High Cholesterol

[milkisforbabies]

Got some bloods done the other day to see how my fasting glucose levels were and out of interest thought I'd see what my cholesterol was like..Glucose was 5.3 so in the ok zone but my cholesterol levels have shocked the crap out of me!

Total = 5.8

Trglycerides = 3.1

HDL = 0.87 :oops:

LDL = 3.5

I lift 3-4 days a week, stick to lean cuts of meat and veg for dinner with the ocassional boiled potatoe. Tuna or chicken breast with brown rice for lunch with thai chilli sauce. Only ever drink diet soda and mainly black coffee. I admit in the evenings I've been smashing cheese and bikkies and the diet has been a bit rough since xmas, but I don't smoke, hardly drink and have always watched saturated fats etc. I eat tuna twice a week and take a couple of fish oil caps most work days.

Anyone here had much luck reducing bad cholesterol and triglycerides with diet? I'm going to go hard out but reading the interweb is giving me some pretty mixed reviews. I'm 30 years old, 112kg and about 22% BF so first big step is eating more good fats and dropping about 10kg.

[Phedder]

Those aren't horrible results. They not good, but they could be worse :grin:

112kg and about 22% BF

Those will be the single biggest factors. Get to the low-mid 100s and bf back to mid teens and you should see your total in the 4s, HDL >1 and LDL < 3. Drop the night time bikkies, cut back a bit on the cheese, maybe swap your tuna for salmon and throw in a handful of mixed nuts. Along with an overall reduction of bw and bf that should help sort things out.

I'm sure there's plenty of guys on here that have dealt with poor blood results, hopefully some will chime in :nod:

[Agent]

You're right, there is a lot of mixed info on cholesterol out there. Some will stick with conventional wisdom to get your total and LDL down, while others will take the approach that total cholesterol isn't that important and your LDL can be relatively high so long as your HDL is also high.

The conventional approach says to limit fats, especially saturated which will result in reduced total and LDL cholesterol, and the other common approach will say that carbs are the issue so reducing them while increasing fats will increase HDL and reduce triglycerides, but probably increase total cholesterol. We could probably get into LDL subtypes etc. but there are basic things you could do first.

What I think most will agree on, is that improving your HDL:LDL ratio is important, along with having low triglycerides.

Your bodyfat is fairly high, and while some people appear to be less sensitive to bodyfat/diet with regards to blood lipids, others can be more strongly affected. So with that in mind, you might want to limit the biscuits etc and drop some bodyfat and see if you can get to around 15% or so and get tested again, that may well improve things. Definitely worth considering since losing weight is cardio-protective irrespective of diet composition.

*edit. Phedder pretty much nailed it above

[Phedder]

What I think most will agree on, is that improving your HDL:LDL ratio is important, along with having low triglycerides.

Glad you brought that up, something I definitely missed :nod: The ratio of HDL:LDL and Total Chol:HDL is generally considered to be much more important than just the singular numbers for total chol or LDL. The ratios give a better impression of what's actually happening in your body, so if you get tested again and your total chol dropped much at all, but you're HDL is up 0.3 or so and LDL down a little bit that's still a good result and something to be celebrated Lowering your triglycerides will also have a positive effect on your total cholesterol reading.

[Daniel]

Got some bloods done the other day to see how my fasting glucose levels were and out of interest thought I'd see what my cholesterol was like..Glucose was 5.3 so in the ok zone but my cholesterol levels have shocked the crap out of me!

Total = 5.8

Trglycerides = 3.1

HDL = 0.87 :oops:

LDL = 3.5

Thats not that high... I had a blood test done last November and mine come back saying 14 total I was told I should be dead :pfft:

[milkisforbabies]

Cheers Phedder and Agent, going to drop some weight and tidy the diet up a bit more, get some gootd fats in me.

Daniel, that's insane. How old are you? I've read of guys having heart attacks at 30 who only have only had a reading of 10!

[Daniel]

Cheers Phedder and Agent, going to drop some weight and tidy the diet up a bit more, get some gootd fats in me.

Daniel, that's insane. How old are you? I've read of guys having heart attacks at 30 who only have only had a reading of 10!

Im 30 bro

[Riccardo]

High cholesterol is not itself a disease, its a risk factor, having high cholesterol simply means that you are at a greater risk of cardiovascular disease. FYI only 10% of your cholesterol is absorbed from your diet. The combination of eating a calorie surplus AND a high fat diet will lead to high cholesterol, not really the diet itself. Looks like you just need to lose some body fat and you will be sweet. There are people who genetically have high levels of cholesterol and are completely healthy.

[Agent]

Another good post from Riccardo. Like he says, it's just one of a number of risk factors, if it's the only one you have and you don't have other issues such as a strong family history of heart disease, diabetes, high BP etc. your risk is still likely to be small.

