High Cholesterol

General
21

Ok, so I obviously can’t promise what we did will work for anyone else, but here goes;

We had both put on a little bit of weight (not heaps), but we all know weight around the stomach increases cholesterol, so this diet is based on moderate weight loss for the first three months. If you don’t need to lose weight, just up the calories to your normal amount, without cheating with extra sarurated fat or Sugar.

For women, around 1500 calories total in a day, for men, around 1800, both including drinks. We would calories count across a week, and I wouldnt recommend you try to do this consistently each day - aim for most days at 1200/1500, so occasionally you can have a meal/ drinks without thinking about it / feeling deprived.

Within your calorie allocation;

Eat heaps of fruit and veg,
Bread should be only multigrain with lots of nuts and seeds,
Use sterol fortified milk,
Afternoon snack of sterol fortified yoghurt,
Eat very lean meats - chicken breast, kangaroo (ok, that’s for Australians only -maybe turkey?) ham with all fat trimmed, canned tuna in spring water, fish at least once a week
Use only olive oil, when you are cooking, use only a small spray from an aerosol can - 2g per person max.
Maximum added oil for cooking (including spray in the pan, home made and pre-prepared dressings etc), is 5g per day
Choose only one processed food occasionally to be the centerpiece of a meal (e.g. sausages), and when you do, DO NOT eat anything more than 10g of fat per 100g
Snack on foods with good oils, avocado on toast, almonds (both of which are particularly high in antioxidants and good oil).

We were relatively young, and had high alcohol consumption. We dropped that to 21 standard drinks per week in Australia (15 in the US). Still too much, but with our age it worked. That was wuthin the calorie allocation.

Once you’ve done that and lost the weight (or if you don’t need to), you can raise your calories a little but with complex carbs and goodv oils.

If you do this consistently then 1 meal per week you should be able to eat whaf you want.

The specific thing that the GP was so imleressed with was the LDL / HDL ratio. To achieve that, ths replacement of the saturated fats with things like nuts, avocado etc is critical.

Use lots of herbs, chilli, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice for flavour, and enjoy! :grinning:

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22

I crave sweets WAY too much. But, back in the day when my now 33-year old daughter was in her late teens, we would diet together on a healthy diet–1200-1500 calories–no desserts, etc., and we did really well losing the weight. I don’t remember my cholesterol numbers from then–that was about 15 years ago. But, I know my cholesterol’s been high for a lot of years.
I wonder if it was the drink that lowered your cholesterol?

23

You make me LOL all the time!
Yes, I do!
Haha

24

The whole eating healthy thing, especially when you’re already ill, is a bit awkward, and I personally think you have to find a sensible balance. We don’t have much to enjoy as it is, do we?

My mum came out of hospital after a heart attack and being diagnosed with heart failure recently, and was given a book on what she should be eating and shouldn’t be eating etc. And her response was (and I’m paraphrasing) “I’m 82, and I’m not going to sit here on a diet of pulses just so I can have six years instead of five!”. And I confess I feel the same way - both for her and myself. I was at the docs a few weeks ago, and said to him “it’s typical: I don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t eat particularly badly, never took drugs - and look at the state of me!” As it happens, after Mum’s heart attack, we agreed to have my cholesterol tested again after Christmas - it was 6.1 last time. No idea what it will be this time. I’m guessing it rarely goes down without you working at it, and I doubt the margarine I have will really do much good in the great scheme of things, despite the encouragement on the label! Although I probably am eating healthier over the last year as I got out of the depression phase and started cooking for myself again - and I’m not a big lover of cheese etc which helps.

25

My cholesterol was fine and didn’t change much - my HDL went up a tiny bit (0.2) and LDL down a tiny bit (0.2). That may have been the alcohol reduction.

My ex used to eat a lot of chips and deep fried food, so the diet was a pretty big change for him. He went from a total of 6 to 3.9, and his HDL went up by 0.3 (when his cholesterol was 3.9, he had a HDL of 1.7 and LDL of 2.2).

So my guess is that the main effect in total reduction was from the food, but the effect of the raise in HDL, and a much nicer overall lipid profile, which is known to have a big effect on heart disease, wouldn’t be achieved unless the reduction in booze was included.

It’s so individual though, so it’s pretty hard to tell. At the time, I had not had onset of psoriasis or PsA either.

