CommuteCommando

This is genetically based. People who tan easily without burning need the sunscreen less than those that burn given the same amount of sun exposure. I rarely wear sunscreen. Every time I do a charity ride and the swag includes sunscreen It goes straight to my wife and her daughter who really need it.

The problem seems to be linked to the advent about a hundred years ago of the hydrogenation process. The allowed the Agricultural Industrial Complex to use cheap corn oil to produce synthetic butter (margarine), and synthetic lard (Crisco) Ironically, these were marketed early on as healthier alternatives to butter and lard. This was done by the marketing people, and there was no real science to back it up. Now there is compelling evidence that these fake fats are major contributors to hyper lipidemia (bad cholesterol) I try to get all of the fat in my diet from sources like nuts, avocados, olive oil, and small amounts of real butter. Since I started eating like that my cholesterol has improved to the point that my statin dose has been cut in half.

The organic thing is more of an environmental concern than it is nutritional. Now a lot of farmers, not tree huggers, but red necked John Deere jockeys, are embracing organic. As one of them told me once, more of them are feeling had by the chemical companies, like junkies are dependent on their pusher. The whole GMO thing amplifies this. By patenting the very food the farmers plant, the farmers are losing their freedom to grow their own seed stocks, and the dependence intensifies.

Rowan

I'll toss this link into the discussion:

Cholesterol: How much is too much? US removes limit

Clouding and confusing the issues...

CommuteCommando

Those dietary guidelines are published by the FDA, which like all government agencies, is heavily influenced by lobbying. High blood cholesterol is linked to heart disease. As this became understood, the food industry started producing and marketing "diet food", using labels such as "low fat" and "low in cholesterol". This happened while they were increasing the sugar content and replacing butter and lard with hydrogenated oils and trans fats.

You are correct. It is all confusing. Now the food industry, in reaction to public demand caused by revelations about those products have shifted their marketing, and trans fats are out, though other hydrogenated oils are in just about all packaged foods.

Cholesterol in food mostly passes through you. High blood cholesterol is cased by genetics, and aggravated by a diet too high in saturated fats. Saturated fats are not bad for you, but in the last hundred years the ratio of Omega 6 fat (saturated) to Omega 3 (unsaturated) in the American diet has shifted from higher in Omega 3 to higher in Omega 6. This is the result of hydrogenated oils, and the massive drop in price about eighty years ago of beef, thanks to corn feeding feedlots. Cattle fed high protean corn, which almost none of them were a hundred years ago, produce a higher ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fats.

I have radically cut back on my beef consumption, and only eat grass fed, which can be found mostly at farmers markets and some specialty stores like Trader Joes and Whole Paycheck. It is more expensive, another reason I eat, and my great grand parents ate, less of it. If you buy your meat at a chain grocery, there is likely a 99% chance it is corn fed. Most of the stuff at Trader Joes is feedlot stuff to. I have seen some of it cynically labeled as "vegetarian fed" beef. That stuff is still corn fed from a feedlot, and pumped full of antibiotics to keep the cows from getting sick in those unsanitary conditions.

I highly recommend a book called The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan. He doesn't totally clear up the confusion, but does a good job of chronicling where the confusion comes from

Drew Eckhardt 

Cholesterol seems to go with liver fat, which in turn goes with other fat.

Mine dropped from 244 total / 166 LDL / 61 HDL to 185 / 131 / 55 when I lost my first 20 pounds exercising more and eating less of the same things.

I'm guessing it'll be lower after loosing 40 more and will find out in May.

ThermionicScott 

It's mostly "confusing" for people who thought that dietary cholesterol had a major impact on blood cholesterol. Seems like we've known that genetics, saturated fat, and sugar intake have far more of an impact for a while now, but the FDA tends to take a long time to update their recommendations.

Dunbar

Agreed, the science on the effect of dietary cholesterol on serum cholesterol levels is pretty clear. This is a classic example of how poor government guidelines are hard to update even when the science clearly supports the change.

CommuteCommando

What works for me;

Breakfast-Steel cut oats-1/4 cup before cooking, 1 tbsp honey if eaten before a hard ride (80-150 Cap)
Mid Morning Snack - Apple, or Clif Bar if on a ride (100-250 Cal)
Lunch- Two small chicken tacos, al carbon style found at one of the ubiquitous taco shops around here (300-400 Cal)
Mid Afternoon Snack-Banana-(100 Cal)
Dinner- Some crap my wife likes to eat, often eaten out since she doesn't like to cook, and won't eat "that healthy crap" I cook- (500-1000 cal) (I did get her to kick the Margarine)

Other than the dinners, the weight would be coming off much faster. but my cholesterol is down. Eating out is a real challenge, but doing it healthily can be done. Mexican restaurants can have some pretty heavy stuff, but the better ones will substitute whole beans for refried. Refried beans are traditionally made with lard, but I suspect many places use Crisco, which is worse than lard. Soups are also a good way to avoid some of the worse stuff found in restaurant food, especially the big chain joints.

