What to eat to lower cholesterol?

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Permalink Reply by Raw by Default on April 30, 2008 at 5:32pm

You don't want to lower all the cholesterol. HDL is the good stuff. I've read that you can increase it by simply exercising. Neat, eh?

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Permalink Reply by Erin on June 8, 2008 at 8:57pm

Often, our LDL will be high because the liver isn't able to reabsorb and eliminate it, due to fatty deposits or sluggish function. We all need a good ole' liver cleanse from time to time. It's literally our oil filter.

I once had a customer of mine, who's total cholesterol was in the 390's get it down to the 180's within six weeks using Joel Fuhrman's book "Eat to Live", which is basically the "beans and greens" diet (as in 2lbs of greens a day). This guy had not been eating dairy or fried foods and was eating just a small amount of white meat, so he had "genetically" high cholesterol- which just means that he had impaired liver function.

Another cause of stubborn cholesterol levels that you don't often hear about, is hypothyroidism. It's much more common than we even know- some specialists think that up to 40% of Americans have some degree of it. There are researchers who feel that heart disease is mainly a byproduct of hypothyroidism. There was a town in Austria where every citizen was autopsied when they died and every single one who had heart disease, also had an enlarged thyroid. Interesting.

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Permalink Reply by Erin on June 8, 2008 at 10:34pm

Our bodies are so individual and mysterious. I've had hypothyroid symptoms for years, yet my test were normal. I was finally diagnosed as a poor T3 converter. I've never had some of the more common symptoms - I'm thin, I've never had the dry skin or hair. I've never had high cholesterol, either. A lot of hypo people develop CFS and fibromyalgia, or even rheumatoid arthritis, but not everyone, obviously. I think there must be a lot of differential factors at play. There are also several underlying types of hypothyroid conditions- at least four or five- I wouldn't be surprised if they all present with different symptoms. Look at me, sounding all medical, ha ha! I must be watching too much House M.D. ;0

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Permalink Reply by Erin on June 9, 2008 at 8:05pm

Thyroid problems sure are a bitch! I'm now using maca to see if that helps, along with xeno detox, a live-source sea veggie iodine (Premier Nutrition). We'll see.

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Permalink Reply by Becky on June 9, 2008 at 12:03am

The only foods that have cholesterol are foods from animals, ie, pig, cow, fish, chicken, turkey, eggs, etc and their mammary secretions (milk, cheese). No other foods have cholesterol. Another bad thing about these foods is they have absolutely no fiber. I stopped eating animals and animal products about 4 years ago and my total cholesterol is 146 as of May 2008.
Good luck to your friend and that is great they are watching their cholesterol.

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Permalink Reply by nycgrrl on June 9, 2008 at 9:49am

Flax seed oil and flax seeds (ground) are very helpful. Do a little googling and you'll see the benefits. My dh has high cholesterol and has been taking flax seed oil for about a month--it's helping.

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Permalink Reply by Charles on June 9, 2008 at 9:53am

Blueberries and plenty of 'em!

http://www.naturalnews.com/002906.html

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Permalink Reply by John Coleman on June 10, 2008 at 2:11am

The greatest factor by a huge margin, to lower cholesterol by far, is to keep the total fat intake down to between 10 and 20% of the calorific value.

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Permalink Reply by Wendi Dee on June 13, 2008 at 9:14am

My triglycerides were high and my holistic doctor wondered if there was a history of heart disease in my family. However, my B12 was also low, so she said I should supplement with B12 and see if that lowers the triglycerides to rule out hereditary things.

Well, the B12 supplementation brought the triglycerides down to a healthy level! :-)

I'm not saying it will work for everyone, because there are probably multiple reasons for triglycerides being high. But, for me, it worked really well.

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXOXOXO

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Permalink Reply by Erin on June 13, 2008 at 12:57pm

Triglycerides have a lot to do with how many simple sugars you consume. They are sugars bound to lipids. One of the most effective things to lower triglycerides (other than cutting your sugar intake) is cinnamon. It might be a different kind of cinnamon than the spice we buy- I noticed that cinnamon supplements use a different type of cinnamon than the powdered. Cinnamon also keeps blood sugar and cholesterol in check.

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