High cholesterol and gallstones - fed up

lindens

Thanks for those replies.
I have been using olive oil spread but have changed to flora pro active. I just made some blueberry muffins with oil so I can have those. I have found a few recipes where you substitute butter with oil so can try those. I always use lean meat anyway, so i will stick to bacon buttie as a monthly treat - with tomato ketchup of course!!! I am eating salmon more too, only really eating chicken as my meat TBH.

Ted_Hutchinson

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Greatest Scam in the History of Medicine[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]![/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Why Your Fear of Cholesterol Could Be Killing You[/FONT]

Ted_Hutchinson

LDL Cholesterol: “Bad” Cholesterol, or Bad Science?

Ted_Hutchinson

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

lilac_lady

My cholesterol reading was over 6.0 but I didn't want to stake statins so I altered my eating a bit. I still take butter as I don't like artificial spreads. The difference is that it looks as though it's painted on the bread rather than seeing teethmarks in the butter. By cutting out pastry, grilling instead of frying etc I've lowered my reading to 5.2 already - without statins.

NessyNoo_3

lindens wrote: »

In Feb I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and given a low dose of tablets to sort this, I also had high colesterol reading (5.7 but the "bad reading" was too high). Last week I had a bad attack and had a scan and have one large gallstone, am waiting to go back to doctors to see what to do about that. I was 40 this year and healthwise everything has gone down hill fast this year.
I am including strawberries, raspberries, walnuts, apricots and broccolli in my weekly meal plan and eating soya milk on cereal (fruit n fibre).
BUT i am craving the odd bacon roll and I like making ( and eating :rotfl: ) home made cakes. Can I really not eat those again? Can I make "healthy" cakes and eat them?
Fed up today

sorry moan over

I am actually a registered dietitian so maybe I can be of some help?
I would suggest contacting the British Heart Foundation because they have lots of free information they can send you on healthy heart and diet and it's very reliable. Re. eggs it is a myth that because of their chlosterol content you actually need to avoid them. They are a great source of protein. You body handles cholesterol in a complex manner so your dietary consumption is not directly related to your blood levels. Your body actually makes its own cholesterol. Oats (soluble fibre) and soya products (25g a day) actively lowers your cholesterol. Wholegrain products are healthy for your heart. Fruit and veg is a given. Swap to lower fat dairy products rather than cutting them out and choose leaner cuts of meat. A bacon buttie is not going to kill you. Try to choose the leaner bacon though!
Plant sterols and stanols are proven to lower cholesterol and these are found in products like Benecol and Flora Proactiv. If you can afford them they do work but your cholesterol level is not crazy so I would be tempted to try normal dietary changes before spending lots of cash on these.
I hope this helps!

chickalittle

I'm getting really worried reading this thread! I had a cholestrol check and was 7.7 but the Dr didn't seem too concerned. He said although it was high it was mainly good fats and the bad fats reading was very low. As I don't have high blood pressure or any other health issues he said to just watch my diet and try to get it down to 7.2 and told me to go back in 6 months to have another reading. I've just switched to porridge in the morning - I only ever eat multi grain bread. My only downfall is cheese (apart from wine!) so have cut back on that (but not the wine lol)..Looking at what people are saying about having high levels at 5.2 or thereabouts makes me anxious about my reading now....

keelykat

A reading of 7 or more is far too high, are you sure he said it was 7.7?! ideally you should aim towards 5ish......

keely.

Ted_Hutchinson

It looks very much like some people haven't read the links I've provided
How about listening to all of Malcolm Kendricks talks here.

chickalittle

Ted_Hutchinson wrote: »

It looks very much like some people haven't read the links I've provided
How about listening to all of Malcolm Kendricks talks here.

Thanks Ted - just watched this and maybe my Doctor has watched it too which is why he didn't seem too concerned at my reading?! He suggested I aim to get down to 7.2 and didn't suggest any medication. I can only think that it's because I had very little "bad fat" in my reading.

It was certainly interesting listening to Malcolm Kenrick - I feel a bit more reassured now.....