jiggity

I essentially eliminated everything that didn't come in its own wrapper. So, if it came in a cardboard box, I didn't eat it. I stick mainly to fresh fruits and vegetables. My daily routine consists of the following:
A large cup of organic oats (bought in bulk). Too that I add a little honey and cinnamon. Not in a wrapper from Quaker.
Organic banana
Organic mandarin orange
Large tervis tumbler of tea. I prefer Yogi brand, either decaf green tea or echinacea.
Mid-morning snack will be medjool dates and/or dried apricots and almonds.
Lunch is usually salad and/or soup that I've made. I will occasionally go to Panera for their soup/salad if I can't get home for lunch. Pizza on occassion.
Afternoon snack can range from another orange to more almonds/apricots or pistachios
Dinner can be anything from whatever I feel like cooking or what our little market has. We have a really good lebanese restaurant close so we tend to eat a lot of veggies with hummus/baba and tabouleh.

I've continuiously refined my vegetarian diet over the past couple of years. The further I get from eating meat, the less I miss it. I am also having a problem eating fish. I guess you could call me a dirty vegan because I eat honey. On vary rare occassions I still have scrambled eggs if tofu eggs are available.

What else can I answer for you?

bartolomei

I was trying to understand which exact nutrients helped you to lower LDL cholesterol. As I understand you reduced saturated fats and cholesterol and probably increased unsaturated fat intake.

CommuteCommando

My wife loves bacon, and since she hates to cook I often make it for her. I haven't eaten it for years except for a little nibble I took about a year ago. It actually grossed me out.

curlyque

Double smoked bacon pieces dipped in coconut oil mayo are relentlessly improving my well being

GeorgeBMac

Aside from avoiding saturated fats, the only foods shown to lower cholesterol are soluble fiber rich foods such as oatmeal -- supposedly because they help to speed the process of pushing the bolus through the intestine and decreases the absorption of cholesterol.

However, that theory may now conflict with the (soon to be announced) recommendations of the USDA that will say that dietary cholesterol does not increase serum cholesterol and is therefor not a problem. So if that is true, then decreasing its absorption should not be effective it either.

Also, 'plant sterols' have been shown to decrease the absorption of cholesterol and are usually taken as a supplement or added to fatty foods like margarine.

For myself, I found that the plant sterols lowered my cholesterol (both total and LDL) by about 10% when I take 1mg before meals... I don't know if it makes me any healthier. But it does make my cardiologist happier...

p.s. I resisted taking the Plant Sterols (called Phyto Sterols) because, since I eat very little dietary cholesterol (actually none), then reducing its absorption should not do anything. But it did. So, I think the process may be that your body takes cholesterol from the blood stream to make bile acids -- and the intestine later reabsorbs and reprocesses that cholesterol. So, my theory is that the Phyto Sterols lowered my cholesterol by preventing my intestine from reabsorbing the cholesterol from the bile acids it made from the cholesterol and simply passing them out with the rest of the waste...

GeorgeBMac

20 years ago on a standard American Diet my total cholesterol was 295 and my LDL was 193.

Statins (Crestor) and a mostly high dairy, vegetarian diet got that down to 169 total and an LDL of 90.

Switching to a Whole Food, Plant Based diet along with the Crestor got that down to: total 125 & LDL of 56

When I stopped the Crestor but stayed on the WFPB diet, it increased to: total 175 & LDL of 106

When I added PhytoSterol supplements to the WFPB diet, it dropped to: total 168 & LDL of 88

But, one additional thing that may have decreased it from its highs (aside from the statins and the diet) was a 60 pound weight loss...

ThermionicScott 

As I understand the issue and the FDAs newer guidelines, it's not a big YES or NO as to whether dietary cholesterol is taken in and contributes to serum cholesterol, it's just that it doesn't make a large contribution compared to other factors that should be getting more of the attention. It's still a good idea to eat fiber, even if the impact on serum cholesterol is minor.

And like you mentioned in the next post, just losing excess weight (however one does it) is one of the most important things to do.

Machka 

I lost weight.

My Dr confirmed today ... I'm one whole point down.


I was 5.2 ... I'm now 4.2. She is thrilled.

Sixty Fiver

Cholesterol readings need to be taken with the understanding that there are more than two kinds of cholesterol... HDL comes in several types and there are two types of LDL.

The small particle LDL is the kind you don't want as this leads to inflammation and clotting issues, the larger particle LDL (light and fluffy) is relatively benign and can elevate LDL readings without causing you any harm.

After that it is interesting to note that in studies, half the people who have heart attacks have high cholesterol and the other half have normal cholesterol so one has to look further.

Triglycerides are a type of fat and high levels of these are a marker for metabolic syndrome and diabetes and indicate a higher risk for heart issues... if this number is high then one needs to take a serious look at what is causing this.

