Fighting Cholesterol.....

[CaptainHaplo]

Well, I had a physical a few months back, and the doc wasn't happy with my LDL (the "bad" cholesterol). It was borderline "very high" - near medication level, and he advised me to make some dietary changes. Now I am a snacker - always have been. I can get a bag of chips and just munch on em through the day, while still eating 3 solids a day. Course, the meals themselves have never been intentionally "healthy" either.

So I figured ok - now what? I made one change to my diet, and the result was a 38 point drop in my cholesterol over 3 months. Cabbage. Instead of snacking on chips, I'll get a raw head of cabbage and eat that. Personally, I can deal with stuff like that as long as its crunchy/crisp. Cabbage has been proven to reduce your cholesterol - and its actually better for you raw than cooked. So not only are you getting rid of the fat in the snacks your eating, your eating something that will take more of the stuff out. Double dip on the benefit.

So if anyone out there is fighting crisco in the veins, and happens to be a snacker like me, its something you can always consider trying. I didn't change my meals, I ate just as much as always and the same kinds of foods as well. In fact, to celebrate I came home, fried 6 pieces of sausage, 2 hash brown patties with cheese, and then about 3 hours later, knocked back three big ole pork chops with rice. Life is good! :yep:

[TLAM Strike]

Cheerios have no cholesterol are low in fat and are made with several whole grains so they are quite healthy, even the honey nut ones. I use them as a snack food (IE no milk) a lot along with corn flakes.

Also the generic brands taste just as good, just the corn flakes tend to be smaller.

[GoldenRivet]

Alternate Cheerios and Oat meal for breakfast.

Cut way down on red meat and ELIMINATE fried foods and fast foods of all kinds, increase the amount of vegetables and fruits and try to avoid eating out whenever possible.

Craving meat? grill a chicken breast seasoned with Cavender's Greek Seasoning (http://www.werty.net/uploaded_images/cavenders-771679.jpg), a pinch of salt, a sprinkle of pepper, and a liberal amount of generic lemon pepper (http://www.adamsextract.com/custom/photos/1762_LemonPepper.jpg). the result is quite satisfying for those meaty cravings.

Snacks are a big deal... whenever I get a sweet tooth for example. I eat a cup of vanilla yogurt with a couple of spoon fulls of granola mixed in... it is surprisingly satisfying and a hell of a lot healthier than a couple of scoops of ice cream or a candy bar etc.

another healthy snack would be a hand full of non-salted almonds or other nuts.

My wife buys a bag of clementines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clementine)they are good, easy to peel by hand and are not messy despite being very juicy inside. We go through a bag of these easily in a week to 10 days.

but diet won't do it alone.

every day, especially within 30 minutes of finishing a meal, go for a walk to the end of your street and back or around the block or something.

If you have a treadmill, or access to one fire it up. I recommend a 30 minute routine which consists of 5 minutes walking to start with, then alternate 2 minute jogs and 2 minute walks back and forth until the time expires.

You would be surprised how much difference this can make in a 30 day period.

good luck

EDIT:

one more thing

my wife recommends garlic pills (http://www.diet.com/products/000076.jpg) and fish oil pills (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IP-940SSk1k/SwDE3BZsB5I/AAAAAAAAAY0/fDyDNA29nhA/s1600/IMG_7424.JPG) found at your local pharmacy.

[August]

Cheerios have no cholesterol are low in fat and are made with several whole grains so they are quite healthy, even the honey nut ones. I use them as a snack food (IE no milk) a lot along with corn flakes.

Also the generic brands taste just as good, just the corn flakes tend to be smaller.

I'm eating a bowl with milk (skim) as I post this.

Can't do the cabbage though. Give me the wind something terrible.

[GoldenRivet]

I'm eating a bowl with milk (skim) as I post this.

Can't do the cabbage though. Give me the wind something terrible.

Im eating beef jerky :shifty:

[August]

Im eating beef jerky :shifty:

The Wife bought me some Bison jerky the other day. It was ok.

[TLAM Strike]

I'm eating a bowl with milk (skim) as I post this.

I switched over the skim milk about 5 years ago and find that I don't miss 2% or whole milk any more.

Still don't use it on cereal, don't see the point all it does is make it cold and eventually soggy.

[Castout]

I'm convinced that man's body is not designed to digest food that's prepared in oil at least not in his entire life. Fat is already in the meat even in fishes. Cooking oil or some use butter sometimes is just an effort to make cooking easier and manageable without getting the food sticky.

It would be a lot better to cook without cooking oil altogether. Some special frying pans are designed to cook without having to use any cooking oil at all.

It's stupid to cook with cooking oil and then to consume the cooking oil as part of the meal. The fat and oil get saturated soon enough. :timeout:

Edit: In case of older people their metabolism became slow enough so that cholesterol would build up despite a relatively good diet.
The only way to delay this or avoid it altogether is to slow down the metabolism slow down by embracing an active lifestyle. Get out and get sweaty. Cardio, plus some lifting if you like, swimming, tennis, etc will not only make you look good but helps the metabolism. After all we only have one life and one body might as well make it to look as good as we could. At least until we are given a new one post death and from the sneak peak it would be Godly lol I wonder what women would like if the man was like Godly. . .too bad no one marries anyone there lol

[UnderseaLcpl]

Well, I had a physical a few months back, and the doc wasn't happy with my LDL (the "bad" cholesterol). It was borderline "very high" - near medication level, and he advised me to make some dietary changes.

I'm still too young and stupid to care about what I eat, but I pray that your cholesterol situation continues to improve, CH. Good luck to you, sir.

[August]

I switched over the skim milk about 5 years ago and find that I don't miss 2% or whole milk any more.

I've even gotten to the point that whole milk smells and tastes like it's starting to turn.

[CaptainHaplo]

Thanks Undersea! :yeah:Personally my doc was extremely happy and told me to just keep doing what I have been doing and to excersize more (I got 2 kids - how can he NOT call that excersize?) and so all is good.

I actually started this for anyone else who might be in the same battle - and it turns out I picked up a few extra tricks I can use - all without having to change my "meal" diet - which I would struggle with alot. The snack changes are easy though!

[TLAM Strike]

I've even gotten to the point that whole milk smells and tastes like it's starting to turn.
Funny you should say that at work the other day we had a quart of whole milk in the refrigerator. I always sniff milk to see if its spoiled if its close to its sell by date, and this smelled like its about to spoil but I wasn't sure so i had to ask someone to sniff it for me! He said it was fine. :DL