lowering cholesterol the natural way.

rambojon · 05-03-2013 09:28PM #1

hi folks got my cholesterol checked recently...7.5.. ldl was way up at 5.5.. ive given myself 12 weeks to get below 5if thats possible.. otherwise ill be looking at medication as a last resort.. any tips outside to the usual stuff of exercise and diet would be a great help.

mathepac · 05-03-2013 09:40PM

You're looking for medical advice. I don't think that's allowed here.

kloc · 06-03-2013 07:02PM

I'm new to Boards so not sure if you're allowed give advice but in general terms I would say diet is the first place you should look if you want to reduce it...Cholesterol now appears to be the result of inflammation in the body and the best thing to reduce inflammation is taking good quality omega 3's and nuts, seeds etc.. that's a given... Adding a lot more fibre to your diet, porridge, wholegrains, veg etc will help transport cholesterol back out of the blood... reduce refined carbohydrates and sugar which cause the inflammation in the first place ... lower stress levels and get exercising, have to put in the work I'm afraid ... Good luck.

mike65 · 06-03-2013 07:05PM

http://www.happyheartcourse.com/ just don't sign up and do some reading off the back of it

the_syco · 06-03-2013 07:09PM

Eat more Heinz ketchup?

Seems the vinegar in it or something helps reduce my cholesterol. Was nagged into getting a cholesterol check after living off daily cheese toasties for a month or so, and my cholesterol was fine. I use a decent bit of ketchup, though

rambojon · 06-03-2013 08:17PM

thanks for advice so far.. im exercising 3times a week.. doing ok with diet but its more difficult than i first thought.. more of a lifestyle change than any thoughts of a quick fix...porridge with fruit mixed in and some nuts have become my staple diet.
Slightly off topic but I was listening to ray darcy show this morning and some guy was on about a new heart test. I think he called it the calcification test which apperently is better than all the other tests put together in relation to thehealth of your arteries and risk of a heart attack .Very interesting and i think theres a program on tv tomorrow night about. Only catch is it costs 400euro or there abouts but i guess it would be well worth the money in my opinion.
On the green tea at the moment as this was advised also by good friend of mine... not great but ill stick with it for now.

the_syco · 07-03-2013 01:59PM

rambojon wrote: »

Slightly off topic but I was listening to ray darcy show this morning and some guy was on about a new heart test. I think he called it the calcification test which apperently is better than all the other tests put together in relation to thehealth of your arteries and risk of a heart attack .Very interesting and i think theres a program on tv tomorrow night about. Only catch is it costs 400euro or there abouts but i guess it would be well worth the money in my opinion.

Sorry, but when someone mentions "new test" (usually that only they do) along with "better than the current ones" and adds a price tag of a few hundred, I'm instantly very wary of it.

Orla K · 07-03-2013 02:12PM

the_syco wrote: »

Sorry, but when someone mentions "new test" (usually that only they do) along with "better than the current ones" and adds a price tag of a few hundred, I'm instantly very wary of it.

This is the test that they were talking about. It tests for calcium deposits around the heart, it does seem to be better then cholesterol tests.

rambojon · 07-03-2013 02:15PM

thanks for reply syco.. it seems your sceptical to say the least... i was passing on what i heard in that radio show yest morn.. id advise you adopt a watching brief before making any assumption.. plenty of time for that afterwards.

Orla K · 07-03-2013 02:17PM

Op have a search around there's loads of threads about cholesterol/saturated fat and so on. There were a few big ones with loads of info.

kloc · 07-03-2013 03:27PM

There's a test called the homocysteine test as well that you could beg your doctor to do, it's a much better indicator of heart disease that cholesterol tests.

That programme is on tonight with George Lee, sounds interesting but not that affordable for most people but will watch and learn..

the_syco · 07-03-2013 07:06PM

Orla K wrote: »

This is the test that they were talking about.

Cool. I wonder what the €400 gets you? Had a look at the Mater Private, and the pricing scheme seemed very different. Anyhoo's, can't find anything on the Ray Darcy site on who yer man is, but would be interested to find out, if rambojon remembers it?

kloc · 07-03-2013 07:50PM

The programme is "Heart of the Matter" and it's on RTE1 tonight at 10.15p.m...

ingalway · 07-03-2013 08:40PM

Lots of new research into cholesterol and the role drug companies play in promoting the use of statins. An very interesting read, or listen on audiobook, is: The Great Cholesterol Myth: Why Lowering Your Cholesterol Won't Prevent Heart Disease-and the Statin-Free Plan That Will.

siochain · 07-03-2013 09:39PM

Cholesterol carries out many beneficial functions in our bodies and one of its roles is to repair our arteries when they are damaged. Cholesterol starts to become an issue when we have prolonged inflammation in or arteries due to poor lifestyle choices.

Switching from what I thought was a healthy diet to a paleo\primal diet had a hugh effect on cholesterol levels.

NIMAN · 07-03-2013 09:47PM

Mine went from 6 to 3.5 over approx 18 months.

Started to eat porridge regularly, and also used Benecol or Flora proactive spread.

Ate more fruit and veg too. Cut down on takeaways.

karltimber · 10-03-2013 10:21PM

siochain wrote: »

paleo\primal diet

do you mean a whole food natural non-processed based diet ?

Thx

K

pushkin21 · 14-03-2013 11:44PM

Drink a green juice everyday - plant sterols reduce your cholesterol without sugars, so you will also lose weight! This is the natural form of what big companies market in spreads and yoghurts. alot more affordable than meds too!

rambojon · 15-03-2013 03:36PM

thanks pk21 for the advice.. can i ask what do you mean by a GREEN juice.. ive started some green tea last week.. as i was told reducing caffeine intake will help lower it also.. 4 weeks on this regime yesterday and have to say i feel much better physically, so much so that im doing a 5mile charity walk/run in beautiful doolin co clare tomorrow at 11.

pushkin21 · 15-03-2013 08:32PM

Good for you Rambojon! Best of luck with the walk/run, and getting your chol level down further.
A green juice is a low sugar, veg juice
I use
4 fist fulls of spinach leafs or kale, a few celery sticks, 1/2 a cucumber, 1/4 of a lime and some fresh ginger. Serious energy from it.
Have you seen on youtube the documentary "Hungry for Change" and also "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" is very informative about juicing. Also I got all my info from SOL in Wicklow (Healthy Habits) and greenvalu.ie which started my on the green stuff

JJayoo · 15-03-2013 09:14PM

Increase fiber consumption

lowering cholesterol the natural way.

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