Another interesting fact is that saturated fat does not increase the risk of heart attacks or stroke and although it raises LDL, it increase the (benign) second type while lowering triglycerides.

Processed oils and excess fructose in the North American diet increases triglycerides... fructose does not metabolize like glucose and gets turned into fat. In excess it can cause non alcoholic fatty liver disease so this should be limited and only be sourced with fresh fruit.

My doctor has always been impressed with my annual checkup results and will admit I was probably dealt a good hand... after I started eating more fats and less carbs my already excellent numbers just got better.

We eat loads of vegetables (most of our carbs) as well as grass fed beef, butter, cheese, bacon, lard, coconut oil (lots of this), range fed chicken and pork, fish, nuts, and organ meats.

My wife was flirting with diabetes before she went on a carbohydrate reduced diet and added more healthy fats... now her numbers are nearly as good as mine and she also lost 80 pounds of post surgical weight after making this dietary change.

Our physician will only prescribe statins to people with hypercholesterolemia, he is also aware that higher cholesterol readings are not an accurate indicator of risk and that the side effects of statins are worse than the "problem" they were designed to manage.

Machka 

Further to my post above ... my HDL, the "good" cholesterol, went up ... while my LDL, the "bad" cholesterol, dropped.

All good.

GravelMN

One thing to remember is that in cholesterol screenings, the LDL is a calculated value. Your triglyceride level is part of the formula. If you are doing a lot of endurance work and watching what you eat, your triglycerides go down which causes in inverse rise the the calculated LDL. You can get a test that actually measures your total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and VLDL among other things. Your insurance might not want to pay for it but I had it drawn just yesterday and it cost me about $75. I'm still waiting for the results. Don't expect vastly different numbers, but if your triglycerides are in the low normal range, both my doctor and the lab person told me that you may find that your actual measured LDL is lower than the calculated LDL.

I am supposed to be on statins as well, but don't tolerate them, even at low doses. I'm working to improve my cholesterol numbers and changing to controlled carb (not low carb, just cutting way back on high glycemic carbs) and a mix of both HIIT and steady state training on the bike, along with dropping 20+ pounds, has cut my triglycerides in half, lowered my total cholesterol, slightly increased my HDL, and kept my calculated LDL in the normal range.

wolfchild

The real enemy is refined sugar and too much added sugar in our diets combined with refined processed oils/fats , and not the saturated fat from animal foods.

GeorgeBMac

I had a similar issue: Having had high cholesterol for 20 years -- but being "intolerant" of statins, I needed a better way. So, diet, exercise and weight loss brought my total and LDL cholesterols down close to where they needed to be. But, according to my cardiologist they needed to come down a bit more.

He suggested that I take 2g/day of phytosterols (sometimes called sitosterols) which I tried. They are the ingredient added to some margarines to make them more cholesterol friendly as they block the absorption/reabsorption of cholesterol from the gut -- but they can also be taken in pill form as a supplement. Actually I take 2 gram before meals so that is more like 3g a day. It brought my LDL down from 106 to 88 -- which made him happy. And, I have not experienced any side effects from them.

Best of luck with your cholesterol test!

GeorgeBMac

Increasingly I am becoming convinced that there is no one, single "real enemy"... Seeking health & well being is a combination of adding a multitude of healthy practices and eliminating unhealthy practices that promote (but never guarantee) a healthy, functional life.

I have not yet read it, but I understand that that is the underlying premise of the "Blue Zones": whole communities that foster and support a multitude of healthy living habits -- from daily routine 'exercise' (which is NOT going to the gym but walking, doing manual chores, etc) to healthy eating habits to strong social mutual-support structures that support their members throughout their lifespans.

Machka 

+1

DaveLeeNC

FWIW, with statins (at 40 mg - about as high as they recommend these days) at my last checkup my total cholesterol is 313. But my HDL is 108. My doctor calls my lipid profile 'fascinating'.

I believe that our family has 'lost' the cholesterol DNA lottery. My brother has readings higher than mine. He was finally able to get it down significantly with what he called a "grass clippings and oak leaves diet". It was very extreme and not sustainable (by his personal judgment). But it dropped his levels over 100 points (don't recall the details). Moderate and 'reasonable' diet changes had a limited effect.

Right now I am kind of a 'Atkins oriented' eater (probably eat refined sugar and/or refined grains once per month). About all that I have noticed is that exercise will bounce my HDL a whole bunch (lots of that now, so a high HDL). Diet (within my personal limits) seems to have a small effect. Since I tolerate the statins well, they cost little, and it makes my doctor and wife happy, I take them. I have serious doubts about them doing anything useful for me.

dave

Carbonfiberboy 

While it is true that some people have a naturally high cholesterol level which has no health consequences, it is also true that the best way to reduce overall cholesterol seems to be to reduce one's BMI. It seems that few people with BMIs below ~24 have overly high cholesterol levels.

DaveLeeNC

I guess that I am one of the 'special ones' (BMI = 22.9) I am so proud :-)

dave