Hey guys:

Just got my blood test results today - and I am ecstatic!! It took me about three months but I got my cholesterol levels down - from 248 to 188 - Ldl levels from 141 to 94 - the hdl fell a bit - but its still high - from 78 to 69 - my doctor is so pleased with me - so my modus operandi was losing a bit of weight - I just lost 6 lbs - but mainly I also ate a lot of oatmeal, barley and beans every day - I don't particularly like oatmeal in the morning as a cereal - so I used to get oatmeal, grind it up to make it like flour and then mix it with a bit of barley flour to make crepes or pancakes - I ate two medium oatmeal/barley pancakes (with maple syrup) every night - it filled me up and I slept well too - along with oatmeal, I also ate all kinds of beans - chickpeas, fava, black beans etc. and I also walked about 150 minutes a week - no vigorous exercise - just normal walking - so obviously this all worked - and if it worked for me then it can for you -

Best

lara falcon

Oatmeal and barley, especially barley, have lots of SOLUBLE fiber, and also apples, potatoes, and beans. This soluble fiber "grabs" CHO from the intestines and it gets excreted with poop.
But it works only for those, who have healthy liver, not insulin resistant, and who either using HRT or have intact ovaries, as body "senses" estrogen loss, so liver makes more LDL to manufacture sex hormones. When you add more starches and reduce fat, HDL also fells, as both LDl and HDL made from saturated fat, but this type of diet does not reduce TRG, which are mainly glucose converted into FFA.
Great job, Lara, congrats on your success, usually it works for most healthy folks, I mean those with no metabolic syndrome and no diabetes. I still think and prefer and eat some oatmeal (steel cut), cooked barley and buckwheat in natural forms, rather than pancakes, but it is personal choice.
I like 1/2 cup of cooked whole oatmeal mixed with 1 cup of dry curd cottage cheese, it is very yummy and feeling breakfast, lots of calcium and fiber. Add some fresh blueberries, and it is simply delicious, no sweetener required.
Exercise as walking is the best to "lower everything", and it is not only cardio, but also weight bearing, so it is great for the bones health.
Keep it up, girl

Good job larafalcon!! My husband and I made the decision the day after Memorial Day to cut out all meat and eat fresh veggies, fruit, grains, nuts and low fat dairy. So far so good. Only had one slip up and that is when we went out to dinner and I had a salad that has a little chicken on it. Actually I find that I really like eating this way. I tend to fix more food at home also and this keeps me from eating fast food. We love all kinds of beans also so I am glad to see that helped your cholesteral.

Keep up the good work!

Shakin'

What is wrong with lean meat and chicken? great source of protein and most vitamins and minerals, fish is good too, like couple times a week and not all fish is really great, if you think of farming methods. But it does not contain iron and much selenium, as beef and chicken, and if you eat fish only, there is concern on mercury level. You can replace fatty cuts with skinless breast and lean beef (sirloin). MY DH once ate salmon ( wild pacific) EVERY SINGLE day for 4 months, and it did nothing to his CHO.
it is your choice of course, but seriously, eating fish only is not the best solution. Too much sugars with little protein, will drive your TRG higher and drop your HDL.
JMHO, did not mean to "preach", just tried and found it was not best solution.
I.

You need protein to maintain your lean muscle mass. If you cut out meat and dairy, you may need a protein supplement. Try to maintain a good balance of macronutrients, no matter what you eat. As long as it is good, natural food, of course!

Iradan I forgot to say that I also tried the vegetarian (vegan) routine many years ago. This type of eating did not agree with my metabolism. I felt weak and tired and I was always hungry. Perhaps some people do better on high protein diets . I am one of these people, I guess.

Iradan:

I don't think there is anything wrong with lean meat or fish. We had just returned from Memorial Day where we ate way to much meat, fried food and everything else. All I could think of is how much I wanted a vegetable!!! So we started eating tons of fruits and veggies and I get my protein from beans, nuts and low fat dairy. I do agree that protein is important. My husband had a cholestral problem and he comepletely cut out everything but chicken for about a year. I think I have almost turned into a chicken. CLUCK CLUCK!! I hate fish by the way. Do not like any of it except shell fish which is for the most part very high in cholesteral. So that is why we are eating a semi vegetarian diet. If I find that I am getting tired or weak from lack of protein I will be the first one to grab a piece of chicken but at this point I am feeling great.

