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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2014 8:27:51 GMT -5
Just had the blood panel done again. My cholesterol went up from 225 to 275 in the last year? Why? I started eating cheese again and had some KFC at a birthday party. The Colonel knows how to make the common yardbird taste stupendous. Trader Joes makes a white Cheddar popcorn that is like crack cocaine to me. I ate an entire bag a few times and then looked at the label: 1500 calaries and loaded with cholesterol. The bad kind is way high.
20 years ago I had cholesterol at 275. Six months later after running and biking five days a week and being a vegetarian, it went down to 195. Since then, it has stayed in the 210-230 range. I refused to take statins. My dad's levels were 300 and he took statins for years. Ate like a horse the last year he was alive, ending with soft boiled eggs and toast three days before he gave up the ghost.
All my brother's have similarly high cholesterol. Never had any heart trouble in our family history while the smokers have all died of cancer.
So, I went vegan again in the quest to lower it naturally and get my doctor, who won't take statins either, to quit bugging me. My goal is to drop it back down to the 200 level by Christmas when I get my next bloodletting.
After the 20 years with a strong heart and levels above what Big Pharma claim will kill me, I think I'm gonna be ok, but I am missing those baby back ribs I haven't eaten in 12 years and a pastrami burger with pepper jack cheese.
What's your story?
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Post by drlj on Aug 23, 2014 8:34:45 GMT -5
My cholesterol is in the 190 range and has been for years. I do not eat much cheese, haven't had KFC for over 24 years, and I tend to feel great guilt when I splurge and have ribs or something like that once or twice a year. I eat mostly fish, chicken and turkey, love salads and can tolerate most veggies. I have bacon once or twice a month. I love chips, but I avoid them. We buy them a couple of times I year. Bread is my downfall. I love fresh bread, but again, moderation is the key. I try to do everything right and I am still too fat. Life is not fair.
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Post by Doug on Aug 23, 2014 8:40:14 GMT -5
Wow that's high.
I run in the 140 range and I eat southern (if it ain't fried it ain't food).
As far as I can tell dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol aren't related.
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Aug 23, 2014 8:43:28 GMT -5
Matt, it's not big Pharma that says high cholesterol will kill you. They are just happy to sell you the statins that studies say will help you lower the chance of a heart attack. Me? I'm on statins, courtesy of my cardiologist and my artificial heart valve. We have discussed the pros and cons of statins and my cardiologist feels it's safer to take them and prefers to err on the safe side. I have no side effects that I know of, but I can't eat grapefruit and I really miss that. I eat pretty much everything elapse though, burgers, ice cream, eggs, whatever. My cholesterol stays around (on edit). My bad, I forgot what my cholesterol was. I went to the Kaiser site and looked it up. Last March it was 152.  Oh, and any cholesterol you eat gets digested, or taken apart. Then your body builds back whatever it thinks it needs. For some people that is a bunch of cholesterol. For others, not so much. Luck of the genetic draw I guess. Mike |
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Post by Doug on Aug 23, 2014 8:48:33 GMT -5
Oh, and any cholesterol you eat gets digested, or taken apart. Then your body builds back whatever it thinks it needs. For some people that is a bunch of cholesterol. For others, not so much. Luck of the genetic draw I guess. Mike Yep, cholesterol is a big molecule way to big to pass through the lining of the digestive track. |
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Post by RickW on Aug 23, 2014 9:51:03 GMT -5
After a lifetime of okay cholesterol, I was slightly high this last time. So my doctor told me to stop with the cheese, etc. I dunno, I don't have a history of heart disease in the family, and we eat not too badly. Since we started lowering the calorie count last December, we have been eating even healthier than normal.
So, I'm not going to get too bummed about it, and I'm certainly not going on a completely restrictive diet. But I do have to watch the splurges I go on, and the desire to eat too large a portion. The latter is taking care of itself - the digestive tract is starting to tell me to not eat so damned much, or there will be punishment involved.
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Post by Russell Letson on Aug 23, 2014 12:10:56 GMT -5
My wife has been tracking health-and-diet research for forty-some years, so we've learned to squint at research results and sight along historical trend lines and (especially) to be mildly skeptical of popular-press coverage of medical matters. One thing that's clear is that while big statistical numbers carry some weight, our individual fates are rooted in our individual physiologies and how well we match the stats for whatever demographic group(s) we belong to. Dietary "rules" in particular are tricky, especially when they focus on one or two components (cheese bad, kale good) rather than on patterns and interactions between diet and other factors. Cezarija's parents lived to be quite old on a diet rich in dairy. (Lithuanians put sour cream on everything.) My Irish-background brother-in-law can't so much as look at a cheeseburger without having his arteries encased in solid blocks of fat. (Poor bugger lives on rice, skinless chicken, and spring water.) And so it goes.
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Post by RickW on Aug 23, 2014 12:16:10 GMT -5
(Lithuanians put sour cream on everything.). As well they should. One of the perfect foods. My parents misled me, and I didn't discover the great perfection until I was a teenager eating baked potatoes. I have never forgiven them this oversight in my upbringing. A decade and half of wasted culinary opportunity. |
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Post by Russell Letson on Aug 23, 2014 12:27:57 GMT -5
Sour cream is indeed ambrosia, but it can kill an Irishman at twenty paces.
