topic Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE in Wellness

CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

Tinkrbl44 — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 21:58:56 GMT

Okay, this is a bit of a mystery to me, and realize I need more information.

Six months ago my PCP said my cholesterol levels went up 3 points, this year, and 3 points last year.

She made dietary recs and I did a couple things and omitted a few things, and am taking Lessman's Cholestacare.

Got blood tests the other day, and figured, at the worst, there would be no change.

My numbers WENT UP!

I see my doc next week, but in the meantime, I'm thinking perhaps there's something about this I don't understand and want to re-visit the hows and whys of HDL, LDL, and whatnot.

Can you recommend a basic resource that will explain all this like I am FIVE YEARS OLD? LOL

Clearly, I'm missing something here ........ TIA .......

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

Q-Checker — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 22:04:15 GMT

If your doctor did not recommend Cholestacare, stop taking it until you ask his advice about this or any non physician recommended supplements. Good luck with bringing your cholesterol down!

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

skatting44 — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 22:07:32 GMT

More exercise, just walk 3 times a week or more.

Follow dietary recs by Doctor or nutritionist.

Ask abyt your HDL & LDL levels and Triglycerides

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

SilleeMee — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 22:13:00 GMT

If you've done all that and your cholesterol is higher then it could be genetic, a lack of physical activity or other factors such as medication that raises cholesterol levels. In any case the conversation about the issue would be best with your doctor and have it explained there.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

Neetgal2 — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 22:23:34 GMT

I am 73 and had problems for years, not too high, but bad enough.

Once I took more time with my diet and exercised faithfully because of hip and knees my levels came down to normal. I barely eat red meat or fried foods. I am careful in my cooking with certain oils and butters and read package labels. If I was not retired I doubt I would have reached this point of being able to take better care of myself.

My doctor gave me a diet to follow and some advice but also offered a nutritionist. He also told me I should be able to figure this out! I have gone to this doctor for 8 years, the prior doctor just would prescribe meds. I only started with a cardiologist in the last 8 years.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

Shelbelle — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 22:32:06 GMT

I am 72 now, I took and relied on CholestaCare for 20 years, it did help me to stay in a fairly decent normal range. but last year mine also shot up over the borderline limit. I have never wanted to take a statin, I always had negative feelings about them, so my doc talked me into trying RX, Zetia, a non statin, it is not as potent as a statin but has brought me down enough to where my doc is totally satisfied and I stay on it. I ditched the CholestaCare.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

juanitalinda — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 22:33:12 GMT

@Tinkrbl44

All of that is good advice. I do want to add that you can exercise and eat well and things might get worse.

Don't blame yourself if that happens. And don't let others blame you for not living 'healthy' enough.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

jlkz — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 22:55:54 GMT

@Tinkrbl44

It's a very tricky subject !!! When DH started with 6 stents, he had been jogging several times a week, eating " decently " and had given up smoking 16 years prior to the stents.

The cardiologist didn't want to give him meds so he agreed to cook low fat ( he did and still does ) majority of the meals. Next visit: his cholesterol had gone up significantly so now the statins were added.

Genetics played a huge role for him. Now he stays in the suggested range and because of the Afib and congestive heart issues, is now on additional meds that require strict attention to sodium.

Get a list of the different additives to foods and condiments and you will be amazed at what lurks inside ! One tip he has: Swiss Cheese has the lowest (?) amount of cholesterol.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

KittySoftPaws — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 23:44:53 GMT

My cholesterol is hereditary and has been on the high side for years. I've been told that diet will only control it around 10%. My Doctor told me that it really only becomes an issue when there is inflammation in the body, which my bloodwork showed there is none. Cholesterol in and of itself is essential in the body and it is no longer to me as much of an issue with what I now know. Traditionally it was believed that higher cholesterol numbers were dangerous when now they find the lower numbers put people at more of a risk.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

Shelbelle — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 23:48:46 GMT

My doc was also very surprised when mine shot up, she also blamed it on genetics.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

pdlinda — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 02:18:13 GMT

@KittySoftPaws I am in your "club." My cholesteral is usually "abnormal" but I have the same lab you apparently are referring to that indicates that I have no inflammation in my body so my doctor advises not to worry about it.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

GingerHead — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 13:25:59 GMT

@Tinkrbl44

Oh geeze bear with me this is going to be looong and possibly a jumbled mess: haha

I'll give you a little background and what I'm doing....

I'm in the same boat. But I have genetically high cholesterol and it's only gotten worse as I've entered menopause. Estrogen helps to regulate it.

I am on HRT but the supplemented levels of estrogen that HRT provides isn't nearly what our bodies produce premenopausal.

Mine is mostly genetic because I'm at a good weight, fit (metabolically healthy), and eat right (for the most part).

My last results were disappointing, I think it was worse because of a diet change...in trying to eat more protein I ate more saturated fats and less complex carbs and fiber.

