Cholesterol levels

M.E.2-2

I am told that I can eat Edam cheese but are there others I can eat? Please tell me Brie,Stilton,etc. as I am suffering withdrawal symptoms.

trafalgar_2

You should eat 'heartily healthy' cheese,it's good for you and lowers your cholesterol...............lord knows what it tastes like though

M.E.2-2

trafalgar wrote:

You should eat 'heartily healthy' cheese,it's good for you and lowers your cholesterol...............lord knows what it tastes like though

Thanks Traf--trouble is it is not that tasty to me.I do buy the half-fat from Asda but it costs more and is just not worth it.Doesn't give me my fix.

Ted_Hutchinson

Does fat in milk, butter and cheese affect blood lipids and cholesterol differently?
Cheese added to a low fat diet does not affect serum lipids.
The research papers at the above links show the matter is not as simple as some people want you to believe.
There is a paradox that the French eat lots of full fat cheese but have less CHD. The idea that fermentation may make the fat in cheese less harmful than the same amount of fat in butter is interesting. But this shouldn't be taken as "Medical Advice"

Cholesterol lowering foods such as Linseed and oats as well as apples and carrots may be helpful in countering the effects so perhaps if you ate your tasty cheese with a salad of carrot and apple and Burgen bread homepage but without any butter/margerine you would be doing less harm.

Smiley_Mum

I was browsing through a book the other day about foods that boost our immune system and it mentioned about eating cashew nuts to lower cholesterol levels. I did find this link about nuts and lowering of cholesterol levels which may be of interest to you. There is also the Liver Cleansing Diet book by Dr Sandra Cabot. If you were to follow parts of the routine for the diet, not to the letter but just some of the steps, it would also help to reduce your blood cholesterol. Worth a look next time you are near a bookstore. There is a website also that you can check out.

http://www.inhis.com/Womens/wellness/letter56.asp

http://www.liverdoctor.com/

Good Luck.

1sttimer_2

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but how do you get to know your cholesterol levels? My docs say they can only refer me if I have a medical problem - but as I feel ok how do I know if there is a medical problem

There are plenty of items telling you how to lower it but not how to get it in the first place!

Thanks

cardtart_2

I am surprised your doctor is so opposed to doing the test,in my area they seem to be having a purge.I found out my level after having a thyroid test.I think you can get a free test at Boots if you are over 45,or pay for it if not.

misesther

My cholesterel level is 5.9 I understand this is high! My doctor gave me a blood test!

aliasojo

I was surprised the doc wouldn't test too. It's a simple blood test.

Our doc tests with no issue at all.

I got tested at Boots when they first started doing them. At the beginning, there was a mistake made and they tested everyone for free....now there's an age requirement like cardtart says. You need to make an appointment, although you get the result immediately.

Surprisingly mine was only 3.6 which is just dandy considering my (sometimes not so healthy) diet.

1sttimer_2

aliasojo wrote:

I was surprised the doc wouldn't test too. It's a simple blood test.

Our doc tests with no issue at all.

I got tested at Boots when they first started doing them. At the beginning, there was a mistake made and they tested everyone for free....now there's an age requirement like cardtart says. You need to make an appointment, although you get the result immediately.

Surprisingly mine was only 3.6 which is just dandy considering my (sometimes not so healthy) diet.

Thanks for these replies - I'll get off to Boots this weekend.

Had one done about 20 years ago in America at a Hospital open day. Mine was ok but OH wasn't too good. Did try to do something about it then but as time has gone on we've lapsed and now OH diet is not too good (has bread with his butter/fav food fried egg/chips :eek: ) so I dread to think of what it will be now. I think it may shock him/us into doing something about it

savvy

1sttimer wrote:

we've lapsed and now OH diet is not too good (has bread with his butter/fav food fried egg/chips :eek: ) so I dread to think of what it will be now. I think it may shock him/us into doing something about it

Well if you're worried already, why not just put steps in place to reduce the cholesterol level anyway. He can still have his faves, but with adaptations like wholegrain bread with Olivio spread, egg fried in Olive oil and oven baked chips.

Don't forget it's the saturated fat and hydrogenated oil/fat that you need to cut right down, and NOT the unsaturated fats/oils, like olive oil, oily fish, peanuts etc etc.

And obviously get enough exercise to further reduce the level of LDL in the blood.

For more info on HDL/LDL try this article, there's tons more if you google it.

Good luck!