Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp
My dad in law got the same story from his doctor. I'll tell you what I told him.
First of all "high cholesterol" is not necessarily a bad thing. Like Jimzilla's doctor though, doctors often take the numbers given to them, and look at the wrong things. They see "high cholesterol" or "high levels of LDL" and tell people to stop eating so much cholesterol. The patient listens, and their LDL gets even worse. Because by cutting out cholesterol (basically eat less meat) they are replacing it with crap food, because we all need to eat a certain amount every day if we're not enforcing a strict diet. So cut out meat, you introduce more starch and bad fat usually. It should be the opposite - eat MORE meat, introducing GOOD cholesterol, and less starch which is what causes poor blood lipids and inflammation. Patient goes back, doctor assumes they weren't listening, and puts them on statin drugs. Once that happens, that's the end of your life as you know it. Because once you start taking cholesterol lowering drugs, you body basically starts shutting down. But I digress...
So you can have 'high cholesterol' but when you look at the numbers that matter - ratio of HDL/LDL/AND Triglycerides, you will have overall a great blood lipid profile. To get that, eat more meat, less carbs.
-EXERCISE. 3 times a week. My dad in law is 60, so I told him to do body weight exercises. He used to do 100 pushups every night which is pretty impressive. I told him to do pushups, hindu squats, and if he can, pullups every other day. We'll have to see about setting up a chinup bar for him somewhere. Running is better than nothing, but anything is better than jogging. Weights are best, as we all know.
-Cut out as much sugar and grains as possible (I say as possible since he works in China). NO SWEETS. No fruit, unless it is berries
-Cut out as much fat that comes in liquid form as possible. If it's solid at room temperature and non-hydrogenated, it's good. Butter, animal fat, etc good. Vegetable oil, creamers, etc bad. Exceptions: Coconut milk, some nut oils (he'll never see them in China) avocado oil, etc
-Try to make your diet as antiinflammatory as possible. Learn what foods are inflammatory, which are neutral, and which are anti. Most diets high in carbs (especially wheat) are highly inflammatory. This is what leads to heart disease more than anything. High triglycerides + chronic inflammation = you never see 70
-3 tsp of liquid fish oil each day
Some supplements that can help lipid profile
ginger powder, 1g a day
fenugreek, 500mg a day
fish oil, 3 tsp a day (capsules, non concentrated - 13 a day. Concentrated - 6 a day)
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