I am hopeful I did not offend you in any way. I have nothing against eating meat. I am just tired of eating it!

Shakin'

Hey, do any of you have any good bean recipes? I am always looking for some good ones but never can find them.

I know exercise really has help in keeping my numbers down. I do fast walking every day (for about 40 minutes) and yoga 2 to 3 times a week.

Mopsy

Armadillo,
I am in the same shoes, I must have protein and fat with carbs, or I will be hungry. I don't eat lots of meat, but I must have at least 120-140 g of protein and better be from animal sources, beans have too much sugar for the protein content, not to mention they don't agree much with my digestion lately.
Everyone is different, you train hard and need more protein than non-athlete, at least, 1 g per pound of LBM. But my point was, ppl often think that curring out protein and fat will make them healthy and lower CHO, but in most cases protein/fat is replaced with starches, which drive both blood sugar and CHO higher.
I think rotating protein sources is best idea, as well as eating variety of food. I also think low and non fat dairy too high in sugar, so I eat plain full fat version, which also helps to absorb vitamin D and contains good CLA.
I never been vegan and never will be, but if some ppl do and feel well, then it is great. One man's bread, another man's poison, so I am all about protein but with some fat, too lean protein makes me hungry and sick.
Cheers

Yes, I must say that I prefer my protein with fats, too. I wonder if my Russian ancestry has anything to do with this? The women in my family are all big and tall (about 6 feet, on average) and strong. Farm people lived on fat and protein, not too much grains in Russia. I think vodka provided the carbohydrates in their diet

Hey Mopsy:

Here is a good bean recipe:

Its a Lebanese Bean dish called FOOL MADDAMES (google it)

Get 1 can FAVA BEANS (you can get this in a middle eastern store or even in the foreign section of a supermarket)

cut up 3 tomatoes and 2 cloves garlic - saute in 2 tablespoons olive oil - put in some parsley - then add the can of Fava beans - add 3 or more tablespoons of lemon juice - simmer for 15 minutes - eat with high fibre pita bread -

This was one of the recipes I used to bring down my cholesterol

Bon appetito....

Armadillo,
I am from Russia, and sorry but Russian farmers were not much of meat eaters, but rather dairy ( full fat), kasha ( buckwheat), barley, oats, potatoes, cabbage ( sour kraut), pork fat, fish, mushrooms, berries. Meat ( veal and beef) was eaten only during winter, and spring fast was very string, no animal product of any kind. Russians learned to eat meat from Mongols, that where true nomads, mostly meat and dairy. Before they were more vegetarian like, and fish and poultry was a choice of protein, but everything was washed down with unpasturized full fat milk.
Vodka was not source of carbs for Russians, but Russan "curse", unfortunately, as it replaced everything. But you are right, alcohol can be used as type of sugar, and makes you feel good too .
But may be you have a little bit of Viking genes, they were certainly nomads. Russians as well as most northern Europeans are tall, as all meat and dairy eaters. Well, beef and milk have IGF, makes everything grow bigger and taller.
JMHO, protein must be eaten with fat attached, natural fat: full fat dairy and natural animal fat that are grown without hormones and antibiotics. In Europe no one will touch nonfat cheese, milk, etc. and lean protein, they eat enough fat, saturated and MUFAs, and are leaner and heathier than us, no doubt. BTW, saturated fat is converted into MUFAs by liver, and butter helps absorb vitamin D, E, and A, olive oil does not do the trick.
Ok, off my soap box, hope I did not bore you.

HA! Yes, I was making a joke about the vodka

But you are certainly right about the fat, I do love it. I think saturated fat has a bad reputation in the US, because of it's mistaken association with raising cholesterol levels. But in the US, the medical profession looks at medicine in "parts", never considering the "sum." For example, most doctors look at cholesterol levels alone, never taking into account the many other biomarkers of a person's overall health.

For example, some people who are even mildly overweight may have a cluster of risk factors that include mild hypertension, elevated glucose levels, high triglycerides, even though they may have low levels of H.D.L. cholesterol.
Some women with low cholesterol tend to have high levels of a protein, known as C-reactive protein, or CRP, which is released during inflammation and has recently been linked to heart disease.

Cholesterol, just like any other blood hormone, lipid, or metabolite, must be considered as a whole picture of your health. There is nothing in out body that exists in a vacuum, everything must be in good order.

Now, if only my brain function would be in order, I would be one happy woman!

