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High Cholesterol

dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,218
4,342
5045 feet above sea level
I have high cholesterol.......306 with a 41 for HDL and 244 for LDL

I weigh 178 and am 5'11'' and am in good shape (can run a 5:45 mile for example)

Why is this happening to me ******?
 
flopticalcube said:
What are you eating?
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Usually have cereal, like honey nut cheerios or frosted mini wheats, scrambled eggs with cheese, milk, oj, ppbj, banannas, tuna sandwhiches, occassional pizza or subway, tacos, corn, green beans

thats the majority of the stuff i eat and what i buy at the grocery store. i never eat fastfood aside from subway maybe once a week or 2

heck, i will also snack on quaker oats just for the fiber on occassion

how can i lower it?
 
irishgrizzly said:
It's got nothing to do with exercise – it's all about your diet.
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Exercise can improve cholesterol (it raises HDL). One can also have familially high cholesterol as macdawg pointed out.

Seeing as you are young DB you should just get it done again in a few months and not stress about it too much. Presumably you were fasted when you got it done?
 
egg yolks have probably the highest amount of cholesterol that you can get besides fried food.

egg yolks in general are pretty bad for you (yes they contain alot of protein, but they contain all of the fat and cholesterol of the egg), thats why most health-conscious people order egg whites when in restaurants etc.


i doubt this makes a huge difference unless you are eating 6-7 eggs a week. besides that, heredity plays a huge role.
 
.Andy said:
Exercise can improve cholesterol (it raises HDL). One can also have familially high cholesterol as macdawg pointed out.

Seeing as you are young DB you should just get it done again in a few months and not stress about it too much. Presumably you were fasted when you got it done?
Click to expand...


Yes I had fasted
iOrlando said:
egg yolks have probably the highest amount of cholesterol that you can get besides fried food.

egg yolks in general are pretty bad for you (yes they contain alot of protein, but they contain all of the fat and cholesterol of the egg), thats why most health-conscious people order egg whites when in restaurants etc.


i doubt this makes a huge difference unless you are eating 6-7 eggs a week. besides that, heredity plays a huge role.
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Oh man, sometimes more than that. I can go through 12 in like 5 days. Sometimes takes me 2 weeks to get through that many though. Heard they were great source for amino acids
 
dukebound85 said:
with cheese, milk, occassional pizza or subway, tacos,
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There's your problem.

My dad had a heart attack (and survived) aged 49. His cholesterol has obviously been monitored very closely ever since. His cardiologist said he could very easily reduce his cholesterol to zero. nil.

Just live on a diet of nothing but smoked mackerel salad for breakfast lunch and dinner.

'There is a quality of life issue to consider here however' he concluded :)

Some people have an unfortunate genetic predisposition to carry cholesterol. However, you can reduce your intake and help a lot. There are lots of red-flag foods in the groups you describe. A dozen eggs a week is wrong. I bet you use butter instead of a margarine as well.

Just eat a normal healthy diet and your body will get what it needs out of it. Don't try and 'fake' it by eating a billion eggs for 'amino acids'. And hellishly tasty and convenient though it can be - fast food of any sort is never really a good idea because you have no idea what's actually in it. I enjoy a trip to KFC every now and again - but very very rarely.

What are you trying to achieve with the amino acids overload?
 
my cholesterol level decreased greatly when I stopped eating pork and read meat, and only eat meat a few days a week in general.
 
i wouldn't worry too much about it until you have it repeated. Go for a check up and point out this concern. Wouldn't worry until the test is confirmed though.

It is elevated, but without other problems and you being in good health and young are good indicators. Smoke or diabetes?
 
dukebound85 said:
Yes I had fasted

Oh man, sometimes more than that. I can go through 12 in like 5 days. Sometimes takes me 2 weeks to get through that many though. Heard they were great source for amino acids
Click to expand...

You really need to cut egg yolks out of your diet. Or at least reduce them substantially. You know you can just buy egg whites, right? I tried them, but it didn't taste as good as normal egg does. What I do though, is that if I make an omelet out of say 4 eggs, I'll chuck 3 egg yolks out and just use one. That way it still tastes pretty good, but you cut down your cholesterol intake by 75%.

Wishing you the best of luck in taking that 304 number really down!
 
dukebound85 said:
dont smoke and no diabetes
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How amounts of sugar (ie: Soda) and White Bread (aka not whole wheat and doesn't provide whole grains) will boost your cholesterol.

Excess carbs is what you're looking to eliminate.

To lower cholesterol, try some plant sterols and fish and flax seed oil (either in liquid or pill form)
 
With numbers like these, don't take this lightly. Get a second opinion and make sure those numbers are correct.

Like some say, it could be hereditary.

Also, could it be a side effect of another medication like protease inhibitors or something else?

You seem to be in really good shape, and even some slightly obese people I have met have 200 or lower.

Statins can help but do have potential serious side effects, so get two medical opinions on this. It took four doctors to find out why I couldn't tolerate certain statins. Also look into more natural forms of statins.
 
djellison said:
My dad had a heart attack (and survived) aged 49. His cholesterol has obviously been monitored very closely ever since. His cardiologist said he could very easily reduce his cholesterol to zero. nil.
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I'd suggest getting a new cardiologist for your dad dj! Reducing his cholesterol to zero would kill him :eek:!
 
irishgrizzly said:
It's got nothing to do with exercise – it's all about your diet. Anyway there's worse ways to go then a heart attack. At least it's quick.
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If it kills you it's quick. Other attacks leave you with half a heart made of scar tissue, which can impact your quality of life somewhat.
 
dukebound85 said:
Yes I had fasted

Oh man, sometimes more than that. I can go through 12 in like 5 days. Sometimes takes me 2 weeks to get through that many though. Heard they were great source for amino acids
Click to expand...

if you are eating 12 yolks in 5 days, that might be an issue and in some instances could be the sole reason for your high cholesterol.

the problem is health in general is so complicated and different for each person. You can be a marathon runner and have a spotless diet, but die of a heart attack and find out you had a blocked artery.

I say..if you exercise enough, eat well, and stay away from blatant bad stuff..thats the best you can do.
 
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