really isn't going to help. [/font]

 

[natalie_ca]

Cholesterol isn't always caused by diet; there is a hereditary component to it as well.

Whole grains, decreased fat intact, exercise can all help.  But even then sometimes you need to take a cholesterol pill.  Also try Flush Free Niacin.  Niacin can cause wicked hot flashes, so make sure to get the "flush free" one.
 

 

[Willowy]

Sometimes, if it's not too high, nothing really needs to be done. My grandma has always had slightly high cholesterol (not sure what her doctor considers slightly high) and has never done anything about it. And, well, she's 93, so I guess it didn't do her too much harm :lol3:.

But more fruits and veggies and reasonable exercise are never bad things.

 

[cheylink]

  Thanks everyone for your advice......I am taking this very seriously and just went through my food pantry, took everything out with trans or saturated fat and all will be donated.

   I have already stopped eating red meat several months ago, as well as no sugar drinks for a couple years now. I am due for surgery for something that keeps me from being as physically active as I would like to be, but I do get in a 2-3 mile run atleast every other day.