I agree with everything you say, fat and even saturated is vital for our bodies, and cholesterol is father of ALL HORMONES.
I don't buy this CHO madness, they simply try to get everyone on statins, as we know, it is most profitable and widely used drug.
I don't buy that Mediterranean diet is low in saturated fat, this is all Ansel Key's faulty study. They eat lots of sat. fat in Spain, Greek, Italy, France, all local and regional food : cheese, ham, lamb, pork and pork far ( lard), but it all comes from healthy sources, not man made and not trans fats.

I have read many studies showing that older folks with higher CHO level live longer than those with lower, and same goes for being mildly overweight versus stick thin, so the judgment is still out there, I tend to think good genes is the key to longevity, like 90% of the success.
I more tend to stick to common sense and what humans ate for thousands of years, as the vegetable oils are recent addition to the human diet, so saturated fat comes into play big time, as I remember folks were cooking with lard, rendered tallow and suet, and lamb fat, whatever was available regionally. Sat fat is stable for cooking, and makes any food taste better.
For me, most of the carbohydrates like grains and veggies, starches are tasteless and bland unless you add some good old fashion fat to it, then it is palatable .

CRP must be high sensitivity, otherwise, any pulled muscle will eschew test results, and homocysteine are sort of old news too, as my dr. told me, now they seem to find another marker of arterial inflammation, LOL.

I recently read very interesting assay on the excessive dietary protein being linked to cardio vascular risk, and fat is sort of being neutral, but I think it is poking in a dark for time being. High homocysteine is product of protein metabolism, but protein makes nitric oxide, that actually opens arteries, so go figure.... My head is spinning as I read study after study, so I no longer pay much attention. As for the other risk factors, major is insulin level, visceral fat accumulation, and blood sugar/blood pressure control. These and the aging, of course, the worst offenders, and also having high enough estrogen to protein arteries and brain function too, I think mine are not in the greatest shape as well . I have my moments too...
I just follow reduced carbs diet, less than 15% and keep my protein <40, and the rest is good fats, this diet makes me feel full and not deprived.
Best of luck to you,
I.

No offense taken, I go through periods that I don't want any meat or poultry, only fish and vegetable. I just listen to my body, as I think it sense vitamin/mineral deficiencies and tells me what to eat. I guess, when my iron drops low, I crave red meat.
Since I never have cravings for donuts and candies, I trust my body to regulate my diet.
I just wanted to point for those who battle CHO, that lean red meat and skinless poultry, are not forbidden food if one wants a healthy diet. No need to cut it out, as meat has highest satiety rating, replacing with grains and starches, like rice and beans for example, may help with lowering LDL a bit, but eventually will result in low HDL and high TRG. Since most CHO is made in the liver based on the genetic make up and insulin level, dietary CHO does not get absorbed much, so shell fish is completely safe to eat and is great source of zinc, selenium and bunch of other vitamins and minerals that make our metabolic system run smoothly.
I am not against vegetarianism, JMHO avoiding animal product does not guarantee long life and perfect health, as they defficient in many nutrients.
I think the best is to alternate sources of protein, eat lots of non-starchy veggies and healthy fats, fruit, grains, and starches are major contributors to unfavorable Cholesterol profiles.
JMO,
I.

The thing is, though, that researchers are now discovering that cholesterol is only part, and maybe a fairly small part, of coronary artery disease. Everything is pointing to inflammation (and a few other things, like blood viscosity). And wild Alaskan salmon goes a long way towards reducing inflammation, regardless of doing anything for cholesterol. Not that it isn't good to reduce total cholesterol, but it is just one factor.

Wild salmon has less omega-3 than plain humble sardines, but it surely taste delicious.
I think They finally onto something with recent studies: inflammation is a main cause of heart disease and other ailment, it can be anything and everything: food allergies, psoriasis, autoimmune illness, but the most powerful inflammatory agent is INSULIN...if you control it, you can control inflammation.
Now, fish oil does (Omega 3) does help to reduce inflammation, I believe and reduces triglycerides, but it does very little for LDL.
I don't buy cholesterol theory in CAD, it is really only a hypothesis, not a proven fact, the question is how to control inflammation, and it means controlling STRESS and INSULIN level, the rest will fall in place.
But there is also generic factor in CAD, which has to be controlled with medication, same as high BP, hard to tell sometimes what gives, one thing I am 100% sure, no/low fat /cholesterol diet is not the answer based on my own experience.