26

Darinfan, I totally hear where you are coming from. In our case, it was that my ex’s dad had his first massive heart attack at 40 (the hospital said he only survived because he was 2 mins from the ambulance station), and his brother died at 42 of a heart attack. He had no other siblings.

So when my ex’s cholesterol was 6 at the age of 30, it was more a matter of saving 20 or 30 years - including the childhood of our (not yet conceived but intended) child - not one or two years.

I see it as a pretty different situation, and if I was 65 with cholesterol slightly climbing (and not the terrible family history), I’m not sure I’d be sticking to a diet like that either!

Note that I don’t stick to that now - my cholesterol spikes up and down (sometimes being too low), but still use only olive oil and have lots of avocado, nuts etc.

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27

Also I should say that nowdays I make many of my cakes with olive oil, because it is what is in the cupboard!

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My comment was in poor taste, I’m lucky you’re so forgiving. Yep, there’s some similar patterns but I haven’t had to cope with half the things you do.

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29

For heaven’s sake! You’re recovering from pelvic fractures, you have PsA … you deserve and also need a new approach if it might get you moving again which is extra important due to those other little issues.

30

They say the silver impreganated ones do the same thing…

31

Ah, that sounds like progress then. Fingers crossed for you Poo!

32

Hi darinfan. I do agree we need to find that sensible balance.

Apparently my cholesterol was at 6 in 2014 and nobody jumped up and down too much. I’m thinking 9 is something I shouldn’t ignore though.

I suspect the dietary approach isn’t a sure-fire solution, especially if PsA is contributing to the levels. But at least it is a well-recognised approach. I mean, we sometimes hear claims that diet alone can remedy all sorts of conditions without any scientific backing. So I’m giving it a go, though not too full-on, and for me personally that won’t be too difficult.

I’m looking at the state of me at the moment and agreeing with you on that score too! It ain’t fair!

I like the cut of your Mum’s jib.

33

Context counts for a lot doesn’t it? I started totting up how many members of my family have had heart attacks. Not that many really. I guess PsA constitutes a context though, plus I’m getting old but not old enough to stop caring about a few extra years. I want to finish doing up our house before I pop my clogs.

34

I just took it that you were being a little sarcastic and a lot funny. It did make me laugh…if you heard my kids, especially my newest son-in-law poke fun at me, you’d realize how I NEED to have a sense of humor about all of it (or I’d be crying all the time).
You are getting old, Sybil, and it seems like whenever I reach a new decade I accumulate a few more health problems–then I’m good for a few years. I’ve been in my 60s for four years now–it’s time for things to settle down!
You are copying me quite a bit lately–STOP IT! And that crazy cholesterol number would probably equal 800 in our cholesterol terms. That’s ridiculously, off the charts high!
My back was stiff off and on for years before it got really bad. Be careful! When it goes out it’s probably some of the worse–debilitating–pain you could imagine! My lower back had been so bad right before I went on Enbrel (almost impossible to roll over in bed, etc.) -maybe your biologic isn’t working as well as it should!
Ugh, that’s a bad thought! :pensive:
I gotta get ready for work. I hope your day is going good.

35

Happy bloomin’ weekend to you too!! :wink:

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Thanks! :thinking:

37

Sorry to be positive, but I have high cholesterol, as does all my family and I take 1 Simvastatin a day and have absolutely no side effects. My brother (who also has PsA) takes two types without side effects and my dad also has no side effects. My mum, however, can’t take any of them! So I’m guessing it’s pot luck! Diet can definitely help, so try that first, but don’t dismiss statins :innocent:

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38

No need to apologise for being positive! It’s good to hear a range of experiences.
I’ve not made my mind up about anything 100%. Plus I’m thinking that given all the cheese I’ve been shovelling down, despite not liking it all that much (funny, these blind spots!) dietary changes are worth a shot. Haven’t had cheese for over a week and only a tiny bit of butter & it’s no hardship! So, we’ll see!
Ignorant question I guess, but do statins actually lower your cholesterol or just sort of neutralise it?

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40

Statins do actually lower your cholesterol quite effectively. My family has an inherited type of the condition that doesn’t respond to dietary changes, so statins are a good option for us. Plus it means I can have cheese, cream etc. without worrying!

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