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Post by Cornflake on Aug 23, 2014 19:21:46 GMT -5
I seem (knock knock) to be lucky. I get regular physicals and the blood test shows nothing odd except that my sodium is perennially low, which the doctor says he seldom sees. So I get my stern and entirely correct lecture about smoking and off I go.
A doctor friend once said--and I'd be surprised if it was original--that the most important health decision you make is picking your parents. I seem to have acquired a lot of physical traits from my mother's side, and they were a sturdy and long-lived bunch. The men in my father's family mostly died in their fifties and I always assumed I'd do the same. Still being around is something of a surprise.
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Post by coachdoc on Aug 23, 2014 19:53:31 GMT -5
A doctor friend once said--and I'd be surprised if it was original--that the most important health decision you make is picking your parents. Bingo. But the combo of elevated BP, cholesterol and sugar does its very best to fight those wonderful genes. I had my MI 2 years ago last June, and I am taking all the recommended meds, exercising and eating moderately. Like to nudge the odds in my favor, ya know. But no need to go overboard, |
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Post by Cornflake on Aug 23, 2014 20:01:15 GMT -5
coachdoc, exercising and eating moderately are good ideas regardless of your genes. I do both.
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Post by aquaduct on Aug 23, 2014 21:16:05 GMT -5
I'm a type 1 diabetic and have enough trouble controlling my blood chemistry externally (the calculus of 5 shots a day). Add to the fact that there's a paternal history of heart disease (grandpa made it to 62, dad made it to 75 but only after a triple bypass at 65) and my die was cast 53 years ago. Statistically and actuarially eliminating all the rest of the good food in my life would gain me about 15 minutes, but it would make me wish the end came quicker than that.
I couldn't care less what my cholesterol is.
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Post by Village Idiot on Aug 23, 2014 21:16:59 GMT -5
I get an annual physical because I can, and a few years ago my cholesterol was at 220, so they put me on some medication where I can't eat grapefruit anymore, and my levels held steady at 165 or so.
Having an old man health discussion, my friend said his doctor suggested apple cider vinegar. Knowing full well that everything on the interweb is true I researched it, looking for sites that actually cited things, the vinegar seemed to be worth a shot so I gave it at try.
Three month's later my prescription refill came up, I got the blood draw, and my cholestrol was down to 124. Six months later, it was the same. Last May the doctor told me I can keep my prescription for a year instead of 6 months, and if I'm in the 120s again, she'll try me going off the meds for 6 months to see what happens.
I take three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar a day. I do it all at once, in the morning, in a big glass of orange juice. It doesn't taste too bad when mixed with that, and quite honestly I've gotten used to that, and it's a morning routine for me.
Honestly, truly. Try three tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and see what happens. Worse case scenario is that you'll be drinking some funky tasting orange juice for a few months.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2014 21:24:46 GMT -5
Interesting. My son has a bottle of Braggs organic apple cider vinegar in the kitchen. I'll take a Triple shot in the morning.
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Post by Village Idiot on Aug 23, 2014 21:51:45 GMT -5
I'm not making it up, Mas. I'm always suspicious of holistic stuff, as both of my parents are scientists. This one rang true for me.
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Post by factorychef on Aug 23, 2014 22:14:38 GMT -5
My wife does the apple cider. Works for her.
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Post by epaul on Aug 23, 2014 22:18:16 GMT -5
From the Cleveland Clinic (August, 2013) article on Statins.
"...
Grapefruit contains a chemical that interferes with your body’s ability to break down or metabolize certain statin medications.
When statin takers ingest large amounts of grapefruit, the level of statins in their blood can increase, raising the possibility of side effects.
Problems can occur for those who are sensitive to statin medications or those who have kidney disease or other illnesses. Side effects from grapefruit-statin interaction can be mild, such as muscle and joint pain. Severe side effects include muscle fiber breakdown and kidney failure.
Is any amount safe?
Cardiologist and Cardiovascular Medicine Department Chair at Cleveland Clinic’s Heart and Vascular Institute, Steven Nissen, MD, points out that only certain statin medications interact negatively with grapefruit. “This is an issue only for lovastatin and simvastatin and is only problematic at the highest dosages,” he explains.
There are several studies about grapefruit and statin interaction, and recent ones suggest that moderate grapefruit consumption can be compatible with taking lovastatin and other statin drugs.
There is no absolute consensus about how much grapefruit a person can safely eat while taking statins, but Dr. Hazen takes a measured approach with his patients. “I personally tell my folks who have had no issues with taking a statin, ‘Go ahead and eat the grapefruit – but in moderation’ – better they eat a low-calorie fruit – and if they have symptoms of statin intolerance, we can cross that bridge, if need be, then.”
Dr. Hazen notes, “The original studies linking grapefruit ingestion to delayed statin metabolism involved over 2 quarts of grapefruit juice per day. A more reasonable level of grapefruit consumption has been shown to result in far less effect on statins. Patients should still consult with their physician before eating grapefruit while on statins.”
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Post by Village Idiot on Aug 23, 2014 22:23:19 GMT -5
My only problem with grapefruit consumption is that I have to say "no" to FFA kids selling around Christmas time.
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Aug 23, 2014 23:15:33 GMT -5
I miss grapefruit. Especially the pink Texas ones. So good. But having a wife who is pharmacist and a redhead, well, I don't want to engender her wrath.
Mike
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