He makes another good point about diet composition not being the main issue. To illustrate that point, there was a human nutrition professor in the US who went on a 'Twinkie diet', along with Doritos and Oreos for good measure. Since he was in a calorie deficit he lost weight and his cholesterol improved: HDl went up, LDL and Triglycerides went down.

And yes, some people have genetically higher cholesterol and have no issues at all, while around half of all heart attacks happen to people with normal cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is only one part of the picture. Regardless, I'm betting you see some noticeable differences in your cholesterol once you drop your body fat.

[milkisforbabies]

Thanks for the advices guys, feeling a bit more reassured I'm not going to keel over in the squat rack now. Time to up the cardio, drop some calories and eat some good oils. :wink:

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[cruxis]

Can I get a Opinion on mine too? A Couple Just outside range by 0.1

Age 38, Weight 92Kg, Height 181cm, BF 14%-18%, Waist 85cm, Family History bad, Many family members died in 50s of heart diesese

Date: 07/02/13

Fasting Status Fasting

Cholesterol mmol/L 5.3 *

Triglycerides mmol/L 0.7

HDL Cholesterol mmol/L 1.39

LDL Cholesterol mmol/L 3.6 *

Chol/HDL ratio 3.8

[milkisforbabies]

Looks wayyyy better than mine. Everything I've read in the last couple of days would say maybe try and drop a few kilos and see if it drops. You might be able to drop LDL a bit with more exercise, but I don't know what you're already doing. The frustrating thing for me is that my diet wasn't too bad and I was exercising at least 3-4 days a week. Apparently I can't really expect to see changes in my numbers by more than 30% max (without taking statins) which would still put me in a bad place for most of them. You're in a wayy better position to get on target.

[Riccardo]

It's all about risk factors guys, eliminate as many risk factors as you can to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Things like: Body fat, obesity, smoking, inactivity, poor diet etc. are all risk factors.

[maccaz]

just curious, would excess lean body mass be a risk factor?

obviously not as much as fat, but is it bad for health to be huge, but lean?

[Kalidane]

Fuckin oats bro.

And by that I mean that soluble fibre in oats is helpful. A couple of good portions a day should be helpful and are a more nutritious source of carbs than biscuits.

Think of it as a multiple front-war where you want to aim for making advances, or at worst holding the line, against each of the risk factors.

f*ck statins. Treating outcomes is bollocks compared to addressing the causes.

[Murhf]

Has to be one of the most confusing subjects around. I had a heart attack at 36, cholesterol was 6.8 total. Iam 46 now and still trying to balance the fats. Talked to many different people, got as many different suggestions.

[milkisforbabies]

Hey Murhf, sounds like you got a raw deal with the heart attack. Have you had any luck reducing your total without statins or did they throw you on them straight away? How's the heart health now? I'm into my fourth week of a very low glycemic diet, calorie deficit (already dropped 6kg) and have increased cardio significantly. Am doing my bloods again in a weeks time and hope to see a reduction in triglycerides which should bring things down overall a bit. Reading other forums it does seem possible to bring cholesterol down by around 30% (which would put me in the normal range) by lifestyle and diet alone...we'll see.

[Cam0505]

phytosterol containing foods such as special margarine, beta glucan, antioxidants all help reduce cholesterol levels.

Beta glucan is a dietary source of soluble fibre found in foods such as oats and barley that has toxin binding capabilities ( often binds LDL cholesterol also).

Phytosterols are naturally occurring plant sterols (stanol if hydrogenated) that reduce the absorption of cholesterol within the GI track. Therefore phytosterols are added into foods such as margarine to increase its prominence in the consumers diet, to help reduce cholesterol levels by competing for binding sites in the small intestine, reducing serum cholesterol (total blood cholesterol) as your body excretes it.

Easy fix bro =) I'm a Human Nutrition and Physiology Student at Massey University, i love this kinda stuff =) (These were both extracts from some of my practice semester test answers, so thanks for the memory connection)

[Optimass]

Can I get a Opinion on mine too? A Couple Just outside range by 0.1

Age 38, Weight 92Kg, Height 181cm, BF 14%-18%, Waist 85cm, Family History bad, Many family members died in 50s of heart diesese

Date: 07/02/13

Fasting Status Fasting

Cholesterol mmol/L 5.3 *

Triglycerides mmol/L 0.7

HDL Cholesterol mmol/L 1.39

LDL Cholesterol mmol/L 3.6 *

Chol/HDL ratio 3.8

Same as mine ... the tables were adjusted last year based on feedback from the world health org ... under the old table you would be high but still within the norm. based on my size I eat a disproportionate amount of meat than the average person so I put a bit of it down to that too - but more simply I share the same opinion as Riccardo.