Forums: September 2010 Kickstart Forum Archive: any best supplements for lowering cholesterol?
Created on: 09/30/10 06:53 PM Views: 2438 Replies: 11
revolutionoftheheart Joined: 01/07/10 Location: NYC Posts: 164	any best supplements for lowering cholesterol? Posted Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 6:53 PM well I've been vegan for three years and my cholesterol is still high normal ... drs. not really concerned because hdl/ldl ratio is great. I just got my blood test result and i've gotten my total cholesterol down about 30 points -- 260 to 230. I've been taking Andrew Lessmans (from HSN) Cholestacare plus Fibermucil (which I ordered ages ago for someone else but decided to keep for myself ... I finally start taking it everyday.) The thing is it's expensive and I was wondering if anyone here takes a supplement that has been effective for you and how much it is. Then again, I should mention that I lost 20 lbs. involuntarily from a back surgery ordeal, so that in itself might have automatically brought my cholesterol down. The only time I remember my cholesterol to be at 190 was when I was in chemo and living on soup. Who needs that. Anyway, any feedback welcome. And yes, I do intend to keep in touch and post the little lightbulbs that go off in my head. My science experiment of homemade sauerkraut per Dr. Flora is percolating on a shelf Soon I will unveil it and refrigerate it, that is if it doesn't bite me. "In their behavior toward creatures, all men are Nazis. Human beings see oppression vividly when they're the victims. Otherwise they victimize blindly and without a thought." Isaac Bashevis Singer, author, Nobel Prize 1978
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Susan Levin Joined: 12/26/09 Posts: 1191	RE: any best supplements for lowering cholesterol? Posted Friday, October 1, 2010 at 7:19 AM I'm sure you have heard it all. But perhaps there are some hidden gems of advice on these webpages: http://www.pcrm.org/health/prevmed/chol_heartdisease.html http://www.nutritionmd.org/consumers/cardiovascular/hyperlipidemia_nutrition.html Susan Levin, MS, RD PCRM Director of Nutrition Education
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2072	RE: any best supplements for lowering cholesterol? Posted Friday, October 1, 2010 at 8:11 AM Hubby found that having oatmeal every day really helped - summer or winter, a serving of oatmeal (1/2 cup oats, 1 cup water) brought his cholesterol down. However, there is also a genetic component involved in it (as in pretty much everything), so despite increased exercis, eliminating meat, eating oats and whole grains, etc. it kept creeping back up. Then he'd get it down again. And so on. No matter what he tried, his LDL was high and his HDL was low. TOtal was in the high normal range most of the time. Then he had a TIA incident. Major scare! Now he's on meds to control his cholesterol (smallest dose possible). Both his mom and dad have/had high cholesterol, his paternal grandfather died after repeated strokes, etc. Not something we're willing to mess with after that incident. I, on the other hand, always have an HDL well into the good range (10-20 pts above where they want women my age to be, which is good) and exercising and limiting/removing animal products keeps my LDL at or below 100 (which is where they want diabetics to be). All without meds. I've inherited my dad's cholesterol profile (and I'm just trying to not screw up the good thing I've been given by messing around with lots of animal). --Deb
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beasadeghi Joined: 09/09/10 Posts: 16	RE: any best supplements for lowering cholesterol? Posted Friday, October 1, 2010 at 4:19 PM I keep my cholesterol down by eating lots of fiber. About 4 years ago my doctor suggested I go on cholesterol lowering medicine, but I refused. She told me it would be too hard for me to do with diet only, since I would need at least 35 grams of fiber a day. I proved her wrong and my LDL, HDL and triglycerides are very well controlled by my vegan diet high in fiber and my daily one hour walks. I eat my oatmeal with a sprinkling of a tablespoon of ground flax seed to add more fiber. I eat organic apples and pears with the peel and the core, it's only the stem I don't eat. If I buy food with a label I make sure it has fiber or I won't buy it. Beatrice
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2072	RE: any best supplements for lowering cholesterol? Posted Friday, October 1, 2010 at 4:35 PM yeah us too. Oatmeal daily, lots of oats and other whole grains, veggies, beans, etc. Little to no meat (less and less as time has gone on until this point where there's no meat), little to no dairy (again, less and less over time). And things were improved with diet and exercise BUT there are other factors in play (sleep apnea which is being treated with a cpap machine), genetics, weight (which is coming down over time), blood pressure, and so on. We (me, hubby, and doctor) we're all on board with diet and exercise and giving it time to get sorted out...until he lost feeling in his right side and was hospitalized for three days. Hospital doc said it was a TIA (mini-stroke); regular physician thinks it was a vasospasm caused by caffeine (probably some plaques causing the blood vessel to be narrower to start with). Either way, it was scary enough that low dose cholesterol medication was on the radar. I'd much rather have a live hubby on a prescription medication than a dead or disabled hubby without it. KWIM? And, even with the medication, he hasn't just chucked the healthy eating and exercise (like many folks do). He's still working the good stuff to keep the medication dosage as low as possible (with an eye toward getting his weight and other things in line and possibly weaning off of it eventually) and minimize any side effects. --Deb
