Cholesterol Management Community

Congratulations! wow you are doing all the right things. all that walking and dropping 43 lbs. That's great.

The shake and cake are high in refined sugars and refined wheat. So what you got was a blast of refined sugar.

Consuming cholesterol has some, but very little effect on blood levels of cholesterol. If we eat an egg, our body simply produces less cholesterol.

The lions share of cholesterol is produced by the body, while dietary cholesterol is the smallest portion.

I have been trying to raise my cholesterol by eating steak and eggs. So far, no luck. Except I improved my cholesterol ratios, doubling my HDL, but total didn't change.

The day cholesterol is flushed completely from our system is the same day our death certificates are issued. No one can live without it.

But if a person wants to lower their cholesterol, it can be done by reducing calorie intake and increasing energy expenditure. This is not a very popular message, but its the physiological truth.

Blood lipid levels are tied to calories consumed vs. metabolic rate.

No doctor regularly responds in this forum.

Your question is an interesting one, but I doubt that even most doctors would have more than a guess. It would take someone that studies nutation and the effects on lipids to have an answer.

But most cholesterol is no "absorbed" from foods, but rather is generated in the body.

And the body will break down food and if one part is low it tries to make it from another type of food component.

But if I understand it the chemistry correctly typically carbs are used to form the cholesterol in the body. But high levels of saturated fats blocks the process that takes up the LDL cholesterol and reprocesses it.

My guess, based on things like how long it take for the body to metabolize different things and the length of fasting for blood test is that for a single incident that most the effect will be gone in 18 to 36 hours.

But remember there is no bad foods. Taken in small amounts you can eat almost anything.

Personally I love homemade fruit cake from my late mother and now my aunt. And I get some at Christmas, but I separate3 the slices and freeze them. Then over the next month I will eat one at a time.

bobby, I'm doing some research on cholesterol right now and actually have successfully raised total cholesterol from 146 mg/dL to 192 mg/dL eating 3 lbs of raw ground beef and 12 eggs daily for only 4 days. Another experiment I changed it from 99 mg/dL to 232 mg/dL in one week eating about 3 dozen eggs a day.

If you have some time I'll like to discuss your cholesterol manipulation attempts. Email is thehealthsatoriproject@gmail.com.

3 dozen eggs a day is a bit drastic. Its bound to do something.

What I did was more within the field of reality of normal diet. I regularly consume 2 eggs per day and hamburger or steak on a regular basis, but balanced with other choices.

The addition of these red meats and eggs, as part of a balanced diet, did not impact my cholesterol levels.

Is there a realistic diet that actually allows you to reduce the bad cholesterol?

I cannot tolerate those damned pills...they have serious side effects...

So what do you do if your cholesterol is high? My Good Chol (HDL) doesn't even register. Normally, it's around 90-100. My LDL (bad) is also hight and not registering. My Trig are 67. I'm not on satins but, my doctor wants me on it. I might add that I have Type 1 diabetes.

I can't seem to find any information about having high HDL levels.

I would like to know an answer too. I believe that some peoples bodies just metabolize differently. I cook for my husband, he eats twice as much as I do, yet I am the one with the cholesterol problem. His daily intake of processed meats would make my body keal over. When I cook, I use as basic of products that is available, real meat, breads from scratch, I even eat nuts and berries which he doesn't. The major difference, at present, is the amount of activity at work we each have, but the doctor told me when I was in the same line of work as my husband (physically active) that it was the wrong kind of activity.
Dropping table salt from my diet did drop my bad cholesterol some for a while, but the amount of activity during that time ( I was helping to clean out a house) also was constant, and I am sorry but never do i want to have to do that much work every week just to be a few points below my normal test(which is high).

Exercise is always good no matter your health problem, after all, getting the blood to flow is what the human body is about. A lot of blood clots start with inactivity, and working in a large office, I have seen a lot of health problems that could have been prevented just by getting up at break time and walking the halls. The only problem is, how much are you willing to do and what benefit will you get from it. I took up walking outdoors at work, but had to weigh the benefits. The neighborhood is very questionable, and if you are not on the street before 10:30 you might be signing a death warrent (I just had a thought, maybe that means running instead of walking), any how, I did build up to a walk that made all life functions feel better. I guess it wasn't enough alone to lower my cholesterol, but I did quit swelling up like a baloon when I had to do physical work.

The cholesterol that your body produces is about 75% of what is measured. It is animal products that add cholesterol. High (esp saturated) fats play into have bad numbers. If your body is over enthused about making cholesterol, you can only have an effect on part of that number (ie if your cholesterol is chronically high and you cannot tolerate statins, assuming your diet is right as yours sounds, your only other option is to cut animal products).

I chose to go semi vegetarian: I will still eat small portions of boneless skinless chicken and venison and salmon or similar once a week. I also aim for a pint of kefir a day for the calcium plus (make your own, it works fine with skim milk and you get a new batch every 24 hours, once you locate a starter from someone).

Hang in there, you are so very on the right track! Don't beat yourself up for being human but also don't let people guilt you into something you don't want too - that is not a friend!

I'd like to suggest that you read the book The Cholesterol Myth by Dr. Stephen Sinatra MD and Dr. Jonny Bowden. It's really very informative.

It's not so much what you eat, it's how your body produces and eliminates cholesterol. With numbers such as what you describe you should just retest in a couple weeks and see what it looks like to be safe. Unusually high HDL is called hyperalphalipoproteinemia (HALP) and the link below explains it well.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/121187-overview#a0101

Read this and have a talk with your doctor. You need to understand the role your diabetes plays in this before you decide for or against a treatment option.

Basically a good diet is the DASH or Mediterranean.

Limit saturated fats, but lots of good fats such as olive oil, fatty fish, nuts, avocados. Otherwise lean protein, lots of fruits and veggies. And limit refined carbs such as sugar, white flour products, and white rice.

I am not sure what the problem is. I have never heard of a case where the HDL is too high to measure. Nor the LDL is too high.

BTW, typically LDL is not measured, but calculated from total cholesterol, HDL, and trigs. However, the formula is not accurate if the trigs are very high (IIRC over 400) and there is direct test for LDL.

However, it appears that you might have a non-typical lipid profile. So you might want to ask your doctor about getting an advanced lipid test such as NMR or VAP.

Eggs, olive oil, nuts, Omega 3 fish or supliments and walking increase your HDL and that in turn lowers your LDL.

Back in 1988, my total Cholesteral was a bit on the high side because my HDL (good Cholesteral) was 87. Average HDL is 46. I worked for Rockwell Space at the time and walked 1 - 3 miles a day.

Walking and consuming the right kinds of fat, will keep your HDL up. That is what will keep you healthy.

Every Doctor and Nutritionist I've had said it is OK to eat a wrong thing occassionally. Don't beat yourself up - keep up the good work.