Anyone on here lowered their cholesterol WITHOUT taking statins ?

pink_princess

Me by not eating prawns .I always thought they were good for me but when it went sky high and the doctor looked at my diet they said all the prawns i ate were more than likely to blame .I really miss them but its worked .I used to eat around 800 gm a week .:o

glowgirl_2

I just spoke to my lovely daddy and he said a small handful of raw pumpkin seeds, a small handful of unsalted pistacho nuts and a banana a day sorted him out, I should also mention that he has a very healthy mediterranean diet anyway and he walks a at least 3 miles a day, he was eating too much red meat and eggs a few years ago which raised his cholesterol for the first time ever but the above methods brought it back in line very quickly.

bernie115

I reduced mine by having skimmed milk. I thought i was doing good with semi-skimmed but my doctor said not and that skimmed milk was the answer. It worked!

easy

Gillyx wrote: »

Also lay off the eggs for a bit, when making omelettes etc use one yolk to 2 whites

Pennylane wrote: »

I think you'll find that advice is now incorrect.

Yes, I'm pretty sure that I read something a couple of months ago that said eggs had been found to be OK when it comes to choleststerol levels.
ETA :- Yes here it is http://www.surrey.ac.uk/mediacentre/press/2009/2840_twoegg_diet_cracks_cholesterol_issue.htm

Pennylane

Thanks for that "Easy". You can see why it's so very confusing for us patients to try and help ourselves.

puddy

same with prawns, it used to be seen that the cholesterol on them wasnt good for us, but there are different types of cholestorol, the good outweighs the bad

OP, did your husband get the levels of good and bad? what is the proportion?

easy

puddy wrote: »

same with prawns, it used to be seen that the cholesterol on them wasnt good for us, but there are different types of cholestorol, the good outweighs the bad

OP, did your husband get the levels of good and bad? what is the proportion?

Hi Puddy, I can't remember the numbers now, I think he wrote them down somewhere tho. I know that LDL was about 6.6 (considered high by the Dr), but can't remember the proportion against HDL. Bear in mind he currently has high BP too.

Are prawns OK now then? Made a fish pie last night (new recipe with no butter in the sauce or mashed potato), and left out the (lg) handful of prawns I usually add in.

easy

Jesthar wrote: »

Hi Easy

Excercise is good, as is lowering the amount of 'bad' fats in the diet (though personally I loathe the taste of 'spreads' and prefer to stick with 'butter in moderation').

However, a major question I'd be asking is 'what changed in the last three months to cause the increase?' Medical studies seem to indicate that as well as the usual suspects (high fat diet, lack of excercise, smoking, excessive drinking, overweight etc.) other factors, such as lack of sleep and constant stress, can also indirectly contribute to high cholesterol. So if this increase is as sudden as you said, working out how life (as well as diet) is different to a few months ago might help identify potential problems.

Incidentally, exercise is also a great sleep enhancer and stress buster!

~Jes

Hi Jesthar, sorry missed this earlier.

Nothing has really changed significantly EXCEPT he has recently has a swollen painful elbow (poss bursitis?), which means he hasn't been to his usual Karate session once a week since just befor xmas. It was the only real physical workout he does in a week. Also a couple of minor changes at work (which he says don't worry him).

To be fair, he doesn't sleep hugely well.

He is getting back to karate this week tho' and I'm going to nag him about other exercise.

Pennylane

easy wrote: »

Hi Puddy, I can't remember the numbers now, I think he wrote them down somewhere tho. I know that LDL was about 6.6 (considered high by the Dr), but can't remember the proportion against HDL. Bear in mind he currently has high BP too.

Are prawns OK now then? Made a fish pie last night (new recipe with no butter in the sauce or mashed potato), and left out the (lg) handful of prawns I usually add in.

Prawns are OK too now. The thinking now is that it's saturated fats which we have to cut out. That's easy enough to do.

I remember siting down at our surgery when they said I had high cholesterol and the nurse giving me a leaflet about what to eat and what to avoid. You're right, it was prawns, eggs etc.

worried_jim

I did it by eating porridge with skimmed milk for breakfast and in between meals snacks.