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revolutionoftheheart Joined: 01/07/10 Location: NYC Posts: 164	RE: any best supplements for lowering cholesterol? Posted Friday, October 1, 2010 at 5:18 PM I eat my oatmeal with a sprinkling of a tablespoon of ground flax Well you've guys have prompted me to start eating oatmeal every day for breakfast, sweetened with banana and/or apple, and raisins, walnuts and cinnamon. Yum, why not for lunch or dinner too. Darn I forgot the flaxseed this morning. THanks for reminding me. I do have to put some kind of non-dairy milk in it ... water just doesn't cut it for me. I think I'll pass on re-buying supplements this time (to save $$$) ... and see if just eating oatmeal continues to get my cholesterol down. You are all so inspiring! hugs "In their behavior toward creatures, all men are Nazis. Human beings see oppression vividly when they're the victims. Otherwise they victimize blindly and without a thought." Isaac Bashevis Singer, author, Nobel Prize 1978
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beasadeghi Joined: 09/09/10 Posts: 16	RE: any best supplements for lowering cholesterol? Posted Friday, October 1, 2010 at 5:46 PM Yes, I like my oatmeal with plant milk too. I cook it with water, then before dishing it out into a plate or bowl I stir in a good amount of soy milk, I like my oatmeal thin. Beatrice
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2072	RE: any best supplements for lowering cholesterol? Posted Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 9:55 PM On the occasions that we have a family breakfast (usually I eat first then leave for work, hubby and son eat whenever suits them), the table looks like a buffet. There's the oatmeal - cooked on the thick side to start with. Then I use unsweetened almond milk to thin mine slightly, add cinnamon, crumbled pecans, fruit if we've got it (apple or banana - but both go pretty quickly around here), maybe a drizzle of agave syrup for a 'treat'. Hubby uses nut butter and organic dark chocolate bits (vegan - I checked). Son uses any combo of the above with the additional options of honey, maple syrup, or Nutella (not all at once though! LOL). Pancakes (yummy whole wheat and buckwheat pancakes - both flours freshly ground!) are similar buffets of toppings from cinnamon to liquid sweetness to fruit to fruit jams to nuts and nut butters. We've had friends in for pancake brunches who sit there stunned for a second trying to sort out what to have. Oh, and we also make a berry syrup from our own wild blackberries for use in all sorts of applications as well. --Deb
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revolutionoftheheart Joined: 01/07/10 Location: NYC Posts: 164	RE: any best supplements for lowering cholesterol? Posted Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 11:32 PM Bugsmom wrote: On the occasions that we have a family breakfast (usually I eat first then leave for work, hubby and son eat whenever suits them), the table looks like a buffet. There's the oatmeal - cooked on the thick side to start with. Then I use unsweetened almond milk to thin mine slightly, add cinnamon, crumbled pecans, fruit if we've got it (apple or banana - but both go pretty quickly around here), maybe a drizzle of agave syrup for a 'treat'. Hubby uses nut butter and organic dark chocolate bits (vegan - I checked). Son uses any combo of the above with the additional options of honey, maple syrup, or Nutella (not all at once though! LOL). Pancakes (yummy whole wheat and buckwheat pancakes - both flours freshly ground!) are similar buffets of toppings from cinnamon to liquid sweetness to fruit to fruit jams to nuts and nut butters. We've had friends in for pancake brunches who sit there stunned for a second trying to sort out what to have. Oh, and we also make a berry syrup from our own wild blackberries for use in all sorts of applications as well. --Deb freshly ground flour? that's a new one on me. where does one get that? Yum, I'll invite myself over for the next time Nice Bugsmom! "In their behavior toward creatures, all men are Nazis. Human beings see oppression vividly when they're the victims. Otherwise they victimize blindly and without a thought." Isaac Bashevis Singer, author, Nobel Prize 1978
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2072	RE: any best supplements for lowering cholesterol? Posted Monday, October 4, 2010 at 8:18 AM revolutionoftheheart wrote: freshly ground flour? that's a new one on me. where does one get that? Yum, I'll invite myself over for the next time Nice Bugsmom! We grind it ourselves! We have a grain mill and we buy organic grain (wheat, buckwheat, rye, oat groats, popcorn, etc) in bulk quantities (ranging from a few cups to 50# sacks) and grind what we need as we need it, pretty much. If we know we'll be doing a lot of baking in a 48 hour period, we'll grind a bunch and refrigerate it right away so it'll stay fresh for the day or so we're using it. Then we grind more at need. The taste of freshly ground corn meal is so different than the store bought, we don't need to add sweetening to corn bread at all (most recipes use several tablespoons of sweetening to balance the somewhat bitter flavor of conventional corn meal). --Deb
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beasadeghi Joined: 09/09/10 Posts: 16	RE: any best supplements for lowering cholesterol? Posted Monday, October 4, 2010 at 12:26 PM That is quite amazing! If I had a large family I would love to do that for them. You are doing great! Beatrice
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2072	RE: any best supplements for lowering cholesterol? Posted Monday, October 4, 2010 at 12:36 PM We're not that large of a family - just me, hubby, and our 12 yr old son. But, we make most of our meals from scratch - tortillas, pasta, soups, etc. Hubby even makes whole wheat bagels from scratch! --Deb
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