Cholesterol lowering diet? Any suggestions?

I am completely at a loss on this. I just had my 1.5 year labs and while my total cholesterol was 195 which is good, my LDL "bad" levels were at 118 (should be less than 100). My PCP told me to watch my diet and if we dont see an improvement, then we will need to discuss cholesterol lowering meds.

The problem is, I DO watch my diet. I am eating a healthy well balance diet that includes dairy, veggies and whole grains. I do occasionally have something "off plan" however not enough or often enough to be a concern.

My iron levels are super low. They said I am not anemic but it will develop if we do not get it corrected soon. So am now taking 260 mg of iron (vs 130 mg) along with my multi-vit. This I will be diligent on because I REALLY dont want iron transfusions.

I will be see my Nut on the 23rd for my check up but just wondering if anyone else has had this issue or any suggestions.

Thanks
Debby

Do not go on any kind of statins unless you doc does a particle size test on your LDL.  There are two types......small dense kind that can lead to clogged arteries and the big fluffy kind that really isn't a threat at all.  Do not take take any statins until they do that test - a lot of docs unfortunately are very quick to prescibe statins. 

Better approach.....remove inflammation from your body.  Best way to do that?  Lower your sugar/carb intake.  Up your healthy fat intake (raise your HDL).  Even higher levels of cholesterol aren't a problem if there is no inflammation or oxidation going on in your body.

Plus to be honest....118 is not bad at all.  It needs to be taken in overall context...not just that number.  If your total is 195 and your LDL is 118 that gives you an HDL of 77 which is pretty damn good.  Also - what were your triglycerides (another much more important number)?  I'm very surprised they are even mentioning drugs with those numbers.  Another doc asleep on the job.

Thank you for your reply! I didnt think it was that bad either but I honestly didnt know for sure. My triglycerdies were 109, which should be less than 150. My HDL was 55, which should be more than 50.

Honestly I'm more concerned about my iron levels but they didnt give me a number on those, just said I was borderline anemic. They are sending copies of my labs to my surgeons office so I will get a copy of that at my next appointment on the 23rd.

I will def keep in mind the particle size test before I consider taking the statins. I'm finally off all meds for all the previous health issues, so I dont want to take anything I dont have to.

Thanks again for the info!!

My ex had high cholesterol, nothing outrageous, and he was healthy, fit, and ate extremely healthy. When he had his physical, his levels came back slightly elevated. His doctor at the time suggested adding ground flax seed to his meals a few times a week, and for his levels to be rechecked in 6 months. Low and behold, in those 6 months his numbers dropped to normal levels. I'm not saying it's a cure all, but it does have some proven effects from what we read about it. We added it to salad dressings, and baked goods.

I started doing the same thing once I had VSG, and I still add it to our foods even though my husband nor I have any cholesterol issues.

For your iron, if your levels don't imporve on what they've prescribed, check out the tender iron that is offered by vitalady.com I've seen so many people use that when their levels didn't rebound with what the doctors prescribed, and they all had great numbers. Also, from what I've read, make sure to take it with Vitamin C to help with absorption.

I hope your numbers get better soon chickee ! ! !

Thanks for the info Tiff!! I will check out the ground flax seed, it couldnt hurt. I've been going back over my "diet" and now I'm thinking the culprit might actually be dairy. I LOVE cheese so I have 3-4 servings a day. Plus I have 2 protein shakes made with 1% milk. I also have 1-2 servings of greek yogurt as well so I'm thinking I need to cut down on the dairy some. Might get some almond milk for my shakes and cut back a little on the cheese (darn I love the stuff!!). My nut does not recommend low-fat but maybe I need to revisit that with him??

I do take the tender iron with C from Vitalady. I will be honest, I knew my iron levels were low (have been since day 1) and I have not been diligent on taking my iron. Completely my fault, no excuses. So I will be doubling up the doses daily until it is where it should be. Hopefully this will also help with my draggy butt syndrome as well!!

I'm a cheese lover too! See if you can find the Lifetime cheese products, they have tons of options, brown rice cheese made with lactose free dairy cheese, or the fat cheeses.

Albertsons and Whole Foods carry their products, and if I remember correctly, you're in the DFW area and Albertsons are still around, I think.

They really do taste good even though they are fat free.

Yes ma'am I am in the DFW area and there is an Albertsons about a mile from where I live. I will check this out!
Thank you!!

I have the same issue. My recent bloodwork showed that my numbers had gone from 145 to 199 in just 3 months. I looked at my diet and found that although I am following my VSG dietary guidelines fairly well, I was eating too many high cholesterol foods too often. Stuff like sharp cheddar (full fat) cheese, steak, shrimp, hard boiled eggs (with yolks), & pork spare ribs (boiled, no sauce). I also wasn't getting in enough fiber. So I cut  back on all these foods, started buying lowfat on things like cheeses & yogurt, added Omega 3 capsules 2X per day, and I plan to add flaxseed & chia soon too. Hopefully next labs in Nov will show me going back in the right direction. I spent 18 years on statin drugs (among others) and don't want to go back to taking any meds if I can help it.
Craig

Hi Craig!

I understand the med situation!! I've just been looking back over my "diet" and honestly am finding lots of things I probably need to change. I really thought I was doing so good!! But I think the dairy products are doing me in. I also do full fat everything and have several servings of cheese, milk (1%-dont like full fat milk) & yogurt a day. I dont eat much meat of any kind so I probably need to add this along with more veggies and cut back on the dairy. It might just be a trade off so I guess I will see. Oh yeah, I probably need to get back into walking some. I used the excuse of it being to hot to exercise (100*+ for the past 40 days) but I need to get moving again!!

Thanks for your input!!

Craig mentioned the OMega 3's... try this.  You can also get fish oil caps.  My doc recommends three 1000mg pills per day.