So after those results I started on a really low saturated fat (try to get less than 10g/day), higher fiber and more complex carbs (esp oatmeal) diet.

I upped my exercise and started on a low dose (5mg) every other day stain (has a slight anti-inflammatory and slight anti -clotting effect in addition to ldl lowering) because I don't want to take drugs if I don't have to and am experimenting to see what the lowest effective dose is for me.

I'm getting retested and seeing an actual cardiologist at the end of the month.

All this to say, it's a cr@p shoot sometimes and you can do everything right and still just have crappy genetics.

I started watching youtube videos on cholesterol and longevity, there’s a lot of kooks on youtube as well...only listen to reputable doctors who site real studies....Peter Attia and Mark Hyman are great, in my opinion.

**A lot of people think that being metabolically unhealthy and inflammation are more what causes ldl and other lipids to be atherosclerotic. So getting metabolically healthy and decreasing inflammation (CRP, etc). are very important as well.....

Look into getting your ApoB, Apa (mine are both high) tested, google these and ask your doc.

Good luck!

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

SilleeMee — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 03:15:14 GMT

When you look at cholesterol levels it is very important to also consider the bigger picture of things which would include risk factors and how many of them fall into your picture of health. Simply looking at cholesterol levels is only part of the picture, in other words, and can lead you into thinking something's terribly wrong when it just might not be true.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

wagirl — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 15:44:34 GMT

I have hereditary high cholesterol. I found that out after my dad died at age 47 in 1976. NOTHING worked for me--exercise, diet taking this and that --NOTHING. the only thing that is in my favor is very high HDL--healthy cholesterol--it is always in the 70's--google what all those letters are on your results----have taken many. many statins and they did lower my numbers but after a few months on each, I started suffering from their many side effects and had to stop. So the med I am on now is Repatha. It is not a statin but a monoclonal antibody that works with the liver to help reduce the bad stuff--the LDL cholesterol. I have been on it for the last 2-3 years and it has done wonders for me. Now that is my story-- and it took over 50 years to get where I am now. You need to work with your dr ---I see a heart dr as well as a pharmacy dr who specializes in this type of med.

Lots of stuff on the web read. Lots of supplements that claim to work---lots of opinions too. Ask if you need to see a cardiolgist. then if you do make sure they specialize in high cholesterol issues. Maybe taking a statin will do the job----

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

beckyb1012 — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 17:58:18 GMT

Mine went up 18 months ago and my provider only emailed to say to start eating Cheerios with no medications at all. There was a drop the next time I had labs done and still just eating dry Cheerios at my desk 5 days a week. No other dietary changes have been made and still no medication.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

Laura14 — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 17:35:17 GMT

@Tinkrbl44 3 points is not a huge deal. It's kind of like your weight which fluctuates every day.

BUT, I will tell you if they are telling you it's about the saturated fat, it's probably not.

For me, it was sugar. If you lose the white stuff including flour and the rest of it, that worked.

That's because your body makes cholesterol to spackle your arteries which get cut and nicked by the sugar floating around in your bloodstream.

If you don't eat the sugar, the body doesn't make as much cholesterol. Thank Dr. Oz for that after I burst into tears after a doctor's appointment where she accused me of not making the dietary changes I should. I did and it did the same thing yours did. I dropped sugar and it went down.

And since you are already with Andrew Lessman, I have genetically high cholesterol. They've been asking me to take statins for years which I won't because I've never been above borderline.

However, I added in AL's bergamot, cholestacare twice a day from once a day, and berberine which helps control blood sugar. Had my best cholesterol report in years this last time so something is working well.

I hope you find your answer. I can't wait for them to invent that Star trek thing that they wave over you and then give you a hypospray. All set and no charge. Until then, you got to do it yourself.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

Shelbelle — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 19:18:48 GMT

Dry Cheerios is not a bad idea, but they do contain so many carbs.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

SilleeMee — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 19:49:05 GMT

Cheerios contain many vitamins. Almost as good as taking a multivit daily. Wish they would leave out the iron though.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

Shelbelle — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 19:57:25 GMT

I knew I had to consent to taking Zetia, if not a statin, I had already lost a lot of weight and exercise daily, I was out of options if the Cholesta Care was not working.

Re: CHOLESTEROL LEVELS - NEED A RESOURCE

Nightowlz — Sun, 05 Jan 2025 00:49:48 GMT

If Andrew's CholestaCare didn't work it might be genetics. Try adding his fiber along with some food changes to see what happens with your numbers. Have another test to see if there's any change.

I use his ChocoNuvo which has phytosterols in it just like his CholestCare does.

I was eating one ChocoNuvo per day plus taking his fiber. My numbers were good enough to not take medication. I eventually started eating 2 of the ChocoNuvo per day. My doctor said she didn't know what I was doing but to keep doing it.

I thought it would go up since I was not walking 3 miles per day. I can no longer